Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 128801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
I glanced back at her when I made it to the top-floor landing, ignoring the ripping at my chest with how fucking pretty she was, those full lips in a constant pout as she followed me up, carrying a couple bags that I’d also insisted on buying.
“Yes, Dakota, it is necessary. You think I’m not going to have a comfortable place for Kayden to sleep while he’s here?”
A comfortable place for her?
Too fucking bad it wasn’t in my bed.
But I couldn’t let my mind go traipsing into thoughts like that, so I shifted the massive box and sent her a grin. “Besides, I’ve been wanting to put a kids’ room together for all my nieces and nephews, and you know with the way Caleb and Paisley have been going at it, we’re bound to have a little Caleb or Paisley running around here soon.”
Okay, they had no plans for that, but I needed the excuse.
That throaty laugh rolled through the air.
I had to suppress a groan.
How much my dick loved the sound of it.
“We would be in so much trouble then. I’m not sure Time River could handle the likes of that.”
I chuckled. “Kid would be so full of sass we wouldn’t know what to do.”
“So cute, though, right?”
“Oh yeah.” I shifted the box so I could maneuver it down the hall and through the door. Kayden was already in the room where we’d left him in his playpen so he’d be safe while we brought everything in. Holding onto the sides, he started jumping when he saw us enter. “Rye-Rye! Mommy! I see you!”
Dakota laughed that tender laugh. The one reserved for her son. “I see you, too,” she sang, angling around so she could actually see him from behind the box.
“I get new bed?”
“That’s right, K-Bear, you’re getting a new bed so you always have a place to sleep when you come to my house.”
“My house.” Kayden smacked his little chest, and a rough chuckle got free, affection so fierce it was almost painful.
But love was like that a whole lot of the time, wasn’t it?
Painful.
Unfulfilled.
Unrequited.
That or you were terrified you were going to lose it once you had it.
I leaned the box on the wall then moved to run my hand through his hair. “You like it here, huh, buddy?”
“I wike it wots,” he agreed, chubby cheeks denting with those dimples, his little nose scrunched.
A throaty sound came from behind as Dakota leaned down to set the bags on the floor. “Don’t get too comfortable, sweet boy. We’re going to have to go back to our house soon.”
My insides clutched at the thought of it. Couldn’t stand the idea of her there alone. Fucking hated that someone had been lurking around her place. Thoughts plaguing me. Wondering what might have happened if I hadn’t been there. If I’d been too late.
Had I scared the fucker away? Or had he been long gone once he realized it was actually a house, the way Ezra suspected?
But I couldn’t take that fucking chance, and I was angling in Dakota’s direction. “You don’t have to go back to your house soon, Dakota. My place is yours for as long as you want it.”
Forever if need be.
Hell, I’d be a lucky bastard if I could have that. But I wasn’t lucky, was I?
Redness rushed her high, full cheeks, and she fought with rolling her eyes like she thought I was messing with her the way I used to when we were kids.
But I’d stopped looking at her like a little girl a long time ago. The day she’d come back from Boulder where she’d gone to college to study business. It was like every fucking thing I’d known had been demolished that day. Every moment of our pasts coming together to add up to that very second.
Every minute we’d ever spent together had gone through my mind in both a blur and in vivid color. Every time I’d taken care of her, and every time she’d taken care of me. The way we’d just…find each other when the other was in need.
Every interaction purposed. Every moment a building block.
In that one second, the instant I saw her after she returned, every single one of those things had come rushing back at me, and my soul had known.
But I’d been a fool. Made a deal with the devil, thinking I wouldn’t get played.
So now I was left doing my best to pretend like what I felt for her didn’t exist.
“You know I can’t stay here forever.” Her words had dimmed to wisps, and I reached out and brushed back a lock of soft, brown hair from her face.
“You can do anything you want, Dakota.”
She choked out a laugh, and I could feel the way she pulled back a fraction, like we were getting too close.