We kiss again.
And then again.
And then I have to pull away and tell Chad he needs to go get my crutches.
“I’ll carry you,” he says, moving to scoop me up again.
I shake my head and push at his chest. “I need thirty seconds, or everyone in that room—including your sweet, innocent daughters—is going to see in my face that I just spent half an hour making out with you.”
Chad chuckles. He runs a finger along my cheek. “These are kind of pink.” He leans over and kisses one, then the other. “And your lips are … very kissed.” I slap a hand over them in embarrassment, but Chad takes it away and kisses my palm. “Be back in a second,” he says softly, and the searing look he gives me before leaving the room makes it impossible to pull myself together.
Chad Harrell, this is totally for forever.
CHAPTER 15
CHAD
There’s a checklist of all the things I manage not to do during dinner, and I should get a star sticker for every one of them.
Slide my arm around Ivy’s back and scoot her chair closer to mine.
Slide my hand into hers.
Stare at her.
Kiss her on the forehead.
Kiss her on the cheeks.
Kiss the back of her neck.
Kiss her lips.
I’m as committed as ever to protecting the girls, but it’s very difficult to stick to my guns with Ivy sitting next to me, blue eyes bright, lips smiling, cheeks pink and pretty much irresistible. When she just says, “Oops,” after Scarlett spills red juice down the front of Ivy’s pants, it’s hard not to lean in close, put my lips against her ear, and whisper a thank-you that she didn’t overreact. When she pulls Zoey into her lap during dessert and shares a piece of pie with her, I have to focus on my own slice of peanut butter pie so I don’t get up and wrap my arms around them both from behind.
It’s insane to think about proposing to a girl after two days so you can kiss her in front of your kids, right?
Right. It really is.
“We’re switching cars,” Carlie says to me after we’ve all helped clean up and it’s time to get the girls to bed. “I’ll take the girls back to the hotel and get them settled.”
“Carlie,” Ivy says, shaking her head. “You’ve barely had any alone time with Law since you got here.”
She holds out her hand to me, ignoring Ivy. “Gimme,” she says. “I’m going back to Houston with Law tomorrow. Ivy’s going back to Nashville.”
I pull the keys from my pocket and hand them quickly to Carlie, but the weight in my stomach isn’t just that I had forgotten we have to do this long distance. Ivy doesn’t even have a real cast on her foot yet, and she’s going home alone.
“Do you have someone in Nashville to take care of you?” I ask after Carlie has handed me her keys.
Carlie raises an eyebrow at me knowingly before she crouches down to help Scarlett into her coat. I ignore her.
“It’s just crutches,” Ivy says. “I’ll be fine.”
I nod. “Probably. But you can do your job anywhere, right?” I point out. She squints at me. “Youcouldcome to Houston for a couple weeks and stay with Law so we can all help you.”
Law snorts as he lifts an already tired Zoey into his arms. “Yeah, Ivy. You need us all to take care of you.”
“I can take care of Ivy!” Scarlett cries, clapping her hands.
