Page 70 of Enchant Me

“Me, too. Maybe we can work some puzzles later. Want to?”

I meet Damien’s eyes, and we share a moment of pleasant surprise as Lara says, “Okay.”

“You want to show me to my room?” he asks, and she bounces with glee, then takes his hand. Ash has no luggage, so Damien and I linger, letting Ash and Lara have their own moment.

“I can’t believe how fast things have turned around with him,” I say. “I’m glad, too. I genuinely like him.”

“Me, too,” Damien says. “But what the hell was he doing racing like that?”

“Yeah,” I say, staring my husband down. “How could he possibly lose his temper and fly off the handle. I wonder where he gets that?” I smile sweetly, then watch as Damien lifts his hand in surrender.

I hear Lara chattering before we actually see them return. She’s going a mile a minute, telling Ash about the house and Sunshine and her dance lessons and on and on. He shoots us an amused glance as they pass, and Lara drags him outside to meet Bradley, Anne, and Bree.

“Should we invite Jackson and Syl over?” Damien asks.

I shake my head. “Tomorrow, maybe. He must be achy from the crash—we need to tell Lara that he needs rest—so I don’t think we should overwhelm him with relatives too soon.”

“You’re right. I’m just....” He trails off, shaking his head. “I guess I’m happy. And I want him to feel comfortable with us. With all of us.”

I tug him to a stop and slide into his arms. “I like you happy.”

He kisses me sweetly. “I’m sorry if this has been hard on you.” He brushes my hair behind my ear. “I’ve been counting on you being right beside me, but I don’t think I’ve paid enough attention to how surreal this must be for you.”

“It’s a little surreal,” I admit. “But in a good way. And it’s only been hard for me because you had to struggle through it.”

“I have a son, Nikki. A son that isn’t ours.”

I step back, feigning shock. “Really? Because it seems to me that you’ve told me more than once that everything you have is mine, too.”

He laughs. “So I did.”

“In that case,” I say. “We have a son. Two of them. And two daughters. And it’s all good, Mr. Stark.”

“I love you,” he says, then pulls me close and kisses me.

“Mommy and Daddy kiss a lot,” Lara says, and I pull away to find her and Ash back in the first floor living area.

“That’s because they like each other,” Ash says.

“Yeah,” Lara says. “Do you like anybody?”

I think I see a shadow cross Ash’s eyes, but all he says is, “Not at the moment.” Then he clears his throat, and looks at us. “The kids suggested that since I’m supposed to chill, that they play in the pool and we relax on the lounge chairs.”

“Did they?”

“You always say it’s relaxing,” Lara says. “And we haven’t had pool time in days.”

I look toward the door to see Bree nod, signaling that she’s fine supervising in the pool.

“Go change, then. We’ll meet you out there. And you can show Ash all your tricks.”

Lara calls to Anne and the two race off together as Bree snags Bradley to go take care of getting him in his suit.

“They’re fabulous,” Ash says. “All three of them. And that son of a bitch stole them from me. I swear, I could kill him for that.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Damien says. “Your uncle and I have both spent some terrifying hours on the wrong side of a murder charge.”

“My uncle. Holy shit. Jackson Steele’s my uncle.” He aims a sheepish grin at Damien. “I’m a fan. Would love to see him design a car.”