“Well, I’m going to…should I grab her?” Jocelyn asks as she steps forward, but then Hutch pulls her back against him.
“Like the fuck you are. She’ll come back on her own. I love Cliff, but she’s definitely not a domesticated animal,” Hutch growls.
Jocelyn snuggles back against Hutch. “Fine,” she grumbles.
He kisses the top of her head. “Come on, let’s get coffee.”
“See you guys,” I say.
Bray reaches out for the flowers and passes them to me.
“For you,” he says.
I grin. “I guess I could use some flowers,” I state as I link arms with him and head back upstairs.
“Let’s wake the princess,” Bray says as he unlocks my door and walks inside, ready to start our day.
“You wake her,” I say as I motion to her door. “She’ll want to see you before school.”
He nods and then leans in and gives me a kiss that quickly deepens. He sets our coffees down and pulls me against him. Now, this side of Bray, I could get used to. I just hope he’s able to battle whatever inner demons he still has about being serious with someone, because I don’t think I can go back to being just his friend, not now that I know there’s so much more between us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Bray
I can see in her face that she’s worried that I’ll bail on her. And for the first time in my life, I feel a fire lit under me to prove to a woman that I’m here to stay. Those forty-eight hours of not seeing her were a sucker punch to my gut. I missed her. I thought of her constantly. I missed Ava jumping into my arms. I missed lying in bed with Carly. I could have stayed longer at work, but when the opportunity to leave early arose, I jumped at the chance to wake her.
Now, I need a plan, a plan to prove that I’m serious. I don’t want her constantly worried that I’ll up and leave her. That’s not fair to her or Ava.
I walk into Ava’s room. I hear the shower turn on as Carly gets ready for work.
I look over to Ava’s bed and immediately know that she’s not sleeping. Ava has always been the worst fake sleeper. Her overexaggerated snoring is her telltale sign.
I sit down on her bed. “Geez, I wonder if Ava is still asleep?” I pretend to talk to myself. I see her lips twitch. “I guess I’ll just drink this hot cocoa since she’s not awake.”
Ava sits upright and opens her eyes wide. “You have hot cocoa!” she says excitedly.
I hold it above my head, out of her reach. “What were you doing awake?” I ask, giving her a suspicious look.
“I…” She trails off and blushes and bites her lip just like her mother does.
“Ava,” I prod, giving her a sharp look.
She leans up and whispers in my ear, “I saw you kissing Mommy.”
Oh, shit. I guess the cat’s way out of the bag. I weigh my options for a long moment. Do I tell her the truth? Do I run and get Carly? What do I do?
“Are you and Mommy gonna get married?” Ava asks as she stays up on her knees so she can look into my eyes.
I swallow hard. But not from the fear of doing what she’s saying, from the fear of not doing it. What have I been doing for three years? I love this woman with all my heart. She knows nearly everything about me now. And she still loves me, well, I think she loves me.
“Can you keep a secret, Ava?” I ask.
“Oh, yeah. I’m great at secrets. I haven’t told anyone that Annabeth kissed Kaden on the playground,” she says, and then her eyes go wide, and she puts both hands over her mouth.
I chuckle. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Her shoulders slump a little. “OK,” she says, but her tone tells me she isn’t so sure that I’m good at secret keeping.
