Page 134 of Maximus

“Seriously? I thought all men wanted boys.”

“I already have boys,” I reminded her. “I want them to have little sisters.”

“God. Just when I think I couldn’t possibly love you anymore than I already do, you prove me wrong.”

“It’s you, Eva. All you. Before I met you, I had nothing and I was content to live out the rest of my life alone. Then you and the boys came along and thank God you did, because I realized I wasn’t really living. I was simply breathing. Nothing more.” I wiped the tear that started to fall and smiled. “Let’s get you and the boys in the house to finally meet Tex.”

“All right.”

* * *

During introductions and a lengthy greeting, where Eva had broken down into tears while hugging Tex, who looked so damn uncomfortable it was funny. When Eva was done with Tex, she turned to Melody and thanked her profusely, too.

Mel was much more comfortable and simply muttered, “I know. He’s the greatest, isn’t he?”

Akilah and Hope both stood to the side beaming with pride as Liam and Elijah told Tex’s daughters that their dad was “more awesome” than any silly superhero on TV. Then they told the girls that their dad had saved Eva. The vibe in the room changed as Tex’s girls simultaneously sucked in a breath and stared at their dad. Surely the girls knew Tex helped a variety of people, but I doubted they ever got to meet the people he saved.

And he indeed saved Liam, Elijah, and Eva.

The love I saw shining in Tex’s daughters’ eyes hit me like a jackhammer to the gut. I prayed that one day Liam and Elijah looked at me the way Akilah and Hope looked at Tex.

He was the center of their world.

With the women chatting in the living room and Hope and Akilah showing the boys their movie room, Tex and I went back to his office.

Christ, the man had a setup that rivaled NASA. Three big screens hung on the wall, four more monitors sat on a huge desk alongside numerous keyboards, computer towers, and laptops.

“This is damn impressive,” I told him.

“What’d you think, I saved your asses on a Dell?” He chuckled. “Here.”

He handed me a beer and motioned for me to sit in one of the three chairs.

“Thanks.”

“So, figured we should get this out of the way now,” he said and I braced at the tone of his voice.

Tex took a seat, stretched out his left leg, the cuff of his pants riding up just enough for me to catch a glimpse of his prosthetic. It was easy to forget Tex had lost half his leg in an IED explosion—nothing slowed or stopped the man.

“You were right,” I told him and watched his mouth twitch before his head tipped to the side and he roared with laughter.

“Yeah, I was,” he said, still chuckling.

“Well, I’ll be damned, you’re like a commando cupid.”

“You can call me whatever you want but you know I was right.”

“I said you were.”

“All right, I’ll let you off the hook. But I want your first born named after me.”

“John?”

“No. Tex.”

“I’m not naming my kid Tex. I’ll consider sneaking John in as a middle name.”

“Bet Eva will name your kid Tex,” he told me.