She grinned sleepily.“Did I win?”
“Baby, you broke records.”
She laughed quietly against my chest.
I stayed there holding her for another minute before finally sitting up enough to switch off the light.Darkness settled around the room.I pulled the blanket over us once I got back into bed, and McKayla immediately curled against my side like she belonged there.
She traced lazy circles against my chest while the room finally went quiet around us.After a minute, she spoke softly.“This feels like a breakthrough.”
I looked down at her.“Yeah.”
“Erin being on the island…” She exhaled slowly.“That connects her to all of this.”
“It does.”
“She worked here.”Her voice got quieter.“Even if it was only a few days.”
I brushed my fingers through her hair slowly.
“We’ll talk to Ron tomorrow,” I told her.“Get more answers.”
She nodded against me, already sounding sleepy again.
I kissed the top of her head once.“Sleep, baby.”
Chapter Twenty
McKayla
“Stop right there!”
I paused with the ketchup bottle upside down over my hot dog and slowly looked across the kitchen table at Cross.“Uh… what?”
Cross pointed at me like I had just committed a felony.“Ketchup is a sin on a hot dog.”
I stared at him for a beat before squeezing a thick line of ketchup right across the top of it.
Cross let out a horrified sound.
I set the bottle down calmly.“Seeing as I’m the one eating this and you aren’t, I’m good with this delicious sin.”
Prime snorted into his beer.
Vin shook his head from the other side of the table.“You’re lucky he doesn’t throw people off the island for that shit.”
Cross looked genuinely offended.“I spent an hour grilling those dogs.”
I took a giant bite and chewed slowly while making eye contact with him.“And I improved one.”
Push barked out a laugh beside me.
Cross pointed his spatula at him.“You’re encouraging her.”
Push leaned back in his chair; one arm draped over the back of it while he watched me with amusement in his dark eyes.“Baby’s got confidence.I respect it.”
I swallowed my bite and grabbed another hot dog off the tray sitting in the middle of the table before sitting sideways in Push’s lap.
His big hand immediately settled against my thigh automatically like it belonged there.
