His hand travels over my hip and holds my side. Leaning over, he kisses me with reverence in the pressure. When he’s staring into my eyes, he whispers, “It was incredible to feel you wrapped around me, and to watch you come.” Kissing my forehead, he sits back. “It was amazing.” He stands and reaches for the towel hanging nearby.
It’s hard to miss his erection, and he doesn’t try to hide it one bit. He also doesn’t ask me to return the favor eventhough I’d be more than happy to. He places the towel over the faucet and says, “You need anything?”
“No. I’m all good.” And smiling like a fool.
“I’m going to head down and get a glass of water.” He’s already in the doorway when he looks back. “I also want to see if the rumors of the magical cookies are true. I’m stealing one if it is.”
I’m too happy to contain the laugh that’s itching to come out. “Grab me one if you do.”
As soon as I hear the bedroom door close, I lie back with my arms wide. “So this is what heaven is like.”
There’s still much to work out on a professional level with this deal we’ve struck, including a call to Mrs. Dover first thing in the morning. On a personal level, though, I’ve never been happier.
CHAPTER 16
DANIEL
“Your middle name is Sky?” I rub her back, holding her in my arms in bed. “Summer Sky Season?” It probably shouldn’t surprise me anymore. “Your parents went all in.”
She giggles against my chest, her finger never slowing from drawing figure eights across my skin. “Yep. They did.” I didn’t think I’d be in her bed tonight, but it made no sense for me to be on the couch after what happened in the bathtub. Her words.Not mine. I would have been sleeping on the sofa if she hadn’t flipped the covers open and told me to get in. “Want to know what my sisters’ names are?” She tilts her head up to look at me. “Ready?”
I’ve met two because they all seem to be running on different schedules. Understandable at the point they each are in their lives. Summer, as the oldest, is eager to carve out her place, to have something all her own, and to put her energy into. I’m thinking it’s because she’s losing the role she’s played in each of their lives. I have years with Roman before he takes off for college or pursues whatever he decides, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know the absence iscoming. Faster than I’d like. Transition is hard, but it’s life. “I’m ready.”
“Summer Sky. Autumn Leaf, Winter Snow, and Spring Lily. We tease that Autumn won the lottery with her name, so playful nicknaming led to us calling her Fall when we were little. It just stuck. Now, if we dare to call her Autumn, she’ll correct us.”
“It’s impressive and original.”
Pushing up, she rests her weight on her hand. “You called me Sunshine?”
I’m not sure of the question posed. I act on instinct in hockey, and I’m smarter than I’ve been given credit for, usually underestimated as a dumb jock. With Summer, though, I do what I never do and follow my heart. “You are. Every time I see you, it’s like the sun has come out.”
Her gaze dips down as if the compliment is too much to hear, though her smile gives her away. I reach up and touch her cheeks that are warm for me. “What about your parents? What were their names?”
Her eyes flick back to mine, brightening her entire expression. “You want to know my parents’ names?”
“Of course, I do.”
Angling toward me a little more, she says, “Faith Loving.” The inspired tone prompts her smile to grow, as if hearing the name itself created it.
“That’s beautiful.”
“She was. She was so beautiful. I can sometimes still hear her laughter. It used to ring through this house, reaching every corner.” Her gaze drifts to the room around us, and she sighs. When she turns back, she says, “My dad was Charlie. Charles officially. Charles Duke Season. Charlie Season and Faith Loving.” She lies back in my arms, her breathing even, which I prefer. With her hand flattenedto my stomach, she keeps her head down. “Do you want to talk about your parents?”
“No. I like your world better.” The response feels like a betrayal. My mom deserves better than to be lumped in with my father. Draping an arm over my head, I say, “My mom is Janie. That’s what everybody calls her.” I glance at Summer. “Janie Sutton. She wasn’t perfect when I was growing up and had her own struggles with my father, but she did the best she could. She’s better without him, even as a mom.”
“When did they divorce?”
Running a hand through my hair, I’ve carried the burden of their relationship most of my life. “She stayed until I helped her get out. I bought her a place of her own.”
Summer slides up next to me, her head resting on the seam of the two pillows to stay close. I glance at her and can’t find an ounce of judgment in her fine features. I do find an assuring smile, forgiving at the ends like the corners of her eyes, leaving room for me to say what I need to get off my chest. “I’ve never really talked about this stuff.” There’s a pause. When I look at her again, I can see the hesitation and concern deepening her blue eyes. “I feel okay with you.”
She presses her palm to my cheek. I lean into it, and she asks, “Why don’t you talk about it?”
“There was no one to talk to.”
The release of a heavy breath has her lowering her hand and slipping it against mine between us. She whispers, “You can talk to me, Daniel. I’ll always listen.”
I reach up and take her chin between my thumb and forefinger, studying her the way her eyes hold truth to the offer. “Where’d you come from?”
