Page 119 of Starcrossed Colorado

The man stepped out with his cane. His wife winked and said, “Enjoy your stay. I certainly intend to.”

Then she pinched her husband’s butt on their way down the hall.

When the elevator doors closed, I spun around in Ashford’s arms and we collapsed against each other in helpless laughter.

He kissed me on the forehead. “Take me to your room.”

“Will you kiss me some more?”

“I certainly intend to.”

TWENTY-NINE

Ashford

I keptmy hands on Emma as we made our way down the hall. I pressed in close to her back as she waved the key card in front of the lock. And then, finally, we were inside. Kissing again. My fingers in her hair, Emma’s hands pushing up my T-shirt to touch the overheated skin beneath.

But a big, furry weight crashed into both of us. I caught myself, hands landing on the door so I didn’t crush Emma against it.

“Oops,” she said. “I should’ve expected that. Stella’s excited to see you too.”

“Down, girl.” I bent to rub her flanks and scratch behind her ears while her tail whipped from side to side.

“She missed you.”

“I missed her too.” Which kinda surprised me. But who was I kidding? I’d come to love Stella, dog hair and all. Why else had I let her shed all over my truck seats during our road trip? “Missed both of you. Like crazy.”

“Where’s Maisie?”

“At my place with Grace and Callum. And Ayla.”

“Ayla?”

“Yeah. Long story.” I let Stella lick my face, then turned so she could lick the other side. “All right, that’s enough.” I stood, wiping at my beard. “Yeah. Ayla’s in Silver Ridge.”

“And you left Maisie there with her? I’m not saying you shouldn’t have. You said Grace and Callum are there too. But…that’s big.”

“It is.” A few months ago, I got anxious just leaving my daughter with my siblings. Ayla Maxwell had been enemy number one.

She’d explained herself, and that had made a huge difference. But really, I credited Emma with helping me realize that I couldn’t be the best father to Maisie unless I welcomed other people into our lives. That meant taking chances, even scary ones.

“I should catch you up on everything that’s happened.”

Once Stella had calmed down a bit, we sat on the bed up against the headboard, and I gathered Emma against me, fitting her into my side where she was supposed to be.

I put my nose in her hair and inhaled. She didn’t smell exactly right. She’d been away from her lavender shampoo for too long. But the hints of it were still there.

And more importantly, the sweet smell that just belonged to her. Some magical mixture of pheromones that I was addicted to. “I was miserable without you.”

“Same here.”

“You said you needed some space to think. Did you get what you needed?”

“I guess so.” She snuggled closer to me. “I spoke to my dad and Madison. My mom too. They told me they support me completely. All this time, I was terrified of them knowing what happened. I was so ashamed of it. But my ex is the villain in that story, not his wife and not me. I know the truth, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.”

“Didn’t I tell you basically the same thing?”

“I know. Logically, I knew that was true. I shouldn’t have doubted how my parents would react. I shouldn’t have run away from you either.”

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