Off the Cuff

by K. I. Lynn

  “Nope. Not a single doubt. I want you full time. So does my cock.”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Always with the cock.”

  He was giving me no wiggle room, and with his answer I realized that it didn’t bother me, because in the end, that was all I’d ever wanted. To be with him. To share our lives. To never leave him.

  And we were taking the biggest step toward all of that being made into more than just dreams and words. It was a reality.

  We tag-teamed boxing up everything with entertaining Kinsey, and after two hours the movers arrived. Four men had everything out in just over an hour and a half like it was nothing.

  I walked around the empty apartment checking for any last-minute or overlooked items, noting how much larger the space looked when it was empty. It was a small place, but it had worked. It was the home I brought Kinsey into, the home where I learned how to be a mother, and the home where I opened up my heart to someone.

  As much as those memories meant to me, it was just an apartment, one that I’d only lived in for just over a year.

  “Ready?” Thane asked, carrying Kinsey in his arms. She had her head against his chest and her chubby hand gripped his shirt. The sight made my heart soar.

  He was the partner and father we deserved. The one who chose us both. The arrogant man with a heart just as fragile as mine.

  We headed toward the entry and walked through. I gave the room one last look before I closed the door and said goodbye to my past, ready to step into my future with Thane beside me.

  Three months later…

  My home was no longer my own.

  And I loved it.

  The changes Roe had made to the place were all simple and cosmetic, but they warmed everything up. From colorful rugs to curtains, a new sofa that was comfortable, not like the modern one I had before.

  I gave her free reign and as hard as it was to see some things go, when the new stuff came in, I realized that she was right. All of my furniture had been sleek and modern, and while there was nothing wrong with the style and it looked nice, it wasn’t very comfortable or warm.

  I was stuck staring at my computer, my nerves kicking into high gear, causing me to read the same paragraph over and over. We’d made it through three major holidays and Valentine’s Day with flying colors. My parents came to New York for the Christmas holiday and finally got to meet Roe and Kinsey.

  Just like me, they fell in love with both of them. Linda, Roe’s mom, came over as well, along with my little brother, Wyatt. It was wonderful to have everyone in our home for the holiday creating family memories in a place that had no memories before Roe.

  It was just a place I lived in. Now, I truly lived in it.

  Yes, Kinsey had stopped me mid-stroke more than once, but having Roe in my bed was completely worth it. Kinsey made up for it with her cuteness, and every day our connection grew.

  The warm feeling that always took over when I thought of my girls was doused with my overactive nerves again.

  “Get it together, Carthwright,” I grumbled to myself.

  A knock on my office door was a welcome break from my inability to focus.

  “Come in,” I called out.

  Crystal smiled as she walked in. “Lunch is here,” she said, holding up a bag.

  My stomach gave a rumble at that and I stood, walking over the table where she was pulling containers out.

  “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until you walked in.”

  She chuckled. “You never do.”

  While she opened containers, I pulled out some plates and silverware I kept in a nearby cabinet. It made sharing easier, and I just liked using actual utensils and not plastic.

  On Fridays, Crystal and I always ordered in and ate lunch together. It started when she was first hired on as a get-to-know-you type of gesture, and for the most part, continued on. Oftentimes, these days Roe joined us. The day’s meal was from a nearby tapas restaurant.

  “What’s the plan for the weekend?” Crystal asked as she began piling food onto her plate. There was a knowing tone to her voice, but I refused to verify her suspicion so that I didn’t jinx myself.

  “Dinner with James and some other friends, along with Roe’s mom.”

  “Her mom, too, huh?”

  I narrowed my gaze at her. “Housewarming dinner.”

  “Sure,” she said with a grin.

  “Don’t say a damn word.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You were going to.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Well, don’t.”

  “You’re leaving at three today, right?”

  I nodded. “Correct.”

  Crystal was good and didn’t press for more, but I knew when the armed courier arrived earlier in the week that she knew exactly what was going on.

  Near the end of lunch my phone went off with a text.

  Jace the Idiot: Yo, what time is this thing tonight?

  Thane: Drinks at seven, dinner at eight.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at the contact name.

  “What’s so funny?” Crystal asked.

  I turned the phone toward her and showed her the name, which made her laugh. “Let me guess—Roe?”

  Roe’s first meeting with Jace went as spectacularly bad as I thought it would. Jace said all the wrong things and baited Roe who just trounced him, just as she always did with me. Her wit was still something that amazed me, and even more so when directed at someone else.

  After that night, Roe altered his name in my phone, and I’d never changed it because it was fitting.

  Even with their bad first meeting, it turned out it apparently wasn’t as awful as I believed it to be. Jace was impressed by Roe, and Roe, while annoyed by Jace, had fun with her verbal smack-down.

  A few hours later there was a knock on my door, and I looked up at the most beautiful woman in the world.

  “Ready?” Roe asked as she sauntered over to me.

  “I will be by the time you’re in front of me if you keep walking like that.”

  She giggled and rolled her eyes as always, then pulled on the collar of her scoop-neck shirt, exposing her gorgeous cleavage.

  “Really? I want a fucking hand job on the way home for that shit.”

  She stood in front of me, her minx-like grin in place as she leaned over. As her lips pressed against mine, a low moan crawled out when she cupped my now straining dick.

  “Fuck, woman.”

  “Rest of the day is ruined, might as well go home,” she whispered against my lips before swiping her tongue across them.

  A chuckle left me. “You’re killing me.”

  She straightened and held out her hand. “Come on.”

  Roe continued to tease me and so when we got home, I pinned her to the fucking window with my cock. It helped release my tension and nerves.

  Afterward I hit the shower while she went to pick up Kinsey. When she returned, I took Kinsey into the kitchen for a snack while Roe showered and I worked on prepping for dinner.

  Only James knew what tonight was really about. All but Jace had visited since Roe moved in, so calling it a housewarming party was a bit false. When Roe pushed back, I explained that I just wanted a get together with our friends now that we’d made it a home.

  “How’s it going in here?” Roe asked as I pulled out a large wooden tray from the cabinet for the charcuterie we were putting together. She was running a towel through her wet hair, and a groan left me.

  “You make me want to repeat an hour ago looking like that.”

  She bit down on her bottom lip and smiled. “You know I like to tease.”

  Oh, how I knew that. “Yes, but we have four and a half people coming over for dinner in an hour and a half.”

  She wrapped her arms around my waist and placed a kiss to the side of my arm. “Okay, I’ll behave until they’re gone.”

  Sex happened a lot more since she moved in, and I was not complaining one bit. I found it was
a way we bonded, a way that we both needed to keep our abandonment insecurities at bay. It was odd to say that sex made us a stronger couple, but it was true. I believed living together helped as well.

  A few minutes before six, Roe was finishing off the charcuterie in the dinning room while I cut up potatoes in the kitchen when the doorbell went off. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a waddling Kinsey stomp past the kitchen door with Roe right behind her. Roe gave me a wink and blew me a kiss as she went by.

  “Well, hello, my pumpkin!” I heard Linda say.

  I rinsed off my hands and walked out to greet her. She had Kinsey in her arms admiring her dress when I reached her. “Welcome,” I said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. Kinsey made a sound and I turned my head and kissed her as well, earning a peal of giggles.

  “Evening, Thane. It all smells wonderful.”

  “Thanks.” I had an herb-crusted beef filet roasting and some garlic cream sauce simmering. There were about to be potatoes roasting as well. There was still a lot more to go and now that Linda was there, Roe could help me again.

  “Wine, Mom?” Roe asked as they walked into the dining and living room.

  “I would love some.”

  Roe appeared back in the doorway. “Where are we?”

  I glanced around. “I need you to finish up the salad, then start in on your asparagus magic and sauté the green beans.”

  “Okay, Captain.”

  I couldn’t help but stare at her wearing an apron to help keep her dress clean. Visions of her wearing only it danced across my mind, and I let out a low groan.

  “Stop it.”

  She blinked at me. “Stop what?”

  “Looking so damn sexy all the time.”

  She giggled and stretched up to kiss my cheek. “Just like with your hotness, it can’t be helped.”

  A little while later, the doorbell rang again and Linda answered it for us. James and Lizzie’s voices bounced off the walls followed by a screech from Kinsey and an echoed one by Oliver. There would be another high-pitched sound, but Bailey was on vacation with her grandparents.

  They’d barely made it through the door when another familiar voice sounded. By the intro to Linda I knew it was Jace, and on cue he appeared in front of the kitchen door.

  “The party can start, I have arrived!”

  “You mean it can end now that you’re here,” Roe said.

  “I can’t even get in the damn door and you’re already on me. Just admit it, baby, you want me over this sack of dung,” he said, staring at me with a grin.

  Not two minutes and he was baiting her. She just grinned beside me, ready to strike back.

  “I’d rather eat shit than be with you. Besides, his ass is hotter.”

  He slapped his hand over his heart. “You sting me, babe. That hurt. Do you know how much time I put into this ass to get it so fine?”

  I jumped as Roe’s hand slapped my ass, then grabbed it. “Hey, I am not a plaything in your bickering.”

  They both ignored me.

  “You couldn’t get an ass this fine if you worked on it ten hours a day. Some men are just made that way.”

  “What way is that?”

  “Perfect.”

  I leaned over and kissed the top of her head as I covered the potatoes in oil and herbs. “The night starts out again with Roe on top.”

  “Yeah, I’d like Roe on top of me. Think I could borrow her some time?”

  My eyes turned to slits as I turned to him. “Shut the fuck up and go get a drink.”

  He was wearing a shit-eating grin and looked between us and the group in the living room.

  “So,” Jace rubbed his hands together. “Are we playing strip poker tonight?”

  “No!” Both James and I shouted at the same time.

  Roe and I quickly finished up what we were doing so that we could join our guests. It was almost like a dance as we moved around each other, stealing kisses as we went. We had become excellent kitchen dance partners.

  Finally able to take a break, we joined everyone. When we entered, Kinsey squealed and toddled over to me.

  “Dada!”

  “Yeah, baby boo?” I leaned over and picked her up. I looked around the room to find more than one set of eyes on me. “What?”

  “Dude, she called you Dada,” Jace said

  “And I am.”

  “It’s sweet,” Lizzie said, daring Jace to say one bad thing about it.

  It didn’t matter if he did, because I was her dada in my heart and now everyone knew.

  “She’s your sister’s kid, right?” Jace asked, looking to Roe. He didn’t know much about how Kinsey came to be with Roe.

  Roe nodded. “But I’m her legal guardian.”

  “And her mother,” I added.

  “Whatever happened to your sister?” Lizzie asked.

  We hadn’t seen Ryn since Kinsey’s birthday, but when we received more information about the case, we came to find out why.

  “She got caught high by her parole officer, and now she’s serving time,” Roe said. “That was part of her parole. To stay off drugs.”

  “Well, maybe this will make her straighten out,” James said, groaning at his wife when she elbowed him.

  I saw how Roe’s expression dropped, and I reached out for her hand. Losing Kinsey to Ryn was one of her greatest fears.

  “Stop,” I whispered in her ear.

  She drew in a breath and straightened, then turned to me. “Thank you,” she said as she lightly pressed her lips to mine.

  I squeezed her hand. If things went the way I hoped, we could start the process of adopting Kinsey. At least we knew where Ryn was. I just worried how susceptive she would be to giving up her parental rights.

  A little while later, we were all sitting at the table, including the kids—Kinsey in a high chair and Oliver on James’s lap.

  A year ago, the room we were in held none of the life it did now. Dark and grey and empty compared to the warmth to share with friends and family. I would have met Jace for drinks, then gone home, worked half of the weekend, rinsed and repeated. I couldn’t imagine how my life could change with the simple act of spilled coffee.

  My nerves kicked into overdrive as dinner ended. Even though we hadn’t been together long, there was no doubt in my mind or heart that it was right.

  We were right.

  There was lots of chatter going on and I tapped my fork on the edge of my glass to get everyone’s attention.

  I stood, pushing my chair back, and caught James’s eye. He gave me a subtle thumbs up, which helped to calm me a little.

  “I wanted to thank you all for coming over tonight and christening our home as a place for friends as well as family. The night has been great, but I keep thinking there is one thing that could make it even better.”

  “Skinny dipping? Weed?” Jace said, making the whole table laugh.

  “Somebody smack him,” Roe said, to which Lizzie obliged.

  With a hard swallow, I pulled the small box from my pocket and adjusted to kneeling on one knee beside Roe.

  Her eyes popped wide, and her lips parted as I opened the box and exposed the diamond ring within.

  “Thane?”

  “Roe, from the moment you didn’t so accidentally spill coffee on me,” I began, earning a few chuckles from our guests. “I have been completely taken by you. At first I didn’t understand why, but I learned—it’s because you were meant to be my everything. We’re a perfect match and I can’t express the depth of my love for you. I want to blast away the rest of our fears and insecurities and bind us together forever, because I have no life without you. You, me, and Kinsey against the world. I know it hasn’t been long, but I know we are right together. Will you please marry me, become my wife, and stay with me forever?”

  Her bottom lip trembled, and her brow furrowed as she fought tears. “Yes!” she cried out before throwing her arms around my shoulders and pulling me close. “Yes. Yes. Yes. Forever, yes.”

  Two and
a half years later…

  I pushed the door open, barely making it through before Kinsey was sliding down my torso and hitting the ground. Immediately she was off, running to her room.

  She was getting almost too big to carry, but it wasn’t something we did often anymore. After daycare, she just liked the connection of being held after hours apart, but as soon as we were home, all bets were off.

  I smiled at her before heading to the kitchen. Out of the refrigerator I pulled a small container of grapes and one of broccoli. The kid’s love for broccoli amazed me. I then pulled a pack of crackers from the pantry and set them on her little play table. After filling two glasses with water, I set the one with a lid down on her table, then took the other with me to the master bedroom to check on Roe.

  The lights were off and the door was open a crack. There were a few slivers of light coming from the edge of the blackout curtains that lit up the room enough to navigate and to find her eyes on me.

  “Hey, baby,” I said as I sat on the edge of the bed, placing the water next to her on the nightstand. My eyes adjusted to the dim light, and I brushed the hair from her face. “How are you feeling?”

  “Tired,” she said, unable to lift her head up. It’d been days of this, and I worried that something was really wrong. She’d been feeling off for weeks and had waved off my requests that she call the doctor, but the last few days had beaten her down too much.

  “Mommy,” Kinsey said as she ran in. She jumped onto the bed, but wasn’t tall enough to make it. Little grunts made me chuckle at her attempts to pull herself up.

  I took hold of her waist and hoisted her up onto the bed. “Tanks, Daddy,” she said in her high-pitched voice before crawling across and into Roe’s arms.

  “Hi, baby boo, did you have a good day?”

  “Yes!” she squealed. “Can go to da park?”

  Roe’s brow furrowed. “Mommy doesn’t feel well, but Daddy might be able to take you for a little while.”

  Kinsey set her big round eyes on me, and I knew I was going to say yes. I couldn’t deny my girls anything.

  And they were my girls, in every sense. Roe and I were married a year and a half ago at my family’s lake house in North Carolina, and shortly after we initiated the adoption of Kinsey. Both of us.