Page 69 of Tiny's Law

“Tiny?” Kourtney’s small voice eventually pulls me from my daze.

“Yeah, honey?”

Turning in my arms, she balls her legs up to her chest, her knees breaching the surface of the water. “Is your family going to hate me?”

Her small voice pulls at my chest, and I pull her farther into me instinctively. “No. We’ll tell them the truth, and it’ll work out.”

“I don’t want your mom to hate me. I know how much she means to you.”

“You did nothing to earn hate from them, babe. If anything, you can hate Evie for the way she spoke to you. But when we tell them the truth, things will be fine.”

Crossing her arms, she rests them on her knees and then drops her chin to her arms. Running my fingers along her hairline, I push a piece of hair behind her ear as she stares off into the water.

“What is it?”

She shakes her head, then rolls it towards me so she can look into my eyes. “It’s just crazy to think about how what I thought was the worst thing that could ever happen to me turned into being one of the best.”

I eye her curiously.

“I thought quitting the firm was going to ruin my life. I thought I’d have to leave the field and, hell, even possibly move in with my parents. I never thought quitting there would lead me here, to this town, to my new job practicing law the way I always wanted to, and to a group of new friends.” Her eyes flutter closed, and she smiles softly before her eyes blink back open and soften on mine. “To you.”

A smile pulls at my lips, and I guide her closer and press a kiss to her lips. Before long, our kiss deepens. I’m not too sure which one of us is the culprit, but we don’t stop for some time. It’s a sweet kiss where we communicate to each other how we are both feeling in this exact moment. We’re both in this. Feelings are involved on both ends, and there's not much either of us can do to stop it. At least, that’s what it is to me.

By the time she pulls her lips from mine, the water has gotten cold. I almost chuckle at the idea of us acting like two teenagers, making out in a movie theater for the entire film.

Lifting her out of the bath, I locate two big-ass fluffy towels and thoroughly dry both of us off before carrying her back to the bed. Slipping her under the covers, I cross the room to shut the light out before joining her.

She rolls over to face me, placing a gentle hand against my chest, and I smile at her while brushing her hair behind her shoulder. A small blush meets her cheeks, and I instantly love the fact that I can still make her blush so much. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“For what?”

“You calm my brain down. It’s like whenever I’m in your arms, all the noise just stops. Thank you.”

I swallow against the lump that forms there and smile down at her before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You’re not going to believe this, and I’m sure you’ll just think I’m saying it because you did, but baby, you do the same thing to me.”

Looking up at me through her lashes, the breathtaking smile that breaks through her lips calms the rampant beating of my heart. I pull her into my chest and chuckle lightly at the fact that, once again, she calms the racing thoughts, and I’m able to drift right off to sleep.

Chapter 20

Kourtney

“Emma, can you find me the number for this guy, please? The one I found is a bust.” I put the document on her new desk in the office attached to my own and smile at her bubbly demeanor as she straightens her knickknacks on the shelf behind the desk.

She smiles wide in greeting and spins on her heel to look the papers over. “I’ll get right on it.”

I drop into the armchair she brought from her old desk and watch as she types away on her computer. “Have I said how happy I am that you’re finally here?”

She giggles, rolling her eyes. “Only multiple times every day since I’ve gotten here. But that’s okay, because have I told you how happy I am to finally be here?”

I laugh, looking around the space. In just a week, she’s turned this office from a blank white room with four walls and a plain glass door into a calming yet modern office. The photo she has hung on the wall of her and her father makes me smile before I head back to my own office.

Nerves bubble up in my stomach as it gets later in the day.

Since our night in my tub, Tiny has asked me to come back to his house for a few days now. I've found random excuses about needing to work late the last two evenings, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer today.

I gave in, talking myself into just getting it over with. My job is to speak to people and convince them to think the way that I want them to, so you’d think I wouldn’t be afraid of Tiny’s mom and aunt.

But the truth is, I’m absolutely terrified.

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