Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
Christian took advantage of that to kiss her passionately before lifting her into his arms. “Is that okay with you?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s more than okay.”
Chapter 5
A knock on the door had Everly and Bam both jumping to their feet to answer it.
“I got it, relax,” Bam said, gesturing toward the place on the sofa she’d been sitting.
“No, I got it, you relax,” Everly said, clenching and unclenching her fists.
Bam watched her fists for a few seconds — a sure tell that she was on edge and in protective mode. “Anything wrong, Ever?” he asked.
“Nope. Not a thing. Just trying to answer the door.”
The knock sounded again.
“Is somebody gonna get that?” Emmalyn called out as she headed to the door from her bedroom.
“No!” they both shouted, “we got it.”
Emmalyn jumped in surprise at both of her parents shouting at her at the same time. “Alright, then. Don’t you think you should answer it, then?”
“I’m getting it,” Bam said, first to Everly, then to Emmalyn as he walked past her. He looked out of the peephole, saw that it was Barron, and visibly relaxed as he unlocked the door and opened it.
“Hey, Uncle Bam. Could I talk to Emmalyn, please?”
Bam nodded and stepped back so Barron could enter. The moment Barron was inside, Bam stuck his head out of the door and looked both left and right before closing it and locking it again. When he turned to Barron again, he was standing there watching him. “You good?” Bam asked.
“Yes, sir. You good?”
“Very good.”
“Good to hear.”
“She’s in here. Come on in,” Bam said, leading the way back into the living room.
Emmalyn glanced over when her father came back into the room followed by Barron. “Oh. It’s you. I’ll be going back to my room now.”
“No, you won’t. He’s here to see you and asked all respectful. You’ll talk to him,” Bam said.
“I don’t have anything to say.”
“Then you’ll listen,” Barron snapped.
Bam turned and looked at Barron with a smirk. Then he looked over at Everly. “She’s going to listen,” he said, stifling a laugh. “We’ll go in our room so you can talk in private. More or less,” Bam said, shooting a warning glance at Barron.
“Thank you, sir.”
Bam nodded, then reached out for Everly, who placed her hand in his and together they retreated to their bedroom.
Emmalyn stood in the middle of the living room, her arms crossed over her chest, one leg cocked sideways, her foot tapping impatiently on the carpet as she waited for Barron to say whatever it was he had to say.
“It’s time to stop playing games, Emmalyn.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, feigning a deep interest in the nails of one hand, as she refused to even look at him.
