Page 68 of The Hang Up

“You did not,” I said, pulling her into a hug.

She hugged me back and said in a low voice, “I can’t believe you got yourself a hot Daddy.” Then she laughed and pushed me away with a glance at her friend. She was lucky I’d been too distracted to question the boy she’d brought. But I would be following up on that.

After everyone was gone, Joshua wrapped his arms around me. “Are you okay?”

“I am. Not sure if it’s safe to go home again. But I’m okay. I mean, I’d like to hear those words again without a crowd of people distracting me.”

He gently held my face in his hands, and I didn’t really need the words because his love for me was written all over his face. I mean, I still wanted the words. “I am so in love with you, Brock.” Then he kissed me, and it was sweet. Unhurried. We had all the time in the world. And no one to bother us.

Something hit the floor with a bang, and I jumped back. Bagheera licked his paws innocently. The photo of all of us was on the floor.

“He doesn’t like me.”

“He’s just stressed because we had a ton of people in his house. You’re just an easy target for his wrath.” Joshua rubbed our noses together. “He’ll get used to you. I have.” He kissed the corner of my mouth.

“I’m going to win him over,” I said, chasing his mouth as he teased me with light kisses on my chin.

“Uh-huh.” This time, he kissed my lips, but it wasn’t enough.

“Everyone loves me.” I grabbed his face, the stubble of his beard scratchy against my palms. I kissed him hard and then bit his lip, earning a growl and the reaction I was looking for.

He pulled me tighter against him, and I could feel how hard he was. I leaned my head back and caught his eye. “The first time I told you I loved you, I was a kid.”

“Brock,” he said in warning, and I laughed.

Joshua grinned. Those dimples. Jesus, I could get lost in them.

“I had no clue what love was. I idolized you.” I blinked because this was not a time to cry. “But now I see you. With all your flaws…” His thumb brushed over my cheek, wiping away the few tears that had escaped. “And there are several,” I said. “I have a list—”

He smacked my ass, and he didn’t even need to say it. Thebratwas implied.

I gave him a warning look. “Even with that list, or maybe because of it, I love you, Joshua. For real this time.”

This kiss was shorter, but he ended it by picking me up and heading toward his room.

“Hold on,” I said, laughing and kicking my legs. “We have to clean up.”

“I have people for that.”

“But those people aren’t here right now. You’re just going to leave it?” I almost added,I see where Sean gets it from, but stopped myself in time.

“Sweetheart, my priority is getting you naked, not cleaning my house.”

“We at least have to clean the kitchen.”

He sighed and let me down. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

I grabbed his hand. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”

“We really need to discuss your definition of fun.”

It didn’t take us long, but longer than Joshua wanted. I was glad to see someone, probably Esmy, had taken my pound cake out of the oven. Had I ever forgotten something I was baking?

As we cleaned, I took every opportunity to tease Joshua. Pushing him up against the counter. Stealing a kiss. Letting him feel how much I wanted him. And smacking his ass when he bent over to put something away. Of course, Joshua was a quick learner, and once we had the kitchen satisfactory, he hoisted me on the clean island and pulled my legs apart.

“We just cleaned this.”

“And now we’re dirtying it up.”

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