Page 78 of Long Road Home

“It is soon.”

“We’ve also known each other for a long time. We’ve changed, we’ve grown, but deep inside we’re the same people. It’s soon, but it’s not, either.”

Her chin wobbled. “You love me.”

“Yes. And if I hadn’t just made love to you in a way that’s going to give me some time to recover, I’d do it again to show you how much.”

She laughed, buried her face in my shoulder and clung to me like she still didn’t believe me. I loved when she tucked herself into me like that. Burrowed against me like I was the only person she could imagine keeping her safe. “I don’t think I could have sex again tonight anyway.”

“Yeah? Worn out?”

“Shut up.” She slapped my chest playfully. “You know how good you are.”

I knew how to get a woman off easily. That didn’t make me good necessarily. It meant I paid attention. Still, I was glad she thought so.

“I gotta take care of this condom.” I slid out of the bed, bending over her side as I walked around the bed to get to the bathroom and kissed her forehead. “Love you, Destiny.”

She grinned up at me, the fear gone, the chin no longer wobbling. “Love you too.”

I cleaned up, brushed my teeth again, and climbed back into bed, pulling Destiny’s back to my chest. Then, for the first time in a decade, I fell asleep holding the woman I loved. The mother of my son.

The woman I’d stop at nothing with to ensure what we had this time grew into something perfectly beautiful.

A knock rappedon my door and slowly opened.

Alicia poked her head in. “Jordan, Liam Allistor is on the phone for you.”

“Thanks, Alicia. I’ll get it in a minute.”

Liam, a good friend and awesome musician, was on a European Tour. It didn’t matter he had homes in Los Angeles, New York, and the Caribbean, gossip from Carlton was liquid gold for him. His sister, Sophie, along with her husband had been at Rebecca’s on Saturday.

The jerk would have a handful of thoughts on Rebecca’s return and he could handle waiting a few minutes before I took his call.

I was one of the few men in his life who kept him humble.

“Hey Alicia,” I called out. She’d turned to leave and the expression on her face had me biting back a laugh. It didn’t matter how many times she talked to Liam, she still went starstruck.

“Yes? Is there something you need?”

“Yeah. Can you connect with Destiny sometime this week? Maybe see if your girls and Toby can get together?”

“Like a playdate? Kids are a bit too old for that you know.”

I didn’t. I knew if he wasn’t bored out of his mind most days, Toby would soon start itching to get home. “More like trying to find more reasons for her to stay. I’ll give you Thursday afternoon off if you can swing it.”

“Without using PTO? I’ll do anything you want.”

I chuckled as she closed the door and went back to her desk. She might tease me, but she was good people.

So was the asshole still waiting on the phone for me.

I picked up the receiver and hit the button for Line Two, answering it with the only warning he’d get.

“Piss me off and I’ll hang up. I love her.”

Liam’s throaty laugh hit my ears. “So the gossip is true then, huh? Sophie couldn’t wait to call me the other night, she woke me up at four in the morning.”

“Depends on what she said.”

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