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“How’d you come up with that fake story so fast?”
“The night we met—skip past the bailing me out of jail.” I grabbed the last piece of bacon off his plate and took a bite. I swallowed it before going on. “You went back down to the casino because you said you were on a hot streak.”
“But the blackjack table story? Inspired.”
“That comes from reading many romance novels over the years.”
“Romance novels, huh?”
“We call it the meet-cute. When the main characters meet for the first time.”
“I see.” He leaned in close and kissed my lips. “How do you feel about having a naked meet-cute?”
“I just ate enough food to feed an army. I need a few minutes.”
“You ever play strip blackjack?” He raised his brows.
My gaze dropped to his lap. “Do you have a deck of cards in your pants or are you just happy to see me?”
“He’s always happy to see you.”
“He’s a good little soldier, always standing at attention.”
“Little?” He mock glared. “You don’t want to give him a complex, do you?”
“Huge. Gargantuan. You nearly broke me in half.”
“Honey, the kids!” He gestured his head to the other side of the room where two children below the age of ten were squabbling and their aggrieved parents were trying to minimize the damage.
“That looks exhausting,” I muttered.
Smoke looked over his shoulder. The children were in a ceasefire, and then the boy threw cereal at his sister. The screaming began immediately.
“Exhausting,” Smoke said quietly. “Yeah, it does.”
Something about his tone made my smile drop.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing. You get in my face when you want me to admit something,” I pointed out. “So now I’m doing the same to you.”
“By getting in my shit?” Smoke asked, a ghost of a smile flitting across his lips.
“Yep.” I dunked my fork into the leftover gravy and licked it clean.
His gaze dropped to my action. “You don’t fight fair.”
“Come on,” I said gently. “Tell me what’s resting on those broad shoulders of yours.”
“I never got to be exhausted,” Smoke admitted.
It took a moment for me to understand his words, but when they penetrated, I nodded. “Because you weren’t around to watch Tavy grow up.”
“We split when she was so young. I missed out on a lot.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. Whatever I said wasn’t going to turn back the clock. It wasn’t going to change the choices he’d made.
