Today. Tomorrow. Always (Free Falling, #3.5)(9)
“Her schedule doesn’t have to match his to a tee. Right now, Carla comes in three mornings a week, then one or two evenings if Kai’s there late. Otherwise, he faxes a lot of what he needs done to her home office.”
“Angel’s already got a setup like that for when she does work on the side for Uncle Todd. Fax machine and everything,” I countered, really wanting this to work out.
He rubbed his chin. “Speaking of, I thought he wanted her to come work with him full-time? What about that? She may not even want this job.”
AJ was right, but he was forgetting that, while yes, Angel did have a degree in accounting and her father had his own successful firm, she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about working up under her dad like that. The position at Arata would actually be the perfect opportunity for her to decide if that should be her next long-term move.
I watched AJ intently. “If you think she’d be interested, the job is hers.”
“She’s gonna be so excited!” I squealed. After kissing AJ’s cheek, I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to give Angel a call later; sharing the good news, assuming she’d want the position, that is.
AJ stood from the bed now that his issue had become a non-issue and headed toward the dresser to grab something to wear. I was staring… hard. Couldn’t help myself. My husband was a beautiful specimen of a man and I gawked shamelessly at him whenever given the chance. Who wouldn’t? I must’ve been staring a little too hard, though, because he ended up catching me. Our encounter from the night before had left me satisfied, yet still wanting more. That’s how it always was. Without me having to explain my feelings, without having to put into words what I wanted, the distance between he and I disappeared as he crossed the room and came back to the bed.
My back sank deep into the mattress when he came to lie on top of me, feverishly kissing my lips. I felt him between my legs, erect, ready. He pulled away just long enough to slip my shirt over my head, came back to consume me with another kiss, and then the next sound we heard was a tiny cry that filtered through the monitor on my nightstand.
We both sighed heavily at the exact same time.
“Like clockwork,” AJ said with a groan, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile as he peeled his body off of mine.
“Every time,” I added, sitting up to clothe myself again. Through his boxers, I could still see that he was ‘standing at attention’, so to speak, as he slipped his t-shirt on. Eventually covering his lower half with a pair of basketball shorts, I almost protested out loud. A heavy sigh left my lungs as he turned to shoot me that irresistible, boyish grin of his as he went to Anthony’s rescue.
I fell back on the bed, listening through the monitor as he quieted our son almost instantly, by simply walking into the room. AJ had such a way with our boy. I lay there, smiling to myself as father and son carried on a one-sided conversation, consisting of AJ asking Anthony what all the fuss was about as the little one whimpered and squealed softly in response. I leaned to the side to steal a glance at them across the hall and my smile only broadened. AJ had his arms full, letting the last of Anthony’s tears absorb into his shirt as he soothed him. He truly was in his element with this whole ‘fatherhood’ thing. He loved being a dad almost more than anything.
My conversation with Terrell from earlier came back to me. Maybe he was right. Maybe AJ was more ready to grow our family than I thought.
My two guys ventured back across the hallway and into my bedroom. AJ closed the door behind him again and plopped down on the mattress with Anthony still in his arms. I rubbed my baby’s back, but my attention was mostly on AJ.
“Terrell and I had an interesting talk today.”
He laughed. “Every conversation with Terrell is an interesting one.”
I smiled. “True. But he mentioned that you two had talked about us having more kids.”
He let his back rest against the headboard and Anthony started dozing again in his arms. “Mmm… I mean, it’s something that’s come up once or twice before, but not anything too deep. Why?”
I shrugged and rested my head in his lap with my back to him since having his arms around me wasn’t an option. His free hand came down on my neck gently and he pulled my hair away from my skin. “No reason, really. He just got me to thinking,” I answered.
“About?” AJ asked.
“Us. Our family.”
“Our family’s perfect,” he countered, and I could hear him smiling when he did.
That made me smile, too. “I agree,” I said, adding the next part just a bit hesitantly. “When you mentioned it to him, the part about having more kids, did you mean right now?”
He gave that some thought and then I had to glance at him over my shoulder when he laughed. “Well… I mean, we never really have been much for planning, Sam. We tend to do things how we see fit, not the way everyone else thinks we should.”
I turned to face him, wanting to see his expression while we talked. Anthony yawned and placed his tiny hand on my name tattooed on the side of AJ’s neck before letting his eyes close again.
There was a long bout of silence. I stared at AJ while waiting, but the more that time ticked past, the more curious I became about what he’d say next. “I encouraged you to start your own business, right?”
I nodded, feeling the satiny material of his shorts against my face. “Right.”