“Of course,” he says to Nicholas, who takes the girl and kisses her.
She giggles, then runs her little fingers along Nicholas’s cheeks and nose.
“This is my brother, Emmett,” Nicholas says. “And his wife, Amy. And this little angel is Monique.”
We shake hands. “We’re so happy to finally meet you,” Amy says. “We would’ve found a way to do this earlier if we’d just been able to find a good time.”
“Blame Grant,” Emmett grouses. “He’s the one giving you extra work.”
The door opens again. “Somebody talking about me?”
“Speak of the devil…” Emmett mutters with a slow smile.
Nicholas’s brothers are punctual and all arrive within a few minutes. Although Nicholas’s place is huge, they seem to fill it up with their larger-than-life presence.
Despite my worries, Noah doesn’t do anything to indicate he’s still upset with me. But he also hasn’t made a friendly overture like Nicholas’s other brothers. He just gives me a vaguely perturbed look before turning away.
We move to the dining room, where the food is laid out. Four of the brothers are married, and two have babies. In addition to Emmett and Amy’s little girl, Griffin and Sierra have triplets—Ellen, Ben and Jon—and they’re simply adorable. The little ones are passed around to be fussed and adored. I smile as I watch the scene unfold. This just feels so…unreal. I’ve only seen family interactions like this in movies or on TV. I never knew they could actually happen in real life—much less that I’d be part of it. The realization is poignant and gratifying.
“You need to tell your mom to stop showing the triplets to my mom,” Nicholas says, loudly bussing the triplets and making them squeal delightedly. He’s obviously great with babies, and I swear, I’m ovulating at the sight of him dealing with his nieces and nephews.
“Is that why Nikki wants you to give her a baby?” I ask.
“Probably,” Sierra says with a small laugh. “She sees it, she wants it. She’sgreatfor business.”
Nicholas winces and holds up a hand to stop further talk. “Please. I really just…” He trails off.
I look at him. Nicholas isneverat a loss for words.
Sierra leans closer with a wicked grin. “I manage a sex toy company.”
“She doesn’t just manage it. She’s the CEO,” Aspen says. She’s a beautiful redhead who’s married to Grant and has the casual grace of a dancer.
“Anyway, stop showing her baby pics,” Nicholas says, recovering. “Then she’ll leave us alone.”
“Ooh, I have just the thing.Puppypictures!” Lucie says. “But is she going to get one and then change her mind about having a pet?”
“Nah, she’ll hire somebody to take care of them. That’s what she does when she gets pets,” Nicholas says. “And a puppy would be perfect. I can see Mom going for that instead.”
“Somebody pass me the bread,” Noah announces. “I’m starving.”
“You mean you haven’t had anything in the last two hours.” Huxley is an ad executive. A little intense, but he seems nice enough. At least, he’s been kind to me so far.
“You’re unnatural, which is why you don’t need carbs. Probably because you feed on the blood of the innocent. I can’t believe you aren’t a lawyer.”
Huxley snorts. “Neither can my grandmother.”
Grant passes Noah the bread basket, and Noah gorges on two huge rolls after slathering them with room-temperature butter.
“I have no idea where you store all that,” Lucie says in awe.
“Just burns off. Mad metabolism.” He winks. “And lots of energy for when it comes time to love the ladies.” He points both index fingers down at his lap. “The D needs its fuel.”
“Do that in front of Bobbi,” Griffin says. “I’d like to know how much supercharged D she’s been getting.”
Nicholas leans over and says, “Bobbi’s a baker. Specializes in croissants and Noah has a thing for her.”
“Really? I love croissants.” I turn to Noah. “Not that I have a thing for Bobbi.” I wait for his reaction. I’m not sure if he’s trying to avoid me or can’t decide if he should accept me or not.
