Page 74 of The Way We Were
I inch my mouth closer to hers. “Lucky for you, I’m anything but normal.”
Any reply she is planning to give is halted by the lash of my tongue against her lips. My god—as sweet as honey and as sinful as vodka. Savannah’s intoxicating palate would make a sane man insane and a sober man drunk.
I stop refilling my lungs with air when a grunt sounds through my ears. It is closely followed by the stomping of a foot. Not needing further instructions, I bob down to Rylee’s height so she can issue me the same farewell kiss she has given me every day for the past nearly four months.
“Bye, Daddy,” she whispers, her farewell as perfect to my ears as the first hundred times she’s called me her dad.
She curls her arms around my neck to squeeze me tightly. “Be careful.” She stutters her last word, her fret as high as her mother’s when I am on duty.
Although the massive settlement Savannah will be paid by the state means I could soon live like a king, I have no intentions of resigning from my position at Ravenshoe PD. What Regina said all those years ago was true. I was born for this job—I just needed to pull my head out of my ass to see it. Savannah understands this; that is why she’s never mentioned me leaving. It is only Rylee who doesn’t understand why I can’t stay home and play Barbie dolls with her all day. The long paternity leave I’m planning to take when her brother is born will hopefully quench her desires for a few months.
After drawing Rylee into my chest, I assure her, “Don’t fret, sweetheart. Daddy has been waiting for your mommy for a very long time. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. And neither are you.”
