Page 67 of Needing You

“Ha-ha. But seriously, they look like there’s a spilled canister of lighter fluid, and someone’s about to walk by and light a match.” That was the only way to describe it. They very clearly disagreed about whatever they were talking about, but they also had this crazy, pulsing energy around them.

Or maybe that was just April’s boundless determination and Eric’s incredible stubbornness clashing in a perfect storm. As we watched, April said something with a smile pasted on her face, then waved her hand like she’d dismissed him before making a beeline for the bar. Eric watched her go, jaw, shoulders, and expression tight.

Shit.Good luck to them and whatever they had to work on. Maybe I could step in and play go-between now that the kitchen was running smoothly. We’d update the seasonal menu items soon, and I’d chatted with Jake about doing some beer-tasting events around the holidays, but overall, things were smooth sailing.

“Poor April,” I said, knowing she’d likely need a good stiff drink after that encounter.

Kate chuckled. “Poor April? I say poor Eric. You don’t know April very well, but trust me, she can hold her own against Eric if anyone can.”

“Ican hold my ownwith him.”

She grinned. “Yes, you can. But you’re also his twin. Anyone who shared a uterus with him doesn’t count.”

I made a face. “Unnecessary roughness, fifteen-yard penalty.”

She laughed, her whole face lighting up. My heart fucking glowed, and I cupped her face in my hands. “I love you so much it’s stupid.”

Her smile didn’t falter. “Well, that works out. I like ’em kinda dumb.”

I laughed and kissed her with a little more passion and, I’ll be honest, a bit of tongue. Not normally my public heat level, but I figured people would give us a pass since it was our engagement party.

Unfortunately, Kate had always had a stronger sense of propriety than me, so she pushed me away after a few seconds when my hand started inching down toward her perfect ass.

“Hey now, we’re in public,” she said, eyes shining with amusement and a little lust.

I leaned in, shooting her my most smoldering look before I spoke low, my lips just barely grazing her ear. “Oh, don’t I know it. I’m living on the high of the evening and enjoying the fact that I get to take you home and see what plans you have for me when it’s all over.”

Her hand squeezed in mine. “Well you keep enjoying that because I’m certainly looking forward to— Wait, what?”

I blinked, coming out of the fog of imagining what she had in mind. I followed her gaze and…little motherfucker.“Is that Sammy?”

Kate nodded, watching as Rachel disappeared up the stairs at the far end of the bar. Those stairs went one place—Sammy’s above-bar apartment. The lazy fuck had never found it necessary to move out, and apparently, that was where he slept with everyone on the waitstaff. Or hot tourists. And many locals who never seemed to mind that he was a one-and-done kind of guy—thank god. Eric would skin him alive if his whoring around was bad for business, but Sammy was too damn likable for that. The little shit.

“I can’t believe it. She very specifically said she’dneversleep with Sammy.” Kate’s eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open as though in genuine shock.

“You talked to her about him?”

“Yeah, when the girls and I came in for lunch one day. He was being allSammywith her, and she wasn’t having it.”

I made a vaguely impressed sound. “Interesting. Guess she was playing hard to get, which is probably a new one for Sammy. Bet it only made him want her more.”

“Yeah, well, I thought she’d hold out longer thanthis. Like, we were teasing her about it, and she flat out said it was a hard no.”

“Well, looks like she’s about to get a hard yes.”

She glanced at me, mildly horrified, and then swatted my arm. “Oh my god, you are a child. Am I marrying the teenage version of you or the adult version?”

I just grinned back. “Well, that kid was fucking ravenous for you, baby, and this man is too.”

Heat sparked in her eyes, and she pressed herself close. “I know the feeling.”

Every part of me wanted to duck out and see if we could make something happen in a darkened corner somewhere. Or wait, my office. Anything to have my mouth and hands on her. But there was another layer here now—one that reminded me we had time for all that.Allof it. And tonight was about more than the two of us. It was about the people who’d supported Kate and Jackson in this town for years. It was about us coming back together and forming an unbreakable, unbeatable team.

So I pulled her close, my hands on the curve of her lower back, but instead of licking her neck or saying something dirty in her ear, I smiled at her. My heart was in my throat out of nowhere, and I spoke from it.

“God, I love you, Kate. I never imagined finding you again, being with you, having a family with you.”

She tucked her lips in, emotion hitting her eyes in an instant. “I imagined it, but I never thought it could be this good.”

We kissed tenderly this time, all love and healing after so much distance and loss and pain. And then, because I was still me, I whispered, “Well, I know for a factsomethings are even better than you imagined.”

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