AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We don’t have any small humans staring at us right now. I just survived years with twelve children in the mountains. I deserve to be rewarded. By the woman I want. I didn’t leave a single one of the small humans behind. That’s a miracle in itself. Though it was seriously close. So…come closer and kiss me, woman. I really need it. Right now.”
Nick took matters into his own hands. Literally.
Robin didn’t weigh much. It was easy to move her where he wanted her. Her body pressed against his in all the right places.
“Kiss me, Robin. Quick. Before the little demons come back.”
Her cheeks were bright red, like they’d been the first time he’d kissed her so long ago.
“I told myself I would not be kissing you again,” Robin said quietly. “I don’t think it’s a smart idea.”
“What will it hurt? Who will it hurt? We’re both adults now. Are you afraid of the risk? Because I will not hurt you. I will never hurt you. I promise.”
“Maybe I’m afraid we’ll end up hurting each other. I’m not good at this stuff. I never have been.”
He heard the remnants of long-ago pain in her words. The vulnerability. He cursed the asshole who had had her and hurt her. She hadn’t deserved that. Not even for a moment.
His hold tightened on her. “Baby, I will never hurt you like that. Ever.”
He covered her lips with his own. It took her half a moment, but her arms went around him. And Robin kissed him back. He didn’t pull away until one of her children called for her.
She looked up at him. “We have got to stop doing that. You…confuse me every single time you do.”
“Good. I like knowing I confuse you. Rattle you as much as you have me. What are you doing next Friday night?”
“Probably making macaroni and cheese and watching yet another Harry Potter movie for the fifty thousandth time.”
“If I find a sitter to come here and watch all five of the kids, will you go to dinner with me? At the inn? Or we can go somewhere else just as nice? An official man-woman date? Noah informed me that if I want you to be my girlfriend, I need to take you on a real date. I think my kid is probably right.”
She stared at him long enough to have him worried he’d overplayed his hand.
“We’re not ever going to figure this out, are we? Not unless…oh, boogers. You confuse me. Just as much now as you did then. You do it on purpose.”
He laughed, lowered her to her feet again. He almost had her. He could feel it. “Good. I want you confused. Makes it easier to get you in my evil clutches.”
He would have said more, but a little girl with tears on her cheeks came running. His daughter. Running toward Robin. Who scooped her close like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Philip trailed after her, a concerned look on his face. “Nova shut her finger in the drawer. She wanted you, Mom.”
“Then we’ll take a look, right, Daddy?”
Robin looked at him, his daughter’s head on her shoulder as Nova clung to her. Like Nick and Robin were a team. A unit.
A family. Like they all belonged together. Him. Her. Five kids between them. Having her next to him as he navigated this new world of parent. Them, doing it together.
Having Robin every night.
Nick wanted that so hard his damned arms ached with the need to scoop her up again. Right now.
The front door opened, and three more kids tumbled out.
Their kids.
Their family.
Twenty years ago, he had burned for her. That fire hadn’t gone away. He figured that it probably never would.
Why couldn’t they build something perfect between them now?
All he had to do was convince Robin that was what she wanted, too.
