Want Me (Protector Series Book 3)

by Melissa Townsend

  Demi was in the last room. She was jumping on the bed I’d just made. The pink and purple comforter was a wrinkled mess under her shoes, but I didn’t stop her. I was too busy trying to gauge Taylor’s reaction as she looked at the girly decorations I’d filled the room with.

  “Is this all for Demi?”

  “Well, this is for her. Yours is downstairs,” I said as I grabbed her hand and led the way back to my room. Demi followed close behind us and giggled the whole way.

  I opened the door to my room to show Taylor that I’d traded the solid black comforter and sheets for deep purple and navy ones instead. I’d thrown a large area rug down in the middle of the room and hung two paintings that I thought she’d like.

  She walked inside and ran her hand along the foot of the bed. “You did this for us? Why?”

  “You asked me last night if I was sure this was what I wanted.”

  Demi ran past me, climbed onto the bed, and started jumping. I smiled at her and turned my attention back to Taylor. “I’m sure. I want you and I want Demi. I want you both to move in here and I want us to take on this parenting thing together.”

  Taylor looked from me to Demi and back to me.

  “You don’t have to move in or marry me or make any changes immediately,” I told her. “But when you’re ready to take that step then I’ll be ready.”

  I released the breath I was holding when she ran into my arms. She kissed my cheeks, chin, and lips repeatedly. I laughed as I kissed her back. “I’m glad I ditched the black. This is worth it,” I teased.

  Demi plopped down on the bed and watched me hug and kiss Taylor. “We’ve got an audience,” I whispered as I tucked my face into her hair.

  She pulled back, slightly. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For wanting us. For wanting me.”

  I kissed her lips softly. “Even when you no longer want me, I’ll never stop wanting you,” I promised her.

  One year later.

  Sam

  “Wake up, pretty girl,” I said quietly. I gently nudged Demi and smiled when she stretched her legs out and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

  “Why are we waking up so early, Daddy?”

  “It’s your birthday, and I’m going to take you out for the day. Get dressed and brush your teeth and meet me downstairs.” She nodded excitedly.

  Downstairs, Taylor was in the kitchen sipping her cup of coffee. She looked angry, but I knew she wasn’t because she looked like that every time she had to wake up. “Demi hates mornings just as much as you,” I teased.

  “Even though it’s her birthday?”

  I bent down to kiss Tay’s head before sitting in the chair beside her. “She perked up a little after I reminded her of that.”

  “What will the two of you do today?”

  “Breakfast is the first thing on the list.”

  She nodded. “Just don’t bring her back before one, okay?”

  “Got it covered, babe.”

  We heard the sound of little feet bounding down the stairs. A second later, Demi and her blonde, bouncy curls were coming around the corner.

  “It’s my birthday,” she exclaimed with a bright, excited smile. “Daddy’s taking me out. Wherever I want to go!”

  “I don’t remember saying that,” I said as I narrowed my eyes at her playfully. She shrugged and ran over to wrap her little arms around Taylor.

  “Don’t you want to come, Mommy?”

  “I can’t. I’ve got to wrap your present while you’re gone.”

  Demi’s eyes lit up when she heard the word “present.”

  “You better get going so I can get started,” Taylor said with a grin, wiping a spot of toothpaste off of Demi’s lip.

  Demi kissed her cheek quickly before grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the door. “We love you,” I called over my shoulder.

  Demi jabbered so much on the way to breakfast that I was certain she’d run out of things to talk about soon. I was wrong.

  After breakfast we went to her favorite store, where she found her favorite dress and her favorite pair of shoes. While that was happening, I heard stories about every kid in her preschool class. I found out that Tommy eats his boogers, Lillian never says excuse me when she farts, Harper says bad words when she gets in trouble, and Xavier steals Demi’s grapes at lunch. Plus, many more stories that I was too distracted paying for all of her favorite things to hear.

  The sales associate smiled at me sympathetically as she handed me back my card. “My daughter is seven, and she talks just as much as yours.”

  I tried to force a smile as I walked out with Demi, but I’m sure the look on my face was nothing but horror. Demi wouldn’t be seven for three more years. That meant the constant talking wouldn’t be ending anytime soon…

  I glanced down at Demi and she stopped blabbing for a second to smile up at me. “I love you, Daddy.”

  I tussled her hair and grinned. “I love you, too, Dem. And all of your stories.”

  Taylor

  Taryn and Bennett were the first ones to show up. I was attempting to tie ribbon on the thousandth balloon I’d filled with helium.

  “Can we do anything?” Taryn asked as she set the gift she’d brought on the coffee table.

  I laughed. Hysterically. “If you’ve got any extra sanity, that’d be nice.”

  She forced a smile as she glanced at Bennett out of the corner of her eye. He snickered as he smacked her on the ass. “Go get your hands dirty, babe.”

  Taryn took the balloon and the ribbon away from me. “Go get a drink, Tay. I’ll finish this.”

  I walked to the kitchen and poured wine into a plastic pink cup with a crown painted in glitter on the side of it. I knew I couldn’t be holding a wine glass when everyone showed up for Demi’s party, so the party cup would have to do.

  “Taylor!” Macie called as she let herself in. “I’m here on time, but Jasper made me forget the ice,” she said with a shrug.

  “Actually, the fender bender on the highway that ended with a woman having whiplash and Macie whining the entire way here made me forget the ice,” Jasper said as he walked past Macie carrying three large gifts.

  I looked at the gifts and wanted to patronize them for going overboard on Demi, but the no ice issue was more important.

  Macie leaned in to hug me and took my glass out of my hand. She took a small sip and grinned. “Good, you’re already drinking. I’ll go finish decorations while you call Sam for the ice.” She flashed me a megawatt smile before skipping away to the kitchen, where Taryn was cutting pink and purple streamers.

  I felt in my back pocket for my phone, but it wasn’t there. I went to the kitchen and looked on the counter by the party cups. It wasn’t there either. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that Sam would be showing up with Demi any minute. I ran into the bedroom and checked the bedside table. Still no phone.

  I groaned in frustration before I got an idea. “Sorry, babe,” I muttered as I closed my eyes. I focused on Sam, his smile, his laugh, the way his arms were wrapped around me when I woke up this morning. After a moment I saw him. He was walking down the sidewalk holding Demi’s hand.

  “Sh, sh, sh, Demi. Be quiet for just a second,” I heard him say. His voice was a little strained.

  “This better be important, Taylor Long,” he muttered.

  “I need ice!” I blurted out. “I can’t find my phone. Macie and Jasper forgot the ice. I’m drinking wine out of a plastic cup.”

  “I’ll get the ice, babe. Just breathe. We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Thank you,” I mumbled before I opened my eyes.

  Macie, Taryn, and Nat were standing in front of me.

  “Not sure ice is a good enough reason to give him a splitting headache, Tay,” Macie said.

  “Don’t judge me. Until you’ve planned a surprise party for a four-year-old that’s never had a birthday party, you don’t get to judge me.”

  “Point taken,” she said with a grin.

  “Shiloh and I b
rought the cake and I made up a fruit tray with all the things Demi likes on it,” Nat said as she rested her hand on her round belly.

  “Leave it to the pregnant girl to outdo us all,” Macie joked.

  “I was the first person here, Macie. The only person Nat is outdoing is you,” Taryn teased as she pretended to flip her hair over her shoulder.

  I laughed at the look on Macie’s face as I patted her shoulder. “Where do I need to be?” I asked.

  “Decorations are finished,” Taryn said.

  “Shiloh is setting the plates out for the cake,” Nat said.

  “And Jasper is hanging the piñata in the backyard. You can put on your party clothes and we will greet the guests for you,” Macie said as she walked out of my room. Taryn and Nat followed suit.

  I finished my cup of wine and pulled on the dress I’d laid out that morning. I was bent over pulling on my booties when I felt strong hands grip my hips. I stood upright and tried to spin around, but Sam’s hands held me in place.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as he pulled my backside tight against his front.

  “Can we be late to the party?” he whispered in my ear.

  I relaxed into him and reached one arm up to run my fingers through his hair. “Nope, sorry,” I said in a rush as I wiggled out of his hold. “But I will take care of that headache for you later.” I winked at him before rushing out to the party. I heard his deep chuckling as I said hi to Allie, Demi’s friend from preschool.

  “Macie is about to bring her in,” Jasper said from the kitchen. “Everybody hide.”

  I stepped into the hallway far enough that Demi wouldn’t see me when she first walked through the door. Sam came out of the bedroom and laced his fingers through mine. I held one finger to my mouth to shush him. He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips and my finger. I rolled my eyes at him before I turned my attention back to the front door.

  “Where is Mommy?” Demi asked Macie as they walked inside.

  “Surprise!”

  Demi squealed in delight as all of her friends from her preschool program ran up to greet her.

  The afternoon was a blur of cake, presents, punch, and candy. When the party was over, Allie’s mom offered to take the kids out for ice cream while I took down the decorations. I insisted I could do it on my own, but Macie and Nat stayed to help. Taryn would have stayed, too, if Bennett hadn’t planned on going to work that night.

  Macie and I were outside picking up scraps of candy and wrappers while Nat cleaned up inside.

  “I think she was really surprised,” Macie said as she tossed a handful of trampled candy into the trash.

  “Me, too. I’d say it was a successful fifth birthday.”

  “You’re getting this parenting thing down, Tay,” she said with a proud smile.

  “It’s not as hard as I thought. Not every day, anyways.”

  We were both laughing when Macie suddenly stopped. “What’s this?”

  I stood up to see what she was holding in her hand, and my heart started to race when I realized she had rings in her hand—two beautiful diamond rings.

  “Is that—” I started.

  “I think so,” she cut me off, her voice barely above a whisper.

  We both turned around quickly when we heard chuckling behind us. Jasper and Sam were both down on one knee, side by side.

  “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” Macie squealed.

  I covered my mouth with both hands and stared directly at Sam.

  He mouthed, I love you, and I nodded quickly as tears filled my eyes.

  “We were hoping you’d both pick them up at the same time, but this will have to do,” Jasper said with a smirk as he grabbed the rings from Macie’s palm. He studied them for a moment before handing one to Sam.

  Jasper cleared his throat as he prepared to go first. I wanted to watch Macie’s reaction, but I couldn’t peel my eyes away from Sam.

  “Macie Smith, you’ve got more loudness, stubbornness, and bossiness crammed into that tiny body than I ever could have imagined. And I love every single ounce. I want to spend the rest of my life driving you mad and loving you the best I know how. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” She bounced up and down excitedly as he slipped the ring on her finger. Once the ring was in place, he stood and picked her up in the process. She giggled as she peppered his face with kisses.

  “It was because of them that I met you, so I figured doing this with them here was appropriate,” Sam shrugged. I glanced toward the house and saw Nat and Shiloh standing in the doorway. Nat was wiping her tears with a tissue while Shiloh rubbed her lower back lovingly.

  “Tay, I’ve watched you spend the last year becoming the mommy Demi needed you to be. Your love for her is so effortless and true. You forgive me when I don’t deserve it. You make me better than I ever thought I’d be. I can’t imagine living a day without you. Will you marry me? Let me be the daddy and husband I want to be?”

  I nodded repeatedly as he put the ring on my finger. Once he stood, I wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me off the ground and spun me in a circle while everyone cheered. “Are you sure you want me? Forever?”

  “Yes,” I promised him before I closed the distance between us. “I will always want you.”

  The end.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to my husband for not only believing in me and supporting me, but for keeping our two ornery boys occupied so I could get some writing time in.

  Thank you to my friends and family, who listen to me stress, vent, and brainstorm constantly. The support and encouragement I get from y’all means so much to me.

  Thank you to Megan Jensen and Colt Beard for being willing to take the photos for this cover…in a scary forest…while we were freezing.

  Thank you to Kaysie Bishop for being the photographer and Marty Bishop for being her trusty assistant. I appreciate everything the two of you do for me.

  Thank you to Ann Field for being an amazing editor. You make everything so much better, and I’m so thankful for you.

  Thank you to Alyssa Garcia for designing the cover that I always wanted.

  Thank you to every single person who reads this book. I appreciate you and I hope you enjoy it!