“Nope.” I reached for her hand, tugging her into me and finally pressing a long, slow kiss to her mouth and moaning softly now that her body was pressed against mine. “I missed you.”
She smiled against my lips. “You were away for three hours.”
“I know. It was a lifetime.”
For a few seconds, I just held her, finally letting her go only when I heard the kitchen timer buzz from below. Although it had been a couple of years, I still couldn’t get enough of this woman.I just wasn’t desperate enough to let the oven set the house on fire with our child sleeping soundly in his room.
She pulled roasting dishes overflowing with chicken and vegetables out of the oven. I poured us each a glass of wine, handing hers over once we were seated at the counter. She took a sip, smiling at me as I dished up.
“Jane called today,” she said. “She’s sending Alex down here to Texas.”
My eyebrows hiked up. “Why?”
“To get his mind right.”
I snorted. “His mind is always right. It’s the rest of him that’s the problem.”
“You’d think so, but apparently, he’s been talking about setting up the Thayer brothers with wives now that all our own brothers are married.”
“Fuck.” I laughed, rolling my eyes. “He really is a sucker for punishment, isn’t he? I can definitely put him to work, though. Maybe we’ll be able to satisfy his matchmaking tendencies with the next batch of cows.”
Charlotte pointed at me with her glass. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. You encouraging him.”
I shrugged. “He’s actually pretty good at it.”
“At matchmaking?”
“At working people until they figure out what they want,” I corrected gently. “It’s a useful skill to have in your family’s world.”
She sighed. “That man does not need encouragement and Jane’s brothers aren’t Westwoods. They have no obligation to let Alex makes moves in their lives like they’re no more than glorified chess pieces.”
I shook my head. “I disagree. I’ve talked to Colin a little bit at all the family events and I think he’s ready for a wife and a family.”
Charlotte arched an eyebrow at me, an amused grin ghosting across her lips. “That doesn’t mean he’s one good dinner away from proposing to whoever has crossed Alex’s desk.”
I laughed. “Neither of us actually know him well enough to say that with confidence.”
She studied me over the rim her glass. “If Alex keeps going like this, he’s going to end up with his own dating reality TV show.”
“I’d watch that.”
“Not if it’s hosted, produced, and judged by him,” she said, waggling her eyebrows at me. “They’ve got another baby on the way. That’s what he should be focused on.”
I smiled and reached for her hand across the counter. “Give him a break. That’s probably why he wants to set up the Thayers, to keep himself busy until the baby arrives. It’s either that or he drives Jane crazy for the duration of the pregnancy.”
“That’s going to happen no matter what,” she joked. “You might be right, though. He really can’t sit still.”
A small, unmistakable whine carried through the baby monitor on the counter and Charlotte groaned, her head dropping back. “Oh, come on.”
Tyler’s fussing escalated into a proper complaint when a wail came from the baby monitor and upstairs at the same time, so enthusiastic now that we heard it in stereo. Charlotte slid off the stool. “I swear, he waits until the exact moment I sit down?—”
“I’ve got it,” I said, stepping in before she even finished the sentence and dropping a quick kiss on her forehead when I passed her. “Sit. Eat. Drink your wine. Just relax, okay? I’ll be right back.”
I headed upstairs, not really minding the disruption. This was just life now, even if I happened to agree that he could sense when she finally relaxed.
Tyler was shifting in his crib when I walked in, his little hands curling and uncurling until I scooped him up and cradled him against my chest. “What’s up, little buddy? Why are you complaining, huh? You hungry or did you just want some cuddles?”
He quieted almost instantly and I smiled down at him, moving over to the window as I rocked him gently and looked out over our property. “All this is for you, you know. Who knows? Maybe someday soon, your mom and I will give you a sibling.”
