Page 113 of One More Heartbeat


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I open the top drawer. “I guess all my late nights working on the book finally caught up with me.” I remove a clean pair of jeans from the drawer.

That explains why I fell asleep after my earth-shattering orgasm with Zara. I usually don’t stay at a woman’s house after having sex with her. I leave after an appropriate amount of time.

Kenda had been the exception…until now.

I carry everything to the changing table, sit Peony on it, and hand her the toy maracas. I remove her dirty clothes and proceed to put the ladybug top and jeans on her.

As I dress her, she shakes the maracas and giggles when I pretend to dance to the off-beat rhythm. I don’t care I look like an idiot. Anything to bring a smile to her face.

I toss the dirty clothes into the hamper, grab Peony’s favorite book from the nightstand, and carry her to the living room.

I sit on the couch, with her on my lap, and read her the story. This, of course, takes longer than it should. Peony likes to discuss—in her toddler language—the different pictures. And I’m not rushing her just so I can get out of here. My top priority is to make sure she feels seen and loved.

“I need to have a quick shower,” I tell her after it seems like she has finished discussing the story with me. “Then I’m heading out to meet your uncles and the men we’re taking camping and canoeing.” I kiss Peony’s head, between the two little buns perched on either side of it. “But I’ll be home tomorrow night. Be good for Athena.”

Peony wiggles off my lap, apparently finished with our conversation.

I help her onto the floor. “Granny will be coming over later to play with you and take you to the playground,” I add as she toddles to her toy box.

After a quick shower and equally quick breakfast, I head out. My brothers have finished loading the supply van by the time I arrive at the main cabin on the Wilderness Warriors property.

“It’s about time you showed up,” Kellan grumbles. “Your excuse had better be good.”

“Peony was upset. So I stayed to help defuse the situation.” That’s close enough to the truth. Hell if I’m telling him the rest of it.

41

GARRETT

The campfire cracklesand pops in front of us as we devour the tasty dinner Troy and Lucas prepared after a day of canoeing and hiking.

Now, the group of fourteen men—including my brothers and myself—are relaxing at the secluded campsite and enjoying the camaraderie that comes with these trips.

“Do any of you have kids?” Jake asks my brothers and me, after the rest of the group has shown off photos of their children.

“My wife and I are fostering two young girls,” Lucas tells the other men, a wistful smile on his face. He misses Kylie and Zoe. I can tell.

I feel the same way about Peony. It’s the strong tugging in my heart, the empty void twisting in my chest. A jigsaw puzzle missing an important piece.

I honestly don’t know how Dad so easily walked away every time he was deployed for months at a time—leaving behind his wife and three young boys. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe that’s the reason he retired from the Marines earlier than he had planned—it hadn’t been easy for him either.

Two days. That’s all I’ll be gone for. Surely I can handle that.

Lucas taps on his phone and passes it to Jake.

“Cute kids.” The phone is passed around the circle and eventually stops at me. The two girls and Simone are grinning at the camera. Jasper is sitting with them, a grin also on his face.

I pass the phone to Kellan, who’s sitting next to me on the downed tree trunk. He glances at it, and one of his rare smiles crosses his face. A smile usually reserved for kids who mean a lot to him—like the kids on the hockey team he coaches.

“What ’bout you three?” Jake’s gaze shifts from Troy, to me, and then Kellan.

“Happily single and kid free,” Kellan replies, his mouth not bothering with a smile this time.

“I’m happily taken but no kids. Yet.” Troy doesn’t show the group a photo of Jess. After what she went through last year, when the media tracked her down, he’s even more protective of his girlfriend’s privacy than he would have been with anyone else’s.

The men’s attention moves to me.

“I have a daughter.” I figure it’s safe enough to tell them that. It’s not something I can keep quiet for much longer. So far, not many people have seen us together. But that will change once I’ve sent the book to my editor. Then I’ll be able to spend a lot more time with Peony, which means people will see us together as we frequently venture out in public.