She sent a blue heart emoji, and I pocketed my phone. It would’ve been so easy to tell her how I felt. To text those three little words. But something stopped me. The fear she wouldn’t say it back, or worse, the fear she would.
With one last look at the house I used to call home, I put the car in drive and headed to my current home, to my Daisy.
The love I felt when I walked through the door was abundant. Duke was the first one to greet me, jumping up and down and giving me loads of kisses, but Daisy wasn’t far behind.
She came bouncing over from the kitchen and practically jumped in my arms, kissing all over my face until she landed on my lips.
I gripped her face and deepened the kiss, not wanting to let go. She matched my energy with fervor, and before long, I was exploring her body and pulling off her shirt. We could say hello later. Before that, I needed to let my body do the talking. To show her how much I’d missed her, and to tell her how I felt with body language.
It seemed she had the same idea when she took off my shirt and bra before starting to undo my pants. I grabbed her wrist, stopping her before dragging her to the bedroom. I didn’t want to be inappropriate in front of the baby, and I had plans to be very bad.
“Damn, hello to you, too. Maybe I should stay home more often.”
I laughed and kissed her neck. “Don’t you dare. I missed you too much.”
After two orgasms each, I was incredibly satisfied and content to stay in bed for the rest of the night.
“I’mconflicted. I missed you like crazy, but coming home to you, to this, never gets old. Are you hungry? I can make some dinner.”
She shook her head. “No. I think you were exactly what I was craving. I don’t want to leave this bed with you.” She yawned and snuggled into me more.
I smiled and held her tightly. Not wanting to let go. I played with her hair and listened to the sounds of her breathing as I slowly drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Four
DAISY
“Duke is really getting the hang of these sessions.He’s a quick learner.” Laurie nodded like she was pleased with herself as we sat inside Brewed Awakening.
“Good. I’ve been working with him at home a lot.” I smiled down at my dog.
We had started his training a few weeks ago, and he was already so helpful. I’d had Kaia partake in some fake situations and he’d alerted me immediately.
Since then, we moved on to more public training and getting both of us comfortable in social situations.
“Tell him he’s doing good and reward him. Just like humans, dogs need reassurance, especially when working.”
I smiled and bent down to pat him softly on the head twice and gave him a treat. We decided from the beginning that would be my way of showing him he was doing a good job without confusing a regular love pat.
He took the treat and settled back under the table. I looked toward Laurie and sipped my tea. It had been a long day of training and I was exhausted.
“So, how are the wife and kids, Laurie? Last time we talked, Gwen was starting kindergarten.”
She beamed over the rim of her cup and nodded. “They are wonderful. I’ve been taking her every morning, and Jess has been picking her up since our schedules are a little different. We all cried on her first day, but she’s made some friends and loves to tell us every day what happened at school. The twins still have a few years to go, thank goodness. I don’t think I’m ready for all my babies to leave the nest just yet.”
“Oh, I bet. I’m scared for that time someday. I can’t imagine howhard it is going to be, being with your baby every day for years, and then all of a sudden they’re gone for most of the day.” I shook my head.
While I wanted children someday, I could wait just a little bit longer. I was content in my life right now, and I didn’t think Kaia would take too kindly to me telling her I wanted to have kids with her.
As true as it might be, that was something we had never talked about. Neither of us were in situations where kids could be a possibility, and she was still dealing with her dad’s death. I didn’t want to bring up a serious conversation like that right now. I was enjoying my time with her, and I wanted to be selfish for a little longer. If she wanted children, she was going to be the perfect mother to them.
“Speaking of little ones, how are things going with Kaia? Do you think you’ll be settling down someday? Where is she today, anyway? She usually attends all the sessions, right?”
I nodded, thinking about how excited I was to get back home to her. “She’s working late today. One of the cashiers had a medical emergency, so she offered to fill in. Things are going really well. It’s still surreal to think about it, to be honest. And that is a conversation for later. I don’t want to scare her off.”
She laughed. “I don’t think that’s possible. I’ve only met her a handful of times, but seeing you two together? She’s not going anywhere.”
I planted a forced smile. That wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to bring down the mood with the truth. I wanted to enjoy the time I had with Kaia, no matter how short it was destined to be. “Thanks, Laurie. What do you say we get out of here? We both need to get home to our girls.”
