Page 49 of Trusting Skulls

“Place your other hand over her stomach, holding her against you.”

A little puff of air leaves Lexie as I tug her against my chest.

Daisy stands and walks toward us. Her fingers pull at the loose strands of Lexie’s hair, arranging them around her face. She makes eye contact with my girl. “Breathe,” she reminds her.

I appreciate her checking in on Lexie. I should have known Brody would find someone like him. I bet she’s a good friend. She waits until Lexie relaxes against me.

As she backs away, her necklace catches the light. It’s a little dragonfly. It makes me embrace Lexie a little tighter. A sign from the universe that I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

Daisy meets my gaze before backing away. “If you guys can hold for a few, I’ll try to give it the justice it deserves.” She walks out of our line of sight.

“This is strange,” Lexie says, her heartbeat beating wildly against my palm.

It makes me ache with impatience. I want so badly to show her the love she’s been so desperately seeking in all the wrong places. “Strangely intoxicating,” I groan against the shell of her ear.

And that is where our conversation ends.

The sun drenches the sky in orange and pink and blue as her pulse continues to beat steadily beneath my hand. I could stay like this forever.

Daisy eventually breaks the silence. “I can finish from here. You guys were the perfect models.”

Lexie starts to pull away from me, but I tighten my grip, holding her close. “Don’t hide from me again,” I tell her quietly.

Brody must have been watching from inside, because on cue he hollers out the door. “The food is done! Come get it while it’s hot.”

I stand, pulling Lexie with me. Daisy turns her easel as we walk past her toward the cabin. “No peeking till I’m finished. Go on. I’ll join you all in a few.”

“I’m going to go change,” Lexie says, heading for the stairs the minute we step inside.

Brody and I watch her run up them. He shakes his head. “Didn’t know I was coming up here to watch someone else get their sexy on.”

I bark out a laugh. “Their sexy on?”

“Fuck, you two were hot. For a minute there I thought about jumping in.”

“Yeah, no.” I shut that idea down before the image has a chance to form in my mind. “I’m a one man show.”

Brody laughs. “Me too, brother.” He claps his hands together. “You’re so fucking lucky I showed up.”

“You’ve said that.”

“It’s true. You and Lex would have starved.”

He’s got me there, because neither Lexie nor I can cook. He and Daisy showing up has been an unexpected stroke of luck.

“I’m going to make sure she didn’t get stuck.”

I think he’s talking about Daisy, but he heads toward the stairs.

“You decent?” he yells up.

Lexie’s loud sigh drifts down the stairs. “No.”

That little bit of fighting spirit she always holds on to makes me chuckle. It’s probably what’s kept her alive.

His heavy boots thud against the wood as he makes his way up. She doesn’t protest, so she must have been lying. Did he sense her reluctance to join us for dinner? He’s spent more time with her as of late than me.

Daisy bursts through the door, the wind at her back. “Man, we cut that close. I think there might be a storm moving in,” she says, shoving the door closed with her hip. “I need a place for this to dry.”

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