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“Wait.” I halted her forward motion. “Nora?”
“She…um, visited earlier this morning?”
I sat on the barstool and tugged her close between my thighs. “What happened?”
Rhett tossed his keys onto the island and crowded her backside, resting his chin on her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her waist.
I expected tears or a scowl, but her face shone like the sun.
“Would you believe she’s jealous of me? I mean, really. I don’t get it—it makes no sense whatsoever. She shows up prattling on about how she never could measure up to me, and I just couldn’t understand a word. She. Said.”
Laughter flowed from Skylar, and I grinned at Rhett.
“How about you tell us all about it?” I suggested, loving how she wiggled in Rhett’s hold.
“How about you—” she elbowed Rhett “—let me go so I can get you both some dinner, and I’ll randomly spill everything I can remember about her visit this morning even if it isn’t in order and doesn’t make any sense?”
Chuckling, Rhett kissed her cheek and settled onto the stool beside me. We both watched Skylar flit around the kitchen like a gorgeous butterfly, hands fluttering as she attempted to recount the conversation she’d had with her sister.
What I understood from her rambling while making us three plates?
She’d gotten the closure she desperately needed to find complete happiness in her new life.
Skylar set our food in front of us and flopped onto the third chair, eying her dinner. “I’m too jittery to eat, but I’m going to need my energy for tonight. Rhett said we have to take it easy for a while, but I really want you both—the sooner the better. Since, you know, everything is good down there now?”
I bit back my snickering but couldn’t keep a grin off my face.
“Shit. I can’t believe I said that—I blame Rhett! He’s so open about…that stuff. He even washed me in the shower and—you know what? Never mind.”
Pink flushed her cheeks, making her the most beautiful creature on the face of the earth.
“Oh! I forgot! Nora wanted me to offer you her apologies. She asked to wait for you to get home, but I said no way. Nuh uh. I fed her some toast and allowed her two cups of coffee but then kicked her out because I had to get ready for you. There are rose petals on the bed. A new bottle of lube—but no condoms. Nope. Done with those. I shaved my legs too—”
Skylar snapped her mouth shut, and both Rhett and I laughed.
“I’m an idiot,” she muttered.
“None of that,” Rhett stated sternly.
She straightened. “If you heard half the thoughts racing through my head, you would agree,” she argued, a bit of heat in her eyes.
“Like?” I prompted, wanting to know them all—every last one down to the point she exhausted her vocal cords.
She bit her lip, glancing between the two of us.
“Do any of them include things outside the bedroom?” Rhett asked while forking up a piece of the grilled chicken Skylar had sliced in precise angles and thickness.
“Playing in the ocean,” she blurted and stabbed a roasted brussels sprout that had a dried cranberry hanging onto its side for dear life. “Making sandcastles. Long walks through lapping waves. The three of us holding hands wherever we go and ignoring the looks we’ll get. Going out to dinner and sharing about the shit of our day—or the good things. Watching movies all cuddled up in a pile of tangled limbs. Grocery shopping. Cooking together. Enjoying the sunset over the horizon while sitting in the pool—but without the wine. Nope. That’s no longer on our menu. What would you think about a kitty? A white fluff ball with cute little toe beans. But when I get pregnant, one of you will have to clean the litter box since that’s a no-no for a mother-to-be.”
“Okay,” Rhett inserted when she paused for breath. “You’ve convinced us that you want more than just our delicious dicks.” His mouth twitched as he attempted to hold back a smile.
Lower lip between her teeth, Skylar reached over and mussed up his hair, losing that bite of roasted vegetable to her plate as the brussels sprouts tumbled free. “There. You were looking too…robotic to match your happy voice.”
“My happy voice?” He raised an eyebrow, a smirk still on his mouth as he popped another bite of chicken between his lips.
“You know the one.” She glanced at me and nodded as though I’d agreed with her and her waving, empty fork. “All content and pleased like you just finished…” Red flushed her face as her words trailed off.
“Finished what, angel?” Rhett pushed, leaning onto the table with heat flickering to life in his eyes.