Page 134 of This Wild Heart

I asked about Leo, and all the things I’d missed. The way his face lit up when he told me about the first time Leo laughed, God, it did things to me. How was I supposed to function, knowing that I could have him any time I wanted? It couldn’t possibly be healthy.

He told me about his sessions with Dr. Alex and his conversation with Sheila.

I propped up on my elbow, staring down at him with my jaw hanging open. “Sheknew?”

Parker nodded. “I’m telling you, that woman comes off all sweet and nice, but she is straight up manipulative when it comes to us kids.”

I laughed, and he stared at my mouth just long enough that I drew him in for a lingering kiss.

“I think I can come back home soon,” I told him. “Let me get through this week with Isabel’s PT, and then Vi and Willa will be back in school, and it’ll be easier to manage.”

“I’m in no rush,” he told me, threading his hands through my hair. “You can still fly back here a couple of days a week if you need.”

“I’ll bankrupt you with travel charges,” I teased.

“I’d love to see you try.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I am obscenely wealthy, if you didn’t know.”

“Ugh. No one likes a braggart.”

He tickled my sides, and I laughed. “You do.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. But don’t do anything crazy, okay?”

He kissed the sensitive spot underneath my ear and I shivered. “Like buy you a plane for your birthday?”

“Like that,” I drawled. His eyes glinted when he pulled back, and I smacked him on the chest. “Parker, don’t you dare.”

He made a small tsking sound. “Just a little one. You’ll love it.”

My fingers trailed over the slope of his nose and the line of his lips. “I’m going to be very clingy for a while,” I warned him.

His hands dipped over the small of my back, his palms skating over the curve of my ass. “So am I.”

“I might be possessive.”

“Excellent.” His knuckles dragged over the side of my breast. “I am too.”

“And I’ll drive you crazy sometimes.”

“Promises, promises,” he whispered, sucking at the edge of my jaw. “I think we’ll have that in common.”

He curved his hand behind my neck and pulled me down for another kiss. One kiss became two. Two became three. And I lost count sometime after that as his tongue swept over mine, and his hands roamed over my skin.

The world could’ve burned down around us, and I’m not sure we would’ve noticed.

My hands moved up over his shoulders and to the back of his neck.

Parker’s eyes searched my expression, like he was waiting for me to say something else. His hands smoothed up my back, and mine gently traced the lines of his face.

“And I think … I think loving you will be one of the great privileges of my life,” I whispered.

His small smile started in his eyes. For a moment, he closed them and let out a great, heavy sigh, and it felt like he was expelling some incredible weight off his frame when his eyes opened again.

“Let’s pretend I said that first,” he murmured, moving in for a kiss as I smiled.

Epilogue

Parker

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