Page 66 of Brokered Betrayals
“Yes, but you can assemble it and put it in her room because it’s so stinking cute. Some princesses drink tea with their daddies, and others pretend to build stuff.”
Royce looked up from the assembly instructions for the workbench. “I’ll drink tea too. I’ll wear a tutu, a tiara, or anything else my baby girl wants. Hell, the Rock lets his little girls put makeup on him. Nothing is off-limits for my Darla.”
“I know, and I love you for it.”
“This is an amazing gift. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Sawyer picked up the adorable canvas apron and said, “This is even better quality than I expected. So worth the long wait.”
Royce cocked his head to the side. “When did you order this?”
“As soon as Kelsey confirmed her pregnancy,” Sawyer said as he inspected the little hammer. “The waitlist was insane.”
Royce picked up the packing list off the floor, read it, and then looked at Sawyer through narrowed eyes.
“Yes, it was pricey. But look at the quality.”
“I’m not concerned about the cost,” Royce said, pointing at the order date.
“I told you I ordered it a long time ago. Maybe it was silly to customize it the way I did, but we knew in our hearts that we were having a girl. We’d already chosen to name a daughter after your Aunt Tipsy. And it didn’t really feel like a gamble with such a long wait time. I could’ve emailed the seller if we’d found out we were having a boy.”
“Uh-huh,” Royce said. “All of that’s true.”
“Then why am I getting the gunslinger glare?”
“Because you customized the workbench and tools with Darla’s name on them three months before I told you my Aunt Tipsy’s name.”
Sawyer grinned sheepishly. “Oh yeah. About that…”
“You already knew,” Royce said flatly.
“Funny story.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Royce set the packing list aside and stalked toward him on his knees. “I can’t believe you let me boast about knowing something you didn’t.”
“You were having so much fun.” Sawyer scooted toward the end of the couch, but not quickly, because he wanted to get caught. “And I was too, guessing all those outlandish names.”
“And you knew the whole time.”
He reached the end of the couch and waited there until his husband crawled between his thighs and pinned him to the cushion. “I did.”
“How? When?”
“I found out when we were investigating the Magnolia Queen murders,” Sawyer said. “Rocky’s aunt let it slip when I interviewed her about our suspect.”
“Christ. That was years ago.”
Sawyer slid his hand into Royce’s hair. “Uh-huh.”
“You could’ve ended my silly game at any point.”
“Where would the fun be in that?” Sawyer asked him. “I believe you were going to wipe the dog slobber off your mouth and put it to good use. Something about delivering a big package.”
Royce snatched a baby wipe from the packet on the end table, just one of the many they’d conveniently placed everywhere for quick cleanup. Before Darla came into their lives, Royce had stashed lube in every nook and cranny. Oh, how the times had shifted, but Sawyer wouldn’t change a thing.
“So industrious.” He pulled Royce to him for a hot, hungry kiss that promised a swift delivery.
Darla’s cries came through the monitor, and Dolly jumped to her feet, barking at the invisible threat. Royce buried his facein Sawyer’s crotch with a groan, and Sawyer carded his fingers through silky blond strands.