Page 33 of Accidental Vegas Vows

“That’s because you’re old,” I grinned.

“No, it’s because my parents were overly convinced that every part of their house needed to fit their design,” he griped, rolling his eyes.

“Whatever you say, Grandpa.”

“Oh my God, Liv, I’m forty-five,” he laughed. “I just became a dad. Please don’t make me think about grandkids yet.”

I shot him a grin and he returned it, the wrinkle above his brows beginning to smooth. “Okay, okay, sorry. Just a middle-aged dad.”

“How dare you call me middle-aged. I’m not even fifty yet.”

I chuckled and shrugged. “If we’re going off of male life expectancy…”

He scoffed playfully as he focused in on the laptop again, adding the bed frame and mattress to his cart. I didn’t want to look at the price of it, and from where I stood, it seemed like he didn’t even bother to check. He added two sets of sheets, and at my suggestion, added a third and a fourth. Just in case.

We picked out some basic toys. We picked out some wallpaper with glow-in-the-dark planets on them. We picked out one of the newest game consoles, boxes upon boxes of Legos, clothes in varying sizes, and a bundle of books.

He checked out on every website with me standing beside him, his credit card face up on the desk where I could easily see it. I wasn’t sure if it was a sign of trust in me that I wouldn’t steal his details or just the flippant nature of being that wealthy that it wouldn’t matter — but either way, it was oddly… comforting.

Even if I shouldn’t have stayed to help him with it.

“Thank you,” he said, closing the laptop in front of him. I shifted, allowing him space to stand, and when he didn’t bother to back up an inch from my personal space, I did it for him. “Genuinely. I wouldn’t have thought of all of that on my own.”

I shook my head. “You would have figured it out eventually.”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. For all I know, I could have ended up empty-handed until he arrived, then frantically asked a five-year-old what he needed as if he could reliably tell me.”

I studied him for a moment, the way he kept his gaze from me, the way his fingers tapped against the solid frame of his desk. The way his chest rose and fell. The way the crease above his brow deepened again. “Are you prepared?” I asked, the words coming out a little weaker than I wanted. “For everything to change, I mean.”

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nostrils. The steady stream of air wafted the scent of his cologne all over me, and I couldn’t help but remember how it invaded me when I’d had my head in the crook of his neck. “If I’m honest, will you think less of me?”

I shook my head.

“No. I’m not prepared. Not by a long shot, Liv. But I have to be, and I’ll find a way to be.”

He tugged the sleeve of his coat back, checking the leather and silver antique watch on his wrist. I wasn’t sure whether it was the way he’d said that as if he was defeated in a war he hadn’t even waged yet, or if it was just the leftover emotions I’d somehow let blossom for him — but I found myself moving closer to him, slipping between him and his desk, his cologne painting the inside of my nostrils.

I found my arms wrapping around his neck.

I found my head against his shoulder.

Just… a hug. Easy, normal, with only the wildest temptation to lift my lips to his instead of just the simple embrace. But he wrapped a single arm around my waist, holding me there, chest to rigid chest.

“Thank you,” he said again.

But he shouldn’t have thanked me. Every second the embrace continued, I realized more and more that this wasn’t selfless. It was an act that let me be close to him, however he would allow it now that he’d placed up boundaries.

I held him for myself.

Chapter 12

Damien

The buzzing of my phone roused me from sleep. Constant, over and over, buzz, buzz, buzz. Buzz, buzz, buzz.

The sun had only barely begun to rear its head, painting the sky in light blues and pinks and brightening my bedroom just enough that I could find my phone face down in the low light. I grabbed for it.

Buzzer pressed on west gate.

---