Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 102185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
As if she could be more beautiful, her eyes are as captivating as she is. I lean down and kiss her on the cheek. “I have to tell you something, Griffin.”
Those simple words shouldn’t cause my heart to stop like they did, but they do. Her lashes are wet from crying, her lips licked as she stares up at me. She slowly pushes up and angles to fully face me, making me think I need to brace for bad news.
“I didn’t,” she says, her voice low as she looks nervously at me. “I didn’t teach him baseball.”
“What?”
“He inherited his interest in it.” She steals a kiss, then leans back again with the sweetest smile on her face. God, it’s good to see. “And he’s oddly good for a three-year-old whose mom never played the sport a day in her life.”
She didn’t have to say anything to make me feel better about the downsides of this situation. And sure, him showing a natural inclination toward baseball doesn’t make up for me missing his birth. But it sure as fuck gets close.
I burst into a chuckle that feels a lot like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. “That’s okay,” I say, running my hand over her shoulder and higher to her neck just to settle on the delicate curve of it. “He’s got his mom’s vocal range. Did you hear how loud he was when she was carrying him away?”
She whacks my arm, but it’s all in good fun. “You’re the worst, you know that, Greene?” Greene. Hearing her call me that through feist and fun has me realizing we’re getting back on track the way we should be. It was a quick detour on a bumpy side road, but we’re going to make it through this together.
Cricket tries to get up, but I hold her right where she is. “Come on, Little Chirp, don’t be mad. I’m just playing.” I lean in to kiss her just below the ear, but then whisper, “Kind of.” She punches my arm harder this time, still holding back like she could actually hurt me. I bring her back onto my chest until she’s fully trapped in my arms. She wriggles but gives up the fight a little too easily. I think she likes where she’s at. I sure do. “He also has your fight. And that’s something you should be proud of.”
Her smile gives her away. “Those Greene genes are mighty strong, though.” Leaning down to kiss me, she brushes her lips against mine, and says, “What a lucky kid.” Our lips press together as if waiting even a second longer was too hard to bear. It was for me. This time when she sits up on my lap, she runs the tips of her fingers along my temple, then lower over my cheek. “Do you want to go to the park to meet him?”
I answer straight from the heart. “Yes.”
CHAPTER 24
Griffin
Cricket shifts her BMW into Park and looks over at me. “Are you ready?”
She felt it would be less of a production if Jacob saw her vehicle with the “naked man” in it, versus her arriving in my truck. Too much new all at once. Watching her maneuver through this situation has left me in awe of how her mind works. She covers all the bases with him at the forefront of her motives, selflessly putting herself at the back of the list of priorities. Everything said back at the house was with the best for him in mind.
I imagine it’s a way of keeping all the balls in the air that she’s been juggling while making sure he’s taken care of. But what goes up must come down, and I’m thinking that her family won’t be the ones to help pick up the pieces once they fall. At least not judging by how they were the other day when I met them.
Maybe that’s something I can help with. Those are the things needing to be worked out. I’m not opposed to being the one there to catch them when they fall. She deserves a partner after all she’s had to do on her own. Can I be that man for her? I should slow down. A lot is hitting hard and fast with curveballs thrown in. I can’t just rush first base. Though I could steal it.
I lean forward in the leather seat to get a better look at Jacob, my son, from this distance while we’re parked. I narrow my eyes because my damn vision has changed since I last had it checked. Whenever that was.
“Do you mind if I take a second?”
Reaching over, she rubs my arm. “Of course not.”
He’s little. Maybe big for his age. I have no clue about these things. What I can see is that the cowboy hat he was wearing earlier is bouncing on his head as he cuts through the field toward the playscape. I lower my head because a layer of crap has gotten in my eyes, causing my vision to blur. Rubbing the inside corners of my eyes, I try to clear the water forming there. No idea where that came from . . .