Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
DAISY
I was nervous. Really freaking nervous.
I was supposed to just show up at Cash’s friend’s house and meet these people he considered family? People I didn’t know when I once felt like I knew Cash better than anyone?
And what? Explain to them what I asked of him? Tell them what I’d gotten him involved in?
Tell them he was going to marry me and start the proceedings to adopt my children, you know, just in case my ex hunted me down and offed me?
Yeah.
They were going to hate me.
“We get to go pway wif de kids?” Eva was bent at the knees, kneeling so low and bouncing that her butt nearly touched the ground. She grinned that beaming smile, my youngest daughter wearing a cute summer romper with white and mint green stripes with a big strawberry on the front.
My heart swelled to overflowing. None of the kids had stopped talking about this little excursion since I told them what we were doing.
A picnic.
A picnic with Cash’s friends.
Before I could answer, Colin cut in, banging a stick on the ground as he called, “Yep, we do! Right, Mr. Cash?”
A shockwave of energy blasted out from where Cash stood near a silver Suburban.
The sky was blue and clear, and birds chirped as they flitted from tree to tree.
While the man looked like a dark storm standing below the rays of the sun.
A tremor ripped through me.
I made a big, big mistake last night.
Because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What we did. The line we crossed.
Those eyes found mine. A hazel blaze that ate me up.
Even from where I stood at the bottom of the porch steps to where he had pulled the SUV up in the drive, he felt it and knew exactly what I was thinking.
He turned toward Colin, who skipped toward him. Duke trotted along at my son’s side.
“Yeah. We’re going to go hang out with my family.”
He looked back at me.
His expression both harsh and warm.
I shivered beneath it.
Behind me, the door clattered shut. I shifted a fraction to see Addy walk out. The beading kit Cash had purchased for her firmly held in her hands.
“I’m ready!” Her feet pounded across the porch and down the stairs, her voice carrying on the wind.
“Do you think Maci is old enough to make a bracelet with me? I know she’s two years younger than me, but my mom said sometimes girls are more mature than their age, and I think I could probably teach her exactly what to do, and I won’t let her swallow any of them or anything. ”
A gruff chuckle rolled out of Cash. “Pretty sure Maci can take on the world, so I’m thinkin’ she’ll be just fine making a bracelet or two.”
He glanced at Colin then back at Addy. “But you and Maci should make sure you don’t leave anyone out. Wouldn’t want Nolan or Colin or our little Finn to get the boot from your party.”
“I don’t want the boot,” Colin drawled, like he knew exactly what Cash was referring to.
I bit down on my bottom lip to stop the rush of affection. Hit by a swell of it with the fact that Cash was giving my children gentle instruction.
Like it was his job.
Like he’d been meant to help shape and mold them into caring, considerate human beings.
“I don’t gots no boots,” Eva sang as she pranced around on the toes of her white leather sandals, holding onto that teddy bear Cash had bought her, refusing to let it out of her sight.
Another low toll of laughter escaped Cash’s mouth.
I could get lost in that sound.
“No need for any boots,” he said in his brusque way, though tenderness rippled from him. “Now everyone in or we’re going to be late. If we don’t get over there, the girls will send out the search party and that’s the last thing we need.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Big Grumpy Giant! I’m going to make sure we play with everyone.”
As of this morning, Addy had turned a corner. Had whispered in my ear that she thought Cash was ‘nice’.
“You never forget the ones you have in your heart, remember?” she added as she climbed into the back of the SUV.
Those eyes lifted to me when she said it.
Piercing.
Penetrating.
Shaking the ground beneath my feet.
He seemed to have to pry himself away, and he turned and swept Eva up from under the arms. “Let’s go, little ragamuffin.”
She squealed as she threw her arms around his neck. “I not a wagamuff-in.”
“Sure you are,” he said, ruffling a big hand through her hair before he ushered Colin into the back. Then he swung Eva around and buckled her into the car seat on the passenger side.
While I stalled.
Just watching.
Taking in the most precious scene.
My attention dropped to his mother’s simple ring that I wore on my finger. A wave of nostalgia and old affection pressed in at the edges of my consciousness.
As if it could be real and not this messed-up arrangement we had made.
He turned back to me. “Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there staring?”
Staring seemed like a prudent idea.
Too bad getting closer to him seemed even better. A fool’s game as I ducked my head between my shoulders and scurried up to where he had the front passenger door open and waiting.
Of course, my toe caught on a rock and I fumbled forward. Not enough to fall. Just enough to send a rush of humiliation lighting on my cheeks.
Only Cash grinned.
Soft and slow and adoring, and God, my heart was not going to make it.
I regained balance, though with every step toward him, the air seemed to thicken.
His aura saturating the atmosphere.
Fresh pine and the faint trace of oil and sweat.
Pure masculinity that had me knocking at the knees.
His brutally handsome face lit by the radiance of the sun and his hulking body vibrating with all that strength.
My lungs were barely functioning by the time I made it to within two feet of him. I managed to gather myself enough so I could peer into the backseat.
I frowned a little when I realized all three children were in brand-new car seats and boosters.
“I thought you got the car seats from my car?”
He gave a slight shrug. “Figured I might need them.”
“Oh.” It left me on a wheeze, then I realized there was a different smell coming from the car.
The unmistakable scent of new leather.
My frown only deepened. “Is this your car?”
I realized then I hadn’t seen it before, but it wasn’t like I’d been out rummaging around in his giant detached garage that contained three or four different vehicles plus a bunch of motorcycles.
Something I’d barely peeked at the couple times that he had the massive rolling doors wide open.
“Is now.”
“Since when?”
He gave another nonchalant shrug. “Since this morning.”
My eyes must have bugged out of my head because he was suddenly right in front of me, stealing the air.
“Made a commitment to you, which means I’m going to take every step required until we put this threat to rest.”
“So you bought a new car?” My brow pinched as I looked up at him.
Too bad it was like staring at an eclipse.
Blinding in its darkness.
“The car is nothing, Daisy. It’s the lives inside it that matter.”
My heart squeezed. Squeezed so painfully and beautifully that I nearly lost footing.
Lightheadedness rushed in, though in its wake, I was wrapped in a bough of comfort.
“Thank you, Cash.” I could barely get it out around the fullness in my throat.
“Only thing I want is to take care of you.” A moment’s vulnerability seeped into his harsh features.
No question, I was going to get lost in it if I wasn’t careful, so I sidestepped him so I could climb into the passenger seat.
Only a hand was suddenly splayed out over my abdomen, tugging me back against the hard planes of his body.
Flames scorched me at the contact.
He pressed his mouth to my ear, and the words he murmured were gravel.
“Did you like it? When I took care of you last night, Little Wallflower? Did you like my mouth on you? Because I can promise you that I’ve never liked anything better than you on your knees for me.
Best thing I’ve ever felt. That sweet mouth wrapped around my cock. ”
Surprise blistered across my flesh, and desire pooled in my belly. A fierce, pounding throb as I struggled to maintain sense and rationale.
Who was I kidding?
I was already lost.
He grunted a satisfied sound as that big hand seared through my shirt and into my skin. A permanent imprint just like he made last night.
Because if I hadn’t known it for all these years, I definitely knew it then.
There would never be any getting over him.