I glance over at my brother and stick my tongue out at him.
“Had you not have interrupted, I’m sure she would have been telling that to me.”
“Okay,” Rhyland draws out. “Ding. Ding.” He chuckles. “That’s the end of round one.”
“Whatever, Balboa,” Ollie jokes. “Gabby is napping, and we had the baby monitor. She was up at the crack of dawn. It’s a good thing she’s cute.”
“Come on,” Hollie says, looping her arm in mine and pulling me out of the room.
“So,” she says, leaning her head closer to mine.
“So,” I mimic, playing dumb when I know exactly what she wants to know.
“How was last night? I can’t believe you’re making me draw it out of you.”
Images of last night flash through my mind. An elbow to the ribs pulls me from my thoughts.
“I think that dopey face of yours is all I really need. That good, huh? I think someone got laid last night,” she singsongs.
I’m torn between a rock and a hard place because in her mind, I went on a date and got laid by someone else, not the man standing in her living room. Even though I want to spill everything to her, I can’t ask her to keep this from my brother. So instead, I have to lie to the woman who’s basically become my best friend since she came into our lives.
“I won’t pester you for details, but that smile looks good on you.” We enter her bedroom, where they set up her travel bassinet. “She was perfect—” She purses her lips together. “Well, minus nearly causing Ollie to projectile everywhere.” We both laugh. “Although, if you ask me, she was still perfect, even with that. Not that perfect angel’s fault that her uncle has issues.”
Gazing down at my sleeping daughter, I almost hate waking her, but goodness, I missed her.
“I’ll gather up her stuff and meet you back out there.”
I nod as I continue my creepy staring contest. Man, if she were old enough to remember all the times I’ve stared at her, I fear it would just end up becoming a talking point in therapy one day.
Crouching down, I rest my cheek against my forearm on the bassinet ledge and brush the back of my fingers against her cheek. Gabby slowly stirs. “Hi, sweet girl. Mommy’s here.”
Her eyes flutter, revealing the most beautiful blue eyes that match mine. Gabby stretches her arms in a Superman-like stance, and her mouth widens in the cutest little yawn.
“Did you miss me?” I ask as I stand and scoop her up against my chest. She buries her head against my chest, and I have to laugh. Hmm, she and Rhyland have that in common.
“Hey, I thought you might need some help carrying that thing out.”
I turn to find Rhyland standing in the doorway. His eyes drop from mine to Gabby before he closes the distance between us. My heart skips a beat at the way he smiles at my daughter. “Hi there, Princess. Good job almost making Uncle Ollie blow chunks.”
He drags his thumb lovingly over her cheeks.
Glancing behind his shoulder to find the empty hallway, I quickly rise and press my lips to his. “Thank you.”
“For what?” He gives me a questioning brow raise.
“Just being you.”Because you care so much about my daughter and show how much you care about me. For everything you don’t even realize you do.
“Oh, I thought maybe you were thanking me for all the orgasms or something,” he whispers in my ear, causing my cheeks to flush.
I brush past his shoulder, purposely knocking into him a second, and say over my shoulder, “Thank you for those, too,” and I leave him to figure out how the bassinet closes.
Chapter 25
Payton
“Rhyland, we need to stop,” I breathe against his lips. “Someone might come looking for us.”
My hands press into his chef’s jacket, but I can’t be sure if I’m trying to pull him closer or push him away. My head and body are at war over getting what I want versus getting caught.
