Page 156 of Contentious

“Will you promise me that if you ever start to feel yourself stumble on that front, you’ll talk to me about it?”

“I can’t conceive of any scenario that would put me back there.”

“Which is very comforting, but I still want you to promise me.”

He didn’t believe in making promises when it came to his recovery, but for her—and only her—he’d make an exception. “I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“So what now?” Carson asked.

“Now we rest and recover and figure out what’s next.”

“Are we doing that together or separately?” Carson asked tentatively. “And either answer is fine. I want you to be honest.”

“Do you know what I thought about the whole time we were in the car with Marlon?”

“What’s that?”

“How all I wanted was to come home with you and Ty, just us three, hanging out, cooking dinner, watching movies, snuggling in and being together. I could’ve wished for anything in those long hours, but that’s what I kept coming back to. You, me and Ty.”

“That sounds perfect to me.”

“Then let’s do that and worry about the rest when the time comes, okay?”

He was beyond relieved to know there’d be more with her and Ty, because that was all he wanted, too. “Okay.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

After the tense hours of waiting for news about Carson, Cresley and Ty, Griffin should’ve headed home to get some sleep before work tomorrow, but he couldn’t seem to tear himself away from the tiny bundle in his arms. His daughter. His little girl. Hadley Jane. He hadn’t known about her until after she arrived, and now he couldn’t imagine life without her.

If you’d asked him before if he wanted kids, he would’ve said fuck no, he did not want kids or any other responsibilities that would get in the way of the rest of his life. If he wasn’t working, he was surfing or hanging out with his friends or playing golf and living the good life, the kind that came with no obligations to anyone but himself and his clients.

That lifestyle had worked for a long time.

But now… he found himself leaving the office every night—on time—and heading directly to Santa Monica to see his daughter, annoyed by the traffic that stood between them on the way.

Hadley Jane had quickly become the center of his universe.

McKenna was probably sick of him showing up every night to hold her for as long as he possibly could before he had to part with her for another twenty-four unbearable hours.

“Thank you for all the support today while we waited to hear about Carson,” he said to McKenna when she sat next to him on the sofa.

“I’m so, so glad they’re all safe. What a terrifying situation. How’s our girl doing?”

“She’s perfect, and I’m officially obsessed,” Griffin confessed.

MK’s curly light blond hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she wore a T-shirt over yoga pants. He’d always thought she was beautiful, but since she’d given birth, there was an added aura of power surrounding her that he found enormously sexy.

Not that he was lusting after his baby’s mother or anything like that… He was merely noticing that she was even sexier than she’d been before, which was saying something.

“I love that you’re obsessed,” MK said with a smile. “My arms appreciate the break when you get here.”

“I hope I’m not wearing out my welcome.” After the gutless way he’d ended their relationship, he wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d let him see the baby once and then told him to get lost.

“You’re fine. We enjoy the company, don’t we, Hadley?”

“She says she loves when Daddy comes to visit.” He was surprised by a pang of yearning. He’d so rarely yearned for anything that the feeling was all new to him. “I wish…”