Page 76 of In Full Bloom

In it, Sadie drew herself sitting on Scout, and beside the horse are two people. Despite the rough drawing skills of myfive-year-old, anyone can see that one of the people is me. The other is Katie.

“Is this …” Katie trails off, then clears her throat and tries again. “Is this our first family portrait?”

The breath stops in my chest. Our first family portrait.

Family.

The world goes a little fuzzy at the edges as the word hits me. I suck in a deep breath and realise Katie is staring up at me with wide, timid eyes and her bottom lip caught between her teeth. She’s freaking out. Internally. Silently. But I can still tell.

“Yes,” I manage to say, my voice a hoarse rasp. “If you want it to be.”

She flings herself at me and I catch her as she wraps her arms around my neck. “Yes. So much yes,” she whispers, voice thick with emotion.

“So, you’d be okay with telling Sadie about us?” I ask into her hair.

She pulls back and stares into my eyes for a long moment, studying me. “Are you sure?”

“If you are,” I say and lean in for a kiss. “This isn’t some spur of the moment thing. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. So if you’re okay with what that means, then I want her to know.”

“I am,” she says softly, then her face lights up. “Can we tell her now?”

The joy on her face sets my insides on fire and I laugh. “Well, we can. Or we can finish our date and I can take you home …” I trail a finger down the gap between the front of her shirt. “And we can see Sadie tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is probably okay,” she whispers.

“I thought so. I may have some plans for then too. For a family hang out.”

Her eyes flash with emotion as I say the word family back to her and she crushes me to her with a visceral hug. My arms wrap around her, holding her close, where I want her to be forever.

“Okay, so what else is planned today? Or do I get to take you home yet?”

“Always in such a rush.”

She smiles coyly. “You know me.” It’s her turn to run her hand down the gap in her shirt, except this time she pushes the two sides apart, exposing even more of her bra.

“Fucking hell. This is not the place.” I step forward and crush my lips to hers, opening for her as her tongue swipes over my mouth, drawing her into me. My hands grasp her ass and pull her into me where she can no doubt feel my cock pressing into her stomach.

She lifts a foot off the ground and somehow knowing exactly what she means with that move, I hoist her up. Her legs wrap around me and she breaks the kiss, giggling against my mouth.

“You’re right. This is definitely not the place,” she says, then presses another kiss against my mouth. “I can be patient.”

“Good girl. I’m going to put you down now before we flash the whole store because your skirt is too short.”

“Too short?” She leans back, trusting me to support her while her hands come to cup my neck. She arches an eyebrow at me. “Please tell me you didn’t just tell me my skirt’s too short.” She says it with a mocking tease in her voice. “That’s not whatyou indicated earlier when you almost lost your shit over it on my front porch.” She smirks at me.

“It’s absolutely not too short for anything except this position in a public place,” I say. “I am in full support of the length of this skirt and I’d love to evaluate it further later, especially what’s under it, but I’m currently holding it firmly in place. We wouldn’t want to give poor Trev a heart attack with those white lace panties you’ve got on under here.” I tease my finger along the edge of the skirt where it’s tucked around her ass.

She tips her head back and laughs, her loose hair cascading down her back. “This is a fair point.” She kisses me and begins to unwrap her legs when movement at the end of the aisle startles me.

Then a voice cuts through our bubble of heat and lust, stripping away any and all happiness from Katie in an instant.

33

KATIE

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”Max Sheridan’s voice echoes around the store right as I’m about to unwrap my legs from Dallas’s waist and slide to the ground.

I freeze as his voice hits me, but Dallas strokes a hand down my back and I manage to function enough to get my feet back on the ground. I hope he has enough cognisance to keep my skirt in place because if I’m going to be flashing anyone, I really don’t want it to be Max.

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