“Can Ralph sleep in my room?”
I laughed out loud.Ralph the puppy.Named for the retching he started after he tore open one of the trash bags and devoured every scrap of food he could find. Of course Reagan and Rogan hadn’t thought of the name. That was all Koen. Personally, I thought it was hysterical. Duncan, on the other hand, threatened to put his young agent on permanent poop patrol for giving his kids the idea.
“Not tonight.”
She pouted for half a second before rejoining her friends. Ralph ran between them all, barking his puppy head off. None of them would last until bedtime, not the twins or the dog, which was fine by me.
“Hey.”
Duncan folded his strong arms around my waist from behind, his heat warming my back as he pulled me close, taking some of my weight. His scent consumed me. Sandalwood with a hint of citrus from his favorite bodywash. I breathed him in.
“Hey, yourself.”
“Thank you, Sunshine.”
“For what?”
“For them. For you.” He kissed the side of my neck, right below my ear. “For all of it. The three of you are my whole world. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“Even when it seemed impossible, I never gave up hope that you’d find us again one day. Finn tried to convince me to move on, but how could I when every time I looked into their eyes, I saw you?”
“It must’ve been hard being a single mom.”
“I wasn’t alone, Duncan.” Turning in his arms, I gazed up into the pale-blue eyes I loved so much. “I had Finn and,believe it or not, Mom helped too. She wasn’t always the selfish person you had the misfortune of meeting.”
“It’ll be different next time.”
“Next time?” I raised a brow.
“I want more babies with you, Sloane.” His voice took on a softer, more reverent tone. “I want to be there for every part of the journey. To hear their heartbeat whoosh through the speaker of that machine, whatever it's called. To watch your belly grow. To feel them kick for the first time. I want to experience everything with you.”
“How many do you want?”
“As many as you’ll give me.”
Cue the ovary explosion. Duncan was going to turn me into a blubbering mess. We’d talked about having a big family before our lives imploded, now here he was, offering it to me on a silver platter. How was this my life? It felt like everything was happening at the speed of light.
“What happened to taking things slow?”
“We’ve never been slow. As soon as you let me back inside your delectable body, it was game over. In fact, we should let Waverly know you won’t be needing to rent her house any longer. Honestly, it's a waste to maintain two separate households when you’re living here.”
“Wait. Are you asking us to move in with you?”
He grinned, his shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Sunshine, have you been paying attention?”
“Of course I have,” I scoffed.
“Really? Tell me then, which closet are your clothes hanging in? Whose bathroom sink is piled high with all your girly shit? And let’s not forget Ro and Reagan. Where is all of their stuff?”
Holy crap.How had I not seen it? The extrasuitcase he’d packed for me, stating he wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. The boxes full of the kids’ belongings he said was to make sure they were comfortable. Was I so completely blinded by love that I didn’t realize what he was doing? The answer was unequivocally yes.
“Oh my God, you already moved us into your house.”
“Our house, Sloane.”
Our house.
He’d called it that from day one, meaning this was his plan all along. I couldn’t even be mad about it. The kids and I were his endgame, just like he was mine. Duncan Palmer was simply a better strategist.