Compromising Positions (Invested in Love)
Page 26
He pulled back, framing her face with his hands. “You’ve got to say it.”
She opened her eyes as his thumbs brushed the tears away. “I’ll dance,” she breathed more than said.
He smiled. “Close enough.”
Epilogue
“Daddy, wake up,” the familiar voice said. Tossing to his side, David knew he was dreaming. It had been so long since he’d had the nightmare, he’d almost forgotten about it. Almost.
Just walk around to the other side of the bed and get in.
“Daddy!”
Walk around, he told himself again. But something was different. He couldn’t see Lance; the room was too dark.
“Daddy!”
The dream would go on forever if he didn’t get in the bed. If he couldn’t see, he’d feel his way in. He stuck out his arms, reaching for the edge of the bed. His fingers touched warm skin, and his eyes shot open.
Tyler. He wasn’t dreaming.
“I went potty all by myself. You have to tuck me in.”
His hands cupped the little face in awe, focusing on the pale blue eyes. Sophie’s eyes. He pulled his son as close as he could, breathing the boy’s scent into his lungs until he thought they would burst.
“Daddy, no. Not with you. In my bed. Mommy said you would.”
Mommy. Where was Sophie? Without putting the boy down, David checked the bed. “Where’s Mommy?”
“Feeding Bella. She said you would tuck me in.”
He breathed in the smell that was Tyler—soap, grass, and peanut butter. The boy loved to eat.
Finally, David set him on the ground and let himself be led through the home they’d built together over a decade ago. Sophie hummed softly in the nursery. Isabel was almost one. Sophie should really let her cry it out the way the books said to. Like that’s going to happen.
Tyler pulled him past Natalie and Phoebe’s room with the matching canopy beds, to the last room at the end of the hall. Tyler’s eyes closed as soon as he was tucked beneath the tattered red afghan on his race-car bed. David stepped across the room and kissed Dustin’s smooth cheek. Shampoo, grass, and grape jelly.
When they were sleeping, only Sophie could tell them apart. Everyone thought they were identical twins, but doctors claimed they were fraternal. Their eyes were the only tell. Tyler was the only one of the kids to get Sophie’s eyes. So far.
Closing the door softly behind him, he spied her coming out of the nursery. She must have caught the look in his eye, because she darted into their bedroom. By the time he locked the door, she had rounded the bed.
“Isabel’s asleep?”
Her eyes narrowed as he approached the bed. “David, I told you earlier. Not tonight, I’m ovulating.”
He smiled wide. “I know what you said. You said six.” And he wanted to give her everything she’d ever wanted. And more.
She fought a smile. “I’m the one home with five kids under the age of ten.”
“Tyler’s the only one with blue eyes. I need another shot at it.”
“That’s your argument?” Her quiet laugh was as sexy as ever.
He shrugged. “It worked last time.” He put a knee on the bed, but she backed to the far end of the room.
“It was a weak moment. You were wearing a tux. It short-circuited my brain.”
“I could change.”
“No. If you take off your clothes, I doubt I’ll let you put any back on.”
Thank goodness, she was considering it. He rounded the bed to her side, but she scampered over the top. Standing on the covers, she was taller than him. Barely. “Two more days, then we’re in the clear again.”
Sophie and her rhythm-method birth control. That’s how they’d gotten the twins. He hooked his hands behind her knees and pulled her legs out from under her. She landed on her back, and he climbed on the bed and kept her there. He bent his head, tasting the skin just beneath her ear.
“Diversion. I taught you that.” Sophie giggled, turning her head to grant him better access.
“What have I taught you?” he whispered, finding the place on her neck where he could taste her pulse as it beat faster.
“You want to play show”—she slid her hand beneath the waistband of the pajama pants he’d started wearing when Natalie learned to walk—“or tell?”
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About the Author
Jenna Bayley-Burke is known for her fun, sexy romance novels, baking banana bread, and over-volunteering. She thinks she has the best jobs in the world—mother, wife, and author. When she’s not lost in her latest story, she can be found pursuing whatever hobby her characters are enamored with—photography, yoga, shoes, gardening, crafts, and cooking up a storm. Keep up with Jenna online at:
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