Page 173 of Love Thy Brother
I figured she meant the happy couple, but when I followed her gaze, I found Cam and River again. “It’s nice when you lot get on.”
“Hey, don’t blame me for any of that. I’m Switzerland.”
“You threw a spirit level at Cam yesterday.”
“He’s annoying. I liked him better when he was too busy to mess up the sales desk.”
“Did you?”
Orla huffed, conceding the point, and her attention drifted to the brothers on the outskirts of the celebration. Locke and Folk. Hovering as if they didn’t quite know their place.
Like their parking habits, that shit had to change, but I was all out of brain power to fix it right now. I leaned against Nash and eye-banged River instead. That fucker was eating a sherbet lemon, rolling it around his mouth with his tongue, licking sweetness from his lips.
It drove me fucking crazy, and he noticed, his mischievous eyes gleaming in the low light of the barn.
Nash and Orla got bored of my amorous silence. They wandered off, but I wasn’t alone for long. Liliana bounced into my lap, her dark curls a feral mess, fluorescent paint on her face.
I didn’t ask where she’d found that. Kid had a talent for sniffing out anything she could bring to life. “Where’s your partner in crime?”
Meaning Ivy. They’d been dancing beneath the stars since the sun had gone down.
Liliana pouted. “She had to leave. Her mum made Uncle Decoy take her home.”
Irritation threatened the love bubble I’d cocooned myself in. Decoy was the best dad, and that...bitchnever let him be. We had to do something about that too, but what, I couldn’t say. Even before Cam’s renewed drive for legitimacy, we’d never been in the business of offing evil ex-wives, and I was proud of that.
Mostly. Except in moments like these.
I needed a distraction. I picked grass from Liliana’s hair while she dozed against me, the excitement of the day catching up with her. There was a lot, but I didn’t mind. It saved me from myself until Juana came to take Liliana to bed.
“You’re staying here?”
Juana tried to prise a grouchy Liliana from my lap. “At the house with Joe and Harry. No one needs to worry about us tonight.”
“We’ll always worry about you, sweetheart. It’s what families do.”
She smiled in the dark and kissed my cheek. “Could you carry this princess for me? She doesn’t seem in the mood to walk.”
I scooped up Liliana and carried her out of the barn, making eye contact with Folk to follow us. He was a guest as much as the rest of us, but watching Juana and the kids was his job tonight, and I was glad of it.
Sharp eyes. Safe hands. Folk and Locke were everything.
Inside, Juana settled the baby.
I put a sleepy Liliana to bed and left them to it.
Folk was where he needed to be. Good lad. I left him alone too and made my way back to the barn.
River met me halfway. His lips tasted of fizzy lemon and love. His hands on my bare skin were pure fire. “Do you know what the words inside the rings mean?”
“The wedding rings?”
“No. Lord of the Rings.”
“Don’t be sarky. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Yes, it does. Answer the question.”
I licked a path from River’s throat to his mouth. “I don’t speak Spanish.”
