Page 21 of Wild Card

One night we’d been snuggled up watching TV, and Father of the Bride came on. I’d never seen it before, and the movie was adorably sweet. I told Maxim that it would have been nice to have grown up in a home like that. To have a beautiful place filled with family and love.

“I told you when we got married I’d give you everything you ever wanted. I said all I wanted in return was for you to always be my girl.”

“I didn’t think you'd want to settle down.” Maxim unbuckles my seatbelt and easily plucks me from my seat to straddle him.

“I’ve never had a reason to want to settle down somewhere, but this can be our home. We don’t always have to stay here. We can come and go as we please, but this is our home. A baby doesn’t change our love, it only creates room for more.”

I’m so overcome with everything that I can’t respond. All I can do is press my lips against his.

But I made my promise, and I’m sticking to it. I'll always be his girl.

Epilogue

MAXIM

Even longer after that…

When I take out my phone to check on Rue’s location, my brother snorts a laugh. “What?” I ask and raise an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “I just can’t believe you’re still doing that.”

“She likes it.” When I say the words, he’s the one raising his eyebrow now. “Okay, fine, I like it too. Mind your business.”

“If I had to guess, I’d say Kelly took them to the bakery up ahead.”

“Good guess,” I confirm and tuck my phone in my back pocket.

“I can’t believe you two. All these years later and still a little too obsessed.”

“You’re one to talk,” I grumble, and he concedes.

“True. Maybe I should talk to Kelly about a tracking device.”

“It saves time,” I say matter-of-factly. “So you’re good with taking the kids for the night?”

“Yeah, the kids have the whole night planned out. They’re going to watch a movie and then learn the choreography for it so they can perform it for all of us at dinner tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait,” I say and feel a genuine smile tug at the corner of my lips. Our daughters are always keeping us entertained, and when they get together with their cousins, it’s almost too much. Almost.

“Here they are,” Luke says when we walk into the bakery and spot Kelly and Rue at the counter talking to one of the bakers.

The kids come running over, and I talk to my girls for a second before Kelly joins us with a huge box in her hand. Luke takes it from her and then pulls her to his side before kissing her on the top of the head.

“Ready to go?” he asks Kelly, and the kids cheer in agreement.

“I think we better,” she teases. “They already said goodbye to Rue. She’s at the counter asking about one of the cakes but said not to wait on her. I think we better get the kids out of here before they convince us to buy another dozen cookies.” Kelly turns to me, and I finish giving the girls a hug and a kiss goodbye. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“We wouldn’t miss it,” I tell her, and the girls and my little ones squeal with excitement.

Luke and Kelly manage to herd the kids out of the bakery, and I can only shake my head and laugh. They must have had a few cookies already because they clearly had the cousin-sleepover-sugar-rush hitting them.

Once they’re gone, I look at the counter and see Rue is talking to a guy wearing an apron with the bakery name on it. He comes around the glass display case and moves a little too close for my liking. I want to give her time to finish, but then he points at something at the bottom of the case and she has to bend over to see it.

He doesn’t bother to hide the fact that he’s checking out her ass, and I clench my fists. Before I know it, I’m walking up behind Rue and blocking his view. The baker looks surprised that I’m in his way and blinks a few times. Now that I’m this close I can see how young he is. If it was anyone else but my wife, I might understand. But not when it comes to my firecracker.

“The cake you're looking at is taken, son,” I say, and I swear he has to tilt his head all the way back to meet my eyes.

“I wasn’t, I didn’t?—”

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