Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

Britt

I'm at the grocery store. Karli is with Deanna after school and I'm getting the stuff we need so I can make homemade lasagna for Silas. He confessed to me that it's his favorite. It just so happens to be my specialty.

I round the aisle and stop dead in my tracks. Dakota is there with his girlfriend and their baby. They're loading diapers and children's Tylenol into the cart. "She's too little. You can't give her that until she's at least three or four months old, and even then, only if the doctor tells you to."

It was a mistake to open my mouth. I know that. But that's a baby and no matter how much I detest her parents, she doesn't deserve to suffer from their ineptitude.

Dakota sneers at me. "You get that from your new boyfriend? He's a mouthy shit, that's for sure."

How the hell does he know about Silas? "No. I got that from reading the instructions on the box and from taking care of your other daughter... the one you disowned because you're a selfish fuck. But if you want to potentially harm your baby by giving her things she's not supposed to have, then that's on you."

Tara just sneers at me. She doesn't speak. In fact, she's never spoken the few times I've been in her presence. That's when it all clears up for me. The part of it that never quite set right with me suddenly clicks into place. "She didn't ask you to keep Karli away, did she? That was all you, wasn't it, Dakota? You decided you had too many responsibilities, and you cut Karli out of your life because she was the least convenient of your children."

Now, I have Tara's attention. "What?" she demands, clutching her baby to her chest and staring at Dakota as if she's never seen him before.

"Yeah," I say, enjoying more than a little that I'm fucking up his world with nothing more than telling the truth. "He promised Karli he would come pick her up and introduce her to her new sister. She waited for an entire week and he never showed. When I asked him about it, he threw you under the bus... said you didn't think it was appropriate to have his ‘other children' around your daughter... And, Tara, I'm not even going to include him in this conversation because he's never actually taken care of a baby in his life. Do not give that to your baby. Is her fever over one hundred?"

"No. It's been hovering right at that, but it hasn't gone over," she says.

"As long as it doesn't get higher and doesn't last for more than two days, she's probably fine."

"Shut your mouth, Britt. I've had enough of you and your boyfriend bossing me around. I know what's good for my daughter!"

"Shut up, Dakota." That single statement from Tara has him closing his mouth and just glowering at me.

"She's a beautiful baby, Tara. Congratulations. And I'm sorry for all the terrible things I thought about you when Dakota lied to cover his own ass. I hope that by the time your baby is old enough to understand what a father is supposed to be, that he's got his shit together enough to be one for her."

I walk away, leaving both of them gaping at me, and finish my shopping. Apparently, Silas and I are going to have a lot to talk about over dinner.

It's after seven when Silas gets to the house. His shift ended at six, but doctors and nurses never leave on time. He looks tired, but he also looks happy.

"Good day at work?" I ask.

"No one died. So, yes, actually," he says with a laugh.

I nod as I put a salad on the table. "And Dakota... was your conversation with him part of what made it a good day?"

Silas freezes. Like literally freezes on the spot. "How did you know about that?"

"I bumped into him and Tara at the store. Had to explain to them why it wasn't a good idea to give their two-month-old Tylenol."

"I told him not to give her Tylenol!" he snaps. "Is he stupid?"

"Yes. Yes, he is," I answer. "Luckily, I don't think Tara is, so maybe the kid has a shot."

Silas just shakes his head. "I can't tell you about the baby's condition... but the conversation I had with Dakota wasn't part of her treatment, so I'll share. I told him he needed to reserve the same energy for Karli as he did for the new baby."

The last part came sheepish, like he's almost embarrassed. But he shouldn't be. It's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. I've been blessed to know two wonderful men in my lifetime, and Silas Blake is one of them. "Thank you for fighting for us, but you don't have to."

"I want to," he insisted. "I want to make sure that you and Karli have everything you need."

"We do, Silas. We've got you... It's a hell of a way to say something like this, but it feels like the time is right." I pause, take a deep breath, and then, with all my courage, say something to him that I've only ever said to one other man in my life. But this time I get to say it to someone who deserves it. "I love you. I love you and I'm so grateful that you are in my life."

He's quiet. So quiet that I start to wonder whether or not I made a mistake, rushed it and fucked it all to hell.

Then he takes two steps toward me, grabs me up into his arms and holds me like he's never going to let me go. "I thought I'd have to wait a long time to hear that from you."

"I like to be unpredictable," I say with a laugh.

"I love you, Britt. I love you and I love Karli. I want us all to have a life together."

I wrap myself around him. Arms, legs, everything. And I just hold onto him as he pushes me back up against the wall. "The lasagna is in the oven, but we've got about twenty minutes until it's done. And we've got about two hours before the movie is over and Ava brings Karli home."

"You think twenty minutes is enough?"

I laugh. "For most men, probably not. But you have an extensive knowledge of female anatomy, and unlike most, you know exactly what you're looking for... So, yeah. Twenty minutes."

I expected him to take me upstairs. But he doesn't. Instead, he just lifts up my skirt and places his hand between my thighs. Slow, gentle strokes to start, not directly on that sensitive little nub, but around it, beside it, circling closer to it with each pass. Then it changes. His mouth is on my neck, hot and hungry, his touch is harder, more insistent. He slides two fingers deep inside me while his thumb brushes rhythmically over my clit. And in record time, I'm coming, my body quivering with the force of it even as I reach for the fly of his jeans. The rasp of the zipper is so loud in that quiet room. He drives into me, one hard thrust that makes me see stars. And then there's no more thought. All I can do is hold on for the ride.

Twenty-five minutes later, we're flushed, mostly dressed and trying not to look guilty as Ava brings Karli inside. Ava takes one look at us, laughs. "Maybe I should have picked a longer movie."

"It's fine," I tell her. "Really. Did you have fun, Karli?"

"It was awesome! There was a dragon and a quest and a beautiful princess!"

"Well, she can't be prettier than you," Silas insists. "That's not possible."

Yeah, he's a keeper. And I'm going to move heaven and earth to make sure I'm the one who gets to keep him.

Ava gives me a not-so-subtle thumbs up as she walks out the door.