Page 79 of Off Limits (Alpha Billionaire)

I reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks with my thumb. I leaned in and kissed her. My throat felt as if it were closing, and there was a burning sensation behind my eyes. Max had a biological mother who had given him away, abandoned him as if he had been nothing more than an inconvenience. My son had given my life so much meaning. I would never understand how his own birth mother had been able to do what she had, but now he had a mother who wanted him. Jessica loved him, and I had no doubt that when we had kids together, she would treat Max no differently.

I blinked a few times, trying to clear my suddenly blurred vision.

Jessica reached her hand out, and then she was wiping tears from my eyes. I captured her hand and kissed her palm.

“We’re a family now,” she said.

We had been a family ever since the day she came to work for me, only now, everyone knew it. “We are,” I agreed. “We should get going. There is a party waiting for us.”

“With cake?” Max asked.

“Yes, with cake,” Jessica said.

A limo was waiting for us outside the church, ready to whisk us off to the reception. Max thought riding in the back was more fun than he had ever had. He didn’t even complain when we insisted that he had to stop running back and forth along the long seat and get buckled into his booster. The entire idea of being able to stand up inside a car was exciting for him.

Jessica leaned against me, giggling at his antics. “You might have to get me a minivan. He’ll never want to ride in a regular car again.”

“He’s going to be so disappointed when he gets taller and can’t stand up inside a car,” I said.

“He’s going to be tall, like you. Do you regret not being able to stand up inside a car?”

I laughed. “I can’t say that standing inside a car has ever been something I concerned myself with.”

When we arrived, Jessica had to remind Max that the cake was for later, and he had to leave it alone so it was pretty for everyone to enjoy looking at. He ran in ahead of us, insisting that he must see this cake and make sure it was still okay.

As Jessica and I walked in, it sounded like everyone began tapping on the side of their glass with the edge of a spoon or a knife, making a clicking-ringing sound like they were calling everyone’s attention. But too many people were doing it.

Jessica elbowed me in the ribs lightly. “That means you’re supposed to kiss me,” she whispered.

“Are you serious?”

She just looked up at me and puckered her lips. I didn’t need to be told twice. A cheer went up as I kissed her.

We skipped the speeches since my best man was barely five years old. Jessica’s cousin was relieved because she claimed to suffer from secondhand embarrassment just thinking about all the times she and Jessica got into trouble together.

We cut the cake early since Max was insistent. He was pleased to discover that Jessica had arranged for him to have his very own adoption cake. She insisted that Max have his own little cake cutting ritual the way the two of us had one. Only for Max’s cake, the three of us wrapped our hands around the knife for the first cut. And there was absolutely no feeding cake to each other.

“Can you imagine how badly that’s gonna go?” Were Jessica’s exact words when I asked how she planned on letting Max smash cake into her face.

And every time the glasses started ringing, I happily kissed Jessica. I kissed her even when no one was clinking a knife against a glass.

While everyone was enjoying the cake, the DJ announced our first dance. Jessica and I floated across the dance floor, waltzing to a song that she picked, an orchestrated rendition of her favorite pop song. When our dance ended, it was time for the father-daughter dance. As Jessica took to the floor with her father, I walked over to see if Mother was interested in joining me for a small dance. I didn’t think she would be up for morethan a little bit, if that much, but I would never forgive myself if I didn’t ask.

“Mother.” I stepped in next to her chair. “While Jessica dances with her father, do you think you’d be up for dancing with me?”

She leaned her cane against the table and held her hand out to me. “I haven’t danced in ages. I can’t promise I won’t step on your toes, but I would be delighted.”

I helped her to her feet, and Mother hooked her arm around my elbow. I shot a glance at Clara, expecting her to arrive at my side and protest, but she was distracted by a conversation with Jessica’s cousins. Pleasantly surprised that I wasn’t going to have to defend myself, I slowly led Mother to the floor and began dancing.

I took a step forward and frowned. Mother’s eyes went wide in a moment of panic. I stopped, and she relaxed.

“I don’t think a waltz is the best choice for me,” she said. “I’m not good with those backward steps.”

Since the waltz was the only proper dance I actually knew, I reverted to a simple side to side sway. Mother was able to move along with me without any problems after that.

“Are you holding up okay?” I asked her a few moments later.

“I’m fine, Dylan. You worry too much,” she scolded.

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