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“You’re telling me you have a plan?” The look she shot me was skeptical, which was incredibly annoying coming from my younger sister.
“Of course, I have a plan!” I jumped to my feet and began to pace the office. “Despite what you may think I’m not a complete idiot. I know she’s perfect for me. But Lily is skittish, Win, haven’t you noticed that? I’m trying to go slow, be cautious so that I don’t scare her away. Not just for me but Daisy, too, she deserves someone who loves her just as much as I do, someone who won’t flake at the responsibility of being a parent.”
Winnie’s face softened and she moved to rise from the couch but it was proving to be difficult in her state. I laughed and offered her my hands, pulling her gently to her feet.
“Thank you,” she sighed gratefully. “Gray, I know you’re scared. It’s why you haven’t dated anyone since bringing Daisy home. But Lily isn’t Kim. She’s already become a part of Daisy’s life willingly. I think it’s time to see if she’ll be a part of yours as well. It’s okay to want something for yourself.”
Winnie stepped into me and squeezed her arms around me as much as she could with the basketball-sized stomach she was sporting. “What if I mess up and Daisy gets hurt?” I whispered my biggest fear into her hair.
She propped her chin on my chest and smiled up at me, “Then I’ll probably have to kill you and have Kane help me hide your body somewhere.”
“He’s pretty heavy, baby, we may have to get some help from the team.” I released my sister and she walked into the waiting arms of her husband.
“You’re getting soft since you settled down, Rodriguez. It’s okay to admit that you don’t think you could take me.”
A challenge glinted in his eyes but Winnie smacked his chest before it could be issued. “No. No strength competitions today. I’m hungry and you need to feed me before I take you both out and then I’ll have two bodies to get rid of.”
“All right, baby, let’s go get some dinner and maybe hide all the potential weapons in the house.” He kissed her affectionately on the forehead and rubbed his hand over her stomach.
I let myself imagine Lily and I in the same intimate pose and my throat tightened at how badly I wanted that.
Kane looked up and surprised me with his next question. “Did I ever tell you why I call her Fred?”
A knowing smile bloomed on my sister’s face as she stared up at her husband. I shook my head in confusion, “I just assumed you did it to annoy her.”
He laughed, “At first, yeah, that was my intention. We were too young when we met for it to be anything else. But I think even then I knew she was special and because of that I wanted something that was just mine, just ours. So, to me, she was always Winnie, sure, but she was also my Fred. Mine. When you find someone you want in your life forever, you claim them, in whatever way you can. Understand?”
Winnie hugged him tightly and I couldn’t help smiling. I was really fucking happy that I got my head out of my ass and accepted their relationship. He was one hundred percent right, it was time for me to push Lily a little harder. To see if she was ready to move forward without running from me again.
“Daisy’s in the gym, by the way. Sam is teaching her how to do a pull up,” Kane tossed over his shoulder as they left. I grinned at the image and began to pack up so that I could feed my own little monster dinner.
I grabbed my keys, thinking about what I had in the fridge I could cook that Daisy would actually eat, when a beautiful but furious Lily blew through the door.
For the second time that day I had a pissed off woman in my office. It was like my conversation with Kane and Winnie had teleported her straight to me, how convenient.
9
LILY
Iswept into the Falls Security offices with a singular purpose. My angry strides took me past the shocked faces of Kane and Winnie but I didn’t have time to stop. I’d made up my mind and if I didn’t push forward, I knew that I’d lose my nerve.
Entering the back hallway, I paused at the number of doors and bit my lip. I’d never been out of the reception area and had no idea which office belonged to Grayson. I was about to start throwing open doors and potentially getting shot at when a throat clearing made me freeze and turn slowly, expecting to get tossed out for breaking and entering. Even though I didn’t break anything, I just entered…
Roe was leaning against the wall completely relaxed, a juice box in his hand. He slurped noisily and lifted one finger off the box to point at a slightly ajar door near the end of the hall. I inclined my head slightly in thanks, my heart still thumping from the adrenaline of being caught, then I spun around and continued my stomping.
Pushing the door open, I entered the office and lifted my chin in the air as I stared down a surprised Grayson. Good, I’d caught him off guard and that meant he’d be more likely to answer my questions. At least that was what I’d learned from the true crime podcasts Benji liked to listen to while we were baking.
“You kissed me!” I hurled the accusation at him like I’d caught him stealing money out of my purse.
A devilish smile spread on his face and he rounded his desk, presumably to come closer to me. I panicked, knowing that if he touched me, if I smelled the tantalizing scent of him, I would crumble and not get the information I was looking for.
“Stop right there, I have things I want to say.” I threw my hands out in front of me as if I could physically stop him. He was nearly a foot taller than me and I knew all those muscles I’d only had glimpses of were for more than show.
He held his palms upward and sat on the edge of his desk, stretching out his long legs and crossing his feet at the ankles. Ugh, it was such a hot boy move and my brain stuttered momentarily at the picturesque calm on his sexy, dumb face.
“Go ahead, sweetheart. I’m all ears.”
Instead of melting like I usually did when he called me that, the endearment added flames to the fire.
