Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
After I’d admitted that I loved her that first day in the kitchen, we hadn’t discussed it again. I would never want to make Noel feel uncomfortable, and I knew that she and the girls were still trying to figure out their new normal. That said, I was pretty sure that she felt the same way about me, even if she didn’t realize it yet. I wasn’t going to push it.
She’d started opening the garage before I got home, so I could pull right inside without stopping. The day Otto delivered her car, she’d asked my mom what my favorite food was and I’d come home that night to tater tot casserole for dinner. She’d made a special trip to the grocery store. When I’d had a couple of seriously exhausting days a work because the computers were fucking up and I couldn’t figure out what the issue was, she’d taken the kids out to play after dinner so I could have some quiet. I hadn’t had the heart to tell her that I would’ve rather hung out with them, because I knew she thought she was doing something nice for me. When I was up late one night, she’d brought me a glass of water and a small bag of chips, knocking tentatively on my bedroom door long after the kids had gone to sleep. I still didn’t know how she’d realized I was still awake and working on a side job for a friend of the club.
Her breath caught when I touched her, no matter how innocent or brief it was. Her eyes always found mine when something was funny or one of the girls said something wild. She watched me. A lot. For the most part, I didn’t let her know that I noticed. Sometimes, I’d look up and find her eyes on me and there would be a long tense moment before she looked away again.
It was the most innocent foreplay I’d ever heard of. I was dying.
I took a quick shower and headed back downstairs just as Cian and Bas walked in.
“I thought you weren’t going to be here for dinner,” Noel said happily.
Cian, after losing his shit when he found out Noel was moving in, had completely embraced our new roommates. I had a feeling my little sister had a lot to do with his change of heart. Meeting Noel hadn’t hurt either.
“Sorry, doll,” Cian replied, lifting his hand in greeting to the rest of the girls. “Will there be enough?”
“Of course,” Noel replied. “I was going to put some away for you anyway.”
“You’re too good to me,” he said charmingly.
I tripped him as he strode through the kitchen.
“Play nice,” Lou ordered with a laugh.
Dinner was loud as fuck but surprisingly tame. It had become the new normal for the boys and I to eat with Noel’s little family, but I think it was a bit of a trip for Myla, Frankie, and Lou. They watched the interactions with amused little smiles on their faces and surprisingly Frankie tamped her crazy down long enough not to completely corrupt Ariel and Diana. Not that the little girls didn’t hear enough from us. Thankfully, Diana had stopped saying bullshit, but Ariel’s little finger tapped her cheek at least ten times a night to point out that one of us had cursed in her presence.
Since we had company, Noel let the rest of us clean up for once while she took the girls upstairs to get ready for bed. The moment she was out of the room, all eyes were on me.
“Knock it off,” I muttered, ignoring them as I cleared the table.
“Holy fuck, Titus,” Frankie whisper squealed. “She’s fucking perfect for you.”
“Seriously,” I barked, looking toward the stairs. “Shut the fuck up.”
“You plated her food,” Lou sang, carrying dirty dishes past me.
“That one even surprised me,” Myla added.
“He always does it,” Cian informed them.
“That is so sweet,” Lou sighed.
“She looks at you like you invented the earth,” Frankie said, shaking her head. “Holy crap.”
“She’s always looked at him like that,” Myla said softly, meeting my eyes from across the kitchen.
“It’s not that,” I argued. “She’s figurin’ shit out right now.”
“Think she’s got it figured out already,” Bas said quietly. “Just sayin’.”
“Ariel asked you to get her more juice,” Lou said, grabbing a rag to wipe down the table.
“So?”
“Her mom was sitting right there and she asked you.”
“I always get the drinks.”
“Are you being deliberately blind, or do you really not see it?” Frankie asked bluntly. “Because seriously, everyone else sees it.”
“I’m givin’ her fuckin’ space, alright?” I blurted out. “That okay with you? She’s got nowhere else to go, her husband just died—”
Myla snorted in derision. I ignored it.
“She’s gonna have a baby in a couple months, and she’s got her hands full with makin’ a whole new life for her and the girls,” I continued. “She’s got a lot on her plate. Plus her—” My mouth snapped shut as I realized I hadn’t told her about her father-in-law being in town.