“Honey, nothing about this night is going to be cliché.”
He was fun and playful, and, oh, the man could kiss. And he tasted wonderful. He took his time, slow, gentle, thorough kisses that made me forget all about…well, everything. There was no baby monitor alerting us to every move, no sudden cry to rouse us out of a deep sleep, no dog snorting and dreaming of chasing small, helpless animals.
“I want to make love to you,” he said, pressing kisses to my neck, trailing downward.
Oh, thrill.My head was spinning, my heart pounding. But mostly, I was filled with the feeling that This. Was. It.Hewas where my journey ended. I would never love anyone like this. I’d found the one person who truly got me. Who accepted me for who I was. Who liked me forexactlythat reason.
As he returned to my mouth, I yielded to his lips, ran my hands through the thick silk of his hair, felt his muscles bunch and tense as I ran my hands along his back. I kissed his forehead, the ridge of his brow, the curve of his cheek, memorizing every bit of him.
We luxuriated in a time together that wasn’t interrupted by…well, anything. Sort of like in Turks and Caicos, but a hundred times better.
As we both shattered to pieces, he was right there, kissing me, holding me, murmuring in my ear in soft tones how beautiful I was, how lucky he was to be here with me.
He took my hand and kissed it. Looked deeply into my eyes. Then he pulled me into his arms, and I settled next to him, my head on his chest, holding each other tight.
I love youwas on the tip of my tongue. I was bursting to say it, but I restrained myself. I didn’t want to say it first and then have him feel like he had to say it back.
He loves me,I thought. And he loves Rosie. Hewouldsay it, in his own time.
That was just like me, to always want everything, expecting everything all at once, wanting things tied up in a nice, perfect bow. I couldn’t wait to tell him I loved him, yet I didn’t feel like I was being impulsive any longer. I felt this with a certainty I’d never experienced before.
Adam was kinder and more wonderful than anyone I’d ever met, and I felt certain that he was my future. I was head over heels.
I just hoped that he was too.
Chapter Seventeen
Three months later
Adam
“How was your day today, Rosebud?” I asked Rosie, who was holding her cow rattle and sucking on the ears as I changed her diaper. I was expecting Ani, who had stopped by her office for a few hours, to arrive home any minute. It was the day of her final interview with Children’s Services, and we were both anxious for it to be over. I kept telling her she had it in the bag, that she was a shoo-in, but neither of us was going to rest until the final documents about making her Rosie’s official foster parent were stamped, signed, and filed.
“Mooo-ooo,” I said with much expression, “That’s what cows say. Mooooooo.”
Rosie kicked her legs vigorously. “Oooooooh” she said.
Wow. Okay. Impressive. “You’re an absolute genius,” I said, taping the tabs on her diaper. “Brilliant.”
I heard the door open and shut. Ani came flying in, depositing her bookbag and purse and running over to the changing table, kissing me quickly on the cheek.
“Hey, Rosie-Posie, how was your day?” Rosie immediately abandoned the cow and beamed at Ani, displaying a giant smile that lit up her entire face. Actually, her entire body, as she excitedly kicked up a storm.
I totally got it. Ani had that effect on me, too.
I picked Rosie up and got ready to hand her off. “She can moo like a cow,” I announced proudly.
“What?” Ani asked Rosie. “You mooo-ed?”
The baby smiled a drooly smile and leaned toward Ani, who took her into her arms in that fluid movement mothers seem to effortlessly master. “You’re perfect,” Ani said to Rosie, kissing her on the head, “whether you are actually mooing or not.”
“It was amoo, I swear.”
“Almost-four-month-olds can imitate sounds,” Dr. Ani said. “Like, she doesn’t actuallyknowthat cows moo yet.”
“I prefer to think that her language skills are very advanced. Today we’ll review some farm animal flashcards just to make sure they took. Tomorrow we’ll work on some algebra. I’ll have her ready for med school applications by Christmas.”
Ani gave me a look that might’ve meantyou’re ridiculous, but she broke into a big laugh.
