Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees so I wouldn’t have to look at him. “Don’t shoot the messenger,” I said under my breath as he cursed and reached for his phone, flicking on the bedside lamp and throwing the covers back.
As soon as my words were out, he stopped blustering. There was a beat of silence before he let out a breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He leaned over and cupped the back of my head before gently turning me around to face him. “I’m not upset at you. I’m just… upset.”
“I am, too.” I hadn’t meant to say that, exactly. I’d intended to say, “I understand.” But when my words came out, I realized they were true.
Dev looked surprised. “Why are you upset?”
“Because I don’t like to see you so worried, and hurt, and frustrated. And because I don’t want Lellie to have to go through this. It’s also unnecessary since anyone with functioning eyeballs can see she’s your daughter.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and turned toward me, reaching for my face. Before he could say anything, I added, “And because I know you don’t want to go back to Texas.”
Dev’s large hand on my face was warm and gentle. I closed my eyes and leaned into it, wishing I could turn back the clock half an hour and put us back in our intimate little bubble.
“You’ll come with us, though,” he said, sounding calmer than he had in a while. “And while we’re there, we’ll go to Katie’s and see what needs doing.”
“What about Lellie?” I could tell he knew what I meant. Would he keep her?
His jaw firmed, and his eyes hardened. “I’m sure as hell not letting the Scotts raise her. I care about her too much to allow them to shape her beliefs into the hate they preach. As for whether I’m going to keep her… the answer is yes. I told you I’d been thinking about it, and it really hit me today that I… I can’t stand to give her up. Maybe that’s selfish of me—”
“It’s not.”
“Yeah?” Dev’s eyes met mine, their hazel depths pleading for reassurance. “There might be people out there who know more about parenting than I do and are maybe even better suited to it than I am, but… there is no one in the whole world who loves her as much as I do.”
“I know.” I said the words with my whole chest, believed them to the core of my being. “I’m so happy for you. Both of you.”
“I’m scared shitless,” he admitted. “I have a lot of things to think through. Hell, I don’t even know what the schools are like here. And I’m going to have to hire an amazing nanny who loves her as much as I do. I can’t do it myself, and I don’t want to rely too much on my friends when they have lives of their own.”
My heart warmed to see him finally turn this corner. “I’ll help.”
Dev leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You already have. Thank you for not letting me run away from her.”
I held him close and moved the kiss to our lips. “Are you saying I shouldn’t let you run away from me, either?”
There were clearly plenty of things going through Dev’s head, but he chose the easiest route. “Not tonight anyway.”
I let the words stand without challenging them. Instead, I indulged myself in pushing him back on the bed and climbing on top of him to kiss him again and again. We made out like horny teenagers, hands everywhere and lips not far behind, until we ended up sideways on the bed in a sloppy sixty-nine. My obsession with his foreskin was a little unhinged, and I kept pulling off him to slide it back and forth before leaning back over him to tease it with my mouth. Every time I did that, he made a strangled sound in his throat that made my cock throb.
When we were finally empty and trembling, sweaty and gasping, I reached for his hand and tangled our fingers together.
We didn’t speak, but I felt miles closer to him than I had before. Dev seemed to finally be dropping some of his walls with me, and I was grateful for it. After a while, we got up and shared a quick shower before drying off and slipping into bed together again.
The windows were open, and the night air was cool. It was a pleasant change from Dallas, where I wouldn’t have dared open my windows in summer.
We settled back down so I was lying on my front with my head turned on the pillow to face him. Dev was on his side, trailing lazy fingertips along my back.
“What changed your mind about Lellie?” I wondered. “Spending the day with her? I would have thought that much alone time with a toddler would do the opposite.”