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I grinned and leaned my head against his shoulder. “Positive.”
He exhaled in relief. “Good. I wasn’t looking to get married any time soon.”
I laughed and shook my head because that wasn’t exactly a surprise. Then I glanced up at him and furrowed my brow because I just had to know, “Where the hell did you get that ring, anyway?” It was stunning.
He frowned back. “What makes you think I didn’t just go out and buy it for you?”
I snorted and sent him a get-real tap to the ribs with my elbow. “Seriously?”
He sighed and let his shoulders slump, then admitted, “It’s the ring JB got for Sonya.”
“Eww…” Cringing, I backed away from him and lifted both hands. I adored his brother, JB. But the first woman JB had been engaged to had not been my favorite person on the planet. At all.
Sonya had once told me I needed to cut down on the donuts because my hips were getting too big. I hadn’t been a fan since. So yeah, I was much happier when JB had ended up with my first cousin Teagan instead.
“And you thought I’d want that thing on my finger after it touched that foul skank?” I demanded of JB’s brother in outrage. “Please tell me you at least sterilized it first.”
“Sure.” Luke grinned. “I gave it the Luke-special spit bath.”
“Nice,” I said dryly as I heard footsteps in the hall.
And just like that, Luke was forgotten. My body prepared itself for the arrival of Vaughn.
Didn’t matter that I’d just seen him literally a minute ago, this thrilling flutter washed over me and I turned, bracing for that initial hit of dopamine overdose I got every time I saw him.
15
VAUGHN
I didn’t exactly relish the idea of returning to Lucy’s living room after I’d just body-slammed the newest guy to propose to her.
You’d think that kind of behavior was jealous rage manifesting itself, which—you know—was just not true at all. It was no business of mine what she did in her personal life.
But I knew exactly how it looked, and from the mortification pouring through my veins, I think I would’ve been happy to just fall through a hole that opened up in the floor and swallowed me whole.
Except Ava was starving. As soon as I picked her up, she turned her face toward my chest and tried to eat my shirt. And when she didn’t find any ready milk available, she began to fuss.
“Come on, kiddo,” I urged, spotting a pacifier and plugging that into her mouth. “Can’t you wait until your mom at least gets rid of this guy before deciding you’re hungry?”
In answer, she spit out the pacifier and turned her face toward my chest again.
I sighed. “Well, I can’t say I blame you. That would be my preference too.” But right now was not the time to think about burying my face between Lucy’s breasts.
Clearing my throat, I looked down at Ava, who was currently screwing up her features into the beginnings of a major temper tantrum, so I gave her my knuckle to gnaw on for a minute, and I carried her from the room.
By the time I made it to the front of the house, I was sweating under the collar, not ready to face Lucy—or Luke—again.
She must think I was a total maniac right about now.
But then I stepped into the living room, met her gaze across the carpet, and I felt the impact of her stare down the entire length of my cock.
Slowing to a stop, I swallowed and tried to get my body back under control. I think I stared for too long, though, because Luke cleared his throat and bobbed his chin my way, saying, “So that’s the kid, huh?”
“This is Ava,” Lucy affirmed, nearing my side and gripping the side of my forearm as she smiled down at her daughter. Her scent wafted up my nasal ducts, and her fingers on my flesh caused this crazy stir of need to wash through me. My nostrils flared, inhaling as much of the aroma as I could get.
But damn, I really should learn how to control this constant craving I always felt around her.
“You want to hold her?” Lucy asked.
