Change of Hart (Wells Ranch, #3)(83)
My mind gets entirely hung up on the way he talks about a wedding and kids with so much confidence, like they’re simply an inevitability. And after years of thinking I’d forever be Auntie Blair, stuck in an “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” situation, there’s comfort in how sure he is about us. Lost in the way his words calm fears I’ve never had the courage to say aloud, I’m not even the slightest bit tempted to remind him we’re supposed to be taking things slow. We both know we never really were, anyway.
I twist my fingers around the hair on the back of his head. “The ability to sleep in? Not spending all our money on diapers and extra food? No fear about raising humans in this fucked-up world?”
“Tonight we’re staying in a cabin here, and we don’t have to worry about being quiet or sneaking around.” His fingers clench around the dress fabric just above my tailbone, and suddenly this thin slip of a dress is too much between us. His lips brush my ear, hot breath blowing against the goosebumps scattering up my neck. “I’m going to rip this fucking dress off and make you come again and again. You’ll be begging me to ease up, and I still won’t stop. I’ve had fourteen years to think about what I’d do to you if I had another chance. And tonight you’re mine, baby. All mine.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?”
“Whichever turns you on more.”
I press my pelvis into his, tempted to tell him we should ditch this party early. Finding myself so lost in the depths of his eyes, I can’t hear the music anymore. I don’t care that everyone is around, or that I told him we needed to take things day by day. We might not be the same kids we used to be, with a few smile lines around our eyes, and even a gray hair or two, but he’s still my Denver Wells.
And I kiss him with the intent of never letting him go again. His tongue brushes mine, our bodies still in the middle of the floor while everyone flows in slow motion around us. When my lips break away from his, the backs of his fingertips brush a wispy strand of hair off my cheek.
He looks like he’s about to say something, searching for the words as his eyes search mine. But something tugs him away from me, and a tiny voice brings us crashing back to reality.
“Uncle Denny, it’s our song,” Odessa yells over the opening notes to “I Gotta Feeling.” She’s practically vibrating— likely from overindulging in ice cream—and her white and pink flower girl dress swishes around her legs. With hair a frizzy mess and sweat beaded on her hairline from dancing, she holds out a hand for him to grab with a wild look in her eye.
“Sorry, baby, there’s a super cute girl asking me to dance. I can’t turn her down—you know how it is.” He winks, running his hand from my back to my waist, struggling to tear his touch from my body.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before a prettier girl grabbed your attention. Hopefully it doesn’t come to this, but I’m prepared to fight a literal child, if I have to.”
“I never pegged you for the jealous type when we were younger, but I like it.” He kisses my cheek. “One—maybe two—dances, and you’ll get me all to yourself again.”
“I’ll be waiting with drinks.” I feel the loss of his touch everywhere the second I pull back, and I nearly trip over myself walking backward off the dance floor. Because watching Denver twirl his niece around, laughing and goofing off, is simultaneously the hottest and most gut-wrenching thing I’ve ever experienced.
I don’t take my eyes off them for the entire trip to the bar and order our drinks while keeping tabs in my periphery. My time back in Wells Canyon has been a continual reminder of all the things I could’ve had. From trips to the ice cream shop to the time spent with Mom. Weddings and babies and building a life with him.
“I was looking for you.” Cassidy leans an elbow on the bar—Hazel, now wide awake, is nestled in the other, chewing on her tiny hands. “They’re about to wind things down here, and some of us are going to have drinks and a fire, if you’re in. Chase and Colt went to set it up.”
“Is it bad if we don’t come because I kind of want to jump his bones right now instead?” I motion toward where Denver has Odessa on his hip, and they’re spinning in fast, stumbling circles while she throws her head back laughing.
“Honestly, that’s fair. Careful, though. Baby fever is a hell of a drug. I’ve come close to trashing my birth control a few times because Chase looks so hot holding Hazel.” She cracks open her water bottle and takes a sip while watching them with me. “So you two aren’t taking it slow, I assume?”
“We’re kind of…picking back up where we left off. Like time stood still for the last decade.”
“But it didn’t.”
“That’s okay. Time stopped in the ways that matter. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably have some jealousy flare-ups when girls he’s slept with flirt with him. But I’d be an idiot if I pushed him away—or into the arms of somebody else—because I couldn’t admit to myself that I still love him.”
“Wow, what’s it like to have all your feelings so well sorted out?” Cassidy laughs.
“I wouldn’t say well sorted, but at least I’m not going to say ‘thank you’ if he decides to drop the L-bomb on me.”
“Ouch. That’s a cheap shot. I retract my invite to the fire, asshole.”