Page 24 of Kiss Me Forever

Bella began to laugh, and Reece let out a sigh. “Yes, the nighttime gardener. You never know when flowers will just pop up in your yard without permission.” He snarled at me, though his eyes were dancing.

It had been at the beginning of spring after the last frost, and I knew he only let me do it because I had still been wallowing in my own grief. I was better now, I didn’t think about Duke every moment. The fact that I had even looked at the notes today was a surprise to me. I wasn’t the broken, shattered person I had been before. And it was because of small things—like Reece letting me attack his yard without permission.

We met each other’s gazes, and I had no idea what was in those beautiful eyes of his, until finally Bella touched my arm. “Brooklyn? Are you okay?”

I blinked, tearing my gaze away from Reece, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. His daughter was right next to us for fuck’s sake.

Not that anything was happening. It was just so not the time.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just need to get my hat because I’m a little overheated.”

Reece grunted something, and I ignored him. It was best to do so.

“See you in an hour?” I asked Reece.

“If you’re sure...”

“I really don’t mind, Reece. I like Brooklyn,” Bella answered.

I didn’t know why that made me so happy, and I couldn’t read Reece to see what he felt about that.

“That’s good. Today’s a weird day, Bella. I promise I won’t leave you to walk around a job site like this again. We’re just figuring things out.”

“I know. And you guys got me back into camp.” She brightened up, and I couldn’t help but see Reece in her.

“I’m glad it all worked out,” I said.

“Thank you. Seriously.” Bella wrapped her arms around me, and I let out a shocked gasp before I hugged her back. It was a quick hug. One moment she was there, the next she was gone, looking a little embarrassed. But I had to blink back tears. I risked a look at Reece, and once again I couldn’t read the expression on his face. Was he happy that Bella and I were bonding? Or did he resent it? Or maybe I was thinking too hard.

“We’ll be right around the front, don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe.”

“I know you will, Brooklyn.” He cleared his throat at that announcement that nearly sent me over the edge—of what I didn’t know—and turned to his daughter.

“Listen to Brooklyn. And stay within her eyesight of her at all times. I know you were doing so with me already, and I’m grateful. But please, be safe. From now on, I won’t take you to a place where you can get hurt. Okay? Not that you can get hurt here. Hell.”

He was so cute when he rambled. And that was enough of that line of thought.

“It’s fine, Reece. I like seeing where you work.”

I think Bella was surprised at that admission, as was Reece. And instead of letting them wallow in their discomfort, I moved forward and held out my hand.

“Come on, Bella. Let me show you the wonderful world of flowers. Of course, you had to miss the day where I had to dig a trench and plant trees, but maybe next time. I could use those muscles of yours.”

“You planted trees? But you’re so small.”

“She’s stronger than she looks,” Reece said, and I nearly tripped over my feet.

We waved goodbye to Reece and walked towards the front of the house. I had no idea what to do about Reece Fox. I had a feeling anything I did was probably the wrong thing. No matter what, the only thing that mattered was the little girl at my side. The little girl who was nearly my height to be honest. She was hurting, scared, lost, everything I felt a year ago. Like me, she wasn’t alone. We weren’t going to let her feel that way. She had Reece, his family, and she had the Montgomerys. As long as I remembered that there was another person in our lives who could be hurt as well. And I wouldn’t think about Reece in any way again.

Chapter 6

BROOKLYN

Heat blasted my face as I opened the oven, annoyed with myself for not putting in my contacts before I’d started my day. I quickly took out my two loaves, set them on the oven top, closed the oven door, and finished my process. They would cool on the wire racks while I got ready for the day, and I would bring them into work. I hadn’t slept well the night before, or the night prior to that. So my stress breaking had reached an all new level. I knew Lexington was annoyed with me for bringing so many carbs into the office, but between our teams, and people who came in for meetings, everything was eaten, and it meant my cousin didn’t need to indulge himself.

Today was a jalapeno cheddar loaf and an apple spice brown sugar loaf. The apple one was ridiculously large because of all the excess liquid, but I was calling it a win.

Jamie would’ve loved this one. I ran my hand over my heart, annoyed that I was upset that my cousin and one of my best friends was gone. She wasn’t gone, gone. She was happy and getting married and living in Wyoming along with our other cousin, Libby. They had their whole lives ahead of them, and I was proud of them. But I hated that they had left me behind.