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Again with the pinched face. “I don’t get your hurry to have kids.”
Nobody did. I wanted children. Lots of them. And when I was honest about my desire, people got weird, as if at twenty-four I shouldn’t be entertaining such an idea. But if being the mom of a large family was what I wanted, who were they to judge? I still needed to meet someone, fall in love, get engaged, plan a wedding, and then have babies. Doing the math, I wasn’t “too young” to get started.
My mom had always wanted more than one child, but she’d been thirty-eight when she’d met my father, and her biological clock hadn’t been on her side. I’d been her one and done, and I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me.
“I can’t wait to be a mom.” Soccer games, dance parties, and diapers awaited.
“In order to do be a mom, you need a man. And sitting on the couch with a swollen ankle won’t accomplish that.”
No, it wouldn’t. But it sure beat a picture of a hairy peen.
* * *
I arrivedthe next morning at the office at fifteen minutes before eight—without my heels this time. My ankle was still tender, but healing. The advantage to having been a clumsy mess my entire life was having a body that rebounded quickly. Or perhaps my pain tolerance had expanded in order to accommodate my physical calamities.
As I walked in with my cardboard bankers box in hand, I couldn’t wait to make the desk my own. Until we hired a receptionist, it was agreed I’d take the front desk and greet any customers. Suited me since I had the space to myself.
At the clinic where I’d worked before, I’d shared the front desk with two others, so I couldn’t personalize. But here I could make it my very own.
My Addy-fication started with my aloe vera plant. I placed it on the edge of the desk, hoping it might catch some rays from the sunlight. With my pale skin always exposed to the hot climate, I needed this guy by my side for after-sun care. Next came my pink computer mouse, purple mouse pad, and rainbow pencil cup, together with all of my funny pens. I had cows, fluff balls, pens with sparkles, and all colors. Sometimes it was the little things that put you in a good mood. How could you not smile when writing with a cow’s butt on the end of your pencil?
Just as I’d set my favorite framed picture on my desk, the front door opened, and I glanced up.
Leo.
Damn. He appeared like he’d come from the gym again, with sweat peppering his brow and a fine sheen on his massive tattooed muscles. Today they were showcased in a black tank top.
I realized a moment too late I’d been staring, and he’d noticed. But instead of a cocky look or a raised brow, he simply stared back, the intensity making my skin prickle.
Gulp. “Good morning.”
“You’re early.” He said it as though he’d hoped to come in and avoid me.
“I try to be whenever I think it might annoy those around me.”
“Mission accomplished,” he retorted.
“I’m guessing the truce is over?”
He sighed. “Probably needs a daily renewal.”
My lips twitched with a smile. “Fair enough.”
He moved closer, and I swear I had to grip the desk to keep my body from reacting to the masculine scent of him. Jesus, for someone who avoided the gym like the plague, I was having a serious reaction to the exercise pheromones.
“What’s in the picture?”
I followed his gaze to the jewel-framed photo. “My dream vacation.”
“It’s a cabin in the snowy woods.”
“Okay, Captain Obvious. It’s my dream because I grew up in California and now live in Vegas, so I think a cabin in the snowy woods would be heaven.” I pictured taking the kids up to a snowy cabin each year, decorating it for Christmas, stamping hoofprints outside in the snow, having a large fire, and basically all of it capturing the coziest scene ever.
“Most people go with a beach.”
Was this his gruff way of participating in conversation? Never one to under-talk, I rolled with it. “I grew up near the beach in Orange County, so I suppose beach became the norm, and snow became the dream.”
He said nothing. Alrighty, then. We both turned when Nic walked through the door, holding his phone to his ear. “Love you too, Kels. Oh, Leo says have a good trip. Sure will. Safe travels.” He disconnected his phone to grin at his brother, who didn’t seem at all phased by Nic’s white lie. “Kelsey says hi back.”
