AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Meeting Meredith’s gaze, I say, “I wonder where they are. Maybe in his bedr
oom?”
She bounces on my hip, nodding. “Cay!”
“Okay, let’s go find him!” I inject as much enthusiasm as I can into my voice in an effort to keep her attention on anything but her parents. Meredith can be clingy with them sometimes, especially with Mum. The last thing any of us needs tonight is a clingy Meredith.
We find Cade and Fury in Cade’s bedroom. They don’t hear us come in because I managed to persuade Meredith into complete silence as we walked down the hallway. I don’t want to disturb Mum.
Their backs are to us as they play together on the floor with Cade’s toy cars. My lips slide into a smile. Of course he convinced Fury to play with his cars.
Fury is stretched out on his side as he tells Cade about a car he used to own that’s exactly like one of the toy cars. My eyes are drawn to his ass and then his back. The man is made of muscle. It’s distracting as hell. Especially when his clothes fit so damn well. And when he wears that black T-shirt he’s wearing today. I’ve seen him in it a few times, and I don’t know what it is about black tees, but I’m all about them. If he were my boyfriend, I’d tell him to wear nothing but a black T-shirt. In particular, that one. Or at least one that’s as tight as that one.
Shit.
Enough.
He’s not your damn boyfriend and never will be.
You don’t like him. Remember?
“Zawa!” Cade catches sight of me and hops up, running my way.
Fury turns his head and our eyes meet. Gone is that irritated expression he wears as well as he wears that black tee. In its place is a softer expression. One I’ve never seen on him. I like it.
Cade slams into my legs, his little arms going tightly around them. Meredith wiggles in my hold, excited to see her brother. They’re both so strong for such little humans.
“Okay, guys, let’s calm down,” I suggest, but neither listens. Cade tries to climb up my body while Meredith tries to wiggle out of my hold. I fail in my attempt to subdue both of them.
Fury moves quickly, his legs pulling in as he pushes himself up off the ground. Coming my way, he reaches out and takes Meredith from me. I expect her to resist, but she doesn’t. She goes to him more easily than I’ve ever seen her go to someone she doesn’t know. She then lifts an arm and pulls his hair, bubbling with happy Meredith-talk. Fury smiles at her and then at me, and good God, his smile is everything. It completely changes his face and body, and the way he fills the room. Because that’s what Fury does: he fills any room he’s in. Usually it’s in a forceful, dominant way, kinda like King does but on a smaller scale. When he smiles, it relaxes the whole feel. I’m drawn to him when he’s like this. The space between us feels intimate now.
“Thank you.” My words are soft, a little tentative. I feel all kinds of uncertain with him now. We only know each other in terms of irritation and frustration. Neither of those is here and I’m unsure of him like this.
His smile eases but it never leaves his eyes. “What time does she go down?”
He talks like he knows kids. Maybe he does; I know nothing about him and his life. “Usually around now, but she’s wide awake. It might take a while for her to fall asleep.”
“You wanna try or do you want me to?”
“Umm, do you know much about getting kids to sleep?”
Amusement fills his features. “You’ve really got me pigeonholed, haven’t you, princess? Yeah, I know about kids. I helped get my niece through her first two years.”
If it weren’t for Cade distracting me with his insistent need for attention, I’d put more thought into that answer. Fury helped raise a baby? I kinda do have him pigeonholed. “I’ll do it if you can occupy Cade again.”
Holding Meredith out to me, he says, “You got it.”
I leave him and my brother to play with toy cars again while I take Meredith to her room. After I’ve changed her nappy, I put her in her cot and dim the lights. I then read a book to her like Mum does. By the time I’m finished, she has the drowsy look in her eyes that means she should fall asleep soon. But she doesn’t. She fights it, which is what she does every single time I attempt to put her to sleep.
I suck at this.
The next twenty minutes pass with me trying to leave the room and Meredith crying each time I try. Honestly, I have no skills whatsoever when it comes to getting a baby to sleep.
King interrupts us when he comes in and says, “I’m going to take your mother to the hospital. Can you stay the night and watch the kids?”
“Is she okay?”
“Her pain is pretty bad and she’s bleeding. Just lightly, but I wanna make sure it’s just the fibroids and nothing else.”
