Page 140

Pulling back, he said against her lips, “Now I know what my brother meant when he said Livy used to get under his skin like no other.” The corner of his mouth tipped up. “Please, come with me,” his thumbs circled her cheeks. “Please, I want you with me.”

“Johnny …” she leaned into his opened palm, and he kissed her again. It was a slow, methodical kiss that sent her blood roaring. His kiss was passionate, showing her how much he felt for her. Her tongue entwined with his, melding her heart to him even more.

John and his damn kisses.

A squeal broke their moment, and they both looked at Brooke. She was squeezing her now smashed cookie in both fists with a big smile on her face, her two bottom teeth showing in her wide smile.

“What do you say, sweetheart? You coming with me or what?”

“Okay.”

John laughed. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Well, I’ve noticed any time I ask you a question and kiss you, you answer it with an ‘okay’.”

“I do?”

A tip of his lips curled up as he nodded his head.

“Well, if you would stop kissing me, then maybe I could think straight.” She joked as she wiped the food from her daughter’s hands.

“Can’t help it. I love your lips. Now let’s get ready and head on over there. Mama said she wanted to talk to you.”

“Why?” she asked, looking over her shoulder to John. Anxiety curled inside her stomach. What could Diane want to talk to her abou

t?

“I’m not sure, but she’s been blowing up my phone saying she wants to see Brooke again.”

“She does?”

“Of course. That’s one cute kid. Who wouldn’t want to play with her?”

Alyssa shrugged. Quietly, she asked, “How could she knowing that Brooke isn’t even yours now?”

“She has a big heart, that’s how. And, honey … she is mine. Don’t forget it.”

Her heart cracked. John was knocking down each barrier she erected. “But I’ve put you through so much … How can she welcome me into her house after everything? It’s been, what, two months since I’ve seen her?”

“I think with Jace’s death, it put things into perspective for everyone close to him. I know it did for me.” John swallowed back the emotions climbing in his throat. “She knows how I feel about you, how I’ve always felt about you. She wants to see me happy, and you make me happy. You and cupcake.”

“I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be. I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?

“For yesterday, this morning … Everything?”

He winked. “Don’t mention it. I told you I wasn’t leaving. Maybe you’ll start believing me soon.”

Those seemed to be John’s favorite last words.

Alyssa was a giant ball of nerves as they pulled up to John’s parents’ house with a sleepy Brooke in the backseat three hours later. Gently lifting her from her car seat, John grabbed her diaper bag and they walked to the door.

“Just breathe.”