Page 18 of I Saw Mommy Kissing Biker Claus

We’d been hiking for about an hour and everything I’ve seen is just gorgeous. We’ve even seen a few wild animals. Valentino says they generally don’t bother anyone. I figure he’s a big guy, he can take care of us.

“I know the perfect place we can stop and have our lunch,” Valentino says.

I smile as I take his hand, his speech back at the house has me thinking. Do I believe in soulmates and love at first sight? That there truly is one person that was made just for you? Maybe. Okay, fine. I feel it, I want to be with him and I can’t explain why. I had a dream last night about Kayla. She was telling me that I need to open up and take more chances. That Valentino is my person, that person we always talked about finding. I begged her not to leave—I needed her, Davis needed her. When I woke up, my pillow was wet from my tears. I miss her so damn much.

“Are you okay?” Valentino’s voice breaks through my daydream.

“I’m okay. I’m sorry, all this beauty around us makes me miss Kayla so much. She should be here with Davis. Not me.”

Valentino stops and turns to me.

“I know you miss her, but you’re supposed to be here. With me and with Davis. Growing up I always wondered about my parents. Why they gave me up, or if they even had a choice. But so far? I’ve gotten nothing, I’ve even had Sebastiano Mancini and Francesco help me. They’re the best at finding information. I told myself that as hard as it is, I need to get past it and live my life. If I keep dwelling on the past, I’ll never be okay.”

Who knew Valentino was so deep? When you look at him, you’d never think these things would come out of his mouth. He’s six foot three and covered in tattoos. He looks like a badass and yet he says these things that just melt my heart.

We get to a place near another pond and he stops. The pond has a tiny waterfall and the spray is misting, creating a rainbow. I love it. I pull out the blanket and cushioning pad we brought to sit on. Then help him get the backpack off. Davis has fallen asleep so I lay him down. Valentino helps me get the food and drinks out, he gives me little kisses as we move around.

I’ve had boyfriends, but never someone who gave me attention like he does. It’s really nice, but it’s not something I’m used to. Growing up, I remember getting hugs when we were little. But after a while, instead of hugs, our father started to hit us. So as much as I love hugs…well…I’m just not used to them.

“This spot is beautiful, I can’t wait for Davis to wake up so we can get some pictures.”

“This is where I’ve been coming since I was a teenager. I found it one day and I noticed no one was around. There’s so many ponds here that most times you can find one that’s hardly used.”

“Thank you for today. I really appreciate all that you’re doing for us.”

“Baby, you should know by now that I’ll do anything for you and Davis. Anything.”

I lean forward and kiss him. Valentino is turning out to be the one I never knew I needed. Davis giggles beside us.

“Looks like someone is up.” Valentino smiles as he picks Davis up. “And he needs a change.”

I laugh and grab a diaper and wipes. I start to take Davis from him.

“I can change him,” he says as he sticks his tongue out.

He keeps doing more and more to make me fall for him. When he’s done, Davis is pointing at the picnic and then to his mouth. It’s amazing how much he does now to communicate. I can’t wait to see what his first words are. I hand him a strawberry and watch him grin as he uses what I call his bunny teeth to gnaw at it. He looks at the both of us and smiles, his mouth looks like he’s wearing strawberry lipstick.

“Looks like the strawberry lost.” Valentino laughs as he hands Davis another strawberry.

Valentino feeds me a piece of an apple, my tongue grazes his thumb and I watch his pupils dilate. He grabs a peach and bites into it. Holy fuck that’s hot…biting into a peach should not be that hot. He smiles as he watches my reaction.

Davis giggles and reaches for a banana. I take it to peel it for him and he feeds me some before smooshing it, then eating it. Thank god he shared with me first. I love him but I don’t know about eating his smooshed banana.

We spend another hour there, talking and enjoying each other. We even dip our feet in the cold pond.

“I bet it’s a lot of fun here in the summer. I can’t wait to come back and swim in the ponds. I saw a few with bigger waterfalls. By then Davis will be older too. Maybe we can take one of the four-wheelers out.”

“Definitely. We’ll have a lot of fun when summer comes,” Valentino says as he kisses me.

“You spoil me and you need to stop.” I chuckle.

“I’ll never stop spoiling you.”

I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but I’m starting to understand this feeling he was talking about. This pull I feel to him is crazy. I want to be near him, touching him, at all times.

“We should head home,” I say softly.

Valentino looks up at the sky. “It does look like it might rain.”

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