Her thumb was rubbing small circles on the fabric of my slacks, but I swear it felt like there wasn’t any material blocking her from my skin.
“I think I saw something about them on one of those home build programs. I remember thinking how cool the end result looked.”
As I turned to park in front of the restaurant, I took a moment to grow some nuts and just say what I wanted to.
So, when I cut the engine, I picked her hand up and held it against my chest as I turned to face her. “There’s a plot of land about ten minutes away from where your house is now. It’s beautiful and has a small stream at the end of it. How would you feel about looking at it and some designs of houses with me?”
Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, and in the light from the dash, I saw her struggling not to smile. “Is that where you see us at this moment?”
Leaning in closer, I whispered, “Pretty girl, that’s exactly where I see us right now. It’s where I see us in the future, too. In fact, in sixty years, I see us sitting on the porch that we’ll make sure it has, watching butterflies in the wind and listening to the water in the distance. I think we need to take it slowly, but, Tamsin, I see everything with you.”
For a moment, it looked like she was going to cry, but then a huge smile replaced the trembling lower lip. “I think we need to go and look at some land, look at some kit houses, and enjoy us becoming more of the everything we both want us to be.”
I fucking loved that. She was with me.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
I leaned in to kiss her, but she pulled back before I could reach her. “Stud, I know you have experience with red lipstick all over your face, but I’ve never looked like I’ve been shot in the mouth. Especially not on a date with my hot guy in a fancy new restaurant.”
Chuckling, I dropped her hand to cup her jaw and pulled her closer to me, lifting at the last minute to kiss her on the forehead. “We’ll save that for later,” I murmured against it, then pulled back to wink at her. “Okay, pretty baby, let’s go and check out what those two nuts have achieved.”
Getting out, I walked around and was just about to open her side of the car when Bond got there first.
“Allow me.”
I really wished she didn’t blush when she saw him and his brothers. I know they were good looking guys, but for the love of all things sacred, was it necessary for my woman to think that? I was secure enough in what we had, seeing as how we’d laid the foundations as friends before we’d changed our course, but come the fuck on.
Sighing, I lifted my chin at him. “Bond. Looking forward to tonight.”
Passing Tamsin over to me with a kiss on her hand—the dick shit fucker—he grinned cockily at me. “Everyone looks forward to what I can offer them.”
“Dickhead,” I coughed into my fist, sticking the middle finger of the hand that wasn’t covering my mouth up at him behind Tamsin’s back.
Bursting out laughing, he directed us toward the door. “You know, Zuri, whenever you want to come here, all you have to do is text me, and you’ll get the VIP treatment. Tell me, do you have my number?”
Sticking my leg out in front of his, I tripped him up as he got to the entrance. “Damn, you should quit the day drinking. You’re not driving home, are you, man?”
Glaring at me, he opened the door and winked at Tamsin. “Have a great time tonight. I’ll personally keep an eye on your food.” The way he looked at me when he said it made me suspect that perhaps he was going to spit in mine or do something dirty to it. Damn it.
As we were led to our table, though, Tamsin whispered, “I’ll order for both of us, so he doesn’t know who ordered what.”
“Thanks,” I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.
It all went perfectly after that, with both of us enjoying our food and laughing like we didn’t have a care in the world. It seemed like something had changed in Tamsin over the last week or so, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t love it. I also didn’t want to ruin it or rock the boat by pointing it out, so I just let it be and hoped she enjoyed feeling the way she was for the rest of her life.
Here’s the thing, when you care deeply for someone, you want them to be happy. You want to protect them from harm and all of the bullshit in the world. You want to protect them from assholes, bullies, bitches, fuckwads, trolls on the internet, the stains on society, but you also wanted to protect them from all of the little things that upset people normally. It isn’t possible, life isn’t that generous even if you have billions of dollars, but I was going to do my darndest to make it happen for her.
It was after we’d finished our main meals and were waiting for dessert when Katy and Jarrod turned up. I liked the guy, he was funny and quirky, but in a discreet way. She was pretty fucking cool, and I respected the fact she was a nerd, by her own admission. They suited each other, with him helping her feel calm and settled and her pulling him out of his shell a bit.
“Hey, guys,” Katy greeted. “How was dinner?”
“Yo,” Jarrod said, his deep voice making even me jealous. I swear, I had voice envy with him.
I was holding Tamsin’s broken hand over the table, so she raised her free one at them. “Hey, it’s great to see you both. Jarrod, your brothers are food geniuses. You must be proud.”
“Absolutely. They’ve worked really hard, and seeing the reviews online and hearing people talk about it is great.”
All of us chuckled when Katy licked her lips at a dessert a waiter carried past us.
“Are y’all here to eat dinner, or did you just come to say hi to your brothers?”
Shaking his head, Jarrod nodded at the woman who clearly made the earth spin for him. “We just had a family dinner at my parents, but Katy wanted to see the pains in the ass and have some dessert.”
Shifting closer to me, Tamsin pointed at an empty table behind them. “Do you guys want to join us? You could pull the chairs over from there. You’re related to the owners, it’s not like you’ll get in trouble.”
After getting a nod from his woman, Jarrod picked the chairs up from the other table and moved them to ours, making sure Katy was settled before taking his own seat. Almost like they smelled him in the air, both of his brothers appeared almost immediately.
“Let me guess, she wants the rosewater and pistachio cake again,” Canon said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Great to see you, Kitty Kat. It feels like it’s been forever.”
Making a point of looking at her watch, she snickered, “It’s been just under two hours since I saw you at your parents’ house. But I never say no to seeing you guys.”
Bond winked at Tamsin across the table and made the sign to call him, getting a snicker from her in return.
“Have you told Zuri your thing about me, Jarrod, Bond, and Reid being quadruplets?” Canon asked Katy as he took some plates from the waiter who’d come over and started placing them down in front of the four of us. I didn’t know what we were eating, but it looked phenomenal.
“Okay, so, Zuri, back me up here. Don’t you think they’re four versions of each other? They could totally be quads.”
Blinking, Tamsin looked at me and then at the three brothers. “As in you’re saying they look so alike they could be quadruplets?”