Wild Love (Rose Hill, #1)(10)

But. I know he saw the gutted look in my eye that night—know he stared just a little too long. And I know if I meet his gaze now, he’ll see it again.

“Auntie Rosie!”

Thank you, Lord. The voice of an angel. Saved by hell on wheels with blond pigtails. “Emmy!”

She shoves past Ford and launches herself at me with enough force to knock the wind from my lungs a second time along with one fat tear from my eye. I quickly swipe it away. But over Emmy’s shoulder, I catch sight of Ford glaring at the traitorous tear’s path like it personally wronged him somehow.

I roll my eyes at him and turn all my attention to the little girl in my arms. Warm and wiggly. “Dang, girl, knock it off with all this growing business.” I heft her up with a grunt. “Soon I won’t be strong enough to lift you.”

She cackles and lands a sticky kiss on my cheek. I try not to cringe. I love my niece, but I draw the line at messy faces and runny noses. Makes me want to hose them off the way West did me.

Still waiting for that maternal gene to kick in, I guess.

“What are you doing here?” Emmy pushes back to look at me, one pudgy, sticky palm on each of my cheeks.

“That’s my question too,” my brother announces, startling me as he wanders up from behind Ford.

I squeeze Emmy tighter. I’m not above using a six-year-old as a shield against these two men. “Surprise?” I squeak at my brother with a totally over-the-top grin on my face.

Thankfully, West isn’t one to dig. He’s not big on sharing feelings—unless it’s with his fists—so he smiles and forges ahead until he’s hugging me too, squishing his little girl between us.

“You need to bathe this hellion, West. She’s sticky and smells like orange juice.”

“Orange freezie,” she corrects solemnly.

“Before dinner?”

“Whoa, whoa, Rosie Posie. You don’t get to show up outta the blue and judge my parenting. This is my week. Mia is always on my ass, so I don’t need you to pile on too.”

I arch a brow. “Maybe Mia is onto something more than your ass?”

Emmy giggles maniacally, clearly amused by us tossing the word ass around so casually.

Now it’s my brother’s turn to roll his eyes. Their marriage may not have worked, but he and Mia are excellent co-parents, and I admire the hell out of them for that.

West ignores my jab and carries on with his questioning. “You just drive out as a surprise, or you staying for a bit?”

Before I answer, I put Emmy down and watch her tear back into the house, announcing to her brother Oliver that I’m here. My eyes cut to Ford again. Arms crossed and chin dipped low, he’s staring hard enough to unnerve me. “What are you? His bodyguard?”

“Ha!” West barks out a laugh. “I don’t need a bodyguard. And if I did, I wouldn’t hire the World’s Hottest Billionaire.”

My eyes bulge, and I have to press my lips together to keep from laughing. I saw the article—picked it up and even read it—but I don’t want to give Ford the satisfaction of knowing that.

“Ford Grant is a billionaire? Do they mean junior or senior?”

West laughs, but Ford groans and shakes his head. “I’m going back inside. You two assholes have fun out here.”

I watch him walk away, probably a little too closely.

Definitely a little too closely, based on the way my brother gently punches my shoulder. “You better not be checking him out.”

I let out a playful scoff. “Whatever. It’s not every day you get a clear shot of… what was it? The World’s Hottest Billionaire?” I make sure I say it loud enough that Ford hears me.

West chuckles. “Playing with fire, sis. What would Ryan say?”

My shoulders tighten, and I swallow before turning my eyes back up to my brother’s, the same shade of blue as my own.

Then I tilt my head from side to side four times.

West nods three times.

And that’s about the entire conversation we’ll have about that.

It’s exactly what I wanted. Exactly what I needed. I’m not ready to decide a single thing about Ryan until I clear my head and can make a rational decision.

“So, dinner?” my brother asks. “Spare room or bunkhouse?”

“Yes, to dinner, and I’ll take the bunkhouse, please.”

He turns and I follow him. Relief floods my system. I knew I could count on West to save me from myself. What I didn’t count on was Ford fucking Grant with his eagle eyes and billion-dollar ass.





CHAPTER FIVE


FORD





“Here, let me show you. I have a plan,” Cora says from where she’s sitting on the couch beside Oliver. She’s showing him how to build a Nether portal or some shit in Minecraft. The terminology is lost on me. He says nothing, as usual, but I can tell by the look on his face that he’s enthralled. Emmy has squeezed herself in on Cora’s other side, crunching on what has to be her third freezie of the day.

Me? I feel like I’m living in a madhouse.

After weeks of getting everything in order, I’m on day one of being Cora’s official kinship placement. My lawyer hates my guts for making her do this, and my financial advisor thinks I’ve lost it. Maybe I have.