“Your turn,” he said, his gut all tense. “No PDA, no cute, no making out.”
“I could get caught standing with my hand over my belly,” Kit said with a gleeful laugh. “That would be so much fun, except people might take me seriously and there goes Redemption.”
Noah didn’t laugh. “You want kids?”
“Yes.” A pause. “I know you don’t, but I really do.”
“Before, what I said, I was just thinking of some poor kid stuck with me for a dad.” He’d have screwed that up royally. “With you, it’d be different.” He already knew Kit would rock the motherhood thing, and when he was with her, he was a better man. If they ever got to the point where they could do the kid thing, she’d teach him how to be a good father, and he’d listen—he never wanted his kid to hate him like he hated Robert St. John.
“Yes, well, we can talk about all that later.” Kit’s voice was odd, but then she snapped her fingers. “I have it. Let’s go to Disneyland. You don’t have to be cute—the location is cute all by itself.”
“Rock stars don’t do Disneyland—gotta think of the brand, Katie.” He took her light punch on the arm with a grin. “We go to Six Flags and ride the fucking roller coasters.”
“Only lunatics ride things that make them scream in terror.”
He got her on a roller coaster. She screamed like a banshee and threatened to murder him when he laughed. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders once they got off, he pressed a kiss to her temple and bought her cotton candy. “That should sweeten you up.”
“My hair must be a mess.”
It looked like she’d just tumbled out of bed. Not liking the idea of anyone else thinking that, he took off his cap and snugged it on her head before stealing some of the sticky sweet stuff she was picking off in little tufts.
“This is evil,” she said, eating another tuft. “Macho Steve will kill me tomorrow.”
“We could just go for an extra run,” he said at the name of her personal trainer. “Or another roller coaster ride.”
Elbowing him, she pointed at a ride to their left. “Who would be insane enough to go on that? Listen to the screams.”
He looked at her, smiled. Narrowing her eyes, she tried to back away. He held her in a pretend stranglehold as he led her to the line. Later, after they’d survived the ride, he bought her a small blue teddy bear with a missing ear, as if it had been torn off in a scuffle. It was sitting forlornly at the back of a shelf like someone had shoved it back there until they had time to clear him away.
Noah knew he should buy Kit an undamaged, pristine bear, but he bought the bear with the missing ear. “I couldn’t leave the little guy.”
Kit’s face threatened to crumple. “Noah.”
Wrapping her in his arms to hide her from the world, he couldn’t stop his stupid grin. “Shit, did I just do cute?”
A jerky nod. “He’s adorable. I love him.” Then, to his surprise, she hid the bear back in the gift bag rather than holding it so the photographers would see it as they walked out.
It meant too much, he realized in staggered shock. Meant enough to protect. A bear with a missing ear and slightly dirty fur, imperfect and ragged… just like the man who’d bought him.
Kit got the phone call as they were driving home from the theme park. Redemption was hers. “Harper’s negotiating the final deal, but she says the terms look okay at first glance,” she said after hanging up, still not sure she hadn’t hallucinated the entire conversation. “I’m going to be one of the leads in an Esra Dali movie.”
“The role was always yours.”
She just wanted to kiss him. He was always so firmly on her side.
Trying to think of a way to distract herself, she said, “Did you get those mugs for the guys?” He’d laughed and said he was buying glittery pink princess mugs for Fox, Abe, and David as gifts. Kit had gone gift hunting herself, buying things for Becca, Molly, and Thea, as well as her cousin’s young children. She’d also added something happy and sweet for Sarah, figuring the other woman needed a smile.
“Yeah,” he said, then groaned. “Shit, I forgot to grab a gift for Emily. The little brat will pout for days if she finds out I got the mugs for the guys and didn’t get her anything.”
Aware he loved the “little brat,” Kit smiled. “I have you covered. I got her a teacup for her collection.”
“You really like her, huh?”
“Of course I do. She’s a sweetheart.” Kit petted the adorable bear sitting in her lap. Trust Noah to get her something so perfect, something he’d chosen specifically for her. “I got you something too.”