Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Hot tears prick my eyes. I miss my dad so much. I wish I could say that I miss my mother, but I don’t remember her. I do mourn the loss of never having a mom in my life, but my dad, he was the best man, and we never went without and always knew we were loved. “Th—Thank you.” I swallow hard. “I appreciate you so much.”
“I have personal pan pizzas ready for cheese!” Eric calls out.
“Pizza!” the girls cheer and rush past Heather into the house.
“Well, that went well.” Brogan chuckles. “They won’t even miss us.”
“Not helping.” I glare at her.
“Come on.” She tugs on my arm.
“Two hours, tops,” I tell Heather over my shoulder, allowing Brogan to lead me to my car.
“Take your time. We’ll be here.” Heather smiles kindly and waves before walking into the house and closing the door. Brogan leads me to the passenger side of my car and opens the door.
“Get in.”
I do as I’m told because my heart is breaking. “I’m leaving my daughters with strangers,” I say as soon as she slides behind the wheel.
“They’re going to be fine. We’ve known Monroe for a while now, and you toured the house, and the girls are happy. They didn’t even care that we were leaving. It’s all going to be fine,” she assures me.
I know she’s right, but leaving them with people I don’t know very well still makes my heart race. I know I need to get over it. They’re turning four soon, and then in another year they’ll be heading off to kindergarten. I need to adjust to them not being with me or Brogan twenty-four-seven. Besides, I know this is good for them, to have other people in their lives.
Baby steps.
“I’m so glad we did this,” Emerson says, smiling widely as she takes a drink of her beer.
“Right?” Monroe agrees. She glances over at me and Brogan, and then at Maggie, a nurse who works with Emerson. “It’s nice to have some other ladies to hang out with. We’re surrounded by men.”
“I mean, they’re sexy men, but yeah.” Emerson shrugs.
“I’m going to need photographic evidence, or it’s not true.” Maggie points her finger at Emerson.
“Please hold.” Monroe holds up her index finger, telling us to wait before grabbing her phone from the table. She taps the screen and grins, nodding. “This was from New Year’s Eve,” she says, passing her phone to Maggie.
“Damn.” Maggie nods her approval and passes the phone to Brogan.
“Holy hell. You’re complaining about hanging out with these guys? Really?” Brogan asks, handing me the phone.
I glance down at the screen, and staring back at me are five very gorgeous, very tattooed men standing side by side. I take in each of their features. They’re all gorgeous, but one stands out in particular. His blondish brown hair is cut short on the sides, and longer on top. His eyes are dark brown, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think I was the one he’s looking at in this picture. His gaze is piercing.
“Wow,” I finally say, reaching across the table and handing Monroe her phone.
“So, which one is yours?” Brogan asks Monroe.
“Legend. He’s on the very far right,” she says, nodding to the picture. She lifts her phone so that we can see it again. “The guy next to him is Roman, Emerson’s husband, and the middle man is Forrest, Emerson’s brother. Beside him is Lachlan, and then Maddox.” She rattles off names I probably won’t remember, but I do remember the name of the man in the middle.
Forrest.
“I feel so bad for you,” Maggie says, smiling and shaking her head.
“They’re great guys,” Emerson says. “But it’s nice to have this too. For so long, it was just me and Mo, and the rest of them. Hey, why don’t you all come to Lilly’s birthday party next weekend? You can meet the guys for yourselves.”
“There are three of them and three of you,” Monroe says, wagging her eyebrows dramatically, making us laugh.
“The girls would love that,” Brogan tells her.
“Twin girls, right?” Emerson asks me.
“Yes. They’ll be four in April. Wow, that’s next month.”
“Time flies,” Emerson says. “I can’t believe Lilly is turning one.”
“It really does. Another year and they’ll be going off to kindergarten,” I say, voicing my earlier thoughts. “I’m so not ready.”
“You have to bring them to the party. Lilly will love it. It’s a small group and no other kids. My mother-in-law watches her, so no daycare kids or anything, and no cousins yet.” She winks at Monroe, who smiles brightly.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Positive,” Emerson says. “Lilly will love having other kids there. I’ll grab your number from Monroe and send you the address. Brogan and Maggie, you’ll both be there, too, right?” she asks.
“If the tattoo hottie squad is going to be there, I’m in,” Maggie jokes. At least, I think she’s joking.