Say It's Forever (Redemption Hills #2)(86)

Footsteps shuffled in behind us, and Salem’s grandmother whisked by. “All right then, Juni Bee, why don’t you set the table for our company? Mimi is gonna whip us up some pancakes and eggs.”

Juni’s eyes widened in exuberance. “Just you waits, Motorcycle Man, my mimi makes the best breakfast in ever in ever. Take a seat and I’lls take care of you.”

She grabbed me by the hand and hauled me over to where Gage was sitting on his knees at the table. She patted the chair next to him. “Sits right there.”

Like I could refuse.

Not a chance.

“Right next to me!” Gage shouted. “I’m glad you got here, Uncle. I’ve been missin’ you like forever.”

Yeah, it’d been like yesterday since I’d seen him, but I’d take it.

I leaned in and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. “Me, too, Gage in the Cage. Me, too.”

I slid into the spot next to him. Couldn’t stop the grin from splitting my mouth. Not when my gaze caught on Salem where she watched us from the archway.

Thunderbolt eyes the softest they’d ever been.

My chest panged.

Mayhem going down right in the middle of me.

This want unlike anything I’d ever felt. This connection greater—bigger—than anything I’d experienced.

It felt like I got knocked in the face when I realized it was true.

Did she feel it?

Salem inhaled a shaky breath while she stared back at me, like she’d gotten swept up by the awareness, too.

Then she straightened and walked the rest of the way into the kitchen. She sidled up to her grandmother and set to work.

“Anything I can do to help?” I asked.

Salem’s grandmother waved me off. “You just sit there and look pretty. Coffee will be ready in a minute.”

My eyebrow quirked.

Pretty?

Salem hid her smile as she pulled out a bowl and measuring cups, and she peeked at me every few seconds as she started to measure and pour in the ingredients.

When the coffee maker beeped, Salem grabbed a mug, filled it, and picked up the carton of creamer and dumped a small splash in the way I always did at the shop.

And shit, yeah, I liked that, too. Liked that she’d been paying attention. Learning me the way I’d been learning her.

She carried it over to me, her breath turning shallow as she rounded the corner. As that need amplified with each step that brought us closer.

“There you go.” Her voice was doing that wispy, throaty thing.

Sexy as fuck.

Sweet, too.

Accepting the mug, I let my fingertips brush over hers.

Warmth raced. Her confusion. Her want.

This thing that I was so over pretending didn’t exist.

“Thank you, darlin’.”

“I think that’s the way you take it?” she asked, almost hopefully.

“Couldn’t ask for anything better.” Let the innuendo slide out with that.

Her grandmother hummed a knowing sound from the kitchen.

Yeah, we were in trouble with that one. Woman watching us like a hawk. Clearly, there was no reason for us to keep up with the charade.

Juni came bundling over with a handful of forks, counting them out as she rounded the table. “One, two, three, four, five.” She smiled up at me. “There you go.”

I grinned at her. “Thank you.”

“You gots it, Motorcycle Man.”

And shit, I touched her dimpled chin, couldn’t stop it, the affection that rose up and took me under.

A flashflood that came from out of nowhere.

Caught me unaware.

Fifteen minutes later, the five of us were sitting around the table eating what was, in fact, the best breakfast in ever in ever.

Straight-up delicious.

But I was pretty sure it was the company that made it unforgettable. My nephew on my right and my girl on my left. Salem’s grandmother sat next to her, and Juni sat squeezed between Mimi and Gage on a high stool since there weren’t enough chairs for all of us.

Juni and Gage prattled nonstop, giggling and stuffing their faces while telling the tallest tales, while I let myself get lost in the feeling.

This sensation that a bad piece of me had gone right.

That maybe…maybe…

“That was incredible,” I said as I took my last bite. I looked across the table at Mimi, like she’d insisted I call her. “I really appreciate you inviting me.”

She smirked, all kinds of knowing. “I don’t think it was me who did the inviting. Some people just head in the direction they belong.”

“Mimi.” Horror flew from Salem’s mouth.

A rough chuckle scraped from mine. Under the table, I set my hand on Salem’s thigh and gently squeezed. Fuckin’ loved the way she breathed out a tiny sound that lit a fire in my veins. I glanced at Salem and then at her grandmother. “Well, I’m just glad the door was open when I got here.”

“Oh, it wasn’t open, young man…it seems you possessed the right key to turn the lock.” Suggestion filled her words, and the old woman flashed this scandalous smile, her face weathered and aged, but it was clear the mischief had never faded from her mind.

I choked out a laugh.

Groaning, Salem covered her face with her hands. “Mimi. Oh my god.”