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“That sounds like an excellent plan.” Garrett smiled, rubbing her back. “You’re quite the negotiator.”
He and Emma turned and said the same words at the same time.
“She gets that from me.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
EMMA
Collecting the dishes on the table, Emma said a prayer of thanks that Garrett didn’t keep a permanent maid on staff. Tonight would have been ten times more awkward with an audience.
Garrett hugged her from behind. “Hey,” he muttered into her hair.
Emma closed her eyes and leaned against him. “Hey. Are they settled?”
“Yeah. They’re curled up in front of the TV with a bowl of kettle corn and Stella’s favorite princess movie.”
“Moanaagain?” Stella had been watching that movie on a loop for the last week.
“No, the one with the long magic hair.”
Stella’s favorite movie had changed again, and she’d missed it?
Emma hung her head. “I should know that.”
“Nah.” Garrett took the last dish from her, setting it on top of the stack. “It shifts every few days. So do the names of her favorite stuffed animals because Stella herself forgets what they are. Once that stops, then we can feel bad about forgetting them—because we will. We’re human. It’s inevitable.”
She groaned. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
It also didn’t sound like the man who had been cramming parenting books like he was studying for finals.
“I know. But that’s normal too.” Garrett raised his hands and began to rub her shoulders. “I know tonight was upsetting, but I think it’s a good thing that Stella is comfortable enough to fight with us.”
Twisting at the waist, she made big eyes at him.
“I’m serious,” he insisted. “She’s brave and she stands her ground. The parenting books say that’s the sort of thing we should encourage.”
The corner of her mouth lifted, but it wasn’t a smile. “Somehow, I doubt they meant letting your kid scream out their feelings.”
“No. That part we’ll have to work on,” he acknowledged. “Not that I blame her. There’s been a few times I wanted to scream about all of this too.”
Emma turned, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. She pressed her face into his chest, mumbling against his pecs. “It’s a lot. But she was overdue for a meltdown.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “After the sitter, the next thing on the list will be finding that therapist.”
Emma was about to tell him that he’d done just fine without one, but what the hell, it couldn’t hurt. She could use the guidance. And, as they saw tonight, Mariana might have been parenting longer, but she wasn’t going to have all the answers. Especially when the problem stemmed from the fact she used to claim Stella was hers.
Garrett returned her embrace and then some. She pulled back when his hands began to roam in a distinctly non-comforting way.
She lifted his head to tease him when he cupped the back of her neck. His mouth covered hers aggressively, his hold growing possessive.
Emma broke away, concerned at the increasing desperation of his touch. “Garrett, what’s wrong?”
“I…” He was panting, his face flushed. “I…”
She cupped his face. “What is it? You can tell me.”
“I am not jealous.”