She grinned, her eyes widening, licking her bottom lip. “I want him to take me to the house on the giant mountain, so we can eat all the s’mores outside by the big fire.”
“You want to go to his house in Utah, huh?”
Jenner had recently purchased a home in Park City, and it had become one of Everly’s most desired places to visit. Mine too. There was nothing like escaping to the mountains, getting to ski on some fresh powder, and unplugging from our busy life in LA.
“Yes, silly.”
“I see someone has a new favorite word.” I hugged her against my chest. “I’m afraid of the teenage version of you. It’s a good thing I have quite a few years before we get there. I need to prep myself.”
“Daddy, I’m going to be so sassy.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
We were quiet for a few moments, something unusual for my spunky daughter, and I broke the silence to say, “My little negotiator, I know there’s still a few hours left before you have to go to bed, but in the meantime, let’s not convince Hannah to let you stay up extra late or let you watch something I wouldn’t approve of, okay?”
“Or have a popcorn fight in your bed like last time?”
I leaned back to show her my face. “There most definitely won’t be any of that, do you hear me?” I paused. “I think I’m still finding kernels in there.”
She giggled. “But it was sooo much fun.”
“I’m sure.” As I moved her against me again, I inhaled the scent from the top of her head, the same smell she’d had since she was born. Even though she now chose her own shampoo and I no longer rubbed her chunky limbs with lotion, her scent, to me, hadn’t changed. I missed that baby whose body was the length of my forearm, but I was proud of the girl she was turning into.
“I’m going to be home late tonight, so I won’t see you until the morning.”
“Is Hannah having a sleepover?”
I hugged her tightly, kissing her nest of hair. “She is. Are you going to let her sleep in the guest room?”
“No way. Cousin Hannah sleeps with me. That’s the rule.”
It was a good thing my princess now had a queen after quickly transitioning from a toddler bed, or the small mattress wouldn’t have held Hannah and all of Everly’s animals.
“Just try not to kick her tonight. Last time, she almost went home with a black eye.”
She covered her mouth with her hand. “That was the lion’s fault, Daddy. He’s ’posed to protect her. I can’t help I get all wild when I sleep.”
I loosened my grip, resting her against the bed, and flattened my palm on her stomach, her large blue eyes gazing back at me. “My beautiful baby girl.”
“Baby?” she huffed. “But I’m a big girl.”
“Eve, you’ll always be my baby. Even when you go off to college and get married someday—”
“Echhh.”
“Good. That’s the sound I want to hear every time I mention boys—boys who need to stay far, far away from my daughter.” I held her cheek, giving her five kisses in a row. Not six. Not four. Five was our number. “I won’t be here to say this, so have the sweetest dreams.”
“Don’t forget to tell Uncle D, I’m maaad.”
I winked at her. “I won’t.”
I pushed myself off her bed, surprised to see Hannah in the doorway.
“Hannah!” Everly yelled from behind me.
“What’s up, my little bestie?” Hannah said to her, waving. “I have a present for you downstairs, but I need to talk to your dad for a minute, so I’ll bring it up when I’m done. Cool?”
“Cool!” Everly squealed. “Yay!”
I turned toward Eve when I reached the doorway. “I love you.”
“More than all the stars in the sky, Daddy.”
I held her words in my chest, the same way I did every night when she spoke them.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Eve,” Hannah voiced as I joined her in the hallway.
We were nearing the stairs when she said to me, “My God, you two act like identical twins. You even have the same mannerisms.”
“Except she’s the cuter one.”
Hannah smiled. “There’s no doubt about that.”
As we descended the long wraparound staircase, I nodded toward my cousin’s outfit. “You’re dressed a little formal for babysitting. Did Eve ask you to look fancy for her tonight?”
Since Hannah had her own code to my house, she’d come over at some point while Everly and I were upstairs. And knowing my daughter, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d texted Hannah a slew of emojis this morning from my phone and made that kind of request.
“No, I came here straight from the office.”
I checked my watch. “You were working this late?”
She sighed. “He’s a relentless asshole, and for some reason, he insists on making my life a living hell.”
“Who, Declan—”
“Shh,” she said, cutting me off. “We don’t say that name out loud. The man has ears like a dog, and somehow, miraculously, he’ll know we’re talking about him, and he’ll call me back into the office.”
“He’s meeting us out for drinks tonight, so he won’t be doing that.”
“The fact that you hang out with that dickhead makes my skin crawl.”
Hannah and her twin brother, Camden, were also on the path to being lawyers. Our fathers were brothers, and we had grown up only a few streets apart, so they’d heard my parents talk nonstop law, molding them like they’d molded us. Camden was in school on the opposite side of the country, but Hannah was here, finishing up her last year and prepping for the bar. She worked part-time at our law firm, under Declan Shaw, one of our top attorneys and one of the most ruthless bastards we’d ever hired.
If you needed a litigator, he was the man you wanted behind you.
He could fight like no one I’d ever seen.
And the motherfucker always won.
“One day, when you’ve graduated and working with us full-time with a portfolio of clients who’ll be earning you millions, your opinion of him will change.”She glared at me as we reached the bottom of the steps. “I promise, that’s never going to happen.”“Don’t be so sure—” My voice cut off as the smell from the kitchen wafted up my nose, my stomach growling. “You baked? Already?”“I needed to unwind from that monster”—she held up her finger—“the one we don’t name—so I stuck some cookies in the oven. They’re probably done by now.”I followed her into the kitchen, where she took a tray out of the oven. At least a dozen chocolate chip cookies were sitting on top.“Yep. Done.” She looked at me. “Want one?”“One? I want three.”She grabbed a spatula from the drawer and placed the dessert on a napkin. “So you can take them with you,” she said, handing me the bundle.I groaned as the chocolate melted on my tongue. “Man, you make some mean cookies.”“If you find crumbs in her bed tomorrow, d
“Thought you weren’t going to show,” he said as he patted me on the back.“Jenner bitched about the same thing,” I said. “You guys know I wouldn’t ever bail. But once you knock up Kendall, you’ll learn that it isn’t always easy to get out the door on time.”He pulled away and walked with me toward the tables they’d reserved. “Slow your roll. There’s no knocking up. We’re just getting in a shit-ton of practice.”“Then, maybe it’s Jenner’s turn,” I said, moving over to my middle brother, hugging him the same way.“What are we talking about?” Jenner asked.“You and Jo having kids,” I replied.“Please don’t put that into the universe,” he shot back. “We’re staying in the engaged phase for a while. If Jo gets the baby bug, we’ll steal Everly for a few days.”“According to Eve, she’s no longer a baby.”“That’s my girl, full of sass,” Dominick said.I shook hands with Brett, one of our best friends, who happened to be the top entertainment agent in the country. I then moved on to his partner
Her hair fell into her face, and she instantly pushed it back, exposing both shoulders. Shoulders and a collarbone that showed the tan line of a thin bikini strap.Damn it, that was sexy.“One drink should hopefully get me over this jet lag,” she said.“Let me guess …” My words were only an excuse for me to stare harder, acting as though I could see through her. “Europe?”Her smile was sensual, beautiful. “London … how did you know?”“Call me intuitive.”“Ohhh, then you already know I only just got back this afternoon.”“Of course I do. But keep talking.”She laughed. “I was there this time for three months, so to be honest, I’m not sure if it’s today or tomorrow or if my feet are on the ground or still in the air.” She sucked in a mouthful of air. “But your eyes are telling me I’m very much here …”“You’re here.” I ran my thumb over my lips, wishing they were covered in her scent. “And this isn’t a dream … even if it feels like one.”First, she gave me a smile, then a slow bite of he
I laughed. My best friend was so over the top sometimes. “Ford is extra swoony—I can’t deny that. But I assure you, the only thing growing inside me is a heavy case of jet lag and a wicked need to take off these heels and find myself a pillow.”“His pillow.” She put her arm around my shoulders and turned me toward him, saying in my ear, “Even his name is sexy.”My eyes briefly closed. “I know.”“Do you know what I see when I look at him?”“I can’t wait to hear this.”She squeezed my shoulder. “Handcuffs. Dirty sex. Waking up in the morning with his face between your legs.” She lowered her voice, finally whispering, “That man has dominance written all over him.”I wondered if she could sense how sweaty I was getting.How it only added to the hotness Ford had already built.“You can tell that just by looking at him?”“I possess that talent. You should know this by now.”I’d only seen my best friend a handful of times over the last four years. All of our conversations had taken place ove
The combination of the martini and shots was slowly dropping my inhibitions, especially as I glanced toward Gabby, who had moved to the other side of the table, closer to Natasha and Carrie, her facial expression urging me on.“I don’t know.” I glanced down; all of this was too much. “I guess I like the way you sound.”“My voice?”I nodded as I was fixed on him again. “Yes.”“No one’s ever commented on that before.”I took a drink even though I didn’t need it. “It matches you—I mean, it fits your face, your …” I couldn’t think of what I wanted to say. Nothing was coming to me. I didn’t even feel like I was breathing. “Exterior.”The corner of his lips lifted, a half-smile so devilishly attractive. “Exterior, huh?”“If power had a sound, it’s you.”He was sitting between both tables but chose to lean his elbow on the one closest to me. “My voice isn’t where I hold my power, Sydney. At least, not in my personal life. But I’ll tell you, it wasn’t a bad guess.”My brain was spiraling.My
“What I’m thinking about is your mouth.” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and then the top. “What it would taste like. What it would feel like.” His gaze was there, on the spot he was speaking about, making those same lips part. “And I don’t know how much longer I can wait to find out.”ThreeFord“You want to kiss me”—her voice was soft, breathless—“in the middle of the bar?”With my hand still on her cheek, I aimed her mouth up to mine. “It’s not just that I want to.” I lowered my face until we were only inches apart. “It’s that I have to.” The feeling inside me was so brutally overwhelming that I couldn’t leave this bar until I had her taste on my tongue. Until I was satisfied with the feel of her lips. That was why I’d moved my seat next to hers. To have this moment between us, to re-create the fire that I’d felt before. “If you don’t want this, Sydney, tell me to stop.”I waited.And just as I was about to close the space between us, she whispered, “Ford …” She swallowed. “I
“Even if I was going to consider it—which I’m not—Hannah and Everly are at my house. It’s not like Eve is staying at Mom and Dad’s for the night and I’m free.”“More Hannah talk,” Declan groaned. “I still can’t believe you let her watch your daughter.”“Ignore him,” Jenner said, referring to Declan. “Everly is being well taken care of tonight, so you do have all the freedom to do whatever you want—and I know that girl is exactly what you want.”“You guys don’t get it,” I told them. “This is one of the sacrifices you have to make when you have a kid, and being a single dad makes it even harder. I’m responsible for that little girl, and every move I make affects her.” I looked at my brothers. “When you guys were single, you could fuck whomever you wanted and never feel guilty about it. You could jump on a plane and leave at any time. You could stay out all night and not give a shit.” I chomped on the ice from Dominick’s glass and set the empty on the table. “My life isn’t like that.”“B
She quickly glanced at me. “We can’t go to my apartment.”“We … can’t?”She shook her head. “I just moved here, like, hours ago, remember? I don’t have a bed yet, so I’m going to be sleeping with Gabby. I can’t kick her out and have her crash on the couch. That would make me the worst bestie ever.”Fuck me.That wrecked every one of my plans.“Can’t we go to your place?” she asked.My place—a detail I didn’t want to get into.I glanced out the window, trying to come up with a plan.I could take her to a hotel; I just didn’t know how that idea would come across. I could sneak us into Dominick’s guesthouse, but Kendall was probably home, and I didn’t want to alarm her.“Sydney—” My voice cut off as our eyes connected.The hunger, the need. I didn’t know if I was gazing at my own reflection in her stare or if she felt the same way as me.Either way, I hauled her body up against me and kissed her. The warmth from her mouth, the taste of her tongue, like silent promises of what was waiting