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He winked at me over her shoulder. “Come on, let me show you our Hall of Shame. Unless you’re not interested in seeing baby pictures of Drake?”
“Oh, I so am,” she replied, casting a quick look back at me to check in. I nodded and the two of them disappeared.
“Dad,” I said immediately after they left the room. “I want to apologize. You’re the least selfish person I know. I was?—”
He cuts me off by wrapping me in a hug. “It’s okay, son. I know you were just worried.”
“Scared shitless,” I mumble into his shoulder.
“Me too,” he admits quietly.
I step back, my hands on his shoulders. “Promise you’ll at least try to eat a little more heart friendly? And ease off on the Scotch?” I’m aware of the irony of my last request given howhard I was hammering it when I was trying to distract myself from Amelia, but I haven’t had a heart attack.
“I’ll take better care of myself. Promise,” he agrees with a nod. “Exercise is the key though. I’m thinking more sex is what I need, if I’m being honest.”
I screw my eyes closed. I’m aware he dates plenty of women, rarely more than once, but still. “Fuck, Dad,” I groan.
“Watch it, son. You’re not too grown-up for an ass-whooping.”
Dad never gave us a single ass-whooping in our lives, although we certainly deserved it more than a few times. “Just behave yourself, all right, old man?” I wink at him, and he smiles in response.
It came as a huge relief to everyone to have the situation resolved. The James brothers might scrap and fight like overgrown puppies sometimes, but we love each other deeply, and anything that adds tension to our dynamic sucks.
Now, we’re all in the kitchen where Luz has prepared a feast for us. Maddox mixed the cocktails even though he doesn’t drink, and Luke has woken up from his nap and is sitting contentedly on his mom’s lap.
“Can I hold him?” Amelia asks nervously, looking at the squirming bundle of chunky baby in Mel’s arms.
“God, yes, please do.” She passes him over, and he immediately spits up on Amelia’s shoulder. No sense of decorum, that child. Luz hands her a dish towel, and nobody comments. That’s what you get with babies.
Mel chats away to my girlfriend, and Amelia laughs as the kid whacks her in the face with one of his chubby fists. I know she’s always wanted children and that Chad kept stalling. I hate that he hurt her that way, but I’m also glad he did. If he hadn’t been such an asshole, she wouldn’t be mine now.
“You happy, brother?” Maddox says, passing me an old fashioned. “Because you look pretty damn happy. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that particular look on your face before.”
“Oh? What look is that?”
“The look that says you’ve finally discovered what true love is.”
I grin at him. Out of all of us James boys, he’s probably the one who’s fallen in love the most. Had his heart broken plenty of times too, not to mention the other demons he’s conquered. He inspires me every single day, and I wish he could cut himself a little slack sometimes because he is fucking incredible. “Yeah, I think I have, Mad.”
He raises his glass of club soda and we make a silent toast to love, in all its forms.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
AMELIA
I’m at James and James when the call arrives. In fact, I’m with Drake in his office, and we’re going through some paperwork for a complicated set of contract negotiations. We’re both in full-on work mode, and apart from some deeply flirtatious banter, we’ve both managed to keep our pants on for once.
I glance at the screen, checking who it is, and drop the stack of papers I’m holding. They scatter over the floor, and Drake looks up at me in surprise.
“This is the hospital’s number,” I say, my hands shaking.
“Okay. Well, it’s not necessarily anything to worry about. They might just be calling about insurance or an appointment.”
I nod, telling myself he’s right. I spoke to Mom last night, and she sounded okay. She was tired after taking her daily walk around the block, but she was holding her own. She’s been monitoring her oxygen levels and taking her meds, and everything seemed good.
“Answer it,” he says, laying his own work down on the desk. “Or would you like me to deal with it?”