As soon as the door shuts, she loses her battle with the tears she’s been fighting. “I’m sorry,” she says, half laughing, half sobbing, as she wipes the tears from her cheeks.
Lifting her, I place her ass on the counter and stand in front of her. “Do you know how special you are? How rare it is to find someone who will love your child just as much as you do, without question or prejudice? Do you?” I ask her, framing her face with my hands.
“He’s so easy to love,” she says, her eyes meeting mine.
“You’ve given us so much,” I tell her.
“Baker?” she asks, placing her hands over my wrists.
“Yeah?”
“Kiss me.”
My lips quirk into a smile. “My pleasure,” I say, pressing my lips to hers. I can taste the salt of her tears. My lips feather across hers as our lips meet softly. This isn’t about desire, although that’s there, too. This is about showing her the words that I know are true, but that I haven’t said.
I can’t tell her that I’m in love with her in our best friends’ bathroom. Now is not the right time, but the time will come when I tell her what she means to me. What she means to us. I try to show her in every way, and my words dance around the truth, but one day soon, I’ll say those three little words I’ve never uttered to a woman I wasn’t related to.
Pulling her lips from mine, she whispers, “We should get back out there.”
“I know. Are you okay?”
She laughs. “I’m good. I don’t know why I got so emotional. I guess it’s because I’m so happy for Corie and Knox, and then Camden and his giant heart stepped up to the plate, and I got lost in my feels for a few minutes.”
“Little man is going to be a charmer,” I say, trying to lighten the moment.
“For real. The ladies better watch out. I mean, unless he ends up with Coral.”
“Are you matchmaking for him already?” I chuckle.
“Admit that it would be great for your son to marry one of your best friends’ daughters.”
“He’s two.”
I laugh. “I know, but Bellamy and I have already talked about it. We’re all for it,” she tells me, as I pull open the door and lead her out of the room.
Camden is playing with Coral on a blanket in the living room, and no one seems to notice we’ve slipped back into the room. We spend a couple of hours laughing, eating, and celebrating Knox and Corie’s news before we load up and head home.
Sloane slides into my bed next to me, where she belongs, and even though I want nothing more than to strip her out of those cute-ass pajamas she’s wearing and have my way with her, my girl has had an emotional night. So, instead, I wrap my arms around her and hold her while we both drift off to sleep.
“So, I’m heading to my parents’ later today.”
I glance up from my phone to look at Sloane, who has just walked into the living room looking like a wet dream. She’s in a pair of tight, faded jeans that mold to her body as if she were poured into them, black boots that come up to just below her knees, and a long black sweater. “Okay,” I finally answer, after I shamelessly finish checking her out.
“It’s my dad’s birthday, and we’re having dinner.”
I nod and move to the edge of my seat. She steps closer, and I widen my thighs, making room for her. I grip her ass as I peer up at her. “Do you want us to go with you?” I haven’t met her parents yet, at least not in an official capacity. I don’t want to push that on her, but I need her to understand that if she wants us to, Camden and I will be there.
She bites on her bottom lip. “I was hoping that you would.”
“Of course. What time are we leaving?”
“In half an hour,” she says, and I toss my head back in laughter.
“Babe, you said later,” I tease.
“I know. I was nervous, okay?” she says, as the corner of her mouth tilts into a grin.
“There’s never anything you need to be nervous about. Not with me. Do they know about us?”
