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“Sounds good. I’ll have EHM get in touch as soon as we have a tour lined up.”
“Wonderful.”
We said our goodbyes and left his office.
That was easier than I thought it would be, but I also knew the hard part still waited ahead of us.
CHAPTER 21
COLE
“How many people are we talking?” My mother was brimming with excitement over the phone.
“Probably about fifty.”
After a stressful beginning of the week, we’d been invited to a cookout at Marcus and Aidan’s house for the following afternoon. EHM was throwing a party to celebrate the success of the first leg of the tour. They had invited family and friends, and since my parents were still in town, it was a great opportunity for them to celebrate with us. Without them, Adam and I wouldn’t be where we are today,
My Mom couldn’t show up anywhere empty-handed. So she was eager to get back in the kitchen with a purpose. I’d made sure to set her up here with all her favorite cookware and baking supplies. It made all of us happy.
There was no mistaking the glee in her tone, so I flipped it to speakerphone so Patrick could hear her.
“Okay, then I need to get started. So, let’s see. My sweet Patrick loves my German Chocolate pie, so that’s a definite. You love pecan pie, so that’s two.”
I watched Patrick as he beamed under her praise. We stared at each other as she went on and on until she’d concocted a list of pies and cobblers and, of course, some brown butter chocolate chip cookies for the kids. She was so excited to have something to do that I just let her go with it. There was no stopping her when she set out on a ‘mission of love’, as she called it.
“Mom, that’s an awful lot of pie.”
She hummed. “Hmm. Maybe you’re right. I better make a cake, too. And get some ice cream. You can’t have peach cobbler without ice cream, and that’s one of Michael’s favorites.”
I burst out laughing at her take on that and just gave up. “What about your sweet Adam? What are you making for him?”
“Pecan pie, just like you. So I better make two. If there are leftovers, everyone can take something home with them. I’ll get some of those takeout things, or better yet, I’ll order them from Amazon. I bet I can get them today if I order quickly enough. Delivery to your house, right?”
I looked at Patrick. For some reason, this made me so fucking happy to hear her doing all this. It had been such a terrible year, and it felt like we might finally be turning things around.
“Yes, have them delivered here. I’m surprised you haven’t figured out a way to make a pie with Spicy Doritos.”
She laughed. “Oh, sweetheart. There’s always a way! Give Patrick a kiss for me. Dad and I will be over in about two hours. Is that okay?”
I fixed my gaze on my sexy man. “Yep, that’s good. We’ll order in some dinner. Whatever you and Dad want.”
“Oh, okay. See you then!”
She hung up in her glee to make a list and plan a shopping spree at Safeway. My Mom lived for things like this, and it made me so happy she was enjoying life.
“She’s really excited, huh?”
I chuckled and made my way to where he was stretched out across the sofa. “It’s like her mid-year Thanksgiving warm-up. I swear she would cook for the entire team if you asked her to. And she’d love it.”
I climbed on the sofa and carefully positioned myself to straddle his hips. Leaning down, I kissed the love of my life with all the happiness and contentment I was feeling at the moment.
When I pulled back to look into his eyes, Patrick slowly blinked up at me as if I might disappear if he closed them too many times. His warm hand found its way to my hip, then under the hem of my t-shirt. I leaned down on my elbows, very thankful we’d bought the biggest sofa the company had.
My lips found his again as he snaked his hand to my back and down under the elastic of my track pants. He squeezed my ass cheek as I swirled my tongue around his.
Our slow make-out session on the sofa had me hard and aching, but in no hurry to end it anytime soon. Patrick kissed down my jaw and neck, and I was overcome with love.
“I need you so much.”
