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His lips curved into a satisfied smile, and he reached up to tuck a damp strand of hair behind my ear. “I think I should give her a bonus.”
I laughed softly, feeling deliciously sated. I leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his chest, then rested my head there, feeling the thud of his heart beneath my cheek.
His arms wrapped around me, holding me close as we both caught our breath. The sun beat down on us, and the water glistened, sparkling in the light.
I closed my eyes, feeling boneless and content. It was quiet, peaceful. The only sounds were our breathing and the distant hum of cars.
Peace. That’s what I felt at this moment. Peace, and a little bit of bliss. For a few moments, at least. Until, “Now I’m hungry.”
His deep chuckle rumbled through me. “Christ, you’re insatiable.”
“Mm hmm.”
CHAPTER 35
Scarlett
Why was this so much more nerve-wracking than everything else? Rhett pulled the car up to the curb in front of a cute two-story house with white siding and blue shutters. It looked real homey, like the kind of place you’d see in an ad for family friendly laundry detergent or something. But inside that cozy little place were over thirty of my newfound Parker family members, plus a few Atkins folks too - all of them waiting to meet me. No pressure or anything. Fuck.
Just as Rhett was about to get out of the car, I blurted, “You sure you’re okay with this?” Yeah, that was totally me looking for a reason to back out. Which was so incredibly unfair, since a good number of the people in that house were making regular trips to Raleigh to donate the blood products that were keeping my babies alive. And they’d been doing it for weeks now. The least I could do was to meet them in person and say thank you.
And it wasn’t like everyone in there was a stranger. I’d caught up with Laura, Ethan, and the kids a good number of times since that first meeting.
As he was getting out of the car, Rhett glanced at me over his shoulder. The smile he sent me made my heart flip. Really not what I needed right now. “Sure. If you are.”
Okay, so no backing out.
Coming around to my side of the car, he pulled open the door. “Unless you’re too chickenshit.”
“Jack ass. Make yourself useful and take these for me, why don’t you?” I handed him the two giant pecan pies I’d made. There was a little bit of magic in the way he made me feel so much better with his teasing and shit-eating grin. Wasn’t going to be overthinking that anytime soon, was I? Because as if I didn’t have enough else to think about. We’d hooked up a few times since he’d brought me home from the hospital. Okay, okay. It was more than a few times. But it wasn’t my fault he was so hot. And so good at getting me off. Still, neither of us had really mentioned it, or what it meant. Which was weird and dumb of both of us, I guess, given the situation we were in.
With Rhett’s hand under my elbow, I heaved myself from the car, really starting to feel the pregnancy now that I was deep into the second trimester.
“Deep breaths.”
“Thanks for the reminder. You really don’t have to do this.”
“I was invited. It’s a free meal. Why wouldn’t I come?”
“You’re a billionaire. Why the fuck are you looking for a free meal?”
He just winked at me in answer and handed me back one pie, balancing the other in his hand as he pushed me up the driveway. “You’re stalling. Come on.” I closed my eyes for amoment as Rhett rang the doorbell. My heart was pounding like crazy. This was it - I was finally about to meet my entire extended birth family all at once. The door swung open and there stood Oliver, with a huge smile on his face. My kid brother was definitely giving off golden retriever vibes.
“Hey, come on in!” He greeted me with a big hug and even though he’d done this before, I still wasn’t used to it. My other family, my adoptive family, were not exactly free with the affection, so this was a whole new world for me. Still, I didn’t hate it, so I gave him an awkward pat as a thank you.
The moment we stepped inside, I could hear the dull roar of a crowd of voices coming from the backyard. Jesus fuck, were there a hundred people out there? Gulp.
“Everyone’s been really looking forward to this,” Oliver said, taking the pie from Rhett. “Mom’s got a whole spread going in the kitchen and Dad has the barbecue going. I’ll take you through.”
Rhett leaned in close, his breath tickling my ear. “Buck up. You’re doing fine.”
I managed a shaky nod, clinging to the pie like a lifeline as we followed Oliver through the house.
The mouthwatering aroma of home cooking enveloped me the minute I stepped into the bright, bustling kitchen. Laura was at the stove with three other women. One was older, late seventies, early eighties. The other two were definitely the twin sisters Laura had told me about.
The big kitchen window looked out over the backyard. There were trestle tables set up under two big oak trees, with fairy lights strung across them. But what caught my eye the most wasthe sheer number of people out there. Way more than thirty, surely. Gulp again.
“Mom, Scarlett and Rhett are here.” Oliver placed the pecan pie carefully down on the counter, smiled at me again and said, “I’ll just let Dad know.”