The water formed droplets in Jeb’s beard, weighing it down. “I mean, I got the Badger. It would be a perfect place for us. It’s not like we don’t have a meeting room in the back to watch the kids; it would work out great.”
Laird had to grin. “Hell, yeah, it sounds way more my speed than, say, Jack Harlan and the Chief of Police right? How awkward is it that this man makes more money in a day than we do in a year? I mean, not that he’s a bad guy, but…”
“No, he’s a great guy, actually.” Jeb shrugged one shoulder. “But he’s also a guy who has enough money to have two nannies. So there’s never a day off where they don’t have a nanny.” He gave Laird a wry smile. “That’s never going to be us, you know?”
“Exactly. Shit.” He waved a hand at the hotel next door to the pool, which they could see since it was on a hill. “He owns that place. I can’t even imagine that.”
“Neither can I. So let’s talk about it. I would love to be able to just sit with the kids and jaw with you guys and let our hubs have some time together without all the stress.”
“You should put a thing out at the pub, man. Like a poster or something on the bulletin board.”
Jeb nodded. “I like that idea. I like it a lot. Okay, I’m gonna get swimming because it’s getting cold now, but that’s what I’ll do. When I come up with a day and time, I’ll let you know.”
“Cool, get swimming.” Laird had two more laps to do before he stopped and went over to collect his omega.
Jeb struck out strong on his first lap, making Laird feel like a lumbering idiot. But that was how it went. Raven’s husband, Ben, was the same way. The guy owned a gym, and he always made Laird feel like even though he did two or three hours of PT a day, sometimes, that he was just out of shape.
Then, of course, every so often—as in daily—Devon looked at him, and there was lust and joy in those eyes, and he felt like the hottest man on earth, so he guessed he’d take it.
He climbed out of the pool after his laps.
As he wrapped up in his towel, Devon was giving him that look again - that warm, hungry, “I really like you, I think you’re really gorgeous” kind of look.
He loved that. “Hey, baby, about ready to go?”
Devon nodded and grinned at him. “I am. Do we have any other plans for this afternoon?”
He shook his head. “I was thinking maybe take a little bit of a walk during the warmest part of the day, then we could stop for an early supper.”
Devon’s face lit up. “That sounds great to me.”
His husband loved to wander in the downtown area, just looking.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. You and me. Men on a mission.” He leaned down, rubbed his nose against Devon’s, and then helped his omega stand up, careful that he had his balance and was totally steady.
“Let’s get dressed, and let’s go play for a little while. It’s a beautiful day, and I’ve got my coat.”
When Laird said there was nothing else on earth he’d rather do, he meant it.
“Thank you, love. That sounds perfect.” Devon took his hand, and they headed back inside the pool house to change at the locker room. They would wander, they would have a day, and then maybe if he was really lucky, he would get even more lucky tonight.
And if he didn’t, then at least he would get a nice, hard snuggle.
Chapter
Twenty-One
The newly decorated back room at David’s was really nice. Nothing fancy, but it had that Lady and the Tramp look to it with the tablecloths being red and white checked and little Chianti bottles with candles in them on the tables.
None of the candles were lit right now, of course, because there were going to be maybe a dozen kids floating around during the party. But Devon thought it really, really sweet when it smelled like heaven. He was back to being able to eat red sauce and that kind of thing because everything gave him heartburn now, so it didn’t really matter if he ate Italian food.
Two little tables had been set up at the very back of the room, one that held presents (which was mostly full already) and one to hold a cake, a couple of trays of cannolis, and other various and sundry cookies and things like that.
People were already milling around. Devon wasn’t sure what to do. He felt like he needed to get up and help withstuff. But Laird had ensconced him at a table and given him something to drink and told him to stay.
Tim Lyons came over to sit and smile at him. It made Devon laugh, how the older the man got, the more he looked like the librarian he was. “Wow, it looks great in here. For once, all of us are going to get to tell you congratulations. How cool is that?” Tim waved a hand.
“I think it’s pretty exciting. I think I’ll get even better at my job now. I’ll have felt exactly what’s going on.”
