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He frowned.
"It's in my storage safe. I wanted to buy her a copy, since she liked it so much. I saw the original was on sale, so I bought it through an art dealer."
"You…bought it…"
"I planned to tell her about you some day and when that day came, I wanted her to know that what her parents had was real. That painting proves it."
•••
They’d walked back into the house when Lux told them to go see Bron because she had a surprise for Adri. Cam let out a low groan as they made it up the stairs and she giggled. His mind had been on seduction and hers too. Their evening at the park had been beautiful and though she kept her expectations low, just having him near took her mind places and made her so wet.
The whole evening of closeness, eating from each other’s hands, talking about how deep their feelings for each other still were. It all conspired to set her body on fire. She couldn’t wait until they were alone. She was going to devour him tonight.
Adrianna barely walked through the bedroom door, took one look at her daughter, and her feet became rooted. The Oh. My. God.was at the tip of her lips and it was only sheer willpower that kept her tongue plastered to the roof of her mouth. There was just so much color, so much tulle, so much volume, so much contrast.
“Daddy took me shopping for tomorrow’s show. What do you think, Mom? Isn’t this the coolest dress you’ve ever seen?”
Except, they had not gotten a dress. It was…well…something you let a child choose all on her own.
Bron was a fantasy vision. From the sparkly combat boots to the tapered pants and printed T-shirt with theFaceless Angelprint, to the detached, purple long-sleeved jacket with a sweep train that stretched a foot behind her. The inside lined in pink tulle made Bron look like a butterfly-ringmaster-steampunk-book cover.
She twirled around, showing Adri the detail work over the back of the jacket.
But herprincesawas happy. Her beautiful little face glowed as it was meant to. A princess on her own terms. Adri wouldn’t have chosen the outfit for her but all that mattered was that look, the confidence, her daughter reflected. She’d choose that look on her child’s face. Always.
“You’re beautiful,Princesa,” Adrianna said. Tears clogged her throat, the knot expanding along with the blinding smile on her daughter’s lips.
Where had time gone? It was just yesterday Bronwyn was looking up to her from the crook of her arm while Adri nursed her. Right now, she looked like a teenager, choosing her own party dresses.
“It’s a vintage jacket. The lady put the poofy inside stuff while Daddy and me went for ice cream.”
Adri turned to Cam. He stood there with a small smile on his face. He had taken Bron shopping after being hungover and the happiness was there, clinging to every part of him too. He’d been a jock. This is not the type of stuff most men enjoyed. But there was pride, shining in his eyes like he’d been to heaven and back.
“It was all Bron’s idea. She knew exactly what she wanted,” Cam said as if it was no big deal. As if he took little girls shopping all the time.
“Daddy also helped me pick a Day-After-Mother’s-Day present for Aunt Lo. She’s going to love it!”
Another wave washed over her chest and Adrianna smiled so hard it threatened to break her cheeks. “He did? Your dad was a hero today.”
She had to stop staring at him. She was two seconds from jumping on him and there was a very eager, very smiley little girl in the room.
“Bron, why don’t you let me help you out of the jacket and then we can hang your new dress. I want you to take a shower and go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
“Okay.”
When her daughter slipped out of the room, Adri closed the distance between her and Cam and took his face in her hands. She brushed small kisses on his lips, pausing in between, letting all the emotion swirling inside her drive her mouth and her fingers. Her heart threatened to burst inside her chest. She lay her head against his shoulder.
“Thank you. That was really sweet of you. She’s so happy with the dress and it’s so her.”
"It was fun. She has so many ideas about what she wants. The seamstress was impressed,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“How did you know where to go?”
He cleared his throat. “Chase knows the woman.”
“I bet.” Adrianna laughed.
He shrugged. “Anyway, why did Bron buy Lauren an after-Mother’s-Day gift? I asked her and she smiled and said she just does. That it’s between her and Lauren."
