“Robbie . . .”
The whisper of his name on her lips broke the dam. He leaned into her and captured her mouth with his, pouring years of unquenched desire and long-held love into the kiss. Her lips moved between his with such familiarity it was hard to believe they’d ever been separated at all. If it were up to him, they’d never be separated again.
Her body softened against him in the most marvelous way. He had a feeling the moments she showed vulnerability or weakness would be few and far between. When they appeared, he’d move heaven and earth if that was what she needed or wanted.
She buried her hands in his hair, tugging his curls a bit. Not enough to be painful. But enough so that her strength, in addition to the hunger he tasted in her kiss, proved to Robbie that she was not the same girl who’d left him back then.
Robbie opened his eyes in time to see the breeze capture the shawl. He reached for it, but the effort was in vain.
Her wings fluttered out over the canyon, flitting back and forth in the waning daylight, eventually dropping and disappearing into the surf below.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Robbie closed the door to the bedroom, careful not to make a sound, even if he was in the hurry of his life. He spied Keira waiting for him on the couch. Keira Knudsen. On his couch. Wanting to make out with him. He leaped over the back of the sofa—thank you, football. After landing on the cushion, he scooched toward her on the far end. Her velvet lips on his zapped all of his strength. Still in a crouch, he thought he may collapse on her. He could imagine the headline: “Montana Man Crushes Girlfriend During Kiss.”
Girlfriend. Is that what she was?
Behind him, the door clicked. He settled back on his heels and drew in a breath. “What do you need, Annie?”
“Daddy, I’m thirsty.”
Robbie sighed. “One glass of water coming right up.” He hopped off the couch and scampered, his mom would say, to the kitchen. While he grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with room-temperature water from the tap, Anabelle cuddled next to Keira in his spot.
Great, you’re jealous of your own daughter now.
Taking the seat on Anabelle’s left, and eyeing the gorgeous woman on Anabelle’s right, he handed the water over. She sipped the water about one milliliter at a time. So slow Robbie thought evaporation might be a quicker way to empty the glass.
Above Anabelle’s head, Keira gazed at him.
With a lifted hand, Robbie acted as if he was going to tilt the glass higher.
Keira pursed away a laugh.
He really wished she hadn’t. Boy, did he love to hear her laugh.
Thirty or so slurps later, Anabelle exhaled an “ahhh.” She handed him the empty glass, then hugged him, wiping her water mustache on his sleeve in the process. Little stinker. After giving Keira another hug, she made her way back to bed.
“Shut the door, please,” Robbie asked.
Anabelle watched them through the crack until the crack was no more.
Robbie listened for the sound of the bedsprings. Once he heard them, he returned his eyes to Keira. “I thought she’d never finish.”
“Why did you fill the glass all the way to the top?”
Robbie didn’t have to move closer. She came to him. And the way she took the lead with her lips and dug her fingers in his hair proved he wasn’t the only one glad the distance between them was gone.
* * *
* * *
Sometime later, Robbie’s breath warmed her neck and tickled her ear. “I love you, Kat. Have I told you that?”
“Only after every kiss.”
“I can’t help it. I spent way too much time not telling you. Do you mind hearing it? I can stop.”
“Don’t you dare.”
He reclined back against the pile of throw pillows and pulled her on top of him. When Robbie Matthews kissed, he didn’t only use his lips, although those would be enough. He used his hands, his arms, his chest. Even now, with her hand pressed between his back and the pillows, his vertebrae undulated between her fingertips and the muscles worked against her palm. She’d never get tired of it. The way he led her in a dance from sweet kisses that plucked her heartstrings to passionate ones that, well, plucked everything else.
While she waited for her heart to settle back to a healthy pace, she rested her forehead against his.
“Daddy?”
Robbie groaned. “Yes, Anabelle?”
“I had to go potty. I’m all done.”
Robbie pinched his eyes closed. “Thanks for letting me know. Go back to bed now.”
They waited for the door to shut. When it did, Keira pulled her lips into a smirk. “Like I said, you shouldn’t have filled the glass all the way to the top.”
Robbie brushed her hair back. “You know, this is what my life is now. A series of happy interruptions, one right after another. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
“Okay . . .”
“I want you to know what you’re getting yourself into. With me. With us.” There was almost a sadness in his eyes.
Did he honestly think Anabelle and her needs were a deal breaker or something? “Robbie Matthews, listen to me. I love you . . . still . . . always.” She kissed his cheek. “And I love Anabelle, too. I’m not sure I could love her more if she were my own daughter. The two of you are the happiest interruption I could ever imagine.”
KAT WANDERFULL: Hey, @MRCustom. I’m glad you aren’t online right now. It’s so much easier to be cowardly when I know you won’t respond immediately. Not that you’d know. Cowardly is my thing, not yours.
KAT WANDERFULL: Listen, you know my assistant? The one I said meant nothing to me. The truth is, I love him. I’ve loved him since we were seventeen. If there is such a thing as a soul mate, Robbie is mine. I have no doubts about that now. I was fooling myself before. Finally, we are in a place where we make sense, and I couldn’t be happier.
KAT WANDERFULL: Please hear me when I say that I value your friendship very much. You’ve been the listening ear and the giver of advice this past year. Thank you, MR. I really do hope you find your own soul mate. Take care, and God bless.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
On the tablet’s screen, Princess Patty Cake stomped on the dragon’s toe. “I may be small, but I’m also mighty!”
The dragon roared in pain, shooting animated fire into the sky, but he also dropped the net that had trapped Trixie, the princess’s unicorn.
Trixie shook off the net and waited for Patty Cake to climb on before racing back to Royal Village, where King Hubert and Lady Audra awaited them.
Anabelle clapped as the credits on the movie scrolled.
“But what about the evil troll? Aren’t they going to put him in jail or something?” Keira asked Anabelle. “Whatever happened to the squirrel family? And why were the squirrels and dragon able to talk, but Trixie only neighs?”
“I dunno.” Anabelle shrugged. On the tablet, she slid her finger backward on the progress bar, restarting the movie at the beginning. “Let’s watch it again.”
“Nope,” Robbie said from the driver’s seat. “Once is more than enough.”
“I don’t know. I think I could watch Prince Devin again,” Keira said.
In the rearview mirror, Robbie’s green eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, a sting traveled from the tip of her middle toe down to her heel.
“Ouch!” On instinct, she pulled her knees back toward her chest. If she’d thought her toes might play victim to Robbie’s pinches, she never would’ve propped her feet up on the center console near the Jeep’s control panel. “Annie, I think your daddy is jealous.”
“What’s jealutz mean?”
Robbie reached back between the seats. His massive hand gripped Keira’s ankle and placed her right foot back on the vinyl. Her left foot followed. Soon, his
thumb had resumed its graze over the top of it.
Sure, it wasn’t the most romantic form of affection, but it was something. The past four days, as they meandered along highways and national parks in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, Keira and Robbie had only let go of each other to sleep, shower, and use the restroom. While public displays of affection with John had always made Keira cringe, they came naturally with Robbie.
Anabelle didn’t seem to mind, but she had begged Keira to watch this movie with her on the last leg of their journey. How could she say no?
“Jealous is what a guy might feel when his girlfriend has a crush on an arrogant cartoon character,” he said. In the mirror, his eyes stared straight ahead, concentrating on the stretch of road taking them back into Montana.
“Girlfriend, huh?”
“You think I’d caress the stinky foot of a girl who wasn’t my girlfriend?”
“I adamantly disagree with you,” Keira said.
His brows furrowed in the mirror. “So, you’re not my girlfriend?”
“Of course I am.” Keira turned off the tablet and returned it to its pouch. “But I do not have stinky feet.”
“Daddy has stinky feet,” Anabelle said.
“I know he does. See? Anabelle knows what’s up.”
Robbie mumbled something under his breath.
“What was that you said?”
“I said Prince Devin is the one with stinky feet.”
She couldn’t see his mouth, but his eyes crinkled a bit. He ran his fingertips over her ankle bone.
Keira met Anabelle’s gaze. “Jealutz,” they said in unison. Giggling filled the back of the car.
* * *
* * *
Wayne, is it? Look, you’re probably the seventh customer service person I’ve spoken to in the past week. Help me understand why I can’t erase my profile again.” Robbie would wear a path in his family room if this didn’t get cleared up soon. He leaned over his computer on the corner desk. His Momentso account still showed the latest conversation between MRCustom and Kat Wanderfull.
“I told you, Mr. Custom, you can suspend your account, but you cannot erase it. Your profile will still be available to search, but it will be marked inactive.”
“First of all, it’s M-R-Custom to you. Second, I don’t want it anymore. I want to erase it entirely.”
“Our account settings are designed so that when you decide to return to active status on Momensto, it will be easy.”
“Okay, fine. Suspend my account, then.”
“This will take between twenty-four and forty-eight hours to take effect.”
Robbie groaned. “Are you kidding me?” He reminded himself that Wayne probably hated his job as much as Robbie hated the way Wayne did his job. “Whatever. Thanks for your help, Wayne.”
After declining the opportunity to take a satisfaction survey, he ended the call. No offense to Wayne, but Momentso, you do not want to hear my thoughts on your customer service right now.
He stared at the final message she’d sent the night of their photo shoot at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve overlooking the ocean. After their kissing session in his suite. After they’d exchanged I love yous. After they’d restarted their relationship at eighty miles an hour.
When he’d read the message the following morning, he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. For five minutes, he had determined to be honest. But no matter how he practiced that honesty, he came across like a grade A jerk.
Keira, hey, remember when you hated me and turned to this guy for comfort? Poured out your heart? Told him things you never told anyone? That was me. My bad.
Instead, he’d kept it short and sweet.
MRCUSTOM: He clearly loves you as much as you love him. Probably more. Who wouldn’t? God bless you both.
Immediately after pressing Send, he’d begun the process of trying to hide any possible link to the online persona. Now, a week later, he still hadn’t had any luck. And she had called herself a coward?
A rap on the door sharpened his breath. “Honey, I’m here.”
“Come on in, Mom.”
His mother donned her normal attire—slacks and a light sweater, even though the temps in Montana hit eighty today. But she was always cold. It was her children who were hot-blooded. She set her purse on the kitchen table and slipped off her boots. When she caught sight of Robbie, she did that mom head-tilt thing, and her eyes got misty. “Honey, you look ruggedly handsome.”
“Thanks, Mom. It’s kind of weird you added ruggedly, but all right. You been watching Hallmark again?” He greeted her with the hug he knew was coming anyway.
“It’s less drama than what you and your sister bring home with you. Where are you taking Keira on your date?”
“Just to Ollie’s.”
“Robert Charles, you take her someplace nicer than Ollie’s. That place smells like a bear’s rear end.”
“Mom, how do you know— You know what? Never mind. We’re going to Ollie’s because it’s where the whole town hangs out. And if it isn’t a problem with you, I’d like to show off the prettiest girl in town . . . aside from you, of course.”
She patted his cheek. “You keep lying like that and they won’t let you in church tomorrow. Now where is my baby girl?”
“She’s up in her room playing with her dolls. Oh, can you give her a bath? She took a dive in the river earlier when we were fishing.” His chest squeezed. Robbie gripped the rungs on the back of the kitchen chair. “Vivian is coming to get her in the morning.”
“I don’t know why you’re simply handing your baby over to her. Especially after how nasty she got during yesterday’s mediation.” Tears spilled past her lower lashes. She looked around for something to catch them.
After a quick yank of a napkin from the overstuffed holder, Robbie handed it to her.
She dashed away the droplets.
The other fifty or so napkins fanned out across the table and the floor.
“Robbie to the rescue,” she said with a sniffle.
“The meeting wasn’t as bad as you’re imagining it. We sat down with the mediator, he asked some questions to both of us, and Vivian shot laser beams out of her eyes.” Robbie quirked a smile for his mom to see. “So, we didn’t come to an agreement. No big deal.”
“You have a court hearing. That’s a big deal, son.”
“Just preliminary. Besides, I’m confident that any judge in this state will side with me. And in the meantime, I’m hoping that if Vivian sees my willingness to be flexible, she’ll change her mind about what she’s asking. I want her to share custody, Mom. I want Anabelle to know her mother. I just want her to know me, too.” He put his arms around his mom and held her as she wept. “It’ll turn out fine.”
It was the first time he’d ever lied to his mother. He wasn’t confident at all. The mediation meeting had shaken him up. Enough that he’d pushed for Vivian to take Anabelle for a full day. If Vivian won, he didn’t want Anabelle spending all that time at a place she didn’t know, surrounded by strangers.
Robbie’s own tears burned his lids. He didn’t dare lift them and let the tears show, or he and his mom would end up watching Hallmark over a package of Oreos all night, and he’d miss his date.
“Oh no, I blubbered all over your shirt.” She grabbed a napkin and wiped his shoulder.
“Mom, no worries. I heard somewhere that wearing a mama’s tears makes a man more attractive anyway.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
A haze surrounded the lights in Ollie’s Bar and Restaurant despite the place being smoke-free for decades. It wasn’t too busy yet, but the sign outside said a local band was playing later. It would pick up for sure. Typically, Keira would have shied away from such an event, but Robbie missed his friends. And considering the puffed-out chest he sported, he also wanted to show her off. She
didn’t mind one bit. Besides, she hadn’t told Robbie about her phone call with Nana and Papa the other day or her decision. The moment he stepped foot in her apartment and saw all the moving boxes, well, out of the bag that cat would fly.
Robbie led her toward a series of tables lining the front windows. Officer Drew, his wife, Evie, and another couple, Nick and Jessi, joined the group. They all glanced up when Keira and Robbie approached.
“You’re late, Robbie.” Ryann said his name with an accusatory inflection.
“We were busy making out, Ryann,” he retorted.
The group laughed.
One person clapped, although Keira couldn’t tell who because she’d buried her blazing cheeks against Robbie’s back.
Thankfully, a server interrupted the catcalls with everyone’s food, giving Keira and Robbie the chance to find their seats. At the head of the table, Ryann shoved her plate of greasy fries and chicken tenders toward them in an offering.
The thought turned Keira’s stomach. Yes, she’d been eating more in the past couple of weeks. Her tightening waistband was proof. But she wasn’t ready for Ryann’s diet. Of course, she also didn’t run five miles a day like Ryann. No wonder the girl could eat junk and keep her figure.
Across the table, Thomas sat next to the waitress Robbie had flirted with once in this exact restaurant. “Keira, this is my girlfriend, Hallie,” he said.
Crisis averted.
“Hiya!” Hallie said. “We’ve been following your journey out to Cali. You’re adorable.”
It was meant as a compliment, Keira told herself. Maybe it was the pang of jealousy that twisted it sideways in her head. But before her mind could linger on the fact that Robbie had once found Hallie attractive, his pinkie traced ovals on her hand beneath the table. And the way he was looking at her now brushed away any worries. Robbie Matthews only had eyes for one girl.
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