Chapter 16
It was another hour and a half before Brogan came in. Both kids had been fed, bathed, changed into their pajamas, and were still wide awake.
With a shout of excitement, Andy raced to Brogan and was scooped up for an enthusiastic hug. “I could get used to this, buddy.”
Brogan removed his boots while still holding Andy, then carried him to the blanket where Shayna, on her stomach, grinned and pedaled her legs at seeing him.
Somehow Brogan managed to hold both kids for a few minutes, showing affection to both. Andy was especially “talkative,” and Brogan nodded and looked surprised at all the right times.
“This amazes me,” Brogan said, putting his nose to Shayna’s head and breathing in her clean scent. “You got them both bathed?”
“It was easier than you’d think,” she answered. Her son’s once-set schedule had been altered multiple times recently, but Pixie was too happy to have Brogan and Shayna in her life to object.
He looked down at the kids for a moment. “I never meant to add to your workload.”
“Hey, I have you in my life, and I consider Shayna part of my family. Having you both here has livened things up.”
Smiling, he kissed each kid on the top of the head, then set them aside. “I’m in desperate need of a shower.”
“It’s all yours,” Pixie said.
He gave her a look. “Don’t tell me you got the kids bathed and managed a shower for yourself?”
“Consider me superwoman.” She grinned. “I closed them in the bathroom with me and kept constant watch. I didn’t get to wash my hair, but it’ll be fine until tomorrow.”
Wearing a look of admiration and tenderness, he reached over and brushed his thumb along her cheek. “You’re amazing.”
And I’m yours. Pixie turned her face to kiss his palm. “At least Ruthie is out of the picture.”
“For now.” He stood. “I’ll make it quick.”
“No need. We’re fine.” Pixie stretched out on her stomach near Shayna and looked at Andy’s book with him.
It was time for her and Brogan to figure out their future.
She decided she’d start tackling that tonight.
Marlow had suggested that she tell Brogan how she felt.
Since it hadn’t been so long ago that Marlow had fallen in love with Cort, Pixie figured her advice counted for a lot.
Of course, she always thought Marlow made great points. Her friend was a smart, savvy woman.
In a mere fifteen minutes, Brogan had finished. He wore a clean white T-shirt and sweatpants, which hung loose on his hips. Barefoot, he paused in the kitchen to warm up a bottle for Shayna.
“It’s past her bedtime,” he said as he rejoined Pixie in the living room.
“Andy’s too. He’s struggling to keep his eyes open.”
“Sorry.” Brogan kissed her, then helped her to her feet. “Honestly, you look beat as well.”
“A little.” Neither of them had gotten much rest the night before. Pixie hugged him and whispered, “I wouldn’t change a thing. I need you to know that.” Before Andy completely conked out, she lifted him and headed for the bedroom.
Brogan said, “Soon, we need to talk.”
“I know,” she said over her shoulder. “I’m looking forward to it.”
The house was silent by the time Pixie left her bedroom.
Brogan had put away the toys and refolded the blanket, but a living-room light was still on, and beyond that was a dim light coming from the enclosed porch.
When she followed it, she saw Shayna asleep in her basket and Brogan dozing on the floor beside her.
He didn’t have his sleeping bag out. One arm was folded up behind him to support his head. Smiling, Pixie looked at him. Things would have to change. She loved this cottage, but it only had one bedroom, and they couldn’t all four sleep in it together.
At the same time, she didn’t want him returning to the lake house. She knew Brogan now, so she knew that was his intent. He likely figured that with Ruthie out of the way, he should give Pixie back her space.
It saddened her that he didn’t yet know what a remarkable person he was or understand how utterly easy it was to love him with her whole heart.
Intent on telling him, she shifted closer.
The second she moved, Brogan opened his eyes.
He looked so tired, yet there was a new serenity in his gray eyes. “Hey,” he whispered.
Going to her knees next to him, she smiled. “I love you.”
His eyes flared, then heated. In the next second, Pixie found herself gathered into his arms as he effortlessly stood and carried her to the couch in the living room.
He stood her before him, cupped her face in his hands, and asked, “You love me?”
“So much, I couldn’t keep it inside.”
His gaze searched hers, and he whispered, “Are you sure?”
She heard the yearning and the disbelief. “For the longest time, I couldn’t imagine ever trusting another man, not in an intimate way. Not with my feelings.”
“I understand.”
Barely tempering her smile, she said, “No, Brogan, you don’t. I had worked so hard for my independence, to regain some of my pride and self-worth, I’d forgotten what it meant to be a woman. A mom, yes. I think—I hope—I had that down.”
“You’re an amazing mom.”
She kissed him for that nice compliment and whispered, “Then I met you, and suddenly I was thinking about being a woman, too. You’re gorgeous—so, naturally, that stirred things up.”
His crooked grin came slowly. “What things?”
“Let’s just say I was suddenly aware of body parts that I hadn’t paid much attention to.”
“Like here?” He curved a hand around her breast. “And here?” He skimmed his lips along her throat. While he was doing that, effectively distracting her, he placed his hand on her inner thigh. Meeting her gaze, he pressed his palm to her and asked, “Here?”
Pixie could barely breathe. “All that, yes.”
He kissed her for a long time, until she was dazed and trying to get his shirt off him, before he lifted his mouth and said, “God, I love you, too, Pixie.”
Yay. “We’ll work it out, okay? All of it. Any problems. Talking to Andy’s grandparents, sleeping arrangements—”
“Living arrangements,” he said tentatively. “With Ruth out of the way, I need to move back to the lake house, at least for sleeping. I know it’s cramped here—not that I’m complaining, but for you—”
“I go where you go.”
Two beats passed before he wrapped her in his arms, his face tucked down to her neck, his breath a little ragged.
“I’ll get things worked out. Job, housing, all that, because I want to be with you, too—you and Andy.
I’ve already looked at some job prospects in the area, and there are houses near Lankton, where you work.
I know you’d prefer to be on the lake, but—”
“Things have a way of working out here in Bramble. You’ll see. Until then, we’ll take it one day at a time.”
“You’re being generous,” he said as he slowly released her. “The thing is, I have to pay my own way. I always have and I will always want to.”
“You’ve already paid for a summer lease on the lake house.”
“Yes, but I also want you to have choices.”
Stubbornly, she said, “I choose you.”
His smile this time was pure sunshine. “You have no idea how good that makes me feel.”
It suddenly occurred to her that she was rushing him.
His life had been in turmoil for so long—first because of life-threatening injuries, then the loss of his sister, taking guardianship of his niece, and the constant harassment from Ruthie.
He’d come to Bramble, as she had, as Marlow had—as so many had—to find some peace and quiet so he could collect his thoughts and find his footing.
And here she was, pressuring him to commit himself.
“I’m sorry.” Pixie sat back against the couch with a heavy sigh.
“I’m usually not so forceful.” But she’d felt so sure of herself and what they had together.
It killed her to say it, but she got out the words.
“If you want to go back to the lake house, I get it. We’ll still see each other.
” Just not as much. “I’m sure you’d enjoy sleeping in a bed for a change. ”
Brogan slowly took the seat next to her. He also leaned back and then reached for her hand. Together, with each of them staring at nothing, they sat there.
After a moment, he said, “Just so we’re clear, I don’t need a bed. I’m comfortable enough on the floor. My issue is that I barged into your life, and you haven’t had time to sort out how you really feel.”
Pixie drew herself up to glare at him. “I know you’re not suggesting that I’m so weak I don’t understand my own feelings.”
“No.” His smile warmed even more and he oh-so-cautiously drew her down to his chest. “I would never underestimate you.”
“Well … good.”
“I thought you might like a breather, though, a chance to get back to your routine. We’ve been moving pretty fast, and it has to be a bit overwhelming.”
To counter that statement, she demanded, “Are you overwhelmed?”
“A little.” When she started to sit up, he locked his arms around her.
“In all my plans to come here, to introduce Shayna and get your agreement for the kids to know each other, I never anticipated you. Your impact on me. The way your smiles do me in. How damned pretty you are. And friendly. And talented.”
“Stop,” she said, half-laughing, a little embarrassed, and even more turned on.
“I never considered that I’d take one look at you and start imagining impossible things. Things I gave up on years ago.”
“They’re all possible,” Pixie softly promised. As long as we’re together.
“I want you to be sure.” His lips touched her temple, and in a raw voice, he said, “You have to be sure.”
Because he couldn’t take another disappointment, another rejection. Oh, he’d be fine. He’d get by—just as he always had. But she wanted more for him, for them. So much more.
“Then we can do things your way,” she grudgingly agreed. For now.
“I’ll be at the lake house,” he promised. “When you have free time, we can spend it together—as often as you want.”
“I want coffee together in the morning,” she insisted. “I want Andy to hug you good night, and I want to kiss Shayna good night.”
“Done and done.”