“How do you know?”
He crosses his arms and we begin our staring match, neither of us speaking for what feels like forever.
“Emma,” he grates.
“Dad!”
He finally melts, pulling me to him. I start to cry and collapse in his arms as he chokes, “Ah Baby Love, this fuckin’ killed me. I don’t want to fight with you ever again. Stop crying, you know I hate to see a woman cry.”
That he called me a woman completely undoes me. “I’m so sorry, Daddy! I hate this,” I whisper, squeezing him more.
“The damn phone was so heavy. You know I drove by your apartment?”
“You did?”
We separate with him running a hand through his cropped hair, struggling to contain his emotions. “Yeah, but I didn’t stop. And that’s not right. I should have been bigger than that.”
“It’s okay, I forgive you! I’m just glad you tried. I almost called you so many times but I’m so stubborn.”
“Guess I have to take most of the blame. You inherited that from me. Drew has no problem saying she’s wrong. It’s one of the things I love about her. Guess I can be a little jealous of anyone who comes near her. Might have been wrong about Tanner.”
Wiping my eyes I smile, “Do you like him?”
Dad shrugs a shoulder, sniffs, chest puffed out a little. “Eh, like is too strong a word.” His eyes warm on a crooked smile. “I respect him, I can give you that much.”
I nod over the sharp lump in my throat.
“That okay with you, Emma?” Dad asks, eyes shifting to serious. “Can you give me time to adjust to losing my only daughter?”
“You’re not losing me. I love you.”
The door opens to Mom standing there with tears in her eyes.
Dad looks at her. “Watching through the peep hole?”
“Of course I was!” she sobs, trying to catch her breath. “Come here, Emma!” Her arms open up and I rush into them, melting into the sweet rocking comfort as she croaks my name again.
“It’s okay, Mom!”
Over her shoulder I see Tanner waiting at the end of our foyer, near the staircase. What a sight—in a suit I know he wore to impress my father, humbly watching, hands in his pockets and a helpless look behind his eyes. He doesn’t do this kind of emotion well. But he’ll learn.
Mom releases me so I can go to him. “Hi,” I smile, so relieved everything will be okay now.
Tanner points to a photo hanging next to his shoulder and dryly smirks, “Nice braces, Cocky Love. Really fond of the zit on your nose, too.”
I shoot a look to Mom. “I thought you took that down.”
She grimaces, “I love it too much.”
“That brought your ego down a notch, huh, Cocky Love,” Dad chuckles before locking eyes with Mom. “God help me, Drew, the man messed with my nickname and made it cooler. Hey Tanner, I might have to kick your ass again after all. Come on, Emma, we’re day-drinking.”
Tanner smirks, “You never kicked my ass the first time.”
“Hell I didn’t!” Dad grumbles, but his eyes are sparkling with laughter.
Under my breath, secretly so happy, I mutter, “Make mine a pitcher.”
Chapter 41
TANNER
“I don’t want pink and blue blankets for the girls and boys. Something gender neutral,” I mutter as Dan thumbs through the catalogue under the shade of a wide patio umbrella.
We’re sitting in the backyard of what used to be called the Moody/Lowry mansion, but since I closed escrow and took over the property, a sign has been erected out front that reads, Atlanta’s Little Angels.
The property is bustling with workers delivering and moving furniture such as bunk beds, dressers, lamps, toys, boxes to contain them, anything children need. The team I assigned to the project over a year ago, who Dan has overseen ever since, did a fine job getting local furniture shops to donate. In return their names are on the website, and they’re able to get tax write-offs. But here in the South it turns out hospitality is still alive and well. Most of the businesses were happy to help and didn’t care about the publicity it would give them. We gave them credit just the same.
“How about yellow?” he offers, holding up a photo of a canary-toned comforter.
Glancing up from my tablet I shake my head. “Looks like pee.”
He laughs, “Okay, no yellow. Though it might hide things.”
“Funny. But that reminds me, make sure there are plastic covers for the mattresses.”
“Already done,” he says under his breath, searching for a color that will please me.
Thinking aloud I tell him, “Tell Donna, and all the social workers under her, to reassure the children that if they have an accident, nothing is ruined. The mattress is fine. Life isn’t over. It’s not a problem. No shame, understand?”
He drops the catalogue to type into his tablet. “Consider it done.”
“Excellent.”
“Mr. Hamilton?” a sexy voice calls out from the mansion.
Smiling I flick a glance to my fiancé and immediately set aside work to stand and kiss her. Pulling her into my arms I murmur against Emma’s smile, “What a nice surprise.”
“I just got finished showing a house and thought I’d see how things are going here. Mmm, you smell good.”
“So do you.” Pressing my lips to hers that familiar lighting bolt slams into me. “Wish we were alone but we’re not.” I delivered that last part so dryly she laughs and pulls away.
“Hi Dan.”
He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, don’t mind me. Just another human being over here.”
I fling my pen at him, which he catches. “Make yourself useful and find me that comforter.”
Emma sits next to him as he chuckles, her eyes narrowing to scan the options. Dan explains, “He wants gender neutral. I don’t like this green, but maybe this one?”
“How about purple?” she asks, pointing.
Dan holds the catalogue up so I can see.
“Royal, good choice. Make it happen.”
He jogs into the mansion to tell our decorator which to buy. I grab the love of my life and sit her on my lap. “You’re like breathing to me. I didn’t realize my chest was tight until you walked out here and I inhaled.”
She strokes my hair and kisses me. “I’m so proud of you.”
I press her hand closer to my head and hold it there. “There are too many children,” I whisper, closing my eyes. “I can’t help them all.”
She kisses my eyelids. “I was thinking you could form a coalition of sorts, like a club for the people who run the orphanages in Atlanta as well as the surrounding cities, to share ideas and help each other grow so that more children have the same high standard of living they’ll have at Atlanta’s Little Angels. It’d be like a family of policy makers. Some people might resist at first, but you can tell them that together you’ll attract more donors. Especially when they see the changes you’re all making together.”
I gaze at her, a little stunned as Emma rises up and grabs a grape from the fruit bowl, peeling it with her thumb.
“That’s an incredible idea. I’ll do it.” Standing up I shout at the house, “DAN!”
He comes jogging out, eyebrows raised. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got a new project for you, come here!” Over my shoulder to Emma I smirk, “He’s going to either love you or hate you for this.”
“I can take the heat.”
“Oh, I know you can.”
My assistant joins us, curious. “What’s up?”
I’m about to launch into it when I see a beautiful brunette in a biker jacket, jean short-shorts, black boots, and a motorcycle helmet under her arm, appear in the back doorframe. “What the hell is this I hear about my Emma getting engaged?!”
Emma screams, “Sofia!” and they run into each other’s arms, laughing and bouncing around like teens.
Dan mutters from the corner of his mouth, “Someone should film that. My heart just stopped.”
Laughing I cross my arms and wait for the introduction. Emma grabs her cousin’s hand, asking, “Did you see the house? Isn’t it perfect?”
“I only saw some of the first level, but it’s better than the image I had in my mind, from what you described to me on the phone. Give me a tour?”
“Absolutely.” Emma turns to me, whiskey eyes shining with happiness. “Tanner Hamilton, this is the wild child of my cousins—Sofia Sol Cocker.”
I extend a hand and she shakes it, grey eyes scrutinizing me.
“Yes, you’re Jett’s daughter. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Probably not everything,” she smirks. “So Emma found herself a swanky sophisticate with a heart of gold. Hmmm.” Circling me like a panther, Sofia continues to hum while checking the stock I’m made of.
One of my eyebrows is cocked as I wait, eyeing Emma like, Is this really happening?
She stifles a grin, biting her lip. “What do you think, Soph?”
“Not bad. Not bad. I have to say I’m not surprised.”
Both Emma and I ask, “Oh?”
Sofia plants herself in front of me, next to my fiancé, and holds her helmet in front of her with both hands comfortable around its middle, like a pregnant woman holding her baby. “I knew the man you’d choose wouldn’t be a child. And he’d have to scare your brothers a little, too. But look at those eyes…smart, aren’t you?”
“I’m no slouch,” I confirm.
“You’ll do.” Turning her attention to Dan, Sofia gives him a wink and strolls over. “You’re a cutie. Who’re you?”
“I’m his executive assistant, Daniel.”
“Daniel, is it?” I smirk. He shoots me a look.
Ignoring my teasing him, Sofia Sol boldly running her fingers down Dan’s cheek. “Such a sweet face. What are you doing tonight?”
His eyes widen. “Uh…uh…”
Emma and I share a look, but she’s not surprised like I am. Even still, I don’t hesitate to speak for him. “He’s taking you to dinner, aren’t you, Dan?”
Flicking a glance from me to her he straightens up. “Anywhere you want to go.”
Giving him a sexy grin she pats his chest, “Perfect, now I’m ready for that tour. Ready, Emm?” Setting down the helmet, she takes Emma’s offered hand and they stroll into the house talking about all that I’ve been doing with the place.
Dan and I stand here, watching until they disappear. We both run a hand through our hair at the same time and exchange a look before I wag a finger at his tablet. “Time to take notes. We need a new team to oversee forming a coalition. It’s not first priority. This house comes first. But after we’re settled and our kids are past the first stages of acclimation, feeling safe, that’s when we’ll be reaching out to the other orphanages and schools who work with them to see if we can’t all work together to make a difference.”
Dan mutters, staring at the table, “Sure. Dinner. Eight o’clock. Have any food allergies?”
Rolling my eyes I groan, “Oh great.”
Chapter 42
EMMA
“Turn right at the light,” I tell Tanner with a squeeze of his leg, wind whipping my ponytail back.
“We going to your brother’s?” he asks, slowing the car for the turn. “Or Hannah’s.”
“No, just a short cut.”
He smiles, “Good, I’ve been looking forward to this time. Just us.”
“Me too.” I gaze at the greenery flying by as we make our way up the quiet Buckhead street my family lives on. “Slow down close to Ethan’s. I want to wave if they’re in the front yard.”
“You got it,” he says, sun shining on his relaxed profile until we both look over, “See them?”
“Um…no, but keep going slow in case Hannah’s in her yard. They’re just up a few houses so I—”
“I know where she lives,” he smirks, but then his eyebrows twitch as he spots the For Sale sign on a lovely brick house, deeply inset from the street behind a gorgeously kept, bright green lawn. Glancing to me he notices the mischief in my eyes for the first time. “Oh you little sneak.”
A grin breaks loose as I bounce in my chair. “Turn turn turn! Let’s check it out!”
Tanner laughs, spinning the wheel. “I’m guessing you just happen to have the access code, too, don’t you? Or are the owners here?”
“They moved out last month because the house was in escrow with another buyer, different agency, but it fell through! Tobias called and told me he saw the ‘sold’ tag disappear, that’s what made me check it out.”
“Give me a minute,” he chuckles, and removes his sunglasses while throwing on the emergency brake and eyeing the two-story. He jumps out and strolls around the car to open my door.
Hand in hand we walk up the charming stone path that leads to a red front door. I unlock it with my app as Tanner surveys the wide porch.
“Needs a hammock,” he muses. “Did you already see inside?”
“No! I waited for you. We might hate it.”
“We might,” he mumbles, kicking the floorboards and finding them sound. “Lead the way, Ms. Cocker. I need a professional to give me the tour.”
I lose the smile and become my old self. “Well, Mr. Hamilton, I haven’t seen the property with my own eyes, but I did study the reports.”
Somber, like his old self, he grumbles, “I’d expect nothing less.”
We walk into a foyer, both of us glancing around to see if we can imagine ourselves living here.
I lift my chin and guide him through a warm, large living room with hardwood floors. There’s a library with cherry-wood walls and floor-to-ceiling shelves on two of those, plus a rolling ladder like he loves so much. He touches it and brings back memories, though he’s unaware of the effect it has on me.
The basement has a wine cellar that needs remodeling. The dining room is almost too big. Upstairs has a Master bedroom with a bathroom we both fall in love with because it’s like the one in the Bahamas—shower separate from a jacuzzi bathtub, but this one has dual sinks and stylish hardware.
There are three additional bedrooms and when I walk into the last one I get a little misty, stop the tour and cross the empty space to gaze out onto a backyard that’s somewhere between the size of my brother’s and cousin’s. Ethan’s home is way too large for me, and Hannah’s is a little smaller than this, but not by much.
I can’t believe I’m here.
That I’m with a man I love this much.
Tanner comes up behind me, wraps my hips with his hands, drinking in the view, too.
I lean against him, and he dips down to kiss the soft skin under my ear, asking, “You picturing something here, Cocky Love?”
“No.”
He turns me around, taking my chin in hand with love in his eyes. “You’re still a terrible liar.”
My vision blurs as I tell him, “This could be where our children sleep. And they’d be playing out there on the grass.”
He pulls me so close I feel his heartbeat quickening. “I was thinking the same thing, and how I never thought I’d be here but now I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Digging my fingers into his back I start to cry. Tanner’s breathing is sharpened, too. He bends to kiss me and it turns into a happy smile for both of us. “So, Mr. Hamilton, what do you think of the place?”
“Our home, you mean?”
“You really like it? And you don’t mind being this close to my family?”
His eyes narrow as he says, “It’s perfect. I promised you we’d live as close to Hannah as possible. Pretty sure this does the trick. Except you haven’t shown me the kitchen. The appliances are very important to me.”
Wiping my cheeks I straighten to my professional stance and head out. “Of course. I’m sure you are aware, being an intelligent man like yourself, that they can never be replaced if you don’t like them.”
He chuckles, “Smart ass.”
Downstairs as my Saturday afternoon sandals clip across the Spanish
tile I gasp at the flow of the room’s design. “This is made for entertaining! Look, a conversation counter facing the backyard, and an enclosed patio for humid nights when the mosquitos are out! Oh, Tanner, look at this refrigerator. It’s enormous! Brand new! Doesn’t need to be replaced at all. And a gas stove!” Glancing over my shoulder for his reaction I’m surprised at the lust in his eyes. “What is that look for?”
He makes quick strides to pick me up and set me on the counter, burying his face under my skirt and pulling my panties aside.
“Wait!” I cry out. “Take them off. I don’t want to have wet panties all day!”
We wrestle them off, a little awkward since I’m sitting down, and he slides them onto the floor. He murmurs into my thigh, “Anyone else coming to see the house today?” kissing his way up while I brace myself for ecstasy.
“Nobody cumming but us.”
He chuckles at my pun and goes to work, licking me, fingering me, bringing me close to the edge and murmuring, “Don’t cum yet. Whatever you do, don’t cum.”
Whenever he does that I start throbbing—he knows I like the forbidden. Hungry for release I crane my hips up, cup his head and rub my pussy against his tongue. “Please,” I gasp as he pauses to draw it out and tease me. “Don’t stop!”
Tanner dives in and strokes me with long and quick licks, then hones in on one sensitive side of my clit with hot flicks until I’m tensing up, moaning and holding very still as my orgasm hovers just out of reach. Tanner rises up, his white linen shirt missing a button and making him look a little more casual and easy going. I told him he wore it too high, which he ignored back at my apartment. But now it’s perfect.
“What happened?”
He glances down, shrugs, “Who cares,” and undoes his belt and zipper in a flash, dropping the tan slacks and pulling our bodies together. My legs hook around him as our mouths latch on a moan. His cock, so full, so hard, is a good nine inches, with width that stretches me in the most delicious way.
My future husband and I lose ourselves in the moment. Knowing this will be our home.
Our children will grow up here. We’ll pass it down to them, and hopefully they’ll do the same with our grandchildren. That way they can always stay close to our family, their family, the chaos of the Cockers, happily, for many generations to come.
Cocky Love: Emma Cocker (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta Book 11) Page 17