LOL: Laugh Out Loud (After Oscar, #2)(67)

When we were all done and it was finally time to give poor Nugget a break, we took her into the barn and put her in cross ties to brush her down.

Diana helped the girls take turns giving Nugget chunks of carrots while Earl walked me through removing the tack and explaining the adjustments of the saddle again for next time.

Once Nugget was fed, watered, and put back in her stall, we made our way to the house where Roman and Diana began making soup and sandwiches for lunch. I helped the girls wash up in the sink in the mudroom before pouring them the milk they asked for.

Again, I found myself at the kitchen table surrounded by the boisterous comfort of a family meal. The girls chatted excitedly about their horse adventure, and Roman teased them about the snow “horse” they’d tried building while I was riding. It was so domestic and warm, I wanted to close my eyes and simply live in it for as long as I could, imprinting it on my memory to bring out later when I was all alone again in a murky rented room in Queens. Despite Roman’s sweet words about a future together, it still seemed too good to actually come true.

“Baby,” Roman murmured in my ear. This time he’d chosen to sit next to me instead of across the wooden table.

“Hmm?”

“Everything okay?”

I nodded and turned to him, opening my eyes and hoping he could see my emotion without asking me to verbalize it. His hand clutched my thigh, and he leaned in to press a kiss next to my mouth. “Too much?” he asked softly.

I shook my head. “The perfect amount.”

And it was. The day continued in family bliss with a Disney movie marathon in the theater room in which I snuggled against Roman and the girls snuggled against me. Once it was over, Diana, Earl, and the girls headed to their rooms. Roman had put them in a family suite up over the garage. It was like their own little apartment with two bedrooms and two bathrooms and a small play area where they could spread out and still have privacy. It also kept them away from Lolo and Larry, wherever they happened to be (a question I chose not to ask).

Roman and I weren’t quite ready to retire, so he set a fire in the den while I opened a bottle of wine. I sighed as I sunk onto a pallet of blankets Roman had arranged in front of the flames.

“Everything okay?” he asked, pulling me against him and trailing his fingers through my hair.

I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face. “Everything is perfect.”

“Oh, I don’t know that I’d go that far,” he said, his voice low and rumbly.

“Really? Why not?” I twisted to look up at him and noticed that his pupils were blown wide, his expression naked with desire.

“Because no day is perfect unless I’ve had you in my mouth.” He dipped his head toward mine, capturing my lips with his. I surged against him, straddling his lap and looping my arms around his neck to draw him against me.

“Getting closer,” he growled, nipping down the column of my throat.

And it was too. Until the doorbell rang and my almost perfect day came to a screeching halt.





20





Roman





Pros and (Ex) Cons



The doorbell rang again and I groaned.

“Let’s ignore it,” Scotty murmured against my mouth. “Nothing good ever comes through that door.”

As much as I wanted to, this wasn’t my house and I wasn’t comfortable not answering it. “We can’t,” I said, reluctantly pushing to my feet.

Scotty tugged on my wrist, trying to pull me back down beside him. “We totally can. Ignore it and they’ll go away. That’s my philosophy on life and people who arrive at Oscar’s cottage after dark.” He used air quotes around the word cottage.

The doorbell rang a third time. “Don’t think that approach is going to work.” I held out a hand to help him up, and we started threading our way through the house. “Plus, it could be Marigold needing something.”

Scotty snorted. “Like vodka? We might be out. Which is a pretty impressive feat. That man had enough liquor stashed away to survive the zombie apocalypse. No, I’m guessing it’s that cop again. Officer McHotBeard.”

I froze, pulling Scotty to a stop beside me and draping a possessive arm over his shoulder. “Maybe we shouldn’t answer it, then,” I growled.

Scotty smirked. “Oh he wouldn’t be here for me, I can guarantee you that. I think he’s got his cuffs set on someone else, if you know what I mean.” He waggled his eyebrows as he mouthed the word Lolo, and I shuddered at the thought of the burly cop cuffing the slender egret of a man.

“You’re going to regret planting that image in my head,” I said, tickling my fingertips over his ribs and making him squirm. He let out a squeal of laughter and twisted out of my grasp. He danced backward just out of reach ahead of me, teasing me with his smile.

“Though speaking of Lolo, that’s probably who it is,” I said, advancing on him. “I doubt either he or Larry remembered to take a key with them earlier, so I’m guessing it’s them.”

Scotty froze and grabbed my arm before I could reach for the handle. “No! That’s even more reason not to answer!”

I placed a kiss on his nose. “You’re adorable, you know that?”

He grinned, his eyes bright with mischief and cheer. “And you’re sexy as fuck and I can’t wait to get you back in my bed and—”