Page 67 of Beautiful Thing

Archer exhales deeply, setting his big, bronzed hand on top of mine with a light squeeze. “I’d love for Sky to use it, Layla,” he rumbles earnestly and I feel like I might just melt.

But I don’t. I lower my voice. “Sky and I will be leaving your house soon, Archer. And then what?”

Archer frowns at me. I can tell he doesn’t enjoy the reminder that my son and I only have sixty-ish days to live in his home.

Nolan gives his brother and me another strange look before he steps in. “How about you just take it for now? You guys can fight over who gets to keep it later.” His stomach grumbles. “Right now, let’s get this mess dealt with so I can eat.”

“Fine,” Archer mutters.

“Thank you, guys.” My eyes bounce between the brothers. “I really appreciate all this.”

Archer comes closer, gently touching the small of my back. I feel my ovaries dance. “It’s nothing, Belle,” he says, tenderness in his voice. “I just want you and Sky to be comfortable.”

My cheeks heat up when he calls me his pet name in front of his brother. But then I remind myself that we’re supposed to be affectionate around his family. That’s the whole reason we’re pretend-dating after all.

Nolan smirks. “Yeah. It’s nothing,Belle,” he teases, making his big brother cringe.

Archer punches Nolan in the arm. “Shut it, asshole.” Then his eyes turn to me. “Ignore him.”

“I plan on it.” Remembering that Archer and I are supposed to be a couple, I decide to play up our faux-affection, too. I slip an arm around his waist and rise onto my tiptoes to kiss his bearded cheek.

He instantly starts blushing. I see it in the way his ears turn pink. But instead of shying away, he only pulls me closer. Holding eye contact, he slides his massive palm along the curve of my ass and tucks his fingers into the back pocket of my jeans.

My shock is so electric that I nearly die right there on the spot. Smirking at my flustered reaction, he pulls my wishlist out of my back pocket and unfolds the sheet of paper with a flick of his wrist.

“Okay—rocking chair, dresser, small cubby, crib.” He nonchalantly reads off the list. Like he didn’t just squeeze my ass and ruin my panties. “Anything else we should be looking for?”

I clench my thighs together and silently beg my nipples to stop tingling. “That’s it.” I clear my throat. “We’re good to go.”

“Good.” He pats my behind with finality before popping a kiss against my cheek. Then he tugs his padded moving gloves onto his hands and turns his eyes to Nolan. “Let’s get this all loaded up in my truck, shall we?”

Nolan’s grinning wider than Garfield the Cat as he pulls on his own gloves and lifts one corner of the crib. “We shall, big brother.”

Archer grunts a laugh, grabbing the other corner and the two of them carry the piece of furniture out the front door.

My head is still spiraling from the whole interaction when I stumble into the kitchen on my spaghetti noodle legs. I find Inez making dinner while Stella entertains Sky at the table. The two of them are drawing together. Well, Stella’s the one drawing. Sky is mostly banging the crayons against the table and making a racket.

“Are you guys having fun?” I ask the kids, peeking at their art projects.

Stella grins up at me. “So much fun!” Then her face goes solemn. “Aunt Layla, now that Uncle Archer is your boyfriend, does that mean that Sky can be my cousin for real?”

My chest squeezes at the question. “I’d say that Sky was always your cousin, honey.” Karli and I are like sisters, and by extension, I came to consider Stella to be my niece a long, long time ago. My so-called relationship with Archer doesn’t define that.

Her smile is bright again. “Good. I always wanted a cousin. I’ll be a good cousin, you know?”

I reflect her smile, smoothing a hand over her messy pigtails. “You’re already an amazing cousin, Stel.”

The little girl throws her arms around my waist from where she’s sitting. “I’m glad Uncle Archer has a girlfriend now. And I’m so glad it’s you.”

I lean over and kiss the top of her head.

Man—I really love the Brighton family. They’re all incredible. From the youngest all the way to the oldest. They all brim with love and compassion. Anyone would be lucky to be included in this family.

Inez glimpses over at me as I wash my hands and step up beside her at the counter. “Did you find anything you want to take?” she asks me.

“The crib is an awesome find,” I tell her as I take over slicing up the cucumbers while she assembles some sloppy Joe sandwiches.

“It’s a great crib, isn’t it?” She smiles at me.

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