Page 93 of Irresistibly Wicked

“With Papa Tank, having a Daddy-son day,” Leah said as Ginger and Conroy sidled up to the table.

Ginger placed a hand on Madigan’s and Leah’s shoulders and said, “It’s so nice to see all our girls together.”

“G’ma! Pawpaw!” Brennan exclaimed, his little arms shooting up.

As Ginger reached for Brennan, Marybelle exclaimed, “Gampa!” and scrambled off Shauna’s lap.

“Come here, Princess.” Conroy scooped Marybelle up, nuzzling her cheek, while Ginger tickled Brennan’s belly, and adorable giggles filled the air.

“It’s such a shame they’re not happy to see you,” Shauna teased, and everyone laughed.

“We’re lucky.” Ginger turned a warm smile on her and said, “How was your honeymoon, sweetheart?”

It had been a week and a half since they’d gotten back from the honeymoon. A week and a half since they’d walked into his cottage and Zander had said, Should I just put your stuff in my room? You know you’re going to end up in there anyway. Sure had rolled out of Shauna like a foregone conclusion. Ten glorious days of good-morning kisses and coffee by the ocean, sexy showers, flirty, dirty texts, fun renovation projects, and with the exception of the nights she’d worked, enjoying the steamiest sex of her life. The massage oil he’d gotten her was the best present ever.

But Shauna couldn’t tell them any of that, so she went with what she’d told the girls when they’d texted about it last week. “It was great. Zander is always fun to be with, and he shocked the heck out of me with that trip. He’s going above and beyond to make our arrangement believable, which I appreciate.”

“He sure is,” Ginger said. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

“He’s not being too pushy, is he?” Conroy asked. “At church last week he said he wrangled you into helping him renovate his cottage.”

“Zander is always pushy,” Madigan chimed in.

“That’s part of his charm,” Shauna said. “And he did wrangle me into helping him renovate, but it’s the least I can do with everything he’s doing for me and Brian.”

“Leave it to Zander to put his wife to work,” Sid said. “Does he force you to cook, too?”

“No. He knows I can’t cook, and I’ve got to tell you, Reba is amazing. She left us dinner in the fridge for the night we got home from the trip. All we had to do was heat it up, and she put about two weeks’ worth of food in the freezer.”

“Food is one of our mama love languages,” Ginger said. “Reba and I keep everyone’s freezers stocked up from time to time.”

“And we greatly appreciate it,” Emerson said, and the other girls concurred.

“We all do, but more importantly, Shauna, don’t let my brother take advantage of you. You don’t have to help him renovate,” Madigan said. “It’s not like you’re not paying him back for helping Brian.”

“He’s not forcing me to help. I enjoy it, and I’m learning a lot from him.” Like how fun it is to be bent over the counter and to ride him when he’s sitting on a kitchen chair. She was also learning a lot about renovating and was thoroughly enjoying that, too. “You should see the kitchen. It’s beautiful. The cabinets are finished, and this week we’re choosing the crown molding. Once that’s done, we’ll paint and then conquer the living room.”

“There’s nothing wrong with getting your hands dirty,” Ginger said.

“I was surprised at how satisfying it is,” Shauna said.

“That’s what he said,” Sid chimed in, making everyone laugh.

“Let’s not go down that road,” Conroy warned. “We have a surprise for Shauna and our very special mama-to-be, Emerson.” He pulled a stack of long, narrow, laminated menus from his back pocket and handed them to the girls. “Our new mocktail menu.”

“Yum!” Reese said.

“That’s so nice of you.” Emerson got up to hug them.

Surprised and touched that they’d included Shauna, she said, “Thank you for thinking of me.”

“You’re family, darlin’,” Conroy said. “We’ll always think of you.”

“I told Zander we’re keeping her after the divorce,” Madigan said proudly, and the others nodded and murmured in agreement.

Shauna’s chest felt full as they looked over the menu of virgin daiquiris and other mocktails with cute names like Pineapple Punch, Blueberry Mockito, Wicked Watermelon-Basil Fizz, and Chocolate Mocktini. They really made her feel like one of them, and she wondered if it was possible to fall for an entire family.

“A Blueberry Mockito sounds perfect to me,” Leah said.