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“Are you done?” She blinks and gives a shaky nod. “None of that scares me. I’d expected pregnancy would be an issue, and it doesn’t bother me. We can adopt or look into foster kids. It really…my thoughts, my focus, have been on us. On finding a way to be together. I wasn’t…my thoughts didn’t jump there, but if a child is something you want, I’m all in.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, I was an only child, and until I met your family, I thought that was the absolute best. But I also guess growing up I sort of assumed one day I’d have kids. Finding the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with seemed like the bigger challenge, one I wasn’t in a rush to conquer.” She sinks her front teeth into her lower lip, smiling like she’s holding back a laugh. “But maybe I was just waiting for the right woman to come along and for it to not feel like such a challenge. And with you, Sage, it doesn’t feel like a challenge at all. It feels like maybe some part of me has known all along that one day our paths would cross again. That it was just a matter of time.”
She narrows her eyes in teasing disbelief. And yeah, I get the disbelief. There’s a part of me that wonders if maybe I’m now one of those guys who has lost all common sense for a woman. And maybe I am.
My lips brush against hers, and my thumb caresses her cheek. The wind rustles the leaves as dusk falls, and a vision of us sitting like this years from now, looking down the street, waiting for our kid to return on his bike hits. I remember my dad checking his watch, frowning at how close I cut it, pushing it right to the limit on making it home for dinner. And yeah, I can do that. Put on the scowl. Be the disciplinarian, because yeah, Sage will be the one who makes the cookies and tells him it’s okay to cry.
“I need to go to see the doctor. There are plenty of people in my Facebook groups that have successfully carried children to term. There’s no reason to believe I can’t, but before you agree to move out here, I should probably check and?—”
“Hey.” I tilt her head up so she’s forced to look in my eyes. “Do you really think I’d change my mind based on whether or not you can have kids?” She’s unbelievable. “What if it turns out that I’m infertile? Have you ever thought of that?” I mean, I assume I’m not, but I’ve had a lot of sex and no accidents. It’s in her nature to put it all on her shoulders. My fingers tangle in her hair at the base of her neck. “But, if the doctors say no, or even question it, my priority is and will always be you. Are we in agreement on that?”
Her lips press together, pensive. But they soften as she looks down at her leg.
An enormous gray cat with wispy white hairs around perky ears curls around her calf. In truth, he looks more like a wild mountain cat than a domestic one.
“Jinx.”
“Think he’ll like this house?” I ask with a glance back at the front door we have yet to cross. I’d like to get her inside, to let her see the place and decide if this can work for a temporary home.
“No,” she answers as his head tucks up under her palm. He stares at me with vibrant green eyes that say she can pet him, but I’d better keep my hands to myself. “This guy thrives on being outdoors. If the weather turns super cold or snowy, he’ll come indoors. Or, you know, heavy rains. But he’d be miserable if we locked him indoors.”
A Subaru appears down the street and turns before reaching us.
“You don’t worry about him with cars?”
“I do, but for Jinx, it’s a quality-of-life thing.” She rubs her finger over his furry nose. “And he’d destroy my furniture if I forced him to remain inside. Not that I have any now, but…”
“Well, we can go inside and check out what’s in this house,” I say, once again prompting her.
“We can,” she says and looks up at me, but this time, she’s the one who angles my face with a gentle touch. “I’m not trying to rush you with the kid talk. But if we’re going to move forward, and, well, take big steps like this so quickly, I think it’s important we do so with total honesty, you know?”
“For someone who hasn’t been in a relationship before, I’d say you’re a natural.” She smiles and my conscience kicks in. She wants total honesty, and she’s right to ask for it. But I haven’t been honest with her.
“What’s wrong?” Her nails scratch into my rough beard, and I flatten her fingers against my cheek and close my eyes to take stock.
I’ve got to come clean or one day she’ll have the right to be very angry with me. I let out a determined sigh and shift on the step, rest my elbow on one bent leg, and shoot off a quick prayer to the universe this goes well.
“In the spirit of total honesty, Sloane isn’t back at work this week.” Those trusting eyes narrow, but she’s silent, waiting for the explanation. “We decided not to tell you, as we all knew you needed to get back for the start of school.”
“And you wanted to protect me.” She pulls her hands out from mine and places them on her lap.
“Yes. I’ll always want to protect you, and I’m not going to apologize for that.”
“What is she doing?”
“She’s trying to get to the bottom of who hired those men to come after you.”
“And her.”
“Yes.” I nod and reach for her hands. She doesn’t pull them away, thank god. “She believes she can figure it out. She has the full resources of Arrow at her disposal.”
“That’s why Max is there.” She says it more to herself than to me, like she’s putting it together.
“Yes. We all want to find who did this.”
“To avenge Felix.”
