Page 41 of Mr. Perfect

Stephen smiled and held up a finger. “Intelligence.” Two fingers. “Persistence.” Three fingers. “Strong principles.” Stephen smiled. “Do you need me to keep going?” Felix didn’t respond, so Stephen held up a fourth finger. “Good looks.”

Felix scoffed at the last one. There were better-looking guys out in the world. Felix heard Ree and Rocky laughing from inside the house. Rocky would make some pretty babies for sure, but Felix was the one Stephen wanted. For once, he was enough. “I’m humbled and honored, and…”

“Overwhelmed?” Stephen asked.

Laughing, Felix said, “Just a little.”

“I don’t need an answer right now. With any luck, I won’t need you to pinch-hit at all.”

“When will you know?”

“We go in for physicals and testing soon,” Stephen said. “Then we’ll discuss all the options available to us. I’m just so afraid of letting her down, Felix.” The tenderness and fear in Stephen’s voice made Felix’s heart swell.

Stephen wasn’t asking a tiny favor. Felix wouldn’t be lending him a cup of sugar; he’d be helping to create a life. But this was Reanna, his safe place, and Stephen, a man Felix loved like a brother. Did he really need to think about it?

“Of course, I’ll be the donor if that’s what you want and need.”

Relief washed over Stephen’s handsome features, and his grip tightened on Felix’s neck. “I could kiss you.”

“But your wife might not like it,” Ree said as she approached the table carrying a cake platter in one hand and wielding a cake knife with the other. Rocky held a stack of dessert plates.

“What’d we miss?” Rocky asked, looking curiously between Felix and Stephen.

“Stephen knows Jose Ramirez,” Felix replied. “Mr. Ramirez is offering his legal services pro bono to assist us with the posthumous pardon application.”

“That’s amazing,” Rocky said. “It explains why you’d want to kiss Stephen, but not why he’d want to smooch you up.”

Felix grinned wickedly. “All the boys want to kiss me.”

Rocky’s blue eyes twinkled with mirth, and Felix knew he was thinking about the passionate exchange he’d witnessed the previous evening.

Ree walked over and kissed the top of Felix’s head. “Some girls do too.” Ree set the cake platter down in front of him.

Felix inhaled deeply. “Lemon chiffon cake.”

“I would take credit for baking it, but Pretty Boy witnessed me removing it from the bakery box,” Ree said.

“I’m good at keeping secrets,” Rocky teased.

“As am I, Major,” Felix said.

Felix had already revealed enough things he would have preferred to remain hidden, and he was pretty sure Rocky felt the same way.

“I sense one hell of a story,” Ree said as she sliced through the cake. The piece she served Felix was big enough for three people, but he planned to eat every single bite. He might even follow it up by licking the fork and plate.

“One that’s best told another day,” Felix replied.If ever.

“Spoilsport,” Ree teased. She didn’t push, because it was likely she knew the source.

“What’s next for the podcast?” Stephen asked as he returned to his seat so Rocky could sit down.

“Honey, you’ve known Felix for how long?” Ree inquired, handing her husband a dessert plate. “He never talks about what he’s working on.”

“That’s right,” Stephen said, forking a big bite full of cake. “He’s superstitious.”

“Some might call him paranoid,” Rocky teased.

“He has good reasons for protecting his story and his sources,” Ree said, coming to Felix’s defense.