Swept Away (Wildfire Lake #3) - Skye Jordan Page 0,57

the fuck-me expression on his face.

“What’s everyone getting?” I ask, my gaze on the menu.

Ben and Levi answer, followed by the kids. Laiyla and KT know I’m making conversation to divert attention. Xavier’s hand slides beneath my hair and gives my neck a gentle squeeze.

After we order, everyone settles into comfortable conversation. We’ve all got a lot in common, so we can talk for hours. Having the kids here is nice because I’m so easily distracted by their preciousness. But we can barely have one full conversation without people coming to the table to say hello or chat—to Levi about building projects, to Laiyla about the wedding, to Ben about health or the girls, to KT about anything marine or mechanical, to me about the retreat or the studio, and to Xavier about dates.

By the time the third woman hits him up for a phone call, I’ve maneuvered Jazz between him and me to get some relief from his touch while I help her play the games on the kid’s coloring sheet.

I’m already convinced this is going to be the longest dinner in history when Sienna Peyton stops at the table after spending a little too much time at the bar. She’s a divorced mother of two, and I know she has her hands full. She totally deserves a night off. Even deserves some great sex. But every woman to hit on Xavier drops my self-esteem another notch.

Do I purposely choose the kind of men other women want? Or do I somehow scream date me, you’ll totally get away with cheating? Then again, maybe there is something deep in my psyche that I haven’t dealt with which causes this to happen.

I focus all my brain cells on finding C-A-T in the word search with Jazz, when I feel Xavier’s hand slide over my hair.

“Actually, I’m off the market,” he tells Sienna. “Chloe and I are seeing each other.”

My gaze darts to Xavier, and a zing courses down my spine, but I’m not sure if it’s a good zing or a bad zing.

“Really?” she says, as if he’s told her he was dating a unicorn.

“Really,” he says.

“I thought you two would never figure that out,” she says, then slaps his shoulder. “Good for you.”

And she moves on.

Xavier slides me a see-we-should-have-done-this-sooner look that makes me smile.

“You won’t have to put up with women hitting on him much anymore,” KT says. “That news will be all over Wildfire by morning.”

“I had to deal with it when I started dating Levi again,” Laiyla says, and smiles at her fiancé. “Women kept coming out of the woodwork. Now, I only have to tolerate the long-suffering looks of women wishing they were in my shoes.”

That makes KT laugh. “And if you’ll remember, it wasn’t all that long ago that I was exactly like Z,” she says, turning her gaze on Ben. “Look at me now, all monogamous and sh—stuff.”

I laugh at her almost slip.

“What’s mogomus?” Poppy asks, drawing a round of laughter.

“I’ll tell you later,” Ben says, satisfying his daughter for the moment.

Dinner is delivered before I have to address the comments, but it definitely gives me something to think about while we’re eating. I’m feeling more relaxed by the time three slices of chocolate cake are delivered to the table, each with a lit candle.

Everyone in the restaurant stops what they’re doing to sing happy birthday to us, then the three of us make our wishes and blow out our candles.

“What did you wish for?” Violet, Ben’s oldest daughter, asks KT.

“Forever with you,” she says, tapping Violet’s nose, then Poppy’s, “and you,” then Jazz’s, “and you.”

Ben lifts his arms, a what-about-me look on his face. KT tilts her head to kiss him. “You’re stuck with me.”

Poppy takes a sloppy forkful of KT’s slice of cake while bouncing in her seat. “Presents now!”

Ben and Levi both produce thin small boxes for KT and Laiyla, and I smile in anticipation of seeing what the guys got them.

“Everyone has to open them at the same time,” Jazz says. “Chloe, take yours.”

When I look at Jazz, I find Xavier offering me the same box, his smile soft. “Happy birthday.”

Everything inside me melts. “Aw, you didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.”

The three of us unwrap the gifts and draw out three identical silver necklaces. They have dainty chains and three interconnected ovals in the center, which I know represents Laiyla, KT, and me.

My heart skips, and I press a hand to my chest. “Oh, wow.” I smile at Xavier. “This