And that’s when I hear a soft snap and click coming from the en suite.
Oh shit.
Walking through the door, I jolt to a stop when I spot my daughter’s reflection in the mirror. She’scoveredin makeup,her cheeks two bright pink circles, her eyebrows and forehead smeared with blue eyeliner, her lips a shocking red… and my bathroom vanity a rainbow concoction of all my makeup. Like, everything from my most expensive lipstick to the mascara and…
Dammit, double shit, and no!
Pressing my lips together, I strain to keep my voice light. “Kenny, baby. You know you’re not supposed to get into my makeup.”
I should be telling her off for this, putting her into a time-out, using a firm voice and reprimanding her. This isn’t the first time she’s gotten into my makeup and wasted hundreds of dollars dolling up her face.
She knows she’s not supposed to be in here!
“Kenny pity!” She beams, her adorable smile making it impossible to get all huffy and mad.
Maverick barks beside her, and I lean around her body to see our beautiful German shepherd covered in stickers.
Ugh! He’s due at the neighbors’ house any minute now. They’re looking after him while we’re away, and they won’t want to spend the next hour de-stickering him!
All I can do is grip the door handle, wince, then whimper when the front door downstairs pops open and I hear Grady’s voice calling up to us. “We’re home! Think we can hit the road in five minutes?”
CHAPTER 8
SIENNA
“Five more counts, let’s do this. Session’s nearly done. You can do it. Come on, come on.”
My body is on fire, my muscles screaming at me to put these freaking weights down, but I can’t. I won’t.
Ever since starting to work with Davis, I’ve been pushing myself as far as I can go.
I’m really proud of my efforts, and I love the way Davis forces my body past what I thought it was capable of.
“Last one. Push hard. You can do it.”
I end up grunting as I do my final curl, then drop the weights down on the mat.
“Yes! Woman, you are a legend.” Davis beams at me, holding up his hand for a high five. I’m not sure I can even lift my arm to give him one.
He laughs, grabbing my wrist and pulling my hand up to slap against his. “You’re amazing.”
I nod, then give in to a smile.
I am pretty amazing. And I’ve come such a long way, thanks to Davis.
When I got pregnant with Oliver, I knew I’d be in for some morning sickness, the same way I always was, but I had notcounted on that fetus sucking me dry. I was sicker than I’d been with the other two pregnancies and ended up bedridden for ten weeks. I even had a stint in the hospital when I was so dehydrated from throwing up, they were worried Oliver might not make it. We nearly lost him, and I’d never felt so weak and desperate and pathetic in my life.
When he was born, I threw absolutely everything into being the best mom I possibly could, because I knew he was my last.
It broke my heart, because the busier my house got, the more I loved it.
If my body would have let me, I would have had a bunch more kids, but… I couldn’t go through another hideous pregnancy. So, I got my tubes tied, and that was that.
But then Oliver started kindergarten.
And he took to it like a freaking duck to water.
He doesn’t want to be home with Mommy. He wants to be at school.
