A hand waved in front of my face, grabbing my attention. “Foods ready,” Brinley said.
I blinked a few times and scanned my surroundings. I’d been caught up in my own thoughts and I forgot about what was going on around me. That was quite the feat when there was a herd of kids stampeding through the yard.
“What were you thinking about? Did it have anything to do with your easy on the eyes, underwear model?” she teased.
The ladies were never going to let me live down the fact I mentioned months ago when I first met Paxton that he looked like he could model men’s underwear.
My eyes immediately searched for Paxton. When they caught sight of him, I beamed a smile his way. His head turned away from some of the guys he was talking to and zeroed in on me as though he could sense my stare.
I’d never get enough of those dimples.
His sexy smirk sent a lightning bolt of desire straight to my core. I squeezed my legs together to curb the sensation that sparked when I noticed his eyes held the same look. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait to drop the last of my walls that had been crumbling and let him fully inside every inch of me.
Mind. Body. Soul.
“Holy smokes, Batgirl,” Brinley said breathlessly.
I scoffed, pulling my gaze from Paxton and looked at Brin. “Batgirl is Gemma, remember?” We all dressed up for Halloween in superhero costumes, but that was not mine. “I was Invisible Woman.”
“Not anymore you aren’t,” she replied, laughing. “That man can see you just fine and he looks like he wants to devour you right now.”
My head snapped back in his direction and he was still watching me. A shiver raced up my spine when I could see my friend looked like she was right on the money with her assessment.
I was having a hard time looking away but all of a sudden a piercing, excited scream, followed by, “Oh my God, oh my God!” rang out and it pulled my gaze to the side of the house it had come from.
“Holy, shit!” Brinley and I said in unison as we stood up and headed in the direction everyone was congregating to.
Orwho, I should say.
Ruby was hysterical but in a good way. Her younger brother, Jett, looked to have made a surprise visit home. The first he’d made since leaving for the military a little over a year before. What an amazing turn of events it was and everyone was so happy to see him.
Not sure how he’d found out where we were but I was glad he had figured it out.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone still sitting at one of the tables. Patience sat there, staring at Jett with a look of longing and insecurity. She was young when she was hit with some big challenges and I had a feeling the only reason she got through them was due to Jett. She struggled when he left but had stepped up to the plate of life and now it looked like she wasn’t sure what to do after seeing him for the first time since his departure.
A few seconds later she brushed her hands down the cute jean shorts she had on and plastered a tentative smile on her face. As she approached the group, it was as if she was his beacon because Jett’s gaze snapped to hers, and then he rushed the remaining distance to pull her in for a hug.
I watched all the air leave her lungs and saw the expression of innocent pleasure cross her face. Jett looked relieved and content. It would for sure be interesting to see how that unfolded one day.
A few beats later, Gramps made his way over to his grandson with Griffin, Patience’s little boy, in his arms. A proud, happy smile graced his weathered face as he leaned in and hugged Jett, careful not to crush the child he considered his great-grandson. I think everyone was hoping one day Griffin would hold that title legally, but it didn’t matter, he was his in his heart. Gramps loved all the kids in our group as if they were all his.
I watched and as Gramps pulled back, Griffin extended his arms forward toward Jett, babbling, clearly wanting him to hold him. Jett didn’t hesitate. The wistful look that passed across Patience’s face didn’t go unnoticed by me and my heart went out to the young lady.
It was crazy to see the changes in Jett. He had already filled out more, looked older than I thought he would, and his confidence shined. When he pulled Patience into his side again for another hug, while holding Griffin, I couldn’t help but think what a sight the three of them made. It was too bad he most likely wouldn’t be able to stay long.
“Hey, darlin’,” Paxton’s smooth, sexy voice said in my ear as his hands came to my lower back sending tingles up my spine.
Everything around me stopped and ceased to exist in a split-second. All I could concentrate on was the feel of his palm against me and his breath tickling my ear. I felt a little off balance and knew it was from him, not from the few glasses of wine I had drank.
“Want me to get you a plate of food?” he asked.
I’d told his mom he was trying to woo me. While I was kidding, I was standing there thinking, maybe he was. The man liked to do nice things for me and was so considerate. He may have worried about how he grew up and having not been around a lot of people or making connections, but he was doing phenomenal with the ones he’d made in my opinion.
I turned into him and his hand slid off my back. He moved it to my hip. “Let me say hi to Jett really quickly, then we will go together, okay?”
He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “You got it, sweetheart.”
I knew he’d kissed me at the condo in front of the ladies, but there were even more people here so I’d been surprised at his PDA throughout the day.
