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He kissed me then, exploring me with his tongue. It was a very slow kiss, and I loved it immensely. It reminded me of the one at city hall. He interlaced our hands, too, and squeezed my fingers tightly with his. This moment felt more intimate than what we’d experienced at the house yesterday or back in his closet. I had no idea how long we kissed, but I didn’t want it to end.
When we finally paused to breathe, he was looking at me with a smile, and his eyelids were hooded. Good to know that I wasn’t the only one who was turned on. How was I always in this state around Nick? Would that change over time? I didn’t thinkso. In fact, I suspected that the more of Nick I got, the more I’d want. Which was dangerous because this had an expiration date.
Then an even more horrifying thought came to mind: what if the custody battle went on forever, and eventually Nick and I just didn’t work together anymore? I couldn’t imagine anything more horrendous than living with someone who didn’t want me. I’d done it once in college. I was stupid enough to give up my dorm room to move in with my then-boyfriend. When we split up, I was in the unfortunate position of having to live with him while I was apartment hunting.
But this was completely different. I knew Nick would be decent about it. Would it still suck? Sure, especially for the twins.
Oh God, the twins.I hadn’t even thought about how all this would affect them.
All the worries I’d pushed out of my mind this morning were slamming back in. But then Nick pulled me closer to him, and all my worries melted away—placing those dirty thoughts in my head again.
Mental note: being close and feeling his muscles definitely drove all the rational thoughts from my mind.
We were silent for the rest of the cruise, simply taking in our surroundings and listening to the guide. I didn’t end up ordering anything; I was surprisingly full from my smoothie.
Once we stepped off the boat, I checked the clock. “We should probably go pick up the twins.”
Nick nodded. “I’ll text Spencer so he knows we’re coming.”
When we reached the car, he opened the door for me. He’d insisted on putting two car seats in his own car as well so we’d always be able to have the kids with us.
It didn’t take long for us to arrive at his brother’s house. The second I got out, I heard laughter. I recognized Annie’s voice immediately, which meant they were outside.
There was no way to get into the yard from the front, though, so we rang the bell anyway. The door swung open the next second. To my surprise, I came face-to-face with Jeannie Whitley.
“Gran!” Nick exclaimed. Her eyes fell on the arm he had around my shoulders. “I didn’t know you’d be here. Spencer didn’t say.”
“Abe and I dropped by this morning. We wanted the chance to see the little ones again.”
My heart was so happy right now. They were truly taking their grandparenting’ role to a whole new level.
“Come on in,” she said. “Everyone’s out in the back.”
We followed Jeannie through the house. It was madness outside. Spencer and Penny were both chasing the kids around, and they were all running in different directions. Three kids, two adults—they were totally outnumbered.
The second the twins noticed us, they stopped running. Instead, they came barreling toward us, but they didn’t jump into my arms. They jumped into Nick’s! My sexy, strong man was getting all the love.
“Will you look at that?” I teased. “You’re becoming their favorite.”
Jeannie was staring at Nick with a triumphant smile. Then she and Penny exchanged a glance.
Nick had been right about everything; I could feel it in my bones. These two had a matchmaking thing going on.
“How were they?” I asked Penny.
“Perfect. They had a lot of fun. They went to bed on time with no fuss.”
“Then we found them playing an hour later,” Spencer said.
I laughed. “They do that sometimes at home as well.”
“But they slept through the night.”
“Thanks so much for having them. Ben, you’re welcome at our place anytime, okay?”
Ben jumped up and down. “Yes, yes, yes! I have new friends. I like having new friends. When can I go, Dad?” he asked Spencer, who mussed up his son’s hair. They looked a lot alike.
“We’ll figure it out.”