"But she hasn't said anything to us."
"Exactly! Which makes me think she's not even focusing on us anymore and has already moved on to my younger brothers."
"I'm not even sure how to react to that."
"Neither am I. I’ll keep them in the dark for now. Maybe my hunch isn't correct."
"But you think it is."
He leaned forward, kissing the column of my neck. "My hunches almost always turn out to be correct."
"Ah, there's some of that cockiness rearing its head again."
"You know it, babe."
I leaned in, kissing the right side of his neck and then the left one.
He straightened up and asked, "What time does your dad go to sleep?"
I looked at the clock. "It's only eight, so he'll be awake a while longer. Why?"
"Think he'd want us to go over the contract together?"
"I can do that with him tomorrow. I don't think he plans to look at it before the lawyer does, but he'd really enjoy seeing that plan."
"I can walk him through it. And assure him that I'm taking care of his daughter."
Something was shifting between us right now, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The way he'd phrased that made me sigh. "You're sure you want to confront Dad tonight?"
"How bad can it be?" he asked.
"Not sure. I'm not actually sure he's met anyone I've been dating since..." I thought back. "Yeah, since junior college."
Maddox blinked at that. "Are you serious?"
"I didn't feel the need for him to meet any of my dates, and he's never been interested in it. I guess he figured that if someone was important enough, I'd introduce him." I mean, he had met Maddox already, but that was in a different capacity. We were dating now, and that had seemed to bother Dad.
Maddox's eyes flashed as he cupped my face, touching my jawline tenderly. "Am I important enough, Cami?"
"Yes," I said in a breathy voice. "Yes, you are. You know that."
His nostrils flaring, he lowered his hand to my neck. "This is happening fast."
I nodded. "I was just thinking that."
"But it feels right. Even if it weren't about the contract, I'd still want to talk to him."
"I didn’t peg you for the kind of guy who likes to befriend the father."
"I wouldn't say I am, because this would be the first time I did it."
A shiver went down my spine. For some reason, I hadn't realized that when he said he didn't do relationships, he truly meant it.
“But I can put myself in his shoes," he continued. "I know how important it is to my family to meet everyone's significant others. I don't want him to worry about anything.”
I grinned, moving my hips a bit, pressing myself against him. "You're definitely getting some extra you-know-what once we're back. You totally deserve it."
"I like where this is going. But now, let’s get dressed."