what she wants and unapologetically takes it. She squeezes my ass one more time before sliding her hand up and resting her hand on the back of my neck. When our mouths part, she offers up a smile that is both sexy and sweet.
“I’ll call. If you call and ask that they watch my daughter overnight, they’ll know what’s up and that’d be all kinds of awkward.”
I chuckle and kiss her again. “About that…” I murmur against her mouth.
She jerks away from me and I grapple to pull her back. I’m not ready to release her yet.
“Don’t leave. Where are you going?”
“I’m right here. Not going anywhere. I’m only wondering what you mean by ‘about that’.”
I step away from her because I clearly have no will power. “Here’s the thing. I don’t want to lie to my parents. They deserve to know the truth and honestly, they’ll be thrilled. I’m not worried but if we spend time together outside of this house like I plan to do, then word will get around town and it’d be really shitty if they heard it from someone else.”
“You want to tell your parents? About us?”
“Well, I’m not planning on giving them any details but yes.”
The concern I see in her eyes makes me more than a little worried. I press the button to open the garage door because it’s suddenly more than a little stifling in here. And what she says next only makes it worse. The garage door motor wurrs and cranks as it slides up, letting in fresh air.
“What do you plan to tell them?”
I flinch at her question that comes out accusatory. Carefully I say, “That we’re together. As a couple.”
She doesn’t say anything to confirm my hopes and assumptions. Her eyes dart between mine, back and forth, back and forth.
“Addy?”
“It just hit me that what you said last night and what we shared wasn’t just a fluke thing and it’s real.”
I blow out a breath. “Hell yeah, it’s real.”
“I didn’t think this would ever happen between us.”
“You didn’t?” I didn’t either, but I don’t want her to see my doubt, too. It’s not that I didn’t want it, I just didn’t know how to make her mine.
“I hoped for too long, I guess. Hard to believe that it’s real now.”
“Baby…” I move in closer and cradle her face in my calloused hands. “We skipped over some of the important stuff and it sounds like we need to talk a little more. Get your head in a place where you believe in it. But let me just say this: I love you and that’s as real as it gets. In the forever kind of love where I see me putting my ring on your finger and putting my baby in your stomach.”
Tears I didn’t see coming spill over her cheeks and I wipe them away with my thumbs.
“Happy tears?”
“Definitely.”
“Good. Now, I’m going to call my parents and set the record straight that we’re together now. Then I’m going to spend some time with Zoey and this afternoon we’ll brave the pool and gossiping parents together.”
She nods with a watery smile. “Sounds perfect.”
“I’m not going to promise that it will be smooth sailing from here on out. We’ll have problems, probably arguments, too, but I need you to know that my love for you and Zoey will never be a question.”
“I love you.”
“Then I’m a lucky man.”
“I’m equally as lucky.”
“Gushing again,” I tell her, but I don’t mind. Not when it puts that look on her face that screams love. “Go to work, boss lady.” I pat her incredible ass and she yelps before scurrying to her car.
“See you in a bit. Need Zoey’s booster seat?”
“Oh, shit. Right. Yeah, I should probably just get one to keep in my truck, huh?”
“Stop making me cry.”
“Sorry,” I tell her, grinning.
She rolls her eyes and climbs into her car after I grab the booster seat from the back seat. Before she closes her door, I lean in, kiss her on the lips, and remind her, “Love you, Addy.”
“Love you, Beau.”
Chapter Sixteen
Beau
When I get back inside my woman’s house, I plop next to Zoey who hasn’t moved a muscle from where we left her. “What’s shakin’, Squirt?”
She turns her head to the side and looks at me funny. “Huh?”
“Nothin’. Mind if I shower quick then I’ll help you get ready so we can head out?”
That should give me more time to figure out what I’m going to do with her this morning, anyway. I also