Page 64 of Sterling Heat

“I told you,” Enya defends. “I went into the bakery once and fell in love with the lemon cake.”

At first, I only hear fell in love and then the echo of with the lemon cake. Of course, she meant my cake, not me.

“Yes, but you actually met him.” Clay nods toward me. “The curmudgeon baker himself.”

“Was he supposed to be in hiding?” Enya teases. She hesitantly glances at me, like I might have told my brother our secret. We more than met. We shared a moment. A kiss that rocked my world, curled my toes, and did at least five other cliché things to me.

Squeezing the back of her neck again is my signal our secret is still safe inside me.

“And you actually like him?” With a sharp turn of my head, I glare at Clay who gives me a wink.

“He’s okay.” Enya bites her lower lip while watching me.

“You ever get sick of him, you come back to me, baby.” Clay winks at Enya.

“Hey!” I snap.

With a deep chuckle, Clay continues, knowing he’s gotten to me. “This is what I mean. This guy went all ape-shit when he learned you’d been coming to the Seed and Soil for months, and he hadn’t known.”

“Really?” Enya arches a brow, while a sweet smile curls her lips. Her gaze remains on me while she questions Clay. “And why did he care that I’d been around for months, and he hadn’t seen me?”

She probably shouldn’t poke me—the bear—because the revelation would include our kiss and how I’m still pissed that she’d been this close without me knowing. I could have met her sooner. I could have been there for her through her pregnancy. The thought doesn’t startle me as much as it should. I wouldn’t have let her out of my sight if I’d known she was available and nearby.

“That’s a good question. Why did you lose your shit, Seb?” Knox drones, playfully wiggling his eyebrows.

“That’s a dollar each,” Hudson interjects.

“I didn’t say a bad word. I said ape . . . doo-caca,” Clay protests.

“Nope. The S-H-word was in there and it counts. Pay up.” Hudson lugs himself from the hammock and strolls over to my brothers, rolling open his hand like a professional bill collector.

Knox and Clay each reach in their pockets. Knox slaps a five-dollar bill into Hudson’s palm. “Count it as a deposit. I’m owed four more swear words today.”

Vale rolls her eyes. “How about if you tame the language?”

“But I like language. All language. I don’t want to discriminate,” Knox jokes.

Enya laughs at the antics around us. The sound of her being so carefree with my family is doing funny things to my chest. I’m more relaxed than I’ve been around my family in a long, long time. Plus, the pleasant guffawing is nice to hear. With Adara’s birth, there have been lots of tears and tension. For once, Enya is all humor and smiles.

Needing to touch her again, I place my hand just above her knee beneath the table. Her skin is soft where her dress rides up her thigh. My fingers squeeze at her inner leg while my thumb coasts over her summer-warm flesh.

“I’m going to have to give her back to you so I can get those cakes,” Vale says to Enya, offering up Adara.

“Let Sebastian get the cakes,” Stone admonishes. He’s been his typical quiet self today. Just observing our family. Taking in the brood he raised.

“Give her to me,” I interject, holding out my hands for Adara. It’s not like my family hasn’t seen me carrying her, but everything goes quiet again when Vale passes Adara to me. Enya watches me over her shoulder, her side still to my chest where I cage her in on the picnic bench.

“Your brother was right earlier.” Her voice is lowered for only me to hear.

“Oh yeah. Which brother and what did he say?” I jostle Adara a little and press a kiss to her head.

Enya smiles, slow and sweet. “Fatherhood looks good on you.” Her grin deepens before realization hits. “Although I don’t mean you are . . . That is, I didn’t mean to imply you were . . . well, I’m not saying you’re—”

“I get it.” I tip up my chin, before holding my cheek to Adara’s downy head. “And if I ever considered being a dad, well . . . no one would top this pretty girl.” I kiss Adara’s head again. “But I’ll never be a dad. Fatherhood isn’t meant to be for me.”

Slowly, the wide grin on Enya’s face fades. “Yeah. I know. You’ve been pretty clear on how you feel about it.”

She doesn’t flinch; however, she swings her legs free from beneath the table and rises off the bench. Smoothing down her dress, she says, “I think I’ll help Vale with the cakes.”