Page 55 of Best of Me

“And this blanket,” I say, interrupting her, tugging it tighter around us.

“And this blanket.” She laughs lightly before turning serious. “You still have so much in storage—a dining table, dressers, rugs, and more. I…I understand if looking at the things you bought with her is too painful, but please don’t sell it all if I’m the reason. I know Val will always be a part of you and I would never want to take that away.”

I stare at her, dumbfounded by her words, her thoughtfulness, her…Mallory-ness. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

She smiles and my heart beats a little harder in my chest.Will there ever come a day where she doesn’t affect me like this? I sure as hell hope not.“Sure. But while you’re thinking about it, can you think about helping me out with my booth for the fall festival?”

I tug her onto my lap, lunging for her and capturing her lips with mine in a mind-bending kiss. I lick into her mouth, my tongue mingling with hers before pulling away. Foreheads pressed together, I run the tips of my fingers over her cheek. “Now that I don’t have to think about it; of course, I’ll help. The department usually sends some guys, I’ll make sure and get my name on the list tomorrow. Nate’s, too.”

Her honey eyes go molten as she looks at me with so much affection. “You’re such a good man. So good to me. What did I do to deserve you?”

I give her a boyish smile. “You’re you, Cricket baby. You’re you.”

chapter thirty-three

Mallory

True to his word, Duke signed both Nate and himself—along with two other officers—to represent the Bay Ridge PD at the school’s fall festival. Duke and I arrive early to set up my booth—I totally lucked out with being assigned the pumpkin painting booth.

It only takes us fifteen minutes to set up. We have one rectangular table loaded down with miniature craft pumpkins, paper plates, and an assortment of non-toxic water-based paints and more paintbrushes and sponges than I’ve ever seen. We set up a second table, dividing it down the center; the left side for painting and the right for drying.

“Looks good, Cricket,” Duke says, surveying our work.

“Thanks to you.” I rise up and kiss his cheek, loving the feel of his scruff beneath my lips. “You ready to spend your day corralling kids with me?”

His eyes flash with some unknown emotion. “Baby,” he growls out, the husky tone shooting straight to my center. “I’m—”

Whatever he was going to tell me is washed away by Tatum’s arrival. “Ms. Parsons! Mr. Duke! I want to paint a pumpkin. Can I? Please?”

Duke scans the festival area. “Where are your parents?”

Tatum shrugs. “They were talking to Uncle Nate, but I saw y’all and—”

“Tatum!” Natalie’s panicked voice rings out.

“She’s over here, Nat,” I call back before turning to face Tatum. I crouch down so we’re eye-to-eye. “I thought we talked about this; about not running off? Remember?”

The little girl’s shoulders slump and I feel bad—but only a little, because her safety and well-being is more important. “Yes, ma’am, I remember.”

Natalie pulls her daughter aside for a few minutes, most likely to reinforce what I said, before returning to the booth. “Let’s paint Daddy a pumpkin?”

A sullen Tatum instantly brightens. “Can we make it look like Branch?”

“We can try.” Natalie winks at her daughter and begins mixing paints in search of the perfect grayish-blue.

By the time the festival wraps up, Duke and I are both exhausted. “That was…” He trails off for a second, searching for the right word. “…Intense.”

“But in a good way?” I ask, hopefully. I love kids—obviously—and want a big family. If Duke didn’t feel the same, it might crush me. I guess we still have a lot to talk about.

“Definitely. Some of those kids were a trip. And don’t get me started on the way Tatum bossed all of her friends around like a little drill sergeant.”

“More like a commanding officer.” I wink at him and he smiles.

Duke bends down and retrieves something from beneath the table. “So, I managed to save two pumpkins. Wanna paint one?”

My body tingles at his thoughtfulness. “Yes! And we can trade when we’re done?”

“Perfect.”

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