Holden's Resurrection (Gemini Group #6) - Riley Edwards Page 0,68

Holden in a bad mood.

“Don’t do that, Leigh-Leigh. Tell me.”

“I don’t have friends like this. I forgot how loud a room full of people could be. I forgot what it’s like to be surrounded by friends. Faith’s never had this. I like it. I love seeing her happily flitting around from person to person talking to them. I love that she’s comfortable with all of you.”

Holden was silent for a moment but I wasn’t fooled. He was smart—just because he wasn’t verbally responding didn’t mean he wasn’t mentally putting the pieces together. It was easy for him to figure out that I lost this—friends gathering for a spur-of-the-moment good time—when he left me. He could further surmise that I lost what little I had left when Paul died. Neither of us needed to say it. Instead, he smiled and gathered me in his arms. And I appreciated him not casting a pall on the night by pressing the conversation.

“They are loud. But now that there are kids running around, they’ve calmed down some.”

This seemed to be true. I hadn’t seen anyone shotgun a beer or break out the whiskey and pound shots. All of the guys had beers in hand and the women ranged from glasses of wine, beer, and of course, Kennedy was drinking water. But no one was drunk. Back in the day, two hours into a party, one of them would’ve been well on their way to three sheets to the wind. Usually Jameson; he hadn’t been fond of crowds, his coping device had been copious amounts of liquor.

I searched out the big man and smiled. What a difference eight years made on the surly, brooding man. Jameson was damn near the picture of sunshine and roses.

“Are you laughing?” Holden asked.

“Yes.” I pinched my lips together, which only made my body shake harder. “I was thinking about Jameson. He’s happy.”

“Ah, you noticed.”

“It’s impossible not to. In my mind, I was describing him as sunshine and roses.”

Holden chuckled.

“I would love to hear you tell him that.”

“Um, no. I don’t care how much I’ve seen him smile, I’m sure the big, bad, grouchy bear is still in there somewhere.”

“You’d be right. Though since he found Kennedy we rarely see that side of him. Now he’s more like a bear who’s had his teeth pulled but we haven’t figured out a way to declaw him.”

I didn’t think it was possible to declaw Jameson, especially with a baby on the way. His teeth might even grow back extra-long so he could bite anyone who dared harm his child.

“Holden?”

“Yeah, doll?”

It had taken me a few seconds to process my current situation. When I did, I tried to pull out of Holden’s arms, but he held tight. My daughter had never seen me in a man’s arms—never, ever seen me with a man, period, in any way. Somehow, I’d been so lost in all things Holden, I’d missed her approach, and Holden wasn’t letting me go.

Shit.

“Holden, me and Rory want to play with my Barbies but we can’t get the tape off the box.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Rory!” Faith shouted. “Holden’s helping.”

I didn’t hear the other girl’s response. I was stuck in a dumbfounded stupor. Why hadn’t Faith asked me? She always asked me for help.

“Gonna go help the girls.”

I nodded against his chest and closed my eyes.

Faith asked Holden.

Holden said yes.

He didn’t stiffen the way I had when she’d caught us hugging. He didn’t jump away from me or offer Faith another solution—say, a solution that didn’t include him cutting the tape off her box. He’d readily agreed.

The hand that had been resting on my hip moved between us until I felt his fingertips under my chin gently tilting my head back. I opened my eyes and found Holden’s brown eyes blazing.

“So beautiful,” he whispered before he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me.

Not a brush, not a skim of his lips against mine. But an honest-to-goodness kiss that included his tongue sweeping my bottom lip. Sweet baby Jesus, I was a sucker for that tongue swipe and he knew it. In the past, that had been a promise of good things to come. It’d been his way of telling me when he couldn’t otherwise verbalize what he was going to give me, but there were good things on the horizon.

Shit.

I wanted those good things. I wanted all that he had to offer. I wanted to jump for joy and throw caution to the wind and go for it. But I had