AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ayesha shook her head. “We’re not closing the door.”
“Close the door,” Joel said.
She graced him with another kiss, and he pinched her nipple through the dress. It almost worked—she trembled and moaned quietly against his lips but then pulled away.
“I’m getting you something to eat,” she said.
Adrían held up a plate. “Oh, I brought something.”
“Delgano, did you bring that for me or Ayesha?” Joel asked.
Adrían handed her the covered plate. “You?”
“I’m asking Julien to make some kind of device that shocks you whenever you’re within a certain number of yards of my wife.”
Adrían went to his side of the room and sat on the bed. “I’d risk anything for love.”
Joel started to reach for the folded sheet draped over him to toss it at Adrían’s head but quickly realized that he would need it as long as Ayesha was there.
First, she helped him sit up.
Then she pulled up a chair and removed the cover from a plate of Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, carrots, and some kind of fruit crumble.
She tested the food, and he started to tease her that he wasn’t Theo, but he couldn’t. Not when she was so concerned and determined. He was recovering from what wasn’t his first gunshot wound. Steamy potatoes burning his tongue was far from a threat.
She raised the fork. “Mission Control, this is Airline Potato Mash. Are we cleared for landing?”
“Ayesha,” he chuckled, “really?”
“Are we cleared for landing?” she repeated, firmer.
He glanced at Adrían. “Don’t say a word to the Manly Men Association of the Globe.”
“You mean the Em-ma-te-guh?” Adrían raised a hand. “Hand to God. Not a word.”
Ayesha burst out laughing.
He eyed her. “That’s a big laugh for someone who’s not your husband.”
She cleared her throat, mouth twitching. “Mission Control?”
He sighed. “You’re cleared for landing.”
CHAPTER46
“Good morning, my love.” Ayesha lifted the half-awake infant from the crib and set her on the changing station. “How’d my little girl sleep? You know, once your brothers get up, you won’t have a moment of peace.”
Her two-month-old daughter yawned.
“That was a big yawn!”
It hadn’t been that long since a baby was in the house, but it felt like eons ago. That first year with Theo went by in a blur, so she’d promised herself to be more present and live in each moment. One day, there would be no more coos, no more adorable mistaken words, and no more, “Ma, have you seen my…?”
She unzipped the onesie. “Today’s also your brother’s birthday party, which he’s been waiting on for months, so get ready to hear all about his excitement. Which reminds me, your daddy should be finishing up soon.”
“We just did.”
She looked up to find Joel standing in the doorway watching them, visibly exhausted with a wrench in one hand. He stared at her for a long moment, then his gaze fell to their daughter, Tiare Raven Lattimore.
