Kayla’s heart beat with wild joy. She had a moment where she thought she needed to Google colors for baby rooms, but then she’d been looking at Pinterest for months and she knew what she wanted to do. “Would you mind if we chose a cream instead? And then a pale pink for the accent wall?”
“Honey, pick what you want. If you want black paint and green trim, I’ll do it.”
Kayla couldn’t help but giggle. “Ewww, no way.” She slid her hand over to the whites and went through them until she found the shade of cream she liked. Then she went back to the pink chips and found a pink color that was a little darker and more velvety. “These two. With white trim.”
“You up for starting tonight?”
Happiness blossomed inside her like a flower opening for the first time. It was such a small thing in a way, and such a huge thing in all the ways that mattered. Zach wanted to paint Ana’s bedroom and make it perfect for her. And he wanted to start tonight.
Love, fierce and bright and strong, was a living thing in her heart. She loved Ana more than anything else in this world. She loved her sister. And she loved this man. It both terrified her and thrilled her.
“Yes,” she said. “I’d love to start tonight.”
It took about two hours to move the furniture and then tape and paint the first coat on the walls, but when it was done, Kayla beamed. “It’s going to be perfect for a little girl. Just perfect. I can already see it done and decorated in my mind.”
Neo leaned against the door jamb and watched Kayla turn around in the room. She was happy, and that made him happy. She smiled like her heart wasn’t heavy with fear, and he wanted to make her smile like that all the time.
He also wanted to strip off her faded jeans and tank top and lick her all over. His dick thought that sounded like a plan and started to grow in his pants. He cleared his mind of those images and focused on the idea of Ana sleeping in this room every night instead. His body responded by returning to normal.
He knew it wasn’t going to last long with Kayla around. She was sexy as fuck and he wanted her. Badly. But he wasn’t going to push her because she’d probably give in out of gratitude for what they’d done tonight.
He didn’t want her gratitude. He wanted her desire. He’d had it once and he knew it was a beautiful thing to behold. Even if she’d run away the next morning and made him crazy for two whole months wondering what the fuck had gone wrong.
“Shouldn’t take us long to finish painting tomorrow night,” he told her.
“I can’t wait.”
“Baby, tomorrow’s Wednesday. We should have the license. Then we can make the appointment to get married. Everything I’ve read about the wait says it’ll be Friday. When do you plan to tell Bailey we’re getting married?”
She sighed, her expression falling a little. “Friday morning?” She laughed and shook her head. “That won’t work, will it?”
“I don’t think so.”
Kayla’s shoulders slumped. “She’s going to ask what the rush is.”
“Yeah, probably. But you have an answer for that. We’re crazy for each other, we’ve been secretly seeing each other for a while, and we don’t want to wait. That’s the plan we made, right?”
“Yes. It sounded more reasonable a few days ago when I said it.” She laughed and shook her head. “She’s going to be sooo suspicious.”
He could have told her that, but she’d been determined. Now he was, too.
He stalked over to where she stood and put his hands on her slim hips. Pulled her into him and lowered his forehead to hers. “It will work, Kayla. We’re going to make it work. I care about you and Ana. I don’t have to pretend. I can pull off the crazy part.”
She was quiet. Then she raised her lashes, and he was pierced by the look in those pretty eyes. “I can pull it off, too. It’s not going to be difficult. You wanted to give Ana her own sweet little space. I’ll never forget how you made me feel when you took me to the paint aisle.”
He grinned. “Romantic guy, aren’t I?”
“A girl couldn’t ask for more romance than what you gave me tonight, Zach. I can’t tell you how important this was to me.”
“I’m glad you had fun. I did too.”
“I can’t wait to fix it up for her. Ana should have her own room. I always wanted my own room as a little girl, but I never had it.”
He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “Because you shared with Bailey.”
“No,” she said softly. And then she said, “Sometimes. But a lot of the time we didn’t even have a room, Zach. We slept on the couch, each of us at one end, when we were smaller. Then we took turns on the couch and one of us took the floor when we were bigger. Sometimes we huddled together in the closet and slept on the floor if Mama and Daddy were bad off…”
His throat tightened. His parents were self-centered dicks, but that was nothing compared to hers. He’d never had to worry about where his next meal was coming from when he was a kid, or if he had a bed to sleep in. He and Lesley had bedrooms of their own. They had toys.
They didn’t have people who’d put their emotional needs first, but he’d survived. They both had, though it’d been harder for Lesley. He still felt guilty over leaving home to join the military when she was still in high school. But what could he have done to fix their self-absorbed parents and their toxic relationship long enough for Lesley to graduate and escape?
“I’m sorry, beautiful,” he said, his forehead still pressed to
