Page 57 of Striker

Striker grins. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing what that one word does to him. He throws the covers back and gets out of bed wearing nothing. As he bends over to pull on a pair of shorts I can’t help but enjoy the view. I pull on my robe and follow him downstairs.

We find Josie standing in the kitchen surrounded by cereal. The box is upside down on the floor and she’s standing in the middle of the mess with a proud expression on her face.

Striker puts his hands on his hips. “What happened here?”

Josie points towards her toy bunny. I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t laugh.

“The bunny did it?” he asks.

Josie nods solemnly.

He crouches down in front of her. “Josie, sweetheart, you know you ain’t supposed to climb on the chairs when me and your mommy aren’t here.” Her eyes widen. He’s not scolding her, but she does listen intently. “If you’re hungry, you gotta come get me or your mommy and we’ll fix you breakfast, okay?”

“Okay, daddy.”

I pour some more cereal into a bowl for her while Striker sweeps up the mess. I smile to myself. It’s just a normal morning in the Cooper-Benson household. And I couldn’t be happier.

By ten, the house is quiet again, but this time not suspiciously. Striker has disappeared into his office to watch the security footage. Josie is sitting at the kitchen table coloring, and I’m working through invoices for one of my clients. I finish reconciling an account and close the spreadsheet.

My eyes drift towards the window.

Marriage and babies…

The thought comes out of nowhere. We talked about marriage a few weeks ago, but nothing’s really been said. More that we’re on the same page and it’s something in our future. Then again, Striker doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body, so I wouldn’t be surprised if rather than a proposal, one day I find a date marked ‘Wedding’ in my diary. But I don’t need a big white dress or a fancy ring to know I’m where I’m going to be forever.

A few minutes later, I hear the door open. “Beth?”

“In here.”

Striker walks into the kitchen. He’s changed out of what he had on earlier and is now wearing jeans and a clean black T-shirt.

I stare at him. “Why do you look like you’re going somewhere?”

“We are.”

“We?” I ask.

“You, me, and Josie.”

Josie appears behind him wearing the tiny leather vest Queenie had made for her. It says ‘Princess’ across the back. She looks proud as anything when she wears it.

“Where are we going?”

“Clubhouse.”

“Why?”

He shrugs. “Gotta do some things, then thought we could grab lunch.”

“You showered for lunch?”

“What’s with the interrogation, darlin’?” he asks lightly. Under normal circumstances I probably wouldn’t think anything of it, but today he seems to be acting shifty.

“I’m suspicious because my man is acting weird,” I say. Then I add, “Weirder.”

He walks over, puts both hands on my hips, and kisses me. By the time he pulls back, I’ve temporarily forgotten what we were talking about. “Go get dressed, darlin’.”

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