Hope had not been a big part of his life.Survival had.Proving himself had.Closing the next deal had been his life for the last ten plus years.
He’d been so alone for so long except for Cam.And now he had Ayana, but they were new, finding their way, and the stupid contract he wanted to rip up hung over them.
“We know,” Cash said.
He carefully unstrapped the baby and placed her in Telford’s ready, but awkward arms.Telford stared down into the blue eyes so like his.The dark brows that made her face look like she had a question.He had no words.For once, neither did Ayana.Her breathing fractured, and she trembled beside him, but he didn’t trust himself enough to hold the baby with only one arm so that he could pull Ayana close like he wanted and she needed.The moment felt weirdly emotional to him.Ayana’s reaction was unexpected.Was she perhaps rethinking her decree of no kids?
I want this.All of it.
The words rose like a vow.He knew then he intended to keep Ayana.Build a relationship with Cash and Bronte.Madelyn and the Telfords.To protect them.To help build a future not only for himself, but for his family too—all of his family.
Chapter Sixteen
“Easier said thandone,” Telford muttered.
“What is?”Ayana took her mark, holding the axe that Riley had used.She pumped it experimentally.Her eyes narrowed at the target.“Don’t you dare move that closer than it was for Telford.”
A tall, dark-haired man with hair past his shoulders named Cross raised both hands up and stepped away from the targets.
Another man, Huck, one of Rohan Telford’s former army buddies and now business partners looked at Ayana.“Yes, ma’am.Ready?”
She held up a finger.“What’s easier said than done?”she challenged Telford.
“Ahhh.”He looked embarrassed.
She grinned.She was doing fantastic on the challenges so far.They were well matched and Telford’s outdoor fitness pleasantly surprised her.She’d imagined him more of a gym rat running on a treadmill while listening to a financial podcast and pumping weights with his trainer.
“This,” he said, his cheeks a little pink and he made a spastic motion to indicate the couples cheering on and shouting advice on her axe throwing.“Belonging.”
The noise and the energy tunneled, and she looked at Telford.He had made this morning possible for her, for them.He was a closed-off man, who’d let her into his life.That alone felt like a miracle.And now he was giving her a family, friends, a place where they could belong and build something.
And he can take it all away.
It felt like the late morning autumn sun dimmed, and she suddenly felt chilly.
Telford had been the first man who’d treated her like she was his equal, his partner, like her opinion and feelings mattered.He’d made love to her like she was cherished.Watching him bring her to orgasm in the mirror had been the most erotic thing she could imagine.Several times she’d teared up with the intense emotion of their lovemaking—so much more than physical.
She’d loved every moment.The alarm bells should be ringing, but instead for the first time she felt hope.Maybe her life could be different.Full.No running.
“You seem like a natural in the woods.”Ayana struggled to pull herself back from the emotional brink of wanting their marriage to be real.
“Really?”He seemed pleased.
“Kiss for good luck,” she said impulsively and lowered the axe to kiss his cheek.
More cheers rang out, reminding her that not only were they not alone, but she was also up for her three attempts to axe-throw, which sounded primally satisfying.
“You don’t need luck.Just good hand-eye and strength—all of which you have.”
She bit back a smile.So Telford.Again, she practiced the warm-up swing and sighted the target.She imagined the Family—not that she’d axe them a la Lizzie Borden style—but more she wanted to rip up the repressive control she’d chafed against.
“Ready.”She definitely was.
“Clear,” Huck shouted.
Keeping her eye on the target—a rule in every athletic endeavor and life really—Ayana brought her arm up a little higher, cocked her wrist, angled back, and whooshed her arm forward, snapping her wrist.
The axe buried into the target close to center.
