Chapter 14
When they stepped inside, they found Giada on her hands and knees carefully placing the stuffed animals she’d brought with each boy.
She kissed them each on their forehead and whispered to them.
“Momma loves you.” She backed out of the tent, then got to her knees, then stood.
She noticed Havoc and Ronan watching her. She smiled at them. “They’re my heart.”
“It’s obvious. And they love you, too.”
“They know how hard you fight to make sure they have what they need,” Havoc said.
Giada nodded, then quietly stepped away from the living room to join Ronan near the front door. “What time do your kids usually wake up?”
“About seven. If yours wake up first, it won’t take mine long to figure it out and they’ll be up, too. Me and Analise already set alarms to make sure we’ll be up before them.”
“Thank you so much for allowing them to stay tonight. They’ve never had a sleep over before.”
“They had a blast. And they’re welcome any time,” Havoc said.
“We’ll be back early in the morning to pick them up,” Ronan said.
“Sounds like a plan. Or not. Whatever. Just keep me updated if it changes,” Havoc said.
Giada looked back at the kids, hesitating when Ronan moved toward the door.
“You can stay here. It ain’t a problem at all,” Havoc said.
She thought about it, actually chewing on her lip a little. “No. No, I’m going to let them have their sleep over.”
“My house is right down the street, Giada. It’s close, and we’ll be here as soon as they get up. Before even if you want to,” Ronan said.
“Yeah, but you’ll have to come all the way over to my place to get me, and it’s just not very convenient for you.”
“Sleep here. Or sleep at my place,” Ronan said. “We’re going to have a late night anyway, staying up and watching T.V.,”
“And eating my steak,” Havoc said.
“It’s our steak, and yes, that, too,” Ronan said.
“If there’s any problem at all, I’ll call,” Havoc promised. “Even if they just wake up and want you, I’ll call and Ronan can bring you back.”
That relieved her. “Yeah, okay. Please do.”
“Promise,” Havoc said.
She moved to the door and waited while Ronan opened it, looked outside, then led the way.
“See y’all tomorrow,” Havoc said.
Ronan led the way to his truck, with Giada following as she took a minute to look around the street. “It’s really, really nice here. Quiet, nice homes. Even a pool down there.”
“Oh, yeah. And that house right there,” he said, pointing at Emmalyn’s and Barron’s home, “that is Analise’s sister’s house. Her and her mate Barron live there with their kids.”
“It’s a lot of space for just two houses.”
“Havoc bought a lot of space around his house to keep anybody from building too close. So, when Emmalyn tried to build next door, she couldn’t. So, she bought across the street, and bought even more than Havoc did on his side of the street.”
Giada chuckled. “She outdid him.”
“Yep. But here, let me show you something…” he said, as he opened his truck door for her, but stopped her from getting in.
She looked up at him and waited for whatever he wanted to show her.
“See that land between Emmalyn’s and Barron’s house, and the pool way at the end of the street?”
“Yes.”
“It’s mine. I just arranged to build there.”
She turned quickly and looked up at him, with her mouth hanging open in surprise.
“What?”
“You’re joking.”
“No, I’m not. It’s mine. And I’m going to build a house on it. For me and my family.”
“Your family?” she repeated, her voice soft.
“Yep.”
“And that would be?”
“Don’t know yet. Working on it. But it’s safer than safe back here. Emmalyn used to be not only an FBI agent, but she’s also a Bear. And then with Havoc and Analise across the street…”
“Oh, we’re on that again. Okay, I’ll play. So, if Emmalyn is a Bear shifter, what is her husband? Wait, you called him a mate. What is her mate?”
“He’s a Bear, too. But he’s a Grizzly, with some unusual talents.”
“Like what?”
“Well, his father is a Bear, but his mother is a Dragon. And he’s inherited things from both of them.”
“Definitely a couple you want to stay on the good side of,” Giada said, smirking at him.
“Without a doubt. Everybody that lives in this neighborhood is either a sibling, or a cousin. And our parents, the generation above us, all live across the highway. It’s safe here. Nobody will be harmed here ever again.”
“I like the idea of that. Wait, again?”
“It’s a long story. Emmalyn had a stalker, but she’s fine, now. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that part.”
“No, it probably means you’re all safer now because you realized there could still be vulnerabilities.”
“Very true. You ready to go home?”
“Let’s go. Show me your home.”
They pulled up in the driveway of Remi’s house a minute later. “This is beautiful,” Giada said.
“Thanks. It’s a guest house. Used to belong to my cousin, Remi.
But he sold it back to the clan when he moved to Missouri to try to win his mate back.
Now it’s just a guest house for anybody that needs a place to stay while they’re in town, or if there’s a problem with their own house — renovations or something.
There are two more guest houses up on the first street we passed when we first turned in off the highway.
And there’s another one behind us, that way,” he said, pointing past the house.
“They sit on the river though, and that’s something I just don’t want. Sitting right on the river.”
“Why not?”
“I just prefer the land. My sister, Hellen, she married a Gator shifter, so they intentionally moved back there for proximity to the water.”
“You should write a book,” she said, shaking her head as she allowed him to lead her toward the front door.
“About what?” he asked.
“About this crazy shifter family you’ve dreamed up. People make money for stories like that. Especially if you throw in romance.”
He stopped at the door and looked down at her. “Remember this one day.”
“This?” she asked, looking up into his eyes, knowing without knowing how she knew, that something else was about to happen.
He leaned his head toward her, and at the same time she went up on tiptoe to meet him halfway. He pressed his lips to hers softly. He could feel the trembling of her body against his. “This okay?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah. I haven’t been kissed in so very long. And it’s been even longer than that since it was meant out of attraction instead of ownership.”
He slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her toward him, kissed her once, then twice more, before she opened her mouth and let him have access to her.
Tentatively at first, his tongue searched for hers.
When she responded without hesitation, he got bolder, kissing her more deeply, more passionately.
His other hand came up to cup the back of her head as he took his time savoring her, tasting her.
He nipped at her lips before pulling back and gradually opening his eyes to look down into hers.
Her eyes were still closed, and she was basically putty in his hands.
“I think I could kiss you forever and not even come up for air,” he said.
A small smile played across her lips. “But we have that huge steak to share. We have to at least come up long enough to eat that.”
Ronan laughed, then unlocked the door and led the way inside. As he walked with her right behind him, he reached out flipping on lights. “Make yourself at home, Giada. You’re welcome here any time, for any reason. Don’t even wait for an invitation, just come.”
“I’ll have to wait for an invitation. I don’t have a car.”
“Oh. Well. Just call and tell me to come get you.”
“I can do that,” she said, as she broke off and went into the living room when he went into the kitchen.
“You probably won’t have to because I’ll be hanging around all the time anyway.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Definitely.” He put the takeout in the fridge, then went into the living room. “Okay, so what are we watching?”
“I don’t care really. I’m just excited to be able to watch something that isn’t cartoons.”
“Hmm, how about something funny?”
“I can always use funny.”
He sat down beside her and scrolled through the movies offered. “Here we go. Let’s try this one.”
She nodded, and reached over, tugging her boots off.
“You know what? You’re staying here tonight. You’re not going home alone to lay there awake all night.” He got up and started out of the room.
“Where are you going?”
“To get you something to change into.” Pretty soon he was back with clothes in his hands. “Here you go. A pair of shorts, a pair of sweat pants, and a teeshirt. Both the shorts and the pants have a draw string so you can make them at least not fall off you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Go get comfortable, and come back. We’ll fall asleep watching the movie.”
“I feel like I’m imposing. You asked for a date, not a house guest.”
“Did you hear anything at all that I said tonight?”
She nodded as she looked at him.
“I made my intentions clear. You are not an inconvenience in any way. You’re my focus. Go get changed.”
“Okay,” she said, going straight down the hallway, and ducking into the bathroom.
Ronan went into his bedroom and quickly changed, then beat her to the living room.
“Okay, this is much more comfortable. You were right,” Giada said as she joined him on the sofa.
“Told you.”
“I know. I’m often right.”
“We shall see,” she teased.