Page 78 of Kiss Kiss Bang
“That sounds delicious. Why don’t you go brush your teeth and change while he finishes up?” Sophie hopped down and ran to the room.
Reaching forward, Joey turned off the stove and turned his attention to her. When his attention went full-on to her, it was a very powerful thing—the way his jaw flexed and his pupils dilated and his lips parted slightly. He took a step forward and pulled her toward him by the waistband of her jeans. “Hi,” he said roughly.
“Hi.”
“You should’ve woken me up.”
She saw the understanding seep in. “I thought I’d try to handle it. You need sleep.”
“Thank you. I slept great. But, you really didn’t have to burden . . .”
“It’s not a burden, Livie. Stop walking on eggshells and stop being nervous. Just roll with it.”
She let out a breath, sagging closer to him.
“Are you still mad at me?” he asked.
“Mad? I’m pretty sure I’m totally in love with you. But yeah, I guess I’m still mad. Promise not to hack into my opponents computer anymore okay?”
His smile was the brightest she’d ever seen. He looked so good with his face and head full of blondish scruff. “I promise.”
“I love you too, by the way.”
She smiled and pressed closer to him. “I’ve never said that to anyone before and it’s weird because now I’m bursting with love. But you and Sophie, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you two. She’s . . . if I had a daughter, I’d want her to be just like Sophie.”
Her eyes watered and her chin quivered. Never had more beautiful words been spoken. “How about a morning kiss?” she whispered through trembling lips.
“I’ve been waiting for it since you walked in here with all that hair loose everywhere. You should always wear it like that. Actually no, keep wearing it in a tight knot on your head. Only I should get to see all this.” He ran his fingers through her hair and then kissed her. It started off rather chaste and then escalated a bit when tongues began to invade. But it was very short-lived when the sound of little feet came closer.
“What’s the plan today?” he asked as he placed Sophie’s food on her plate.
“I have to sit with her and go over all the schoolwork she is missing. I also have a ton of meetings via Skype and want to get to work on that debate. Mark scheduled it for next week.”
* * *
Olivia had spent the last two hours in a teleconference while Sophie colored her homework. “I want to catch lizards,” she said.
“Sophie. The smell’s so bad outside.”
“I feel better, Mommy.”
For the last week and a half they’d been holed up in the house and her daughter was getting restless, which was absolutely understandable.
“You promise not to run off to the bougainvillea trees? Stay on the back porch and if you start coughing you come right back in.”
“Promise!” She squealed and went to her room. Five minutes later, she was dressed in a T-shirt, mermaid leggings, and yellow polka dot wellies. She had a net in her hands and sunglasses on her head. She looked adorably mismatched. And Olivia loved her.
“Remember what I said.”
“Okay, Mommy. Can Joey come play too?”
“No, sweets. Joey is in my room working.” He’d been holed up there all morning going through email after email. “I’ll let him know when he finishes, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy.”
“Love you sweets.”
“Love you too, Mum.”
