That thought made my chest hurt.
“Hey.”
Oak’s voice was soft, questioning, and I turned to him instinctually. His worry was evident in those startling eyes.
“I’m fine,” I assured him, though I was anything but. I’d been the one putting the brakes on between us, the one who had all the reasons why we shouldn’t get together. He was the one that only wanted fun. My brain was on board with all of that. My heart, on the other hand, was trying to catch feelings. And I couldn’t have that.
“You sure?” He asked out of the corner of his mouth. When I nodded, he gave me a salacious little grin, there and gone again. “Then I’ll be waiting for your text.”
With that he hopped up, and I watched him go. Damn, that ass. No, I couldn’t think about that. Not now.
There was just something about him that had me in a chokehold though. And even though my brain tried to remind me of all the reasons this couldn’t go anywhere, I knew I’d look back on this and realize that this was the moment I decided that whatever Oak wanted, for however long he wanted it, he would get.
“Dad! Mom’s gotta go cut people up now.” Tristan’s voice rang across the space, drawing chuckles from everyone except the prim and proper businessman. Putting everything else out of my head, at least for now, I focused on my girl, her birthday, and the people who had gathered to celebrate her.
Chapter 18
Oak
It had been a long day. Well, not really. It had justfeltlong, which was definitely different.
Sitting next to Law after hanging out with two thirds of his kiddos felt… right. Even as Marlie was chatting with her mom on the iPad and the others were vying for Caitlyn’s attention, I felt like I belonged there next to Law.
Yeah. I was in trouble. More than I’d already been.
See, there was this side of me that hated the fact that I had gone from taking care of my younger siblings into taking care of someone else’s. Except, these kids were family too, just in a whole different way.
My uncle had fallen in love with their uncle and the rest was history. My grandparents were their grandparents now. These were people who had chosen one another in various configurations and roles.
Technically, if I wanted to, I could unchoose this.
Except, that wasn’t really possible in the circumstances we all were in, and I didn’t want to. But the idea of being able to back out of whatever this arrangement was because Law and his kidsweren’t really my family felt… liberating. Like I kind of had a choice, still.
I also knew that the window for backing out was coming to a close soon. Why? Because there was no backing out as soon as I fell in love with Law. He was a package deal. Would forever be that.
Not that he’d want anything with me other than what we had been doing lately.
I was kind of surprised when he asked me over after the kids went to bed, though. That felt like crossing some imaginary line I had set for us. If we fooled around—because let’s face it, that was exactly what we had been doing—we didn’t take it to his house.
At the Yellow House it would become something more real. Something… if not quite serious, then less playful. Less spur of the moment because we couldn’t not. More planned.
I still said yes, of course. Law Caldwell had snuck into my brain and possibly my balls and how could I say no now? Look, I was only twenty-one. Only a human. Infatuated with an older human who was hot as hell.
Maybe hindsight would tell me what an idiot I was being, but when he texted me that night, I pulled on my shoes and jacket and left my cabin.
I’d showered very thoroughly. I’d put on a tiny bit of cologne. I’d considered the jeans that made my ass look fantastic, but then I decided they were a bit too much and chose a pair of sweats instead.
I compensated by wearing a T-shirt so old that it was practically sheer and had a stretched collar that showed off skin in a way that was understated but kind of hot at the same time.
Yes, I was going to try and seduce this man. Why now? Because I’d been good and I deserved a treat, damn it.
I didn’t knock, just opened the big front door and slipped inside, then left my shoes by the pile of other shoes. I wasshrugging out of my jacket when Law came down the stairs, holding his finger to his lips.
As if I would make noise just when the kids were about to fall asleep anyway. I’d been around children enough to know how fragile that time of the evening was.
Now that Law was right there, coming to me, smiling, the bravery and “I’m going to take this man” energy fizzled a little.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, the smile falling a little.
