Page 471 of Hell Hath No Fury
“Baby, if you keep sayin’ you’re old, we’re gonna have our first fight.”
“Well, it’strue.”
“How about this,” he said, giving me a squeeze. “We start slow. Get to know each other and see where things go. If you’re ‘too old’ to have kids, then we got nothin’ to worry about, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“If this doesn’t work out, I can always spread my manyonaise on someone else’s buns well into my eighties if I want kids.”
“That’s not how that works, Harm.”
He shrugged. “Inject my love custard into someone else’s donut?”
“Oh my god, stop.” I burst out laughing. “Now I want a Bavarian cream chocolate donut.”
“That’s pretty specific,” he said.
“It’s my favorite.”
“I can get a recruit to run to the store.”
“You have that kind of power?”
“Yeah.”
I considered this for a few seconds before shaking my head. “I better not. Briggs’s going to be home soon, and I really need to get an early night. I have that twelve-hour shift tomorrow.”
“Give me your phone,” he said, and I dug it out of my purse and handed it to him. “I’m gonna put my contact information inthere. If you run into any issues with the douche canoe, you text me.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said.
“Oh, I know it will.” He handed my phone back. “I’m leaving a couple guys outside to watch your place in case he comes back.”
I gasped. “What? You don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I’m doin’ it anyway.”
“How does Cheese feel about that?”
“It’s not Cheese,” he said. “It’s a couple of recruits. Had Razor call them when we got here.”
Warm fuzzies settled low in my belly. “Okay, it’s not the wine.”
He grinned. “I know.”
I read his name on my phone. “Harmon Rivera. That’s such a good name.”
“Stepdad was Puerto Rican. Adopted me.”
I drew my eyebrows together in question. “I’m sorry?”
“Oh, I was just waitin’ for the inevitable, ‘You’re white, why’s your last name Rivera?’ question that everyone always asks.”
“First of all, it honestly didn’t even enter my mind to ask. Maybe because I’ve worked in a lot of hospitals and names really don’t mean anything when it comes to the color of someone’s skin. Or it could be that I believe the world’s a rainbow and that’s what makes it beautiful.”
“Fuck,” he breathed out. “I’m gonna kiss you now. If you don’t want me to do that, you need to say so.”
I didn’t really have a chance to object, not that I would have, as his hands came to my neck, and he stroked my pulse as his lips covered mine.
