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Her stunning blue eyes that had shut, popped open, and looked into mine. Those eyes of hers always were so expressive and told a story just like the ones she wrote. They contained so much emotion, detail, and love. It was hard not to get lost in them as one would reading her novels.
“I left the firm for good today.”
She sucked in a breath and her eyes went wide with shock. Did she think I wouldn’t have ever done that in the past if it meant building our future together?
“Alley, don’t look so surprised. You know my father’s company wasn’t going to truly make me happy. You make me happy and being there would have just caused us both unease.” Needing to see more of her I released her hair so I could grab her hips. Twisting her so she was straddling my thighs and facing me, gave me eye to eye contact. Then I laid all of it out there.
“I quit the firm, put my condo up for sale, and got started on a couple of new ventures today.”
Laying it all out there felt good and what I’d accomplished brought a sense of peace into my life. As long as Alley was on board with it all.
“Landon, I thought you loved that condo?” That was the first thing she asked, with a puzzled look on her face.
My hands had crept up under her shirt and rubbed her back lightly. Her soft skin had goosebumps all over it and a little shiver raced through her. I loved that she was so responsive to my touch. But first I needed to get through the talk.
“Honey, I love you. And home is wherever you are. Even if we lived in a tent in the woods, as long as you were there, that would be home.”
My girl laughed but was shaking her head. “I am not living in a tent or peeing in the woods. Not even for you.”
I gave her a little tickle. “You would too.”
She just stuck her tongue out at me. And even that was sexy. Her playful side and stubborn humor were a load of fun, as well as a challenge.
I finished telling her about the talk with my parents and she was outraged at the stuff they said. Alley never understood how they could treat Summer and me the way they did. She was protective and yet she grew up in a worse situation than us. And still, she had the biggest heart. I was a damn lucky man.
Then I went on to tell her about setting up to sell the condo and living at her place. We talked about Summer having stayed away, but with her and Gyth getting married soon, my sister would have been moving out anyway. Alley didn’t think Summer would balk about sleeping every night with her man sooner than she planned, but her room was always there if she wanted it.
And then, I explained about helping Kace and the guys one time with contracts and how that led to us talking about me doing that for them in the future, which sparked the idea of me starting my own company. I knew getting more clients wouldn’t be an issue, and I would be doing things on my terms, not my parents. It would allow me to use my business skills, as well as practice law too. But there was another venture I wanted to talk to her about, and it would be a sensitive one.
“Remember how you talked about writing different stuff and one day maybe even writing a children's book?”
Her face went on alert. She knew what we talked about long ago when she first got pregnant with Hannah, but that was also before we lost her. But now more than ever my heart said we had to go through with our plans.
“Alley, I want to do the children's book with you, just like we planned. You write it and I will do the illustrations. We will publish it and dedicate it to Hannah.”
Tears pooled in her eyes and when one spilled over, I brushed it away with my thumb. Placing my hand on the side of her face, I caressed her tender skin.
“Landon,” she whispered. “But that was...” She hiccupped on a sob that broke free.
I knew what she was trying to say. I’d thought the same thing moments before, but even with our baby gone, I thought it was important.
“Baby, I know. I think we still should do it for her. And for us. Will you do this with me?” My words came out on a plea. I think we both needed it so we could move forward and our hearts could start to mend.
As her tears traveled down her cheeks, she nodded her head, yes, and her arms wrapped around my neck. “For Hannah,” she whispered in my ear.
We held each other tight until her cries slowed and then even though there was probably more to talk about, I thought that was enough. We were talking little steps and making progress. So, I stood in one smooth motion, keeping her legs wrapped around me, and carried her to our room.
We laid in each other's arms facing one another until we both drifted off to sleep.
ChapterTwenty-Six
ALLEY
I felt like shit.
Waking up in Landon’s arms for the last month had been wonderful but that changed in the blink of an eye. Much like the morning in Vegas, I was running for the bathroom sick as a dog. Having jumped from the bed, Landon woke up too and was hot on my heels.
This cannot be happening.
