Page 52 of Resisting the Temptation (Broken Shelves #3)
Emma
H annah and Morgan’s house is like something out of a suburban dream—complete with the white picket fence.
As we pull into the driveway, Ben whistles as he takes it in. “This is a nice area. What did you say they do for work?”
“Morgan owns a flower shop, and Hannah works at the library. But Morgan used to play for the Denver Mustangs.”
“Wow. Not intimidating at all,” Ben grumbles as we walk up the driveway.
“Morgan is one of the best guys I’ve ever met. No need to be intimidated.”
We ring the doorbell and hear little feet shuffling before Hannah opens the door with a baby on her hip. A blonde girl pokes her head out from behind her .
“Emma! I’m so glad you’re here.” Hannah gives me a one-armed hug while the baby immediately grabs onto my hair and pulls it towards her mouth.
“Me too! This is Ben.” I motion to the man next to me as I wince.
“Poppy, don’t be rude.” Hannah chuckles, helping to untangle my hair from Poppy’s tiny fist. “Nice to meet you, Ben. I’m Hannah.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for the invite.”
“Of course!” Hannah gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry about the grabby welcome.”
“It’s all good. Babies love to pull my hair. Hi, Poppy,” I coo to the chubby-cheeked girl. I peek around Hannah and give the older girl a smile. “Hi, kiddo. You must be Aly. I’m Emma, and this is my friend Ben.”
“Hi. I like your tattoos,” she says shyly.
“Thank you.”
Hannah ushers us inside when she hears a crash and a squeal.
Ben and I take off our shoes at the entryway, and he bends to whisper in my ear, “You sure seem to like it when I pull your hair.”
I gently smack his chest as my cheeks heat.
I really do.
We follow the sound of voices to the kitchen and find Morgan kneeling on the floor wiping up some sort of sauce while Hannah holds both babies.
“Can I take one of them from you?” I ask Hannah.
“Sure! That would be great. Morgan’s parents are coming to take the girls for the night, but they’re running a bit behind, and this one wanted to help Dada cook.” She shifts to hand over Violet, and I take the chunky baby.
“No worries. I don’t mind hanging out with you cuties. You must be Violet. Hello, sweet girl.” Violet looks from me to her mom, like she’s not sure what to do in this situation.
Then, her big green eyes lock on Ben over my shoulder, and she just stares.
I hear Ben chuckle from behind me. “Hi, pretty girl.” Violet gives him a big gummy grin.
Morgan’s head whips up at the sound of Ben’s voice, and he gives me a knowing smirk. I roll my eyes at him. I’m sure he’s remembering last year when he told me someone was going to come along and change my mind about dating.
Jokes on him, though, since Ben and I aren’t dating.
He stands and tosses the paper towels in the trash, washes his hands, then extends one to Ben.
“Hey, man, I’m Morgan.”
“Ben. Nice to meet you.”
Morgan turns to me and wraps me in a familiar hug, even though I’ve only met him once over a year ago. “Good to see you, Emma.”
“Same to you, Flower Daddy.”
Morgan chuckles and shakes his head at my joke as he walks back around the counter to resume whatever he was doing before we came in.
Ben steps up behind me and practically growls, “I’m the only man you should be calling ‘Daddy,’ Dulzura. ”
My thighs automatically squeeze together. Now is not the time to explore a daddy kink .
The doorbell rings, and I hand Ben the baby without a second thought when Hannah hands off Poppy to me and goes to answer the door.
I’m expecting Elli and her fiancé, Wes, but Hannah walks in with an older couple who must be Morgan’s parents.
His dad is tall as hell and looks intimidating at first, but his eyes soften as soon as Aly catapults herself into his arms, and the twins immediately start jabbering and squirming when they see their grandparents.
“There are my girls!” Morgan’s mom gushes. She does a double take when she sees Ben holding Violet. “Hello, I’m Iris. This is Axel. We’re Morgan’s parents. You must be Hannah’s cousin?”
“I am. I’m Emma, this is Ben.”
Poppy squirms to be let down, so I put her on the floor, and she crawls to her grandma.
“Oh, look how fast you are, Poppy girl. You’re going to be walking in no time, and then we’ll really be in trouble.” Iris bends to pick up Poppy, who starts babbling like she’s catching her up on everything that’s happened today.
I go to take Violet from Ben, but he waves me off. He looks… comfortable with her. He’s swaying slightly while she plays with the button of his flannel shirt and chews on her fist.
My ovaries explode, and suddenly I wonder what a child who’s half Ben and half me would look like. Would they have his tanned skin and my blue eyes? Or would they have my hair texture and his hair color? Would they be stoic and quiet like him or sassy and boisterous like me ?
I haven’t decided if I want kids or not. There’s so many factors that play into that decision, and it’s not one I take lightly. Does Ben even want kids? We haven’t talked much about it.
Woah, Emma. Slow the fuck down. You aren’t even really dating.
When I tune back in to the conversation, Ben and Axel are talking about something construction related, and Hannah is gone—probably to grab the girls’ things for their sleepover. Morgan is briefing his mom on the girls’ schedule, and Iris is listening intently.
The doorbell rings. “I’ll get it!” I say, since I’m not in the middle of a conversation.
Elli, Wes, Izzy and a guy I don’t recognize are standing outside when I open the door, and Elli immediately wraps me in a hug.
“Emma! I’m so happy to see you.”
“You, too, Elli. Hi, Wes.”
“Emma! This is my boyfriend, Luke.” Izzy pulls the curly haired boy to the front, and he gives me a big grin and an enthusiastic wave.
“Nice to meet you, Luke.”
Luke bows, and I chuckle.
They follow me inside and take off their shoes before meeting the rest of us in the kitchen. We do more introductions with Iris, Axel, and Ben.
My cousins all do a double-take when they see Ben, and Elli waggles her eyebrows at me, mouthing, “He’s hot.”
“I know,” I mouth back.
Wes playfully grabs Elli by the hips and tries to shove her away from him while covering her eyes .
She rolls her eyes and goes up on her tiptoes to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek, then says something only he can hear while pointing to her engagement ring.
“Oh my God! I totally forgot to congratulate you two! Let me see it!” I grab Elli’s left hand and inspect the ring. It’s an oval shaped diamond on a simple gold band, but it fits Elli’s personality perfectly. “It’s beautiful. Good job, Wes.” I nudge him with my elbow.
Wes’s fair cheeks turn a little pink. “Thank you. It was my mom’s, actually.”
My heart lurches. Wes’s mom passed away when he was a teenager, so I know it must mean a lot to have his girl wearing his mom’s ring. “Oh, that’s lovely. Have you guys set a date yet?”
Elli shakes her head. “No. There’s talk of another tour, and Wes has an album to record, so we’re waiting until things die down a bit.”
“Well, I’m happy for you. I’m glad you have time to plan so you can have the wedding of your dreams.”
“Thanks, Emma.”
Hannah comes down the stairs with three bags and drops them at the bottom before giving Elli and Izzy hugs and greeting Wes and Luke.
Hannah and Morgan take the girls out to the car to say goodbye while Izzy chatters on about college and how difficult the commute is from where they live in San Marcos. They’re thinking of renting a place of their own in San Antonio.
When Hannah and Morgan return, they start pulling out salads, garlic bread, and what looks like homemade lasagna .
Talmage arrives right as we’re about to dish up, apologizing for being late. He got caught up at work then got stuck in traffic.
He looks like he hasn’t slept at all since yesterday. There are dark bags under his eyes, and it doesn’t look like he’s had time to shave, but he still gives us his golden boy smile like nothing’s wrong.
Maybe I can see through it because I’m used to wearing my own smile as a mask, even when I’m feeling down.
We dish up the food buffet style and sit down at the large farmhouse table in the dining area attached to the kitchen before we dig in.