Page 44 of Anything for You (Veterans of Silver Ridge #7)

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Dove

J o signed my book, then stood to hug me again.

“Thank you so much for coming, Dove. Truly. And I’m so happy Stone came, too.” She notched her chin up in a very Saint Security dude move and I knew she must be acknowledging my date.

“Me, too,” I beamed. “And thanks for writing another book I can devour this weekend.”

“You should’ve seen them when we pulled into the parking lot. Absolute fire.” Elise widened her eyes, and Liz nodded from where she sat behind Jo, assisting.

A blush consumed my entire head and neck as Jess chuckled from behind me and Catherine, Winnie, and Nikki grinned at my other side, having gone through the signing line before me.

“Okay, I need to hear more about this stat,” Jo said, signing Jess’s book and giving her a giant hug. “And I also need to snuggle Willy-baby, if your husband will give me a turn later.”

We all turned to see a grinning, proud Jude bending slightly, a portion of the carrier folded down to reveal sweet Will’s head, and six giant, muscular, badass men absolutely heart-eyed and cooing at the tiny one.

The baby held Bruce’s index finger in one hand and Kenny’s in his other.

Adam was saying something to him, Tristan was brushing one of his wisps of hair from his brow, and Luc and Dorian were simply beaming.

My heart lurched and tears sprang to my eyes. I turned to surreptitiously wipe them away, but found my friends sniffling right along with me.

“Okay, this is ridiculous. Why are we all crying?”

Liz shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not crying. But my husband is, so that probably still counts.” She cast a loving gaze in Kenny’s direction and I couldn’t help but follow it to see Kenny dip his head to the side to smudge a tear into his shirt.

“I think it’s the way they love each other and love that baby.

They’re not acting like it has nothing to do with them or like they’re ambivalent.

It’s how we feel about Will, too, because he’s Jess’s, and we love her.

But you just don’t see men behave this way as often, and I have to say there’s nothing more magnetically masculine and appealing than a man being gentle and loving to a baby or small child. ”

Leave it to Nikki to bring logic and clarity to the situation.

“Well said. It’s incredibly attractive,” Winnie said. “Like, kind of on a primal level, I’m pretty sure it makes me want to reproduce.”

“Relatable,” I quipped, right as Elise said, “Okay, I’m glad you said it because I literally just thought, ‘And I’m ovulating.’”

We all laughed at that, and the person standing behind Jess cleared her throat. Thankfully, Bel Morris was no stranger to the whole “gorgeous man being a sweet dad” situation based on what I’d seen of her and her rock star husband around town.

Liz stayed to assist Jo and the rest of us scooted away, each taking a flute of champagne and enjoying the small bites being passed. It was a super-classy setup and I wished Nan had come, but she’d had other plans on her social calendar.

Radio silence from Hawk had been a blessing, but when I wasn’t in my normal routine of work or seeing Nan, I did find myself worrying he might show up and make a scene.

Granted, if he had any kind of brain, he’d know showing up here with that group of guys just inside the door was the height of stupidity.

Even if he had no idea who the rest of the Saint guys were, he wouldn’t be able to miss Dorian’s towering form.

I got caught up in chatting with friends for longer than I’d meant to, and when I looked around for Dorian, my heart squeezed when I spotted him. I’d checked on him here and there and he’d seemed to be engaged in whatever conversation at the time, but now, it’d shifted.

He stood with a rigid set to his shoulders slightly farther out of his group of friends. The bookstore had filled now that the formal portion of the signing had begun, and it was pretty packed.

As I watched, Dorian’s jaw flexed and his eyes shut while his chest rose on a slow inhale.

“Hey, guys, I’m going to head out. I’ll see you for book club, right?” I accepted hugs and blew a kiss to Jo before beelining to Dorian. “Hey, ready to go?”

“What? We don’t have to go.” Even his voice held strain.

I wanted to wrap him up and cradle him, he was being so preciously stubborn. “I’m ready.”

He scowled. “No, you’re not. We’ve only been here an hour.” His arms crossed even more tightly over his chest.

“I am, though. It’s been great. Let’s go home.”

His eyes cast out over the room and finally circled back to me. “I don’t want you to leave for my sake.”

Oh, this sweet, stubborn man. “Any chance we could talk about this not in a jam-packed bookstore? Like, maybe, in your quiet living room with a fire in the fireplace and maybe a cozy blanket we could cuddle up under?”

His expression darkened. “No.”

I shrugged one shoulder. “Okay. I’ll take a rideshare then,” and I walked out.

I got no more than ten feet from the bookstore door when he called my name. By the time I turned around, he’d caught up with me.

“What are you doing?”

With a long exhale, I tried to calm the potentially toxic combination of exasperation and delight. What could I say to disarm him and get him to do what he needed to do, which was very clearly be done with the crowd and noise.

“I want to go. I’m making that clear. Unless you’re telling me you actively want to stay, then let’s go.”

His mouth thinned into a firm line. “I don’t want to make you retreat into antisocial farm life. That’s not what I want for you.”

“But what if what I want is for you to be comfortable and happy? What if I would rather go home where I know you feel good than make you stay in a place where you’re clearly miserable?

You did a great job showing up and engaging, but I know there’s always a point where it gets to be too much, and I think that time has come. So, let’s go home.”

His shoulders slumped a little, and the stubborn tilt to his jaw relaxed. “I don’t want to drag you away if you’re having fun. I don’t want you to cater to me.”

He simply didn’t understand. It had to be a holdover from his worries about someone wanting him. I couldn’t expect all of those fears to melt in the face of our relationship, just like my concerns about inexperience and my family hadn’t evaporated the first time we kissed.

But I didn’t want him to worry. I wanted him to understand and to believe me.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I held his eyes with mine. “I had fun. I’m ready to go. It’s been a long week for me, too, and I haven’t had enough time with you.”

“I get that,” he said, voice a low scrape.

My heart fluttered as his hands flexed on my waist.

I bit my lip, loving when his eyes dropped to my mouth.

“Plus, can’t a girl get her boyfriend to take her home and have his way with her?”

He grinned and I could tell it was despite himself. Then one big hand slid up and cupped the back of my neck under my hair.

“Anything for you.”