“If you’re pissed Lauren’s—”
“I’m not pissed about Lauren. Though I will go on record to say the guy’s a douchebag and all wrong for her.”
Unfortunately, I had to agree. There was something not right about a guy whose name was Guy. Not to mention he gave off a weird vibe. I couldn’t place it. He wasn’t overtly asshole-ish but he was for sure hiding something. I just hoped Lauren figured it out before she was in too deep.
“Alright, Logan, I’m still not sure why I’m an asshole but if Dylan’s cutting into your action now that he’s the only single one, ask Echo or Phoenix to go out.”
Logan huffed a sigh so I sat up from the weight bench and gave him my full attention.
“Tell me what’s really crawled up your ass.”
“My mom’s coming to town.”
“So? You’re a total mama’s boy, you should be happy.”
Logan flipped me a rude gesture and his face twisted into a snarl.
“She’s met someone.”
Oh, fuck.
This was not good. As far as I knew, Logan’s mom hadn’t dated anyone since her husband died.
“And my sisters like him. They say he’s the shit. He has no kids. His wife had cancer early on in their marriage and couldn’t have any. He stayed until it finally took her. Then he waited ten years after she died before he started dating. My sisters say he’s serious about Mom and they think he’s gonna ask her to marry him.”
“Logan—”
“He beat the fuck out of her,” Logan growled. “He beat us. How the fuck can she trust another man? Why would she even want to invite a man into her life?”
There were so many reasons why she should, could, and would want to. So many I didn’t know where to start to explain them all. The problem was, Logan wouldn’t be receptive to hearing any of them. And part of me understood. His father was a sonofabitch. And when his mother had taken her last beating she’d shot and killed her husband. Though it wasn’t her husband beating her that made her snap that night, it was her husband taking a knife to Logan.
“Brother—”
“Never mind. Forget I mentioned it.”
“But you did. We should talk about this.”
“There’s not enough hours or enough whiskey to talk about that motherfucker.”
Fuck.
Logan was prowling toward the door when I called his name. He didn’t bother to turn around when he answered.
“Just not right now. Not here. Not now. I can’t think about this.”
“I’ll drop it only if you promise to come by the house one night this week. If you want I’ll ask Shiloh to find a night to hang with her girls.”
“Name the night and I’m there.”
Then he was gone.
Fuck.
We should’ve worked this out of Logan years ago.
My phone beeped with a text. I picked it up off my desk, opened the message from Drake, and smiled.
It was an address and a time.
I closed the text and pulled up Shiloh’s number.
It rang once.
“It’s go-time!” she squealed.
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
“I’m leaving work now. I’ll be home in ten.”
“Kay. Drive safe.”
I heard another happy squeal then she hung up.
I walked into the house and the first thing I thought was we needed a dog. Maybe two so they didn’t get bored while Shiloh and I were at work.
My next thought was we also needed children but before that happened I needed my ring on Shiloh’s finger and her to have my last name.
Yeah, I wasn’t waiting any longer for River to come home.
I entered the bedroom and stopped. It looked like a bomb went off. This was not unusual; Shiloh wasn’t a slob but she was messy. She dropped her clothes where she took them off and only picked them up when it was time to do laundry. The rest of the house was clean, but our bedroom was a total disaster. What was unusual were the dresses strewn on the bed. Shiloh was a jeans-and-tee type of woman. Shorts and tanks if it was hot outside. I’d been with her nearing on half a year and I hadn’t ever seen her in a dress or skirt. And the closest she got to high heels were wedge sandals.
This was not a complaint. Shiloh in cargos and boots was hot. Shiloh in cut-off shorts, a tank, and flip-flops sexy as all get-out. In shorts, a tank top, and wedge sandals that made her ass look even better than I thought possible—outstanding.
“We need to hurry, Luke. They only gave us an hour and the botanical garden is thirty minutes away. That’s without traffic.”
I peeled my eyes off the piles of clothes and sucked in a breath when I caught sight of Shiloh. Blonde hair down in straight, shiny sheets that fell over her shoulders. Big, pastel blue eyes. Flawless tanned skin. The dress was low cut and showed a good amount of cleavage but on Shiloh, it looked classy instead of trashy. It was some shade of blue—not dark but not light, somewhere in the middle. It stopped at the knee and the only adornment was the fabric knotted between her breasts, cinching the material before it flowed down. It wasn’t tight, it wasn’t showy, but it was sexy as hell. And on her feet were a pair of silver high heels. One strap across her toes that were painted pink with sparkles. Another strap at her ankle.
“Jesus.”
“Is the dress not okay?” Shiloh asked and smoothed down the fabric at her hips. “Liberty said casual. I didn’t own any dresses so I bought a few but now I don’t know.”
“Christ, you’re gorgeous.”
“Luke,” she whispered.
“Serious as fuck, baby, you’re so beautiful sometimes I look at you and I wonder how in the hell I got so lucky.”
“Luke.”
I loved, fucking loved when she whispered my name. It never failed to hit my chest and ignite a burn.
“I want to get a dog,” I said.
“Okay.”
“I want kids.”
Shiloh’s eyes flared and she nodded.
“Okay.”
“You want kids?”
“I want to have your kids.”
Christ, I loved her.
“Come here, Shiloh.”
“No way, Luke. I know what that look means and we can’t be late.”
“Baby, we’re gonna be late.”
“We’re not gonna be late to Liberty and Drake’s wedding.”
“We are if you don’t strut your fine ass over here and keep arguing with me instead.”
“Why am I always walking to you?” she snapped.
Cute as fuck.
“Because I like to watch you move. I like knowing a woman as sexy, as beautiful, as smart, as strong as you are, is walking to a man like me.”
“And what kind of man are you?”
“The kind that’s proud as hell to have you at my side.”
Shiloh didn’t walk, she moved quickly, then her arms were around me and her lips were on mine. I gave her approximately thirty seconds to control the kiss before I took over. There was one thing I knew I’d never get used to. Not in five years, not in ten, not in twenty. The feel of Shiloh when she gave herself over to me. So strong. So tough. The woman could and did take care of herself, but the second she was in my arms everything about her softened. She trusted me to take care of her every way a man could take care of his woman.