“We’d be honored, son,” he said finally.
Roxy came to me and cupped my face in her hands. “You are such a gift,” she rasped before wrapping me in a hug that she pulled a teary-eyed Layla into. “Riley, come here, sweetie.”
Riley hopped down to the ground and wrapped her arms around our legs. “Why is everyone crying?” she demanded in confusion.
I stooped down, picking her up in my arms.
“We’re happy, baby,” Layla assured her.
She rolled her eyes. “Adults are so confusing.”
****
“Gun,” I greeted, walking into the club the next day. Riley and Layla were off shopping for the wedding, and I wanted to check in on him. He hadn’t answered my texts, and I’d had a feeling this was where I’d find him.
He looked up from the pool table, his hands braced on its edge, looking like he hadn’t slept in days.
“What’s up?” I asked, striding closer. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks.” He laughed without humor.
“Seriously, what’s going on?” I pressed.
He hung his head low, flicking his wrist, sending one of the balls flying across the table. “She left.”
“Who?” I asked, confused, and then it hit me. “Emmie?”
He nodded, ripping a hand over his hair. “Went to Colorado.”
“And she already left?” I asked, not only thinking of Gunner but of Layla. The two were tight. “Did anyone know she was leaving?”
He shook his head. “If they did, they didn’t tell me. I didn’t even get a chance to…. I was going to…. Fuck!” he exploded, tossing his cue across the room.
I got in his face, shoving at his chest. “Whatever you were going to say, whatever you were going to do, you still can. You two have let way too much time go by without sorting out whatever the hell is between you. I say get your ass on a plane and go get your girl.”
He looked at me, his expression tormented before he nodded.
Fucking finally.
“Call me when you land.” I smirked, giving him a playful shove and striding back to my bike. Now that Gunner was sorted, it was time to go home to my girls.
I arrived home to the sound of water splashing and squeals of delight. I grinned, walking out back to find my girls in our newly finished pool.
“Daddy! Come swim with me,” Riley called as Layla towed her around the shallow end wearing a black bikini I’d be peeling off of her at the next available opportunity.
“Hi honey, everything okay?” Layla asked, looking up at me curiously.
I crouched down at the edge of the pool, grinning at both my girls. Nothing from the past few days mattered in that moment. It was only this, only us.
“That depends, did you find a dress so you can marry me?” I quirked a brow.
She grinned back, her gorgeous green eyes sparkling. “I did.”
“Mama’s dress is so pretty!” Riley squealed. “And mine is too. I want to wear it every day.”
I smiled at my daughter before turning hungry eyes to my soon-to-be wife. “Well then, baby, everything is perfect.”
And it was.
Before I met Layla, I’d thought I’d been living but it had been more like surviving. Now I had a family, including parents who actually gave a damn. I had the love of a woman I knew was perfect for me. There was nothing but future ahead, and I couldn’t wait to walk the rest of my life with her and our children at my side.
And it would be one hell of a ride.
Epilogue
TWO YEARS LATER
“Baby, you have to be quiet,” Cash growled low as he took me roughly on top of his desk in his office at the gym.
How he thought I’d be able to pull that off as he yanked my ass closer to the edge of his desk, taking him impossibly deeper, was beyond me. His finger tweaked my nipple, making me suck in a ragged breath before he reached down, doing the same in between my legs.
I dropped down to my back, unable to hold myself up and live through the orgasm he was about to give me.
His powerful frame towered over me as he took me roughly. “You gonna walk through the gym in only leggings and a sports bra again?” he demanded, leaning down to nip at my neck. “This body is mine,” he growled.
If this was my punishment, he wasn’t going to like my response. Besides, after having a baby nine months ago, I’d worked damn hard to get back in shape. And if I was being honest, I liked to get Cash worked up. This wasn’t the first time we’d ended up in his office.
His movements intensified a second before he groaned, the delicious sound enough to pull me right along with him.
He kissed my neck, licking at the sweat there before he guided me to sit up and slide off his desk. He crouched down, pulling my leggings from where they were bunched around my ankles back up my legs.
Then he went to his desk, pulled open a drawer, and held out a tank toward me.
I quirked a brow in question.
“After the last time you walked through the gym like that with men’s eyes on your bare stomach that weren’t mine, I started keeping some extras in here,” he said with an unapologetic shrug.
My gorgeous, bossy man.
I took the shirt from him, sliding it over my head. “I’m gonna go get Margo and head home,” I shared. “It’s almost time for her nap, and I have some photos to process.”
Cash had started a childcare program at the gym a year ago that allowed me to drop the baby off while I worked out. When Riley wasn’t in school, I could bring them both. It was amazing and had attracted a lot of new clients. I’d asked him about expanding into new locations, but he’d said he was content with the way things were. He didn’t want anything to take him away from our family.
“I’m gonna finish things here and I’ll be right behind you.” He slapped my ass as I walked out of his office, and he followed me toward the childcare center.
Margo bounced higher in her jumper when she saw us, flashing a toothy grin. Cash scooped her up, blowing a raspberry on her belly, making her squeal in delight. With her bright blue eyes and blond hair, our daughter was the spitting image of her father.
Cash shifted her to one arm, reaching for the diaper bag with the other. “I’ll walk you guys out,” he said as I waved thanks to the girls who ran the childcare.
From the moment Margo was born, Cash had been hands on. From midnight feedings to diaper blow outs, there wasn’t a thing he couldn’t do as well as me. Hell, sometimes he was even better.
Like when Riley had fallen three months ago and knocked a tooth out. He’d been the definition of calm, putting the tooth in milk in case we needed to save it and whisking her off to the dentist without a trace of worry on his face.
He put Margo in her car seat, making sure she was secure before he pressed me against the side of the car, kissing me deeply. “Round two tonight, chief,” he murmured with delicious intent.
My core liquified in response as I nodded, all too happy to comply. Impossibly, I wanted him more than I ever had. Lucky for me, the feeling was mutual.
“Drive carefully,” he instructed as he opened my car door for me.
When I arrived home, I moved through the routine of feeding Margo lunch and putting her down for nap. As I often did, I admired the house, reflecting on all the changes we’d made to it through the years.