Gracie’s still in the bathroom, applying moisturizer to her legs. I lingered in the room, my mouth dry as I watched her, and dick giving a valiant jerk even though I was confident that there was no possible way I could goagain. But then her stomach rumbled, and as much as I wanted to keep watching—touching—I am on a mission to sort us out some breakfast.
I hook the towel around my neck as I move through the house, but freeze when a solid knock sounds on the door. Annoyed at the interruption to our morning, I yank the thing open, my scowl fading as I’m faced with the surprised faces of my parents.
Analise grins at me from where she’s standing just a step behind them, eyes identical to mine flashing with amusement. “Told you we should have called, Mom.”
Mom hushes her, leaning toward me. “Braxton?” She pokes a finger into my chest, making me realize I’m still shirtless. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
Dad clears his throat. “Rae, tone it down. You’re embarrassing the boy.”
I’m not embarrassed, just annoyed they’re invading my morning with Gracie. But I’ve also learned enough over the years not to say that. Instead, I step aside to let them in, yelling into the house, “Rumpel, we’ve got company. Don’t come out naked.”
Analise follows our parents inside with a groan. “I have enough nightmares, and now this.” She throws a disgusted glance at my bare chest. “Seriously? Who opens the door shirtless? I haven’t even had a coffee this morning. I don’t need to see this.”
Mom pauses halfway to the kitchen, turning with a frown. “Since when do you drink coffee?”
Analise’s expression doesn’t change. “Probably around the same time I started drinking tequila.”
Dad snorts. “You don’t drink tequila. Now pull out one of your smutty books and stop trying to ruin my delusions of my daughter.”
Analise’s mouth drops open, a matching expression ofhorror to my own. “Dad,” she says slowly, “how do you know the wordsmutty?”
Dad snorts. “I know things,” he says arrogantly, but then Mom tells us, “He overheard me talking to my friends about starting a new book club, and he asked questions he didn’t want the answers to.”
Dad shoots Mom a dark glare, but before he can retort, Gracie steps into the room, her hair damp and curling around her head, her expression unsure as she takes everyone in. She’s dressed in leggings and my shirt—a fact that makes me want to beat my fists against my chest before dragging her back to the bedroom to strip it off her again. Restraining myself, I step to her side and press a kiss to her flushed cheek.
“Morning, Gracie,” Dad greets. “Raewyn brought breakfast, so I hope you’re hungry.” His eyes twinkle as they bounce between us, and Gracie tenses under my arm.
“Dad,” I tell him warningly, and he shrugs lightly.
“I’m not hiding how much I like this for the two of you,” he murmurs, even as he turns and walks away, Analise hot on his heels.
Gracie’s face is bright red, and she hides it against my shoulder. “That’s not what I thought was going to happen this morning.”
“One way to let the cat out of the bag.” I laugh, drawing her through the house toward the kitchen, where we can hear Mom going through the cabinets as she chats away to Dad and Analise. “I’m not mad about it.”
“You’re not?”
I shake my head as we stop in the doorway, watching my family—ourfamily—move around the space like they belong. I look down at Gracie, her eyes wide with wonder. “I want to tell the world that you’re mine, and this feels like a pretty great start.”
CHAPTER 42
Gracie
“Ineed to fix that fence,” Stephen says quietly as we step outside together after breakfast. He’s not looking at me, his attention on the backyard. I can almost see the list he’s building in his head.
“You don’t have to do anything,” I counter. “I can pay someone to fix the fence.”
He furrows his brows as he looks at me. “I know you can, but why would you when I have the skills and the time? It’s what family does for each other, Gracie.” He takes a seat on the back step, patting the space beside him. “It feels like we haven’t had a chance to talk much lately. Not since we finished Raewyn’s present, anyway.”
“You’re sneaky,” I say as I sit beside him, warmth once again filling me at the memory. “I had no idea you were planning on putting me on the tree.”
Stephen smiles. “That’s the point of surprises,” he says quietly. “And you haven’t had nearly enough of them in your life.”
I let out a light laugh. “I feel like I might have had too many,” I confide, “and not all of them good.”
“Brax told me your parents called last night.”
My throat tightens, and I look away. The party and Braxton proved to be the perfect distraction from that phone call, but it also means that I haven’t really dealt with my feelings about it yet.
