I cupped her delicate face in my hands. “And I love you, Rory. I don’t care who tells us we’re moving too fast, because I don’t think we’re moving fast enough. If it were up to me, I’d have you move in with me.”
She sucked in a rush of air, then closed her eyes.
“Is it your dad?”
She didn’t say a word, but I saw it in her eyes when she opened them. Her father had to have said something to her last night to make her this upset.
“I’m sure he told you how I’m going to break your heart, or never be home, or how you’ll worry every time I go out on a call.”
She smiled weakly. “Something like that.”
“Well, he’s wrong on over half of that. I can’t keep you from worrying, but I sure as hell can promise to never break your heart. And I swear I’ll spend every spare moment of my time with you.”
Her mouth opened, but quickly shut again as she searched my face. Almost as if she was trying to commit the moment to memory.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
With a grin, I replied, “Gladly.”
I swept my tongue across her lower lip, drawing out a whimper from those plump pink lips. When she opened a little, I covered her mouth with mine. We quickly became lost in each other, our hands moving gently over each other’s body while the sound of the water rushed past us.
Drawing back, we gazed into each other’s eyes. Rory softly said, “I wish we could stay in this spot forever. Just you and me.”
“You’d get bored of me.”
“Never,” she stated with a wink.
“Come on, let’s head back to the campsite.”
After I got Rory safely over the creek, we walked hand in hand to the campsite. The entire walk was filled with Rory talking about how excited she was to see Presley later. Truth be told, so was I.
We rounded the corner, and came to a complete stop.
“Oh no,” Rory whispered. “How did we not notice he wasn’t with us?”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” I cried out while my eyes swept over the destruction of the campsite. When my glare landed on the black-and-white dog, I pointed to him and he quickly sat. “I’m going to kill you!”
Suddenly Rory screamed from behind me, “Finn, no! It’s not that bad!”
Flash jumped up and took off running to the other side of the tent. I’d have caught him if I hadn’t tripped over the large stick that appeared out of nowhere.
“Finn!” Rory called out. “Oh my goodness. Are you okay?”
She kneeled down to me. “Your leg is cut, but it’s not deep,” she said, then giggled.
I jumped up. “You think this is funny?”
Flash barked, and I glared at him again.
“Finn. Take a deep breath and blow it out. It’s not that bad.”
I stared at her with an open mouth. “Not that bad? Look at it, Rory.”
I did a three-sixty while flailing my arms about. “He destroyed it! He even chewed up the lights!”
Glaring back at Flash, I shouted, “I hope your shit lights up for weeks, you little bastard!”
Chapter 42
Finn
Who signed us up for this?
Harmony opened the door and gave us a huge grin. “Perfect timing. Presley just got a bath and and she smells extra yummy.”
I knew it was wrong, but I pushed Rory out of the way before she could get to Preston first and take the baby from him.
I heard her laughing behind me as I walked up to my brother.
“Give her to me. Now.”
Preston narrowed his eyes at me. “You can’t demand my daughter from me, dude.”
“I can and I just did. Give her up. You get her all the time, Preston.”
Giving me a dirty look, he stated, “She’s my daughter. Back the fuck off, Finn.”
“Preston!” Harmony said as she slapped him on the head. “Don’t talk like that in front of Presley.”
Preston rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t understand me.”
“Harmony, tell your greedy husband to give up the baby before I challenge him to a round of Monopoly.”
“Monopoly?” Preston asked with a smile while Harmony gasped.
“No! Not Monopoly!” Harmony cried out.
Rory walked up to the baby and smiled at her while asking, “I don’t get it. What’s wrong with Monopoly?”
Quickly pulling Rory away from us, Harmony stated, “Don’t ever ask them to play that game, challenge them to it, or even hint that you could win at it. You’ll be stuck for hours. In Monopoly, the Wards are a play-until-only-one-person-is-standing kind of family.”
Preston stood and gently placed his daughter into Rory’s hands while my jaw dropped to the floor.
“How…why…We’re blood, dude! You gave her to Rory first?”
Preston shot me a dirty look. “I like her better than I do you.”
I shot him the middle finger and turned my attention to Rory. “Let me have her.”
“Not yet,” she said as she rocked the baby back and forth. Soon Rory softly started to sing to her, and I had to grab onto something to keep my legs from giving out.
“You’re such a beautiful girl. Yes you are. Look at how big you’ve grown. Oh my, look at those blue eyes.”
“Care to share what you’re thinking right this second, Finn?” Harmony whispered.
Dragging my eyes off Rory, I took Harmony in. She looked so much more rested than she had earlier today. “I’m not thinking anything.”
“Uh-huh. So you’ve got that goofy look in your eyes and you’re wobbling on your legs because…?”
I didn’t want to blurt out to Harmony how I wished that this was our child Rory was holding. The idea alone should have had me running for the hills, but strangely, it didn’t. I was even a tad bit jealous of Preston. He had the very thing I found myself longing for.
A family.
“Want to feed her before she goes down, since you guys showed up late?”
I couldn’t help but notice how Harmony looked at Rory. Almost as if she thought it was Rory who’d made us late.
“Flash destroyed the campground. Dad and I had to take everything down while Rory and Mom cleaned up the campsite. Looks like our camping trip is over.”
“Well, that’s a bummer. You guys gonna head back into Boston tonight?” Preston asked while handing me a bottle.
I glanced over to Rory, who nodded. “Probably,” I said.
Preston flashed me a big grin. “Well, you know you can stay here. We have a guest bedroom.”
Laughing, I took Presley from Rory. “You just want to be able to stroll in late tonight, that’s all.”
“Hell yeah, that’s what it is.”
Harmony playfully hit Preston’s stomach. You couldn’t help but feel happy for them. When Preston draped his arm over Harmony’s shoulders, I felt a ping of jealousy. I was going to push Rory a little harder about moving in with me. I wanted to be around her as much as I possibly could. Things were starting to pick up more in Wes and my solar business, which meant that on my days off I’d be working on that as well. If Rory lived with me, I’d see more of her.
Glancing down at the beautiful baby in my arms, I made a funny face and was rewarded with a smile. “Hello there, princess. Are you hungry?”
Presley had opened her mouth and was about to fuss when I slipped the bottle in just in time.
Harmony sat on the edge of the sofa. “You know you’re a natural at this, Finn.”
I laughed. “Well, it’s easy when you know it’s not your kid.”
When I glanced up, I couldn’t help but notice how Rory’s smile faltered some. Was she wanting kids right away? Hell…for all I knew she wanted kids now.
Shit. Was it to soon in our relationship to talk about things like that?
I made a mental note to talk to my parents about it.
Harmony kissed Presley on the forehead. “I’m going to go get changed. Be sure to burp her good—and don’t forget the burping rag
this time. I don’t want to hear you screaming like a girl again, Finn.”
“Hey!” I replied with a frown. “Her spit up ran down my shirt. Down. My. Shirt. That was nasty.”
Preston fell back onto the sofa and kicked up his feet. Harmony turned and stared at him. “You aren’t getting ready?”
“Um…I am ready. Wait. Am I ready? What’s the right answer?”
Laughing, Harmony waved him off and said, “You’re taking me somewhere nice for dinner…that’s all I know.”
Rory giggled. “That means go get ready and dress nice.”
“Damn it. That’s what I thought it meant.”
—
“Want to make out?” I whispered in Rory’s ear while she shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
She hit me on the stomach and rolled her eyes. “I’m not making out with you on your brother’s sofa.”
Frowning, I asked, “Why not?”
Rory searched through the popcorn, looking for the yellow ones; she claimed they were the best because they had the most butter on them. In the background played a movie she’d picked out. Beauty and the Beast. I’d already dozed off three times, only to be woken up by the singing.
“For starters, this is my favorite movie. Then we have the fact that we are babysitting so we shouldn’t be messing around. And then you factor in it’s your brother’s house and that just makes it weird.”
“It does not make it weird,” I replied while grabbing a handful of popcorn.
“Wait! Don’t take the good ones!”
Flash whimpered at our feet. Glancing down to him, I frowned. “Oh yeah. I forgot you were here.”
“Don’t you dare make him bark, Finn Ward. If you do, Presley will wake up, and you’re changing her diaper.”
I leaned back and drew her closer to me.
Another song started playing. Rory’s face lit up, and my chest tightened. Moving closer, I softly kissed her neck. She tilted her head, giving me better access. Bullshit she didn’t want to mess around—I could practically smell the desire come off her. Sliding my hand up her shirt, I rubbed her hardened nipple through her bra.
Her head dropped back against the sofa. “Finn…we…can’t.”
Running my tongue along her neck, I sucked in her earlobe and gently bit it. “Why can’t we, Éan?”
My cock was so fucking hard. Would it always be like this with Rory? The constant need to have her near me? To fill her so deep with my dick she’d begged for more?
Sliding my hand out from her shirt, I slipped it into my sweatpants, which she was wearing. I’d never seen her look so damn adorable as when she’d walked out of the bathroom at my parents’ dressed in my old sweatpants and T-shirt. Her hair was in a ponytail, and all I could think about was how I wanted to see that sight every day for the rest of my life.
Taking the bowl of popcorn, I set it on the coffee table. “I want to make out.”
She giggled and slowly lay down on the couch. “What are we, in high school?”
“Are you volunteering to dress up like a naughty schoolgirl?”
Her teeth sunk into her lip, and my cock pulsed harder.
“Fucking hell, Rory. Don’t look at me like that.”
She shrugged and ran her fingers lazily down my chest before sliding her hand under my shirt. “I’m only trying to say that if you wanted me to, I would do it for you.”
My eyes about rolled to the back of my head imagining it. Crushing my mouth to hers, I kissed her hard. She gave back as well as she took. It was raw. Passionate. Filled with a pulsing sensation of heat and desire.
Rory stroked my cock through my jeans while I played with her nipples.
“Are you wet, Rory?”
“Yes. Oh, Finn.”
“Still don’t want to do this?”
She pushed back on my chest. “We have to move to the floor.”
What? The floor?
“What the hell for?”
“I can’t have sex on their sofa. That’s weird. What if you got your spooge on it?”
Drawing back, I lifted a brow. “ ‘Spooge’? Did you seriously just call my cum that?”
“I did,” she stated while trying desperately to hide her laugh.
“You know, two minutes ago the heat radiating between us was insane, and you went off and ruined it by wanting to get on the floor because of my…spooge.”
“Do you want me?”
Rory ached as much for me as I did for her. I saw it in her eyes.
“Fuck yes.”
I pulled her off the sofa, and she thumped onto the floor.
“Ouch!” she cried out, then covered her mouth. We both remained perfectly still. When we heard no sign of Presley, I pulled her sweats down while she unbuttoned my jeans.
Slipping my fingers inside of her, I let out a groan. “Damn, baby. You’re soaking wet.”
“It’s the movie. It does that to me.”
I stopped moving and stared at her. When she busted out laughing, I lifted her ass some and slipped inside of her.
She drew in a breath. “Yes. Finn, that feels amazing.”
Flash walked up and stood at our side. We both turned and glared at him. “Go on, boy. Go lie down,” I said as I tried to stay focused.
He moved in closer.
“What is he doing?” Rory asked.
Oh God.
“He has a strange look in his eyes,” I whispered.
Rory grabbed my arms. “Oh no. He’s going to bark.”
“He wouldn’t.”
Flash let out a low growl.
Rory squeezed my arms. “He’s mad I yelled at him before. This is his payback to me.”
I looked down at Rory. “What? Dogs don’t ‘pay back’ anything. He’s too stupid to know to do that.”
As if on cue…Flash barked.
Loudly, and with a look of defiance in his eyes.
“Flash…bad boy!” I whisper-shouted.
He barked again, this time louder.
“Get off me, Finn. Make him stop!”
Flash ran from us and raced up the stairs.
“That bastard!” Jumping up, I started to take off but got tripped up by my jeans and fell forward. The coffee table was the only thing I saw as my head hit it.
“Finn!” Rory cried out.
“Shh! Don’t wake up—”
Cries from upstairs filled the entire house.
Holy shit. That kid has some lungs on her.
Rolling over, I covered my left eye. “Son-of-a-bitch.”
“I’ll get her,” Rory said as she rushed by me, jumping over my head and coming dangerously close to stepping on it.
“I’m okay! Don’t worry about me,” I called out sarcastically.
Rory rushed up the stairs. “You’re not the one screaming…she is.”
I slowly sat up. The headache instantly hitting me and making me feel sick to my stomach.
Flash appeared next to me and barked, scaring me half to death.
“I’m selling you to the black market and they’re going to make horse food out of you.”
He tilted his head and gave a low-sounding growl.
“Yeah, fuck you too, Flash.”
He barked. “See, I can totally read your mind.”
A strange odor hit me, making me gag. Standing, I turned to see Rory holding Presley while she plugged her nose.
“You have a problem.”
I swallowed hard. “Me? I have a problem?”
The odor grew as she stepped closer. “Yep. Your niece went potty in her diaper and she needs Uncle Finn to change it.”
Oh holy hell.
Taking a step back, I held up my hands. “No. I didn’t sign up for this. You did!”
Chapter 43
Rory
Baby talk and broken hearts
A look of pure horror washed over Finn’s face as he took a few steps back. I didn’t want to tell him, but his eyes were starting to swell and turn black.
I forced myself not
to gag as I held the stinky baby. “Take her. You woke her up.”
Finn’s mouth gaped open. “Me? It was that evil bastard dog that woke her up.”
“He wouldn’t have barked had he not gotten jealous we were on the floor playing.”
“ ‘Playing’? Rory, we were making love…or at least trying to.”
I shrugged and stepped closer to him, pinning him against the fireplace wall. Presley cried louder, and I had no idea what to do. I’d never changed a diaper. “You’ve changed her before. You know what to do.”
He shook his head as fear washed over his face. “No I haven’t. Not once.”
Oh. Shit.
I was pretty sure that now I was the one with a fearful look on my face. “Finn, what are we going to do? I’ve never changed a diaper. I don’t even know where they keep them!”
“The bedroom!” Finn shouted as he somehow ducked around me and ran up the stairs.
“You jerk!” I cried out. Presley was now in a full-on scream and sucking in air. I held her closer to me to comfort her, and when she stopped crying, I couldn’t help but smile.
I’ve totally got this.
“I got her to stop crying,” I stated as I made my way up the stairs. I made a mental note to learn this stuff before I ever had kids.
Walking into the nursery, I watched as Finn ran from one side of the room to the other. Finally he said, “Okay! Here are the diapers. I’ve seen Harmony use these when there’s been number two.”
I lifted my brows. “ ‘Number two’?”
He shot me a dirty look, then a shocked one. “Hey, she stopped crying.”
With a wide, confident grin, I responded, “I know. I tucked her close to me and she instantly settled.”
Finn returned my smile. “You’re a natural, Éan.”
Presley picked that minute to start crying again.
“Dang it! Let’s put her on the changing table,” I said as I carefully laid her on it. I took off her little one-piece pink pajamas and stared at the diaper.
“You just pull the tabs, Rory. Pull ’em!”
I shot him a death stare. “I’ll pull them when I’m ready. Give me a second. I need to mentally prepare myself for this.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “This is your deal. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”