My heart threatens to jump out of my chest. “I love you, Ellis.”
“You should give her your lucky rock,” she mumbles, her eyes nearly closed now.
My hand covers my pocket where my rock resides. “But you gave me that rock.”
“Yeah, because I love you. But you love Vienna, so you should give it to her.”
Ellis’s eyes completely close, so instead of responding, I place a gentle kiss to her forehead and then shut her door softly, returning to the living room to find Vienna sitting on the couch, focused on her phone.
When she senses me in the room, she jumps, covering her chest with her hand. “Jesus, Rhonan.” Tucking her phone back into her purse, she peers up at me. “You scared me.”
“Who else would be coming down the hall?”
She shakes her head. “No one, I guess…” Pushing her hair from her face, she smiles up at me. “I was just so engrossed in my phone that I didn’t hear you.”
I take a seat on the couch next to her, pulling her into my chest and inhaling her, my nose buried deep in her hair. “Well, you can be engrossed in me now.” Leading her to straddle me, I wait until she’s in position before I study her face. “God, I could get used to this.”
Her eyes sparkle in the dim light from the lamp beside us. “Me too.”
“I like coming home and knowing I get to see you.” I drag my nose up the column of her throat. “It makes all of the stress go away.”
“What stress?”
“Just life. Worries about being a good dad. Work.”
“I thought your job was pretty lowkey?”
Leaning back, I meet her gaze. “Normally it is, but when Chief gets an inkling about something, he makes it the entire station’s problem.”
Her hand plays in my hair at the back of my neck. “What’s going on?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. I don’t want to add any worry to your plate.”
“You know you can talk to me, Rhonan.”
“I know, baby. That’s one of the things that I enjoy most about having you here.” Inhaling deeply, I say, “And the fact that you and Ellis have a connection too makes this seem almost too good to be true.”
She huffs out a laugh. “I seriously love that little girl. She’s like joy, sunshine, and rainbows all bottled up into a tiny person.”
“Speaking of Ellis, do you mind watching her Monday night next week, please? Joanne needs the night off after this weekend with the wedding and all that.”
“Of course. I—I would love to.” She bites her bottom lip. “My, how things have changed in a matter of a few months.”
“What do you mean?”
She arches an eyebrow. “Well, if memory serves me correctly, you were yelling at me weeks ago about not understanding the responsibility of having a child, and now you want me to babysit her.” Tapping her chin playfully, she continues, “I honestly don’t know what to think of this turn of events.”
I tickle her ribs, making her squeal. “Hey, watch it. If memory serves me correctly, I apologized profusely that night with my tongue all over your pussy.”
Her eyes grow darker and the heat between her legs grows hotter as she rubs herself over my cock. But I’m not done holding her, not done soaking up her warmth that is soothing my soul in ways I never thought possible.
“I’m not just obsessed with your body, though, Vienna.” I push her hair from her face so her eyes are exposed to me completely. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone to talk to, someone that I feel I can trust, and you’ve given me that again.”
“Same, Rhonan.” She places a chaste kiss on my lips and then rests her forehead on mine. “Lydia was my person, and when she died…”
“How did she die?” I cut in. “You never told me that.”
Her eyes grow glassy. “Ovarian cancer. It was aggressive and she fought it hard, but by the time they started treatment, it was too late.”
