Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Vacation played by its own rules, in my defense. I was taking my medication, I was no longer working, and my diet had undergone a massive change. My blood pressure was going down, albeit slowly. But that was to be expected, according to my doctor.
I’d actually promised KC I would join him in one of the gyms on board. Every morning before breakfast.
So that was going to suck.
By the time we returned to our staterooms, Florida was in the rearview, and we had open waters ahead. First stop was Nassau tomorrow, though I wasn’t sure we’d go ashore. The boys seemed most excited about pool time, brightly colored drinks, and setting their prank in motion.
This morning before we’d come aboard, Greer and I had caught Kit and Noa texting each other all while standing two feet apart. Macklin and Corey had sent each other a couple sly glances as well.
We were onto them. Not that I was particularly worried for myself.
KC and I walked straight through our stateroom and out onto our veranda. We’d already opened every partition, resulting in one long deck that stretched from the Carters’ room to the west to Kingsley and Tate’s room in the east.
We were somewhere in the middle, and we had the Finlays on one side and Ash on the other. He stepped out from his room almost at the same time as Sloan and Greer exited theirs.
“There’s Kingsley too.” Greer jerked his chin. “Kingsley! Bring a couple chairs with ya, bud.”
We made a quick effort to push our side tables and chairs closer, turning our veranda—and Ash’s—into our new hangout area.
“How you doin’, daddy-to-be?” Ash helped Kingsley the last stretch. “I missed you and your boy in the terminal.”
Kingsley chuckled. “Can I blame the daddy-to-be business for that? We overslept because someone was up all night reading about babyproofing.”
I quirked a brow and sat down next to KC. Something was off with that little tale.
Greer cocked his head. “You tryna blame Tate? You borrowed that book from me, man.”
There we go. I laughed as I unwrapped my food.
Kingsley sucked his teeth. “I can be someone, you know. In my defense, he was shopping for fuckin’ baby socks.”
Ash smiled and clapped Kingsley on the back. “Y’all’re gonna be great dads. Savor every damn moment, because before you know it, they’re askin’ to borrow your car, another’s got a date, and they don’t wanna show affection in front of friends.”
“That right there,” Sloan agreed. “God forbid I try to hug our eldest when I drop him off at school.”
Fascinating topic.
Thank goodness there were no children allowed on this cruise.
I looked down the deck, wondering where Colt and Lucas had gone. We needed more Tops who didn’t yammer about kids.
KC and I had made it very simple for ourselves. Cam and Noa could bother with cutesy gifts, both now and at a future baby shower. They’d already handed over two stuffed animals to the happy fathers-to-be. KC’s and my gift to Tate and Kingsley would be savings bonds.
College was expensive.
I bit into my sandwich…and oh my God, that was the perfect crunch. It had to be tempura batter or something. Fucking delicious. Right amount of mayo and lettuce too. And the bun…
“I think we’re boring Lucian,” Greer laughed.
I smirked wryly and reached for my fries.
“Because he can’t relate,” KC chuckled. “Even when he was a kid, he was an old man.”
Oh, piss off.
They kept talking, and so be it. I had a beautiful view of the ocean, it was warm, I was on vacation, and the sky was blue.
Sometimes I forgot that KC could relate. After all, he’d swooped in as Noa’s stepdad when the boy had been eight years old or something.
That evening, I supposed I took everyone by surprise when I asked Noa out to dinner, just the two of us. But I had important matters to tend to, and I couldn’t think of a better partner in crime. So, while KC and Cam joined a few of the others to check out one of the buffets, Noa and I dressed up to go to a nice restaurant a couple floors above us.
“I guess this is practice for Tate and Master Kingsley’s wedding.” The boy tugged at his tie as we got into the elevator.
I smiled to myself and adjusted it for him. “You look very handsome, sweetheart.”
He’d thought he could troll me too. He’d put on a nice shirt, a tie, and polished shoes.
And his swim trunks.
I hadn’t said a word.
Two could play this game.
“Do you really think so?” He grinned up at me.
“Flawless.” I dipped down and kissed him.
Flawless wasn’t a lie. Noa was supposed to be the wild brat who did goofy things like this. I never wanted that to change.
Five or so minutes later, we arrived at the upscale Asian fusion place hand in hand, and the hostess did a slight double take at Noa’s outfit. Thankfully, she didn’t make any helpful suggestions, despite the dress code, and she showed us to our table on the upper deck.