Page 56 of The Secret

I hung up and turned back to the guys.

“What’s Thursday?”

“We’re going out of town for Easter. Jamie, Alex, and the kids will be over too. They’re flying in tomorrow.”

Seeing as eighty percent of my immediate family was over on the east coast right now, along with two new babies and one on the way, it had been decided that we would spend the long Easter weekend in the Hamptons instead of back in England.

“Fuck, is it Easter this weekend? Shit, I thought it was next weekend.” Penn’s eyes filled with the kind of annoyance that meant he’d double booked seeing his latest conquest and forgotten he needed to spend a weekend with his family.

“Is Kit going with you?” Rafe ignored Penn’s huffing as he got out his phone.

I nodded. “Yep, we’re all going.”

He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and rocked on his heels. “Good luck with that then.”

“Yeah.” I scratched through my beard, wondering how I was going to navigate two nosy sisters, one equally nosy sister-in-law, and the nosiest mother, all of whom would be in my business, and worse, in Kit’s.

Penn put his phone away, turning to us. “Right, now can we go and play?”

“Yeah, come on.” I picked up my jacket and keys from my desk, resigning myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to do any more work today. Not that I’d done any at all.

Tomorrow would be more productive.

I hoped.

10

Murray

Iclosed the front door behind me, walked through to my study and dumped my bag, then took the groceries into the kitchen. I’d left the boys playing pool at a local bar we frequented and walked home via Citarella to pick up ingredients for making dinner. Or more accurately, I’d picked up dinner to put in the oven, already ensuring all the preparation had been done.

Selecting a bottle of wine from the cellar off the pantry, I opened it to breathe and set it down on the counter, and went to find what I was looking for.

WhoI was looking for.

I could hear them as I padded softly up the stairs, Bell gurgling as Kit talked. Chucking my jacket on my bed, I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt and loosened the top buttons as I followed the noise.

Bell was lying naked on her play mat, cooing up at the fuzzy felt birds flying around on the mobile above her. Barclay’s tail started wagging from his bed and he graciously came over to give me a lick. Since Bell had arrived, he’d been staying here during the days instead of coming to the office with me. I’d like to say it was my choice to leave him, but I honestly wasn’t sure, seeing as he went to find the baby or Kit every time I looked like I might be heading out.

“Hey, Barc,” I stroked his soft fur, “how’re you doing? Had a good day with the girls? Protected them from all the baddies?”

“I gotta say, as guard dogs go, he’s pretty useless.” Kit walked out of Bell’s closet and bent down to stroke him. “Aren’t you? You’re just a big softie.”

I tried not to stare at her as she kissed his head, tried not to glimpse the incredible cleavage I wanted to bury my face in, or inhale the fresh and clean sunshine scent that always wafted through the air around her. I hadn’t yet figured out how she managed to get through the day without smelling like stale baby formula and vomit like I did, but every day so far she’d managed it, and I was quickly becoming addicted.

“He’s very deceptive. Don’t let him fool you.”

She laughed, clearly not believing me, but I knew better. Her lashes fluttered and my heart gave a heavy thump as she held my gaze. It had only been nine hours since I left, but it was almost like she gave it a fresh surge of energy whenever she was close by. Fuck’s sake, I sounded like I was describing the latest Apple tech, but either way, when she was around, my heart definitely beat faster.

I knelt down over Bell, moving the mobile out of the way, watching her face brighten with excitement at seeing me. If I thought Kit had recharging capabilities, it was nothing on Bell’s smile. I almost couldn’t imagine what life had been like before she’d arrived.

What did I used to come home to?

How did I function without seeing this smile?

Between the two of them, I was rapidly morphing into an entirely new and improved version of myself. Murray 2.0.

“Well, hello there, little one. Have you had a good day with Kit and Barclay?” I kissed her cheek, making her giggle again. “Why are you all naked?”

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