Page 125 of The Only Goal

His gaze softens even more as he drinks me in and rasps, “I was coming to find you.”

“What?”

“I was coming to get you.” He pulls in a breath, trying to lean away from Kai, who is refusing to let him go. He quietly laughs and rubs my son’s back before looking at me again. “I’ve let you walk out of my life so many times already. And I know you’re married.” He winces. “And maybe I shouldn’t be saying this, but Tammy… if this marriage is hurting you, you need to leave him.” He blows out a breath, his gaze taking on a sharp clarity as his voice rises with confidence. “You need to leave him… and you need to be with me.”

My lips part, and for some reason, my voice has stopped working.

Maybe it’s because my heart is lodged in my throat right now.

“I know I can’t offer you vast amounts of wealth. I can’t buy you a nice car or a big house. But I can love you. And I can protect you, and make you laugh… and play games with you.” He winks, his smile a mixture of sexy and adorable before his expression turns to one of pure sincerity. “I’ll listen to whatever you want to tell me, and I’ll hear you.” His eyes start to glisten. “I’ll see you, Tammy. Every day, I’ll see you and appreciate you.”

It’s impossible to fight my tears as his words soak into me. Like rain on parched soil, I can feel them filling me up from the inside.

“Please, choose me. I’ll be the best partner and stepfather I can. I’ll look after you guys. And I’ll love you with everything I’ve got.”

Covering my mouth, I try to hold back the sob that’s rattling my insides. My stomach is jerking, and I’m still fighting for air.

Baxter moves around the car, his large arm enveloping me as he kisses the top of my head.

“It’s okay,” he whispers when Kai starts to cry too.

I sniff, pulling myself together and rubbing Kai’s back. He turns his head, resting it against Baxter’s shoulders and looking at me with his worried, tear-filled eyes.

“Mommy’s okay, Kai. These are happy tears. Promise.”

He swallows, his little lips quivering as he sits back and stares down at me.

I swipe the tears off my cheeks, my smile growing as I let out a shaky breath. Wrapping my arm around Baxter’s waist, I nestle against him, then pull Kai toward me for a group hug. His little arm squeezes my neck tight, and I start to laugh as my face gets squished between my boy and a wall of muscle.

“Okay, okay.” I pull back, keeping my hand on Kai’s arm as I look up at Baxter. “You’re not going to push me away when things get hard, are you?”

“Never,” he whispers, pain flittering over his expression. “I will never do that to you again.”

“Good.” I sniff and nod. “Because I love you.”

The words are so simple, yet so true.

And the look on Baxter’s face is one I want to remember for the rest of my life. His lips part, this awestruck surprise taking over his expression.

“I love you,” I say again, laughing as I rise on my tiptoes and kiss his perfect lips.

It takes him a second to respond, and then he’s all in, gripping the back of my head and holding me against him, prolonging our kiss until Kai quietly asks, “Are you guys nearly done?”

The question makes me laugh into Baxter’s mouth. He joins me, and then Kai starts to giggle, though he probably doesn’t know why.

A horn beeps behind us and I flinch, whipping around to notice a car has just pulled into the lot.

“Sorry!” I raise my hand in apology and quickly get behind the wheel, pulling into the closest parking space.

Baxter is still carrying Kai and walks around to open the door for me.

I climb out, rubbing my forehead and glancing over my shoulder at the reception sign. “Have you checked out already?”

When Baxter doesn’t respond, I turn to glance at him, and he shakes his head. “I was about to.” His eyebrows dip. “I was going to drive to Chesterfield and…” He shakes his head. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been up all night, and I really need some sleep.”

“No.” He cups my face with a gentle grin. “I mean, why aren’t you… home?”

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