“I’m not perfect.”
“No one is.”
“You are.” I moved into his arms, my head on his chest, my arm across his stomach.
He pulled the sheets over us. “That’s how you see me. I see you in the same way.”
My eyes started to close and I felt Owen’s breathing deepen and slow. His heat seeped through to me and I felt my muscles relax, any thoughts that would’ve intruded on my sleep barricaded by the big man lying next to me. For the first time in I didn’t know how long I felt steady, peaceful.
Happy.
* * *
My phone rang as it was becoming light, the ring tone the one I’d assigned my mother. I fumbled for it on my nightstand, knocking off my lip balm. “Mum,” I said. “Is Dad okay? Are you at the hospital?”
“Stop,” she said. “Quick phone call. Dad’s fine, he’s had a settled night. He’s having his angiogram first thing. I’m fine—slept amazingly in a big bed on my own. Max is cancelling your meeting this afternoon so you and Seph can pick up your dad and bring him back here as I’m going to one of Sophie’s salons for a massage.”
“What about Dad?” I said, confused by her lack of worry.
“Payton, this isn’t the end of the world, sweetie. It’s all investigatory and preventative. He’s okay in himself and isn’t worried. If he was, I’d be there but I think I’m irritating him.” Her voice had the firm, no nonsense tone to it that I knew too well from my childhood when I’d been an insane worrier.
“So you want Seph to irritate him instead?” I said. Owen had sat up and had his arms around me, kissing and nibbling my back. Any awkwardness that I’d thought there might be was absent.
“Seph irritating him will keep his brain from turning to mush and keep his wit sharp.”
“And possibly his fists fresh,” I said, knowing full well how Seph could annoy our father. Owen had pulled me back into bed and was doing his best not to distract me by holding me as still as he could. “I’ve got to go, Mum. I need to get ready.”
“How’s Owen? Are you seeing him today?”
I was seeing, and feeling, rather a lot of him but she didn’t need to know that. “Yeah, I’m meeting him for breakfast. Talk to you later.”
“Sure. Love you.”
“Love you back.” I hung up and turned around, curling up next to the man I was just having breakfast with. “I had to lie to my mum.”
“No you didn’t. We can have breakfast and then it’ll be true. And if you want to tell her the rest, that’s fine with me.” His chin landed heavily on my shoulder.
“That I had sex with my friend.”
“Several times.”
“Several times is true. That’s the reason I’m going to be walking funny.”
“How about a hot shower to help ease you into your morning?” His hands were now on my breasts, playing with my nipples which was sending electricity straight to my pussy.
My back arched of its own accord. “I do need a good wash. I got a little dirty in the night.”
His laugh was deep and reverberated through my body. “I’m happy to clean you up as long as I can get you dirty again first.”
* * *
“I think it’s the right way to approach it, though, don’t you?” Seph had his elbows on his thighs and was looking intently at our father. “If I take the more traditional view, there’s the potential the opposing lawyer will use the precedent set in eighty-six, Morris versus Taylor.”
Our dad nodded. “I think it’s a good idea. Now get your backside out there and see where the doctor is. I want to get out of here and go annoy your mother.”
Seph grinned, looking much happier than he had done when he’d picked me up to come to the hospital. He’d panicked last night, his mind creating impossible scenarios of unlikely events. Max ended up huffing off in a sulk and Jackson made a quick exit with Vanessa, leaving me and Owen to talk some sense into him, seeing as Callum was quite happy to find Seph’s verbal mania amusing. “I’ll go see how long they’ll be.”
“You have all your medication?” I said, knowing that he had.
