Page 56 of Penthouse Prince
Dak rolls his eyes, resituating Grier in his lap. “Which part don’t you think I can handle? The part where I’m put solely in charge of a two-year-old, or the part where my best friend is dating my sister?” There’s a smirk on his lips, and I have to suppress my own laugh.
He’s right, though. We snagged the best babysitter in the greater Wilmington area, second only to me, of course. My brother is no professional nanny, but any man who can swiftly handle a crowd of drunks at last call can certainly handle watching a toddler for an hour or two.
“Both, I guess,” Lex says, lifting a shoulder. “But I was referring to Grier.”
“She’ll be fine, honey,” I whisper, stepping carefully through the minefield of G.I. Joes to give Lex’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Besides, these two have a ton in common. They’re both stubborn, and they’re both experts at giving us a hard time.”
“Exactly!” Dak gives us a huge grin. “This babysitting thing is kid stuff. Literally. Play with some G.I. Joes, make sure she gets her teeth brushed. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”
“Sure,” I say, trying to restrain my sarcasm. “We’ll see if you’re still saying that after your fourth read of Dragons Play Dodgeball.”
At the mention of her favorite story, Grier perks up, her wide eyes flickering with excitement. “Dwagons?”
Lex and I exchange a quick, knowing look and an equally knowing laugh. I think we both could recite that book forward and backward at this point.
“No dragons yet, love bug.” Lex scoops Grier up from Dak’s lap, planting a good-bye kiss on her plump cheek. “It’s not quite bedtime. You’ve got to drive Uncle Dak crazy for another hour first.”
He sets her back down on the carpet, and as if totally understanding the drive Dak crazy suggestion, she immediately grabs Flapflap and lobs him straight at Dak’s head.
“Holy sh—shoelaces.” Dak barely catches himself, rubbing the point of impact above his ear. “What the heck was that for?”
“Flapflap flies!” Grier shrieks, reaching for the plush bat again, and whips it his way a second time. This time, Dak has the foresight to duck.
A chuckle rumbles low in Lex’s chest as he pushes to his feet. “If you hadn’t noticed, my daughter may have a future as a pitcher.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re lucky you’re cute,” Dak grumbles, ruffling Grier’s hair, then gestures to the two of us. “And you two are lucky you’re so cute together, or else this would be a whole lot weirder.”
A relieved smile pulls at my lips. Coming from my brother, that’s a glowing endorsement. “Thanks, Dak.” I reach for Lex’s hand, and he pulls our interlaced fingers to his lips, brushing a soft kiss against my knuckles.
“Yeah, yeah.” Dak cringes, waving the two of us off toward the door. “Just because I approve of it doesn’t mean I’m ready to see you two being all couple-y yet. Go do that somewhere else, all right?”
With one last round of good-bye kisses for Grier and final instructions for Dak, we’re out the door, and date night has officially begun. I can hardly believe it.
Lex presses his key fob twice, unlocking his car in the driveway, but still insists on opening the door for me.
I slide into the warm leather interior, and instantly, everything feels right with the world. It only took ten years, but I’ve finally ended up back where I’m supposed to be—windows down, fiddling with the radio as Lexington Dane’s designated shotgun rider. He has a much nicer car than he had back then, and we’re older now, but the way my heart squeezes in my chest with one look at him hasn’t changed a bit.
With one hand draped over the steering wheel, Lex slides on his sunglasses and speeds out of the driveway toward the beach, racing the sun that’s sinking lower in the sky.
“We’re going to make it just in time for sunset,” he says over the sound of wind whipping past our open windows, his smile reaching all the way up to his aviators.
“Let’s make sure we don’t get pulled over for speeding first,” I say, teasing.
He reaches across the console to give my thigh a squeeze, but instead of pulling away, he leaves his hand resting on my thigh, his thumb brushing against the hem of my sundress and tracing slow easy circles on my skin. “If we get pulled over, I’ll just tell them the truth.”
“Which is?”
“Officer, I’m rushing so my girlfriend and I can see the sunset.”
A laugh bubbles out of me at his dumb excuse for speeding, but it doesn’t slow the blush spreading across my cheeks. I can’t help it. Every time he uses the g-word around me, I’m as giddy as the first time he asked me out, all those years ago on my parents’ couch.
Lex slows to the speed limit as we approach our destination—the ice cream shop on Wilmington Beach. He ran a dozen date ideas past me this week, but it only felt right to come back to the place where it all began. The line curves out the door, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a slightly cooler summer night like tonight, but I don’t mind the wait. It gives Lex and me plenty of time to reminisce on the nights we used to spend here way back when.
