AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bentley rolled down the window and waved at us, calling goodbye. She couldn’t seem to stop smiling, so I think at least she’d enjoyed the game.
Vaughn bumped into me, still chuckling. “That was fun,” he announced. “I like your brother and sister-in-law.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, grasping his arm and starting for the front door. I wasn’t sure if I was hol
ding on to him to steady myself, or to try to keep him steady, or because I just wanted to touch him. “They have their moments.”
He leaned his head toward mine. “Your whole family’s great.”
I squeezed his arm, glad he approved. “Come on in through the house,” I said, even though we’d already been walking to the front door together anyway. “That way you won’t have to walk through the dark so much to get back to the garage.”
“Okay,” he answered good-naturedly. “Thank you.”
With a happy sigh, he leaned against the wall by the front door as I fumbled to find my keys and then open the lock. “Tonight was nice,” he said.
I paused to smile up at him. “It really was.”
“But all that baby talk, about having more and naming them, made me want to see Ava Grace.”
I nodded in complete agreement just as I got the door unlocked. “It kind of did, didn’t it?”
“I suddenly miss napping with her while she sleeps against my chest. So I’m just going to go back and peek at her. Real quick,” he told me as he slipped past me through the open door and half-fell, half-shoved his way inside.
“Vaughn—” I started, grasping his arm.
He took my hand and squeezed it gently, then removed it from him. “I know, I know. She’s probably asleep. But I’ll be quiet, I swear.”
And he left me there in the entrance, stumbling his way into the hall toward Ava’s room. I shook my head and gave a quick laugh. Shutting the door behind me, I locked it and followed him to the nursery.
When I got there, he was standing at the crib, holding on to the railing to steady himself and frowning down at the empty bed.
“She’s not here,” he said, looking up at me and blinking in confusion.
I smiled and shook my head. “My parents took her to their place for the night.”
“Oh.” His disappointment was freaking adorable. “I guess I should’ve figured that out since they weren’t here when you opened the door.” Looking back down into the bed, he sighed. “Feels weird without her.”
“It does,” I admitted, nodding as I slowly walked to his side so I could reach in and touch the blanket I usually covered her with.
Vaughn companionably set his hand against the center of my back, sharing the moment with me, and when I leaned against him, he slid his arm the rest of the way around me to rest his hand on my shoulder. We stood there a moment, looking at the crib. When I tipped my head toward him, he turned and kissed my hair.
He kept his lips pressed there before hissing out a breath and shifting his face down until he was pressing his brow against the side of my head. Then his grip on my shoulder tightened before he quietly admitted, “I wish I had gotten to dance with you tonight.”
I looked up at him and felt my cheeks flush with pleasure. “You do?”
Nodding, he looked into my eyes and caught a piece of my hair before tucking it tenderly behind my ear. “Any excuse to get closer to you, I want to take.”
A prickling sensation spread over my skin like goosebumps, heating and arousing me. “We’re close now,” I reminded him.
He leaned in, making his beard brush past my cheek, so he could rest his mouth against my ear as he said, “Except dancing is no longer the main thing I want to do with you.”
31
LUCY OLIVIA
Vaughn tipped his face down to kiss the top of my shoulder where flesh met the collar of my blouse. His beard skimmed past my cheek again and made me shudder.
I gripped the side of his arm and tipped my face up, giving him access to kiss more if he so wished, even as I caught my breath and murmured, “What about everything holding you back?”
