Page 60 of Double the Redemption

She rolled her eyes. “Ink, we’re not getting into this again.”

“Getting into what? I’m trying to make our lives better, and we’re just chatting. Past that, we can figure it all out later. Oh, and we really should add that I get to kiss you at least five times a day. You know what? Put that at the top of the list.”

“No. No lists. We’re not going there. And five times a day? That’s insane. What, you’re going to make a chart you can check off whenever you complete each task?”

He bit back a triumphant grin. She might not want to talk about it, but it seemed she couldn’t help herself. He could work with that.

“You seem like the kind who’s into organization, so I’d do it for you to show I’m following the rules,” he offered. “I mean, I’ll probably want to color it up a bit so that we give it some life, but we can compromise on that. Isn’t that what couples do, compromise? Great way to make sure we’re going to be good at that.”

“Ink …”

“And is five too few? I’ll change it to more if you want. Ten? Fifteen? I mean, I can probably get in half of those before I’d have to head to the shop, and when I return, we can⁠—”

“Oh my God, stop!” she shouted, throwing her hands up. “You’re impossible. I am not kissing you that many times. Ever.”

“Too few still? Alright, well, we might have to schedule some time to come back and … umph.” He chuckled when she clamped a hand over his mouth, muffling him. Licking her palm, he grinned, making her grimace. She yanked her hand away and wiped it on her pants.

“Was your whole purpose to come over here and annoy me tonight?” she asked. “Because it’s working.”

“Actually, I came over to see if I could convince you to bring Asher for a walk with me. We have a path that goes through some of the buildings and is far from the boundaries, so you’ll be covered if you’re worried about it. I could probably convince Taz to follow up on the rooftops if you wanted the extra security. But I’m enjoying this too.”

Taz would probably be mouthing off and offering unsolicited advice the entire way.

She stilled. “You wanted us to leave the apartment?”

“Babe, you’ve been cooped up in here, and you really need to stretch your legs. Asher would probably be happy to play outside for a bit. It’s getting late, so we can walk before it gets dark. We’ll have protection. I can probably even convince Karissa and Glitch to come along, but that means their men too, and they’re pains in the ass on a good day.”

“Did you put the girls up to telling me that too?” Her tone was suspicious.

“Nope. I haven’t seen any of them all day since I left for the shop early. Which, by the way, is not my norm. I normally don’t show up there until noon, but I promised Tom I’d work with him on a few things. The kid is freaking amazing at picking things up. He’s going to be great to have around the shop.” He winked. “And he’s been very good at keeping all the paperwork organized for you. He gave me the death glare when I grabbed one from his stack yesterday.”

“As he should. You don’t mess with a filing system. That explains why the last stack you brought me earlier this week was actually organized and in order. You should take some lessons from him.”

“That’s what I have a prospect for. He does the sh—crap work for me so I don’t have to. Now, about that walk …”

“I-I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’m not sure it’s safe yet. And Taz probably doesn’t want to follow us around.”

Ink set the dishcloth down and headed for the door.

“What are you doing?”

Opening the door, he called out, “I know you’re listening. You going to cover us?”

“Already figured it out. Karissa will be on lookout on the other side. Tell our girl she’s good.”

“Fuck off.”

Taz laughed, and Ink shut the door. “We’re covered, Taz and Karissa both. Glitch will probably be monitoring the cameras.”

She blinked. “Are they always going to do this? Won’t they hate it? We’re probably ruining their evening.”

“Nope, this is what they signed up for. And their men can suck it up. Now, I’m going to finish the dishes. Do you need to get Asher ready?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I never agreed to this plan of yours. It’s getting close to Asher’s bath and bedtime, anyway.”

“Then we’d better get a move on.”

He wanted her out of this apartment. She needed to breathe and let some of the edge slip away. Maybe he was an idiot, risking a knee to the balls, but he swiftly lifted his hand, wrapped it around the back of her neck, and tilted her head back so he could press a quick, hard kiss to her mouth. It wasn’t anything overly deep, but it was enough to make him want to sink into her. He pulled away quickly, not wanting to push her, and said, “We’ll count that as one toward the total. We can figure out the exact amount on our walk. I’m still saying fifteen is a good start.”