by Kendall Ryan
“Well, hi there, Scooty-Scoots. How are you? How was your day?” I coo at him, closing the door behind me and squatting down to pet him.
Scooter rolls over onto his back so I can scratch his belly, and I happily do so. I love coming home to this little ball of love after a long day at work—even if it was only a half day. But there’s someone else I’m more excited to see right about now. Well, three other people, actually.
“Babe, is that you?”
I follow Griffin’s voice into the kitchen, where he’s sitting at the table feeding our twin daughters who are both strapped into a special twins high chair and dressed adorably in matching pink-and-white-striped onesies. My heart gives a little lurch.
“Hi, sorry I’m a little late. There was an issue with one of our contracts, but I handled it. Are those the onesies my mom got them? They’re so cute.”
I plant a quick kiss on his mouth before kissing each of the twins’ chubby little cheeks as well. Both girls gurgle happily at me, evidence of the sweet potato they’ve been eating clinging to their chins and cheeks. One smear of it is across Georgia’s forehead.
“Don’t sweat it, babe. We’re just glad you’re here now.” Griffin drops a sprinkling of dry cereal in front of each of the girls before smiling up at me, contentment in his eyes.
I lean down and kiss him again, longer and deeper this time, running my fingers through the back of his hair.
“What was that for?” he asks when we part, a sexy smile spreading across his face.
“I missed you,” I say, hanging my tote bag on the back of his chair and sitting down next to him.
“We missed you too. Even if it’s only been six hours.”
“Yeah, well, at their age, six hours feels like six years. I swear they’ve grown since I left this morning. Does Georgia’s hair look a little red to you? She gets that from your side, you know.”
“Maybe a little. But Charlotte definitely has your pretty green eyes. She’s a lucky girl.” Griffin slips his arm around my waist, squeezing me tightly as we watch our twins eat, fully consumed by love and gratitude for the family we’ve made together.
As if on cue, Charlotte reaches for Georgia’s Cheerios and steals one, and both of them start crying. Griffin and I each grab a baby, clean them up and calm them down, rocking and cooing and telling them it’s all going to be okay. Once they’re settled, the four of us snuggle on our oversized couch, where the twins begin to drift off to sleep on our chests.
Scooter, the dog we rescued as a puppy shortly after getting married, curls up next to Griffin on the couch, completing our currently family of five, Scooter included. We got lucky with his temperament—the shelter wasn’t exactly sure what he’s a mix of. Not that we cared, then or now. He was perfect practice for us before the twins were born, and he’s matured enough since then to be kind and gentle with them now.
“Never a dull moment with these two,” Griffin says, shaking his head as he smiles down at Charlotte resting against his chest.
I smooth Georgia’s hair and whisper, “Were they okay while I was gone?”
“They weren’t happy about getting those onesies on, but besides that, they were a dream. I kept them entertained with my new comedy routine.”
I chuckle and roll my eyes. Griffin has fully embraced being a dad, and for him, that includes constantly coming up with as many awful dad jokes as he possibly can—and making us listen to them, and making the girls giggle and me belly laugh.
“They only laugh so you don’t feel bad about yourself. You know that, right?” I tease, loving that we can still tease and taunt each other like we did before we become a couple.
“Oh, please. They have their daddy’s sense of humor. They know talent when they see it and don’t you pretend that you don’t like my jokes.”
“Sure, babe, whatever you say. Speaking of talent, has Wren gotten back to you about this weekend?”
“Not yet. She said she was waiting on a new supplier.”
“A supplier? She makes balloon animals and paints faces. “How intense can this business be?”
“I guess she uses only organic, all-natural products, and those can be pretty tough to come by in her industry.”
“Well, tell her it’s the twins’ first birthday party, not high tea with the queen of England. We’d just like to have her there.”
He smiles warmly. “On it. Did you see the picture Kristen posted yesterday? She looks like she’s ready to pop.”
“I know, poor thing. A week past her due date already. You couldn’t pay me enough to be that pregnant again.”
Griffin raises an eyebrow at me. “Are you sure about that? Because Charlotte, Georgia, and I were talking about it today, and they said they wanted a little brother.”
“Oh, did they?” My mouth twitches into a smile and butterflies circle my belly like they always do when Griff mentions anything about babies. “Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?”
Before we can continue the conversation, my phone starts ringing from inside my tote in the kitchen. I get up, carefully place Georgia in her bassinet, and jog as quickly and quietly as I can to answer it. I pick up my phone and glance at Griffin after viewing the name on the screen.
Who is it? he mouths, and I simply force a smile in response.
“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”
“Hi, sweetie. How are the girls?”
“The girls are great. Sleeping, actually.”
“Griffin was kind enough to send me a picture of them wearing the adorable little onesies I got them. I could just eat them up, they’re so stinking cute. Does Georgia’s hair look like it’s getting a little red to you?”
“I was just saying that same thing to Griff. Also, hi, we’re fine too, by the way. Slightly sleep deprived, but we’ve got a good system going.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that, sweetheart. So, anyway, I wanted to call and go over some details about this weekend.”
I walk back over to the couch and curl up next to Griffin and the babies. As my mother rambles on about cupcakes and decorations, I make eye contact with Griffin, who furrows his brow to ask what she’s talking about. I simply shrug and roll my eyes in response. The party, I mouth. He shakes his head and raises his eyebrows, adjusting Charlotte’s positioning on his chest.
My mom has quickly taken to being a grandma, and while I’m incredibly appreciative of all her love and support, she’s proven to be a bit . . . overeager. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised—being a grandma has been her dream for decades, and now that she finally is one, she’s taking the role very seriously. And lately, that includes commandeering the twins’ first birthday party.
“And I was thinking maybe instead of peonies, we go with begonias—big, white, beautiful begonias. What do you think?”
She’s barely taken a single breath between sentences, and I’ve learned to just go along with whatever she says at this point. It’s not like I have some grand vision for what this birthday party needs to look like. I’m just happy that my babies are healthy and growing, and that our family is stronger than ever. If my mom wants to take over hammering out some of the details, that’s perfectly fine by me.
“Begonias sound beautiful, Mom. That’s a great idea.”
Griffin scrunches his eyebrows together and mouths, Begonias?
I shrug and shake my head, trying not to laugh at his reaction. Georgia’s perfect little mouth stretches into a small “o” as she yawns, her eyelids fluttering open.
“Mom, I’m sorry, I’ve got to go. Georgia’s waking up from her nap.”
“Oh, all right, sweetheart. Give the babies kisses for me. I’ll send you an email with the rest of the details.”
“Okay. ’Bye, Mom.”
Picking Georgia up and setting her in my lap, I snuggle up next to Griffin and Charlotte, just as Charlotte starts opening her eyes too. Our girls have such a strong twin connection sometimes, it’s almost freaky. But we’re getting used to it—and it’s just one more t
hing to love about the life we’ve built together.
“I’m starving,” I say, my stomach grumbling. “Do we have any leftovers from last night?”
“No need. There’s a Sonoma chicken sandwich waiting for you in the fridge. Extra poppy seed dressing, salt and vinegar chips, and all,” Griffin says casually as he makes a silly face to make the girls laugh.
It’s a small gesture, but in that moment, the fact that he bought me lunch—my favorite sandwich, no less, from all those years ago—makes my heart warm with happiness. Tears well up in my eyes.
When I don’t respond, Griffin turns to look at me, a confused and worried look crossing his face when he sees I’m on the brink of tears.
“Whoa, babe, are you okay?”
“I just love you,” I say, leaning in and pressing my face into his neck, the tears falling down my cheeks as I close my eyes.
“Guess I should buy you lunch more often,” he says when we part.
All I can do is laugh and shake my head at this sweet, thoughtful husband of mine, who does these small, kind things for me without even realizing how meaningful they are.
“By the way,” he adds as I stand with Georgia on my hip. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the whole little brother for the twins conversation.”
“I haven’t either. Let’s get through this party first. And then maybe we’ll start talking about other long-term plans.”
He smiles, the dimples on his cheeks making my heart squeeze like they have since the very first time I laid eyes on Griffin. My husband is totally a DILF. And he’s all mine.
“I like the sound of that,” he says, standing to join me to the kitchen,
The twins start babbling to each other, giggling and chattering in a way that makes me smile. They’re perfect. Griffin’s perfect. Well, that’s not true. No one is perfect, but they are perfect for me. And I can only imagine what the future holds for us.
“Me too,” I say, grinning at my gorgeous husband.
I’m so, so blessed.
Lexington Dane was my brother’s best friend growing up.
We did everything together.
He taught me how to throw a punch, how to change a tire…and he taught me how to kiss. I fell hard and fast, and gave him all my firsts.
I promised I’d wait for him…
But I’m done waiting, because he went off to college and never came back. He took his fancy business degree and moved to New York City, where he promptly became a real estate mogul—turning every penthouse and apartment project he touched into gold.
It’s been ten years, and now he’s back and needs a favor…someone to watch his little girl. That’s right, the cocky penthouse prince and heartbreaker extraordinaire Lexington is back with an adorable two-year-old daughter. Guess who he wants to watch her?
I’ve never been able to say no to him. I might agree to be the nanny for his precious little angel, but there’s no way in hell I’m falling for her hot-as-sin daddy.
Get your copy here.
Acknowledgments
Thank you so very much to my wonderful readers! You make all of this possible, and even though some days are stressful, I don’t take a single minute of that for granted. A giant bear hug to all the book bloggers who so graciously provide support and visibility for my books. Thank you!
I’m so grateful to my amazing team . . . you guys are incredible. At the risk of leaving anyone out, I will just say it takes a village, and I’m so glad you are part of mine.
Big squeezes to my husband, John, for the unending support he provides. Thank you for being my loudest cheerleader, my biggest advocate and my most complimentary reader.
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Other Books by Kendall Ryan
Unravel Me
Filthy Beautiful Lies Series
The Room Mate
The Play Mate
The House Mate
Screwed
The Fix Up
Dirty Little Secret
xo, Zach
Baby Daddy
Tempting Little Tease
Bro Code
Love Machine
Flirting with Forever
Dear Jane
Finding Alexei
Boyfriend for Hire
The Two-Week Arrangement
Seven Nights of Sin
Playing for Keeps
All the Way
Trying to Score
Crossing the Line
The Bedroom Experiment
Down and Dirty
Crossing the Line
Wild for You
Taking His Shot
How to Date a Younger Man
Penthouse Prince
For a complete list of Kendall’s books, visit:
www.kendallryanbooks.com/all-books/
