“Come eat,” Rush announced. He motioned with his little hand for me to follow him before he turned and padded off back down the hallway.
I followed him, walking down a path I hadn’t taken yet. But he seemed to know where he was going. How often did he visit? Dean was a good dad. That much was obvious. This kid loved his dad. I wanted that for Kiro, too.
“Rush, where did you run off to?” an older lady called out, and Rush giggled and slid across the floor on his socks through the double doors.
“Gettin’ Emmy,” he replied, pointing at me.
A short, round lady with a warm smile walked to the door and put her hands on her hips as she studied me. “I see you found another early bird. Well, come on in, then. I’ve made Rush his favorite chocolate chip waffles. I expect you’re hungry after the day you had yesterday. And I’m Margarette Fuller, but just call me Margie like the rest of them,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes, as she shuffled back to the stove. “Rush likes to wake up with the sun, but his daddy don’t like it much. He tends to sleep right through Rush’s escapades in the mornings. When he’s here, I keep my ear out for the sound of little feet so I can catch him before he gets into mischief.” She stopped and glanced back at me. “He’s been talking about you. He’s taken a liking to you, I guess. Dean says you faced off with his momma and won. Good for you.”
I might have missed an entire day in Kiro’s room, but apparently, the rest of the house knew all about my short time here already.
“Sit,” Rush demanded, patting the stool beside him at the bar.
I walked over and did as I was told, trying not to laugh at his very bossy manner.
“You’re good with him. He don’t take to people real easily. But he likes you. Makes me think maybe you might be just what our Kiro needs. There’s another little boy I’d like to see running these halls and eating my waffles.” She closed her mouth and turned away quickly, as if she’d said something she shouldn’t have.
“I know he has a son,” I assured her. I didn’t want her to worry that she’d told me too much.
She turned back to me, her eyes round with surprise. “He told you?”
No. But I wished he had. “Georgianna said something about it.”
Margie just sighed and shook her head. “That woman,” she mumbled to herself.
I wondered what Kiro’s son’s mother was like. Was she beautiful? Was she like Georgianna? There was so much I wanted to know about Kiro.
Kiro
I found out this morning I fucking hated waking up without Emily in my arms. Fucking. Hated. It.
I didn’t bother with a shirt, just jerked on a pair of jeans and headed out to find her. Then I was dragging her back to my bed. I wasn’t ready to share her with the world yet. I just wanted us to live in my room. Alone. Forever.
God, I was losing my shit.
The sound of her musical laughter drifted toward me as I hit the bottom of the stairs. Frowning, I realized it was coming from Dean’s side of the house. His ass better not be making Emily laugh. Those laughs were mine, dammit. He needed to go get his own woman.
“You got it on my nose, you silly goose,” Emily squealed. She was enjoying herself. Who the fuck was she talking to?
Her voice was coming from the kitchen. I stalked toward the sound and slammed into the kitchen, ready to beat the shit out of whoever was making her giggle. I was the only one who was supposed to do that shit. She was mine.
However, what I saw stopped me in my tracks. Emily was standing at the sink, and beside her was Rush, who was standing on a chair. They were both covered in soap bubbles up to their elbows and laughing.
When she turned her eyes to me, they lit up, and the smile on her face grew. Like I was the one thing in the world that she wanted to see. She made me feel like a fucking king.
“Good morning,” she said brightly. “Rush and I decided to help Margie wash up the mess we made with our syrup accident, and, well, it appears we’re having a little too much fun.”
“Bubbles,” Rush chimed in, holding up his hands, then slinging bubbles at Emily, who laughed at his antics.
“I like her. Don’t mess this up,” Margie said, as she walked over to me and patted me on the arm. “You hungry?”
Yeah, I was hungry. I was hungry for something Margie couldn’t give me.
“Eat something,” Emily said, still laughing and playing with Rush. “I’m going to have to go clean up myself after this, and then I need some instruction with the house.”
Instruction with the house? If she was cleaning up, I was going with her.
“I’m not hungry. I’ll just go with you to clean up,” I said, walking over to her.