“Are you kidding? I love it here. I can picture Joey running through these halls and the yard—”
He stiffened, alarm widening his eyes. “I’ll have to have a fence put up. We can’t let her out there until there’s a fence.”
I grinned at him. “I think we have time. She can’t even sit up on her own yet. Running around is a while away.”
He slid his hand to the back of my hair, fisting it just shy of too tight. “I won’t let Liam take her from us.”
As adamant as he was, what lay beneath his statement was fear. I heard it in the slight quiver of his voice. The grip on my hair. The urgency in his eyes.
I’d missed this when I’d come into his office to seek comfort from him after my talk with Liam. I didn’t recognize then Elliot had been just as worried. He was attached to Joey and had taken care of her via me since he’d become aware of her existence. Of course he’d be worried about another man coming into the picture.
“No. He won’t take her. She’s ours.”
A rumble vibrated his chest. “That’s right, sweetheart. Josephine is ours. Mine and yours.”
“And you love her.”
“I do. I love that little girl and her mother too. You’re both mine.”
“We are.” I clasped his hand and brought it to my lips to kiss. “We’ll handle Liam together, all right? You’ll be with me every step. That would make me feel a whole lot better about it all anyway.”
His brow dropped into a stern line. “No more private phone calls.”
I quirked my lips. Stern Elliot made happy bubbles in my stomach. “And no more secret meetings.”
His answering huff had an edge of annoyance, but he acquiesced. “Fine. As long as you’re okay with me being underhanded if I need to.”
“I’m okay with that.”
He looked at me, serious as ever. “I’m putting your name on the deed to this house.”
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. I knew he was serious and there was nothing I could do to stop him. “You know that’s crazy.”
“I don’t believe it is. Not with you. I’m not going to let you or Joey go, so there’s nothing crazy about giving you ownership of my house. You already own me, free and clear.”
“And you’re all I want.” Reaching back, I slid his hand from my hair and placed it on my chest, right over my fluttering heart. His fingers curled into my chest like he was wrapping them around my heart.
“I’m not your parents, Catherine. I won’t ever abandon you. Do you believe me?”
“I believe you, and I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you yesterday. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you needed reassurance from me. I love you, Elliot, and I want to be a family with you.”
He swallowed hard, his mouth opening and closing twice before he spoke. “I want that too. More than anything.”
“Hug.”
His arms closed around me with zero hesitation, and we fell backward on the couch, tangled around each other. I pressed my face into his chest, inhaled his warm, clean scent, and exhaled my relief.
I was home.
Chapter Thirty-eight
Elliot
I had my girls back, so why couldn’t I shake the tightness in my chest?
This was all I wanted. The two of them, in my house, never leaving, making them mine for all time.
I dragged my hands through my hair, noting a slight tremor. This was no good. Whatever this was needed to stop.
Leaning over Catherine, who was propped up against the headboard of our bed, I pressed a kiss to Joey’s fuzzy head. She paused nursing to look at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
“Good night, little girl,” I murmured before kissing Catherine’s forehead. “I’m going to go shower.”
Catherine grabbed my arm and rubbed her face against it before kissing the crook of my elbow. She always did things like that, kissing me in spots that weren’t common. Any place she could fit her lips.
Kisses like touching down on the moon.
Like javelin throws.
Long jumps.
The landing was what mattered.
Sucking in a harsh breath that didn’t fill my constricted lungs, I pulled myself away and left the room. In my bathroom, I closed the door and turned on the shower. Hot, boiling. I didn’t get in right away, letting the room fill with steam, the mirror fogging over.
In my distorted reflection, I barely made out my shape. I rubbed my chest. Still too damn tight.
Discarding my clothes in a pile on the ground, I stepped into the scalding shower, so hot the burn numbed my skin. I stood under the beating water, willing my chest to loosen for the tremors in my hands to fade.
Was this the residue of my two-day-long panic attack? It should have been ebbing by now.
Cool air sliced across my arm, and my head whipped sideways to see Catherine, my Catherine undressed and putting her foot in the shower.
“No! Don’t come in here.” My frantic bellow echoed off the tile walls.
She jumped back, her hands over her breasts, eyes round and wounded. “I’m sorry. I—”
As she turned, my arm shot out to grab her nape and spin her back to me. “The water, sweetheart. It’s too hot for you.” Keeping her under my hand, I twisted the dial to make the temperature more bearable.
“I thought you wanted to be alone. I should have asked, not presumed,” she quavered, still clutching her chest.
I tugged her forward into the shower with me. “I always want you with me. You really don’t have to ask. I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”
She smoothed her palms over my reddened skin. “And what about you? Who’s stopping you from getting hurt?”
Releasing a heavy sigh, I dropped my forehead to the top of her head. “I guess that’s you. If you hadn’t come, I probably would have boiled my flesh from my bones.”
“Don’t do that.” She squeezed my shoulders. “I like your skin.”
“You’re stealing my lines.”
“I like your lines too.” She pressed into me, her soft breasts flattening against my abdomen. “Can I wash your hair?”
“I—” Didn’t know what the fuck to say. “Do you want to?”
She nodded, drops of water dripping from her lashes, running in rivulets down her cheeks. “I’d like to take care of you, Elliot.” Rising on her toes, she reached for my hair, sliding her fingers through the sides. “You have me at a height disadvantage, though. You might need to sit down for me.”
“I can do that.” I took a seat on the built-in marble bench at the back of the shower, my heart tumbling down never-ending stairs. But that wasn’t panic. It came from watching Catherine. We hadn’t taken a shower together before, and the sight of her with water streaming over her curves like a wild waterfall snatched what little breath I’d recovered right out of my lungs.
This woman was spectacular.
She stepped between my spread knees, rubbed the shampoo in her hands together, then went to work on my hair. Her fingers carved lines along the sides and top, nails dragging from my crown to my nape.