Page 83 of The Huckleberry Bookshop

“That we were enemies, and that I did anything and everything to get you riled up. But I don’t do that any longer because I finally grew up. Now we’re mad about each other instead of mad at each other. We can make it cute. You know, capitalize on our relationship to sell the cookbook?”

“That’s a bit too cutesy, and goes against your image.”

“Maybe it’s time for a change. Time to settle down and get the things I truly want.”

“And what’s that?”

“Love. Marriage. Family. Lots of kids and pets. A real zoo, you know? A house stuffed to the rafters with chaos and people and animals and a million things going on.”

Athena blinked at him in surprise. He was serious. He wanted the whole meal deal. And not just that, he wanted to supersize it.

Whatever the man had been doing behind the scenes over the last several weeks to heal his past, the effort seemed to have been well worth it.

“What?” he asked, wrapping his hands around her waist. “You don’t want that?”

“I do. It just sounds really busy.”

“We both love having full lives.”

“True.”

“And this kind of hecticness we can do together.”

She smiled. She liked his dream.

“You know we haven’t actually been on an official date yet.” She allowed a finger to lazily trace the edge of the tattoo that dipped under his shirt.

“We can remedy that.”

“Good.”

Above Chad’s collarbone was a branch with a few leaves, a bird that was half-angel. Athena gently tugged at his collar, pulling it downward to take a peek at what was hidden by fabric.

“It’s a tree,” he said.

She looked up from her survey, meeting his dark eyes, which held a rare invitation to dig deeper. “Why a tree?”

He slipped the top button from its hold, then the next two, pushing the crisp blue fabric aside so she could see more. Distracted by the expanse of muscles, she wondered how long it would be before she saw him without a shirt.

“You wanted to see the tattoo?” he teased. “Hello?”

She sighed and returned her gaze to his tattoo, realizing she’d laid her hands over his and was helping with the buttons.

Tree roots started above his heart, forming a subtle heart shape. The trunk separated into four main branches, stretched from his left shoulder to the midline of his chest. The tattoo was simple, allowing plenty of flesh to show between the fine black lines.

“Your dad…” she said, following one branch to his shoulder. “Your mom…” She traced another with a light finger, causing him to draw a quick breath. Her finger stopped on the highest one which stretched toward the heavens and had the angel-bird lifting off it. “Sister?”

He gave a nod.

The next branch stretched across his chest, was less leafy and appeared unfinished with spots for family to be added close to his heart.

“How many branches do you plan to add over here? Exactly?” she asked playfully, walking her fingers up what must be his own branch.

He chuckled and snagged her hand away. “Depends on my partner and what she wants.” His expression was solemn, his gaze locked steadily on hers. There was none of that flirtatiousness she’d come to expect whenever they ventured near anything deep or personal. No deflection. “But as I said earlier. Lots. All the chaos.”

Having his attention so solidly on her made Athena want to squirm out from under it, make a joke or lighten the mood. Her question about future branches on his tattoo was heavy with possibility, and his answer was like he was opening a door to the unknown, extending his hand to take hers.

Moments ago everything between them had still felt similar to a dream, fuzzy and uncertain, the edges not yet roughed in.

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