Richard shook his head. “Reid, shut off the not-so-inner monologue. You’re digging your own grave, kid.”
Gracie bobbed her little head. “Wats notted up, Daddy?”
Richard threw Katy a pleading look. She shrugged as if to say, “You’re on your own.”
“It’s a game, baby girl.”
“Tan I pway?”
“No!” he almost shouted. “It’s . . . it’s like baseball. You hate baseball.”
“Otay,” she lisped with a frown. “Iz it, Mommy?”
“Yep. Just like baseball. Home runs and all. Only with smaller balls.” Katy smirked.
It was my turn to gape. I found the courage to peek at Becca, expecting anger. Her head was down, and she wasn’t looking at me. I stole a glance at Gerald, who was shaking his head.
“I’d like grandkids, Reid. But even given our friendlier status, I’d prefer to be kept in the dark about your plans to achieve them.”
Becca made a strange choking sound. Panicked, I turned in my chair. “Becca? BB? You okay?”
Her head fell back, and she began to laugh. Peal after peal of loud laughter. Katy joined in, and Gracie clapped her hands in delight.
Richard and Gerald exchanged a glance.
“You warned me, Richard. The kid is gonna keep me on my toes. You were right—entertaining as shit, though.” He mouthed the word shit, but we all got it.
I leaned over. “Becca?”
She cupped my face, still laughing, and kissed me. “I love you.”
I grinned against her mouth. “Is that a yes?”
“We’ll talk.”
I settled back in my chair, letting them all laugh at me.
It wasn’t a no. I was good with that.
The flight attendant handed me a bottle of water, that I accepted with a thank you. I sipped as I stared at the screen of my laptop, not really seeing anything. I shut the lid, deciding not to try to work. Maybe I’d watch a movie instead. Becca had fallen asleep almost as soon as we got on the flight, tired from the weekend. As I scrolled through the list of movies, her sleepy voice startled me.
“Given up on work?”
Turning, I pressed a kiss to her head. “Yeah.”
“Anything good to watch?”
“Same ones as the way here. Maybe I’ll have a nap.”
She snuggled close, laying her head on my shoulder. “Okay.”
She was silent for a few minutes then tilted her head back up. “Thank you for yesterday.”
I grinned. “Your dad and I are buds now.”
“You certainly are.”
After brunch, Richard took his family home, and we spent the afternoon with Gerald. It turned out that he loved playing cards, so he and I got into a serious game of rummy. He told me how he often passed the time with solitaire, and I asked him if he ever played FreeCell on the computer. When he admitted he only used the computer in the lobby on occasion, I had shown him the game on my laptop. He loved it so much that while he and Becca took a walk around the garden, I slipped out and bought him a tablet, then loaded it with a bunch of games I thought he would enjoy. I showed him the messenger feature so he could keep in closer contact with Becca. I laughed when he asked if I was listed in his contacts, and I added myself.
“Wait until I show everyone this beauty tomorrow!” He grinned. “They’re all gonna be so jealous of my technology. Tom is always bragging about his tech-wiz son and all the computer stuff he does, but he doesn’t have anything this slick.”
“Glad to be of service.”
“So I can send Becca a message anytime?”
I met Becca’s pleading eyes across the room.
“Ah, no, there’s a limit. You can send her five a week, and she can reply.”
“Oh, like a phone plan.”
“Yes.” I nodded seriously. “Just like a phone plan.”
“Well, hey, five is good. You too?”
I threw her a grin. “I have a bigger plan. You can send me seven.”
“Great.” He tapped at the screen awkwardly. “This is going to keep me busy for a long time,” he muttered, not looking up. “Thanks, son.”
The whole weekend was worth those two words.
Becca squeezed my arm. “You were amazing.”
“Your dad is pretty cool when he isn’t being such a jerk.”
She sighed. “I know.”
I nudged her gently. “Kidding.”
She smiled, dropping her voice. “And what about you, Reid? Anything you want to say about your revelation you dropped during brunch?”
I feigned forgetfulness. “Which one?”
“About getting me knocked up and marrying me?”
“Ah, the baseball conversation.”
She laughed. “Yes, that one.”
I turned in my seat to face her. “I didn’t know I had said my thoughts out loud, Becca. I meant them, though.” I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, caressing the tender lobe with my fingers. “I want to marry you. Have a family.”
“I see.”
“Is that something you might want one day?” I paused and looked into her eyes. “With me?”
Her gaze was warm and soft. She slid her hand over mine. “I want everything with you, Reid. But I want us to know each other more. I want you to be sure you want to marry me because you love me, not simply because I was the first girl to give you a blow job.” She winked, letting me know she was teasing.
I leaned my forehead to hers, chuckling. “Well, you are pretty stellar at that. That’ll keep me interested for at least fifty years. We can figure something out after that is done.”
She giggled. “Sounds as if you have it all figured out.”
I kissed her fast. “That didn’t even make my list of why I want to marry you. There are a hundred and one other reasons.”
“Why don’t you tell me what they are over the next few months? When you’re finished, we can discuss it again.”
I lifted her hand and kissed her wrist. “Sounds like a plan. The first and most important is I love you. Every single thing about you.”
Her smile lit up her entire face. “That’s a great start.”
“So we’re hedging toward a yes?”
She leaned her head on my shoulder. “So far, so good.”
I grinned. “Okay.”
I arrived at work early the next day. I knew Becca had a meeting first thing outside the office, and I was anxious to get into work. I wanted to catch up on what I had missed.
I hadn’t heard from Aiden or Maddox again after I had texted them and said I’d handled the situation. I knew they weren’t pleased with what occurred, but I was sure once I sat down with them, and they understood why I did what I did, everything would be fine.
A text from Aiden appeared as I was going through emails. It was short and to the point.
Bentley’s office. 5 minutes.
I stared at the words, anxiety beginning to tighten my muscles. If Aiden had called me into Bentley’s office and hadn’t dropped by to tell me, it wasn’t going to be good. I groaned as my head hit the back of my chair. Bentley was probably going to give me shit about what I did on the weekend. I knew he had spoken to Richard.