She smirks up at me. “Looks like you were right foronce.”
Damn, I love her snark. If we were alone right now, I’d kiss her until she begged me to pull her into the nearest supply closet and fuck her senseless.
“Florence, dinner is starting soon,” Kay says, nodding at the clock on the fireplace mantel. “Charlie will escort you to the dining room so you don’t miss any of the action.” She turns to me, her expression hardening. “Heath and I need to have a little chat. Alone.”
Shit.
Charlie tenses under my arm. I draw her closer and give her a reassuring squeeze.
“Hope you didn’t think you were off the hook, cowboy,” Florence taunts with a wicked chuckle.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I quip.
“Good man. Now be a dear and fetch my walker, will you?” She gestures to where it’s parked against the wall.
I release Charlie and grab the walker, setting it in front of Florence. I cup her elbow with one hand and hold her other hand, helping her stand. Once she’s steady, she shifts toward me.
“You’ve got my approval,” she whispers in my ear. “And if I like someone, Kay’s usually never too far behind.”
I find that oddly reassuring as Charlie kisses her grandma’s cheek.
“Be nice, Grams,” she warns.
“I’d never dream of being anything but,” Kay replies, her face giving nothing away.
I’m envious of Charlie and Florence as they walk toward the dining room. This conversation is going to end with either Kay threatening my life or grilling me until I sweat. Probably both.
She lowers herself into the seat Florence vacated, leaning her cane against the armrest. “I’ll cut right to the chase, Heath. I’m not going to be around forever, and I need to know that what you just said wasn’t all bullshit and that you’ll take good care of my girls.”
I blink, caught off guard by how direct she sounds, and take the seat beside her.
“You’re not going anywhere anytime soon, but if it puts your mind at ease, you have my word. I’m here to stay. Charlie is my present, my future, and my—” I stop short, replying to what she just said. “Wait. You saidgirlsas in plural.”
She grins. “Yes. Charlie and the baby.”
“What makes you think it’s a girl?”
We have our first ultrasound soon, but the medical assistant I spoke with said we’d likely find out the sex at the second appointment.
“Let’s call it a grandmother’s intuition.” She taps her chest over her heart. “In fact, you’re going to have a house full of girls someday. No boys, I’m afraid.”
“Whoa, slow down,” I say, holding up a hand. “We’re only having one.”
“For now,” Kay replies cryptically.
My shoulders drop in relief, grateful she didn’t somehow predict that we’re having twins or worse. Charlie’s pregnancy is already considered high risk, and any talk of additional complications makes my stomach knot.
I reach over and give her hand a squeeze. “No matter what comes next, Charlie is everything to me, and I’m going to spend every day proving I’m worthy of her.”
Kay smiles and pats my cheek. “Good. Because if you break her heart, they’ll never find your body,cowboy.”
She may be pushing eighty, but I don’t doubt her for a second.
Sexy Glasses & Sinful Smirks
That night, I walk into the bedroom and stop short when I find Heath reclined against the headboard, casually flipping through a cattle chute manual with reading glasses perched on the end of his nose.
Lord help me.
