“I’m sorry, Tor. I haven’t fully woken up yet, and you took away my coffee. I would love for us all to spend the whole day together. I’m sure the girls would be thrilled—they seem to love you.” Tana giggled as Torren picked up her coffee mug and handed it back to her, his smile back in place. “How about you drink your coffee and get dressed. The girls and I will clean up the mess we made in the kitchen and watch some cartoons until you are ready.” Tana couldn’t remember the last time she took a shower or even went to the bathroom, for that matter, by herself. The idea seemed like a little slice of heaven—she might even be able to shave her legs. And, since Torren planned on spending the night in her bed, that was probably a good idea. She enthusiastically nodded her head, chugged her lukewarm coffee, and handed Torren back her empty mug. She turned to head upstairs to get ready for their day when Torren stopped her.
“Tana,” he called. “I think it’s sexy that you snuck a picture of me and have it on your phone.” He winked at her as she turned to finish the trek up to her room. What was it about this man that made her feel like a giddy schoolgirl and a pampered princess, all wrapped up in one woman? Whatever it was, she sure felt like a very lucky woman to have met Torren Harrison.
CHAPTER SIX
Torren decided to take the girls on a small hike, knowing that the twins probably couldn’t go too far without tiring out. After that, he took them all into town for ice cream and showed them around the store, having to drop off a few signed contracts for Tag. His brother seemed flustered with one of their new employees, but admitted that Piper was up most of the night tossing and turning and keeping him up.
“Man, why didn’t you call me? I could have covered for you today.” Tag smiled at Torren and shook his head.
“There is no way that I was going to spend the whole day off with my very pregnant wife. I get more peace here these days, and besides, she is spending the day at Lorna’s finalizing plans for her baby shower.” Tag laughed. “You know, Pipe—she wanted to have a hand in planning her baby shower,” Tag said. Torren chuckled. “I see that you’ve been hanging out with your pretty neighbor and her twins. They remind me of us at that age.” Tag and Torren both looked over to where the girls were playing with the fishing lures that they stocked, dangling the rubber worms and brightly colored feathers in each other’s faces and giggling. Torren couldn’t help his smile. They were prettydarn cute, and Tag was right—they did remind him of himself and Tag back when things were good.
“So, you like Tana?” Tag drew his attention back with his question. As simple as it sounded, Tag’s question was loaded. What his brother was asking was if he was just fooling around with Tana and eventually going to get tired of her and leave her and the twins in his rearview.
“I think that I more than like Tana, but she won’t give me the chance to prove to her that I’m not the same guy who dated my way through town.” Tag’s eyebrows raised as if surprised by Torren’s admission. “She heard the rumors and instead of seeing where this can go between us, she just wants to keep things casual.” Torren looked back to where Tana stood near the storeroom, to find her watching them. She smiled shyly and ducked her head. “How do I convince her that I’ve changed?” Torren turned back to Tag. He felt like he was pleading, but he didn’t give a fuck. Torren needed his brother’s help because if he heard Tana tell him that she just wanted a casual and fun one more time, he was going to lose it.
Tag sighed, “I wish I had a magical fix for you, man. Remember, you’re talking to the guy who spent fifty-two weeks asking the same woman out. Every time Piper turned me down felt like a kick in the gut, but all that is in the past. She was worth every disappointment, and now she and our baby are everything to me. If you want Tana, don’t give up. Show her that you’ve changed, don’t just tell her the words,” Tag said. Torren knew that Tag was right, but he still wished that a magical fix did exist—it would make things so much easier. “She has a lot to lose if you all don’t work out. Her daughters will be hurt in the process, so I’m guessing she is just protecting them as well as herself,” Tag said. “I’m happy that you want more for yourself, and if you want my two cents, I like Tana and her girls, too.”
Tag smiled at Sarah as she ran up to show them a pink worm that they primarily sold to the women who were being dragged along on a fishing trip with their husbands. Sarah tugged on Torren’s shirt and told him that she would like to go fishing. Elizabeth chimed in, jumping up and down and clapping. Torren laughed and promised them both a fishing trip soon, and didn’t miss the concern on Tana’s face. He hoped that she knew him well enough to know that if he made her girls a promise, he’d keep it.
“How about we go to the playground and you girls can play while your mom and I hang out with Tucker?” The girls squealed and handed Tag their worms, ready to leave for their next adventure. Tana made her way to the front of the store and took Tucker from Torren, saying her goodbyes to Tag.
“Tell Piper that if she needs anything to just call me. I have a light schedule right now with our summertime hours.” Tag pulled Tana in for a quick hug and then released her to Torren and watched as they headed over to the new playground. The girls walked in front of them with Tucker on his leash, and Torren reached for Tana’s hand. At first, he could feel her hesitate, and he didn’t want to push her, but they weren’t doing anything that would confuse the girls.
“If this isn’t okay, honey, just say so,” Torren whispered in her ear. He felt Tana shiver when his lips contacted her earlobe, and the thought of other ways that he could make her quiver crossed his mind. She nodded, and he squeezed her hand a little tighter in his. The girls handed over Tucker when they got to the park, giggling and running for the swings.
“They are having such a good time—thank you, Torren,” she said. Torren shrugged and pulled her over to sit on a bench.
“We can see them from here,” he offered, and she agreed. Tucker plopped down on the soft grass by Torren’s feet, laying his head on his shoe.
“I think he’s done for the day,” Tana said. She smiled down at the puppy. “I wish I could say the same for the twins. They will probably be ready to go for hours still.” Torren looked over to where the girls were swinging side by side and laughed. They were talking as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. He could tell that Beth’s mouth was going a mile a minute while Sarah was content to just let her sister talk.
“They are great kids, Tana. You’ve done a wonderful job with them despite everything that you told me about your ex.” Tana fidgeted with Tucker’s leash, and Torren knew that she wasn’t going to like him pushing her a little, but he needed to get his feelings out. Just the thought of him having feelings was laughable, but here he was, sitting on a park bench, ready to spill his guts. “Tana, I like you.” She smiled up at him, and he couldn’t help but push a strand of her long blond hair back from her face, rubbing his thumb over her soft cheek.
“Well, I like you too, Torren.” Tana turned her face into his touch and gently kissed his palm. “I was being honest with you earlier. I want more than just casual and fun with you, honey. I want a relationship.” Tana sighed and released his hand.
“Have you ever been in a relationship, Tor? Honestly, has any one of your encounters with a woman lasted more than just a few nights of hot, casual sex?” She sounded like she was accusing him of doing something wrong rather than asking him a question. Torren shook his head. He owed her his honesty, but he also wanted her to overlook his past. He just wasn’t sure that would be possible for her to do.
“Those women weren’t you, Tana. You are judging me by my past and all the sordid gossip that you heard about me around town. Just give me a chance to prove to you that we can be good together. Promise me that you’ll at least think about giving me a chance.”
Tana looked away from him and slowly nodded. “Fine, I’ll consider giving you a chance, but I won’t let you hurt me or my girls.”
Torren held up his hands as if in defense. “I would never do what your ex did to you, Tana. And I’d never hurt the twins.” Tana nodded again and looked over to where they were swinging. “Where is Elizabeth?” She stood and started looking over the playground. Sarah was still swinging, but Beth wasn’t by her side.
“She probably got sick of swinging and headed to the slide. I’ll check there.” He picked up Tucker and headed over to the three big sliding boards, but found no trace of Beth. Tana was frantically calling her name and searching around the jungle gym. She wasn’t anywhere to be found. Torren felt a knot in the pit of his stomach; the fear of not finding Beth choked him. Tana was crying and yelling her name when Sarah went running over to her mother. Torren joined them.
“Sarah, do you know where your sister is?” Tana asked. Sarah smiled and nodded. Tana breathed a sigh of relief, and honestly, Torren did too. “Where is she, Sarah?” Tana grabbed Sarah’s hand, ready to spring into action to find Beth.
“She went back to Mr. Torren’s store to get that worm. She found money by the slide and said that she could buy it for us.” Tana gasped and took off running down the sidewalk to the store. Torren grabbed Sarah’s hand and pulled her along, finally giving up and hoisting her into his arms as she squealed and giggled. They were just about at the adventure store when he spotted Tag walking towards them with Beth in his arms. She was talking his brother’s ear off and holding two brightly colored worm lures. Tag handed Beth to Tana, who pulled her in tight and cried. Torren handed Sarah to Tag and pulled Tana and Beth into his body. He hugged them both close, thankful that they were able to find her.
“Thanks, man.” He nodded at Tag.
“Not a problem. I’m sure that this was just training for what I have to look forward to.” Tag said. Tana wiped away her tears and hugged Tag, thanking him for bringing Beth to them.
“You won’t have it quite as bad,” Tana teased. “Twins are trouble times two.” Torren looked at Tag, and he knew that his brother was remembering that their mother used to say those same words to them every time they found trouble. “Did I say something wrong?” Tana asked. She leaned into Torren to whisper.
He shook his head, “No, honey. Our mother used to say that we were double the trouble whenever we did something wrong.” Tana wrapped her arms around Torren’s waist and squeezed him.
“She sounds like she was a wonderful woman and very smart—I say that all the time.” Tana smiled up at Torren, and he couldn’t help but smile back. What was it about this woman that seemed to make him want everything that he had never wanted before? He had a feeling that Tana Cahoon was quickly becoming so much more than just a casual fling because every time he looked into her eyes, he swore that he could see his future. And, for the first time in his life, that didn’t scare the shit out of him.
