Page 63 of For Your Consideration

“I’m having the paperwork sent over. The office is running fine.”

Knight grunted in reply. He and I were both fluent in grunts.

I’d taken over a bigger portion of traveling for business when he started getting serious with Quinn, but operations were running well in London and honestly the travel was wearing on me. I could go if there was a major issue but there were few of those that we couldn’t handle remotely.

Before I could tell him I wanted to reduce the amount of time I spent traveling, I heard the doorbell ring.

We both looked at each other with raised eyebrows and went inside to check it out. Noah wouldn’t ring the bell and everyone else we hung out with was here.

Thor was barking until he got a stern look from Quinn that had him quieting down. The expensive training the dog had been put through worked sometimes.

“Here, let me grab her for you,” I heard Quinn say. I frowned as the front door came into view. Oli, Will, and Jaxson were already at the door, Knight pulling up behind me.

“Thanks.”

I knew that voice. I’d been dreaming of it all week.

“Sutton,” I muttered as Jaxson made room in the entryway for me.

She was standing there in a pair of loose jeans and a white tank top with a pink cardigan over her shoulders, her hair down and wavy. She seemed to be wearing no makeup except for some mascara since her freckles were on full display.

She was fucking stunning.

Friends thought that, right? I mean I didn’t say it out loud so it was fine.

Her eyes widened a little and there was a flush on her cheeks when she noticed me. “I’m not crashing, I swear!”

I rolled my eyes at her worry and moved to take the baby carrier from Quinn’s hand. “Hi, sunshine.” Sophie cooed as I spoke to her.

Moving into the living room, I placed the carrier down and started unbuckling her from her seat as she screeched in excitement. She was in overalls and a white T-shirt. Her little chubby cheeks were pink and she had some drool on her face. I stood up, Sophie on my hip as the rest came in and joined us.

“Good to see you, Sutton.” The guys all took turns giving her hugs to welcome her and I was thankful Noah wasn’t here. He would have done something to piss me off, like kiss her cheek or something. Sophie reached out and started petting my scruff. I hardly even noticed when she did it now.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Sutton said to Quinn, looking a little overwhelmed at the group. I moved across the room to her.

I realized I had greeted Sophie before even really talking to Sutton. I was just thrilled they were both here and I figured if I had the baby, she couldn’t run away.

“Didn’t tell me you were coming, sweetheart.” I kept my voice low.

She shrugged her shoulders and gave me a little smile. “Quinn actually invited me for a meal with her and Knight. She didn’t tell me that everyone would be here. Is it okay—”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Sutton. Glad you’re here.”

Her smile brightened and then I looked over to Quinn. She was still looking shifty, so this wasn’t all that she was hiding.

“I’m back!” Noah called out. When he came into the room with nothing in his hands, my eyes narrowed. “Sutton!” He came over and wrapped her in a hug, and like I expected, he held her a little too long and kissed her cheek. He said something in her ear that made her laugh, then let her go and threw a wink in my direction. “Sophie.” He held out his hands but my girl didn’t move, her hand still on my face. She just looked at Noah before burying her face in my shoulder.

“Sorry, she can be—”

“She likes me best,” I said, puffing out my chest, cutting off Sutton’s apology. There was no need for it; her daughter got to pick who she would go to and when.

Noah smiled slyly at me. “I have a feeling you’ll have to give her up anyway.”

“What—”

“Noah, I think waiting outside was a little unnecessary. We didn’t even discuss a cue word.”

We all turned to the couple who had just entered the room without any of us noticing.