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“So long as you get us results and we stop the sabotage taking place in Jawhara, you can be whoever you want to be.”
Trent gave him a bow. “On it, boss man.”
Shaking his head, Slade watched Bethany give up the baby and head for where Jason had collapsed into a folding chair. The boy was yawning and looked about two minutes away from sleep if you went by the heavy eyes. Surfing lessons had worn him out. Slade gave a nod to Trent and moved to intercept Bethany.
“Looks like someone is ready to call it a night,” he said.
She hid a yawn of her own behind a hand. “Would it be rude if we headed back to the house?”
“I’ll come with you—it’s been a long day. I’ll take Jason.” Slade didn’t wait for a response; he bent over and lifted Jason with one arm wrapped around him. “Hey, kiddo. Time to move.”
Jason blinked, tried to find his feet, and settled for wrapping an arm around Slade and letting Slade half carry him. “Hey, you gonna be my dad now?”
Slade lifted an eyebrow. They hadn’t said much to Jason, but the kid was bright, and he had eyes in his head. It wasn’t surprising that he’d put two and two together. Slade was going to see about getting him into a good school this fall—another battle he’d have with Bethany. He grinned. He expected there’d be lots of them, which meant plenty of chances for make-up sex, too.
“How would you feel about that?” he asked.
Jason yawned. “Good. Mom said she was looking for a guy good enough to be my dad. Said the guy had big shoes to fill. You better marry Aunt Bethany—she’s always been second mom.”
“Second mom?” Slade asked.
Jason nodded, eyes sliding shut and staggering a little at Slade’s side. “Y’know, like second breakfast inThe Lord of the Rings. Mom never wanted me to see those movies, but Aunt Bethany said it was cool. The dragon inThe Hobbitwas okay.”
“Yeah, dragons are okay,” Slade said. He was pretty sure he hadn’t slain any dragons. No, he was going to end up married to his dragon, lord help him. He grinned. He was looking forward to more fierce battles with her.
16
Later that evening, Bethany let herself out the back door of Slade’s beach house and headed down to the beach. When she got there, she sat down in the middle of the sand and let her tears fall. Not sad tears, not like when Tayra had told her about her diagnosis. Not frustrated tears for Jason when he was struggling with his condition. She was just—overwhelmed. The air smelled of salt and kelp. Seagulls were giving their last cries as they circled overhead. The sun painted the sky with flames, and the ocean hushed low waves onto the beach.
She was still sitting in the damp sand when Slade found her. “What are you doing out here?”
She rubbed at her damp cheeks with her fingers. “You don’t have any grass.”
Slade frowned and sat down next to her, his knees pulled up and his shoulder bumping hers. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why do you need grass?”
“So I’m not by myself. So I’m surrounded by all sorts of living things. Plants. Insects. Small animals. I can feel their energy, and it helps ground me.”
Slade put an arm over her shoulder. “I’ll call a landscaper. We’ll have a lawn tomorrow.”
She punched his arm. “I’m not looking for you to solve every damn problem I mention. I was just saying.”
“So…no lawn?”
She shook her head. “No, no lawn.” She leaned into him. “Do you want more kids?”
He nodded, shrugged, shook his head. “That one…I don’t know. Okay, maybe. But…hey, we have Jason. Might be good just to settle for one great kid. I don’t know how good I’d be with that whole feeding and changing diapers thing.”
“You? Change a dirty diaper? I’d pay money to see that.”
“I can field strip and reassemble an AR-15 in under a minute—does that count for being handy? I also haven’t heard you complain about my cooking.”
“I told Maria we wouldn’t mind watching the kids for her. She’s going to bring the three youngest by in the morning so she can make a doctor’s appointment for the older ones. You can see how well you’d do as a daddy. Personally, I think you’ll have them saluting in half an hour.”
He laughed. “Boot camp sergeant. My ambition in life. We should probably get some sleep if that’s happening.”
She stood, reached back, and dusted the sand off her shorts, stopping when she saw Slade watching her every movement.
“Let’s go back to the house,” he said, his voice a low growl.
