Because this is what it’s all about.
This is what I’ve been missing.
Remiand I are a little late getting over to Darling Farms, specifically because I’d dressed her in an adorable outfit and she’d promptly spit up all over it as soon as I had her buckled in her car seat. The girl had no shortage of cute clothes, putting my own closet to shame, and after wrestling her into a new dress and soaking the soiled one in the sink, half an hour had passed.
Luckily, I’ve been getting grass stains out of uniforms for a long time, including those couple of years in high school when they’d insisted on white shorts and I’d had to power wash them in the driveway.
Good times.
Loading Remi back into the car, I maneuver us down the driveway and onto the road. Tennessee has never felt like Christmas, probably because I spent so many years in Maine, shoveling snow anywhere between Halloween and Easter.
I also hadn’t really made the effort.
But Remi was changing that.
At least for now.
Following the winding country roads, I turn off the main road and slow down as the pavement turns to dirt, gasping as the orchard opens up in front of me. It’s twilight but the trees are hung with beautiful white lights, and even though there’s no chance of a single snowflake, itfeelslike home.
Like how it’s supposed to be.
Putting the car in park, I climb out and grab the baby wrap. I’d debated the stroller but didn’t want to fight the thing over the uneven ground.
“Evenin’, Miss Hart.” Jensen’s husky drawl has my heart lodging in my throat as I whip around to face him. His smile says heknowshe scared the hell out of me, and is that…adimple?
“Sheriff Kade,” I purr, taking a step forward and brushing my thumb against the indent in his cheek, “dimples are sexy.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a whole lot of trouble?” His blue eyes are lit with a simmering desire I’d love to get lost in, and myGod,the uniform is working for him.
“More than once if you can believe it.”
He chuckles as he opens Remi’s door and unbuckles her from her seat. “I believe it.”
Her little hands find his face, and her smile is huge when he plants a bunch of kisses on her cheeks. I’ve seen him do it before—the man isn’t afraid to show his daughter affection—but something about this moment feels special.
And whether it’s the uniform, the baby, or the holiday spirit, I let myself lean into it—because Remi deserves it, and so do I. As carefully as I can, I sneak a picture of the two of them, all happy smiles and hearts.
It’s perfect.
“I was thinking about looking for stockings tonight; the article in the paper said there might be vendors here,” I say as Jensen helps tuck Remi into the carrier, his fingers brushing against the top of my breasts as he does it.
It might have been an accident, but the simmering lust in his gaze is now an all-out inferno as he stares at me. A shot of pleasure races through me, settling between my legs and forcing me to squeeze my thighs together.
His eyes rake over me, his perusal bold and confident and nothing like the tentative dance we’d done in the kitchen a couple of days ago.
I like it.
And what’s worse is I think I want it.
Wanthim.
Maybe giving in wouldn’t be so bad…
27
JENSEN
Nessa needed to stop looking at me with those fuck-me eyes when all I’ve wanted to do since she moved into my house has been to strip her down and explore every inch of her.
