Page 58 of Embraced at Seaside
He stepped closer, tucking the lock of hair she was nervously twirling behind her ear. “Baby, you have revitalized my creativity.” He lowered his voice and said, “In more ways than one,” with a seductive tone. “There’s nothing I’d rather do than make a sign for my girl.”
My girl.The words swirled inside her.
“Thank you. I…No one has ever done anything like this for me before, and you’ve already given so much of yourself. You’re letting me rent the space, and—”
“Baby, don’t you get it?” He searched her eyes. He did that a lot lately, searching for answers that she thought only he could see. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.” He lowered his lips to hers.
“Grayson?” she said against his mouth, wondering how she could have ever doubted that they were right for each other.
Hunter smiled. “He left when you looked at me like you wanted to tear my clothes off.”
His mouth moved over hers, swallowing her laugh in a smoldering kiss that left her head spinning and her body humming.
“What did you come to tell me?” he asked, gazing at her sweetly.
His words were still swirling in her mind—Baby, don’t you get it? There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you—making any further thought, beyond her need for another kiss, impossible.
“Nothing important,” she whispered as she went up on her toes, and he met her in another soul-binding kiss.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
THE COOKOUT WITH their friends and siblings was exactly what Jana needed. Hunter was glad he’d pushed her to go, when he knew all she’d really wanted to do was climb into bed and forget about the hellish time she’d had giving her notice to Marco. He watched her laughing with the girls as she bounced baby Hannah on her hip.
“She looks pretty natural with a baby.” Pete draped an arm over his younger brother’s shoulder and lowered his voice before saying, “You know, babies are contagious.”
Hunter laughed. “Funny. When my oldest brother gave me the sex talk, he made it perfectly clear how to avoid that situation. Maybe you should have taken your own advice.”
Pete looked down at Bea sleeping soundly in the playpen. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened in my life, besides Jenna, of course.”
“I never thought I’d say this about any woman, but that’s how I feel about Jana. My girl has changed my life in too many ways to count.” Bea sighed softly in her sleep and Hunter’s heart squeezed, knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that if Jana were to get pregnant, he’d be proud to step up to the plate, marry her, and raise their children together. His eyes sought Jana again, and when he saw her whispering something to Amy, he imagined coming home to her every night, waking with her every morning, and he realized…they were already there.
“That’s how you know she’s the one. Before Jenna, I never really gave women the time of day, like you.” Pete leaned in closer and said, “Grayson’s the same way. Matt and Sky are the only normal ones in our family when it comes to dating.”
“The heck with that,” Hunter said. “I think it’s totally normal to wait for the right woman.”
Blue and Grayson crossed in front of Jana as they neared.
Grayson’s eyes jumped between Hunter and Pete. “Why does it look like you guys are talking about me?”
“We were. I was thinking that since the sculpture and the model of the gazebo are almost done, I could swindle you, Blue, and Pete to help me get the space out on Route 6 ready for Jana’s studio.” He knew that seeing progress, having her vision come to fruition, would help ease the pain of still having to finish out her four-week commitment to Marco.
“I can swing it,” Grayson said.
“For Jana? Absolutely,” Blue said. “I can move my schedule around and clear a few days, but you need a permit.”
“Already done. I got it when I first mentioned it to her.”
“Pretty sure of himself, isn’t he?” Grayson said to Blue.
Hunter lifted his chin in a silentmiss youas Jana smiled from across the quad. “Always.” He nudged Pete. “You free to help?”
“Why not. This could be fun.” Pete eyed Caden, who was bouncing Summer on his shoulder a few feet away. He raised his voice and said, “As long as Caden will be there wearing his sexy tool belt and boots.”
“Anything for you, sweetheart,” Caden called to Pete.
Ten minutes later they’d recruited Jamie, Kurt, Sawyer, and Tony and had a plan to meet the next morning to begin the renovations.
“IT’S TIME,” JENNA whispered in Jana’s ear. It was nearly midnight and the babies were asleep in their playpens on Bella’s deck.
