CHAPTER NINETEEN

NATALIE

I woke up exactly where I dreamed of being during those long, sleepless nights at the shelter.

Inside strong arms and feeling rough stubble against my back and shoulders, kissing me into the waking world. 

“Good morning, beautiful,” came Sol’s voice, raspy and sexy from morning grogginess. 

“Morning, handsome.” 

I spun around within the warm, protective shield of his arms that held me as gently as a fragile bird. With my eyes still closed, I nuzzled closer into his chest, pouring kisses on whatever warm area of skin my lips came across. 

His fingers wound into my hair and his lips pressed to my forehead and brow. I sighed deeply, never before feeling so content. So cared for and loved. 

“Do we have to get out of bed?” I murmured into his chest. 

“Yes,” he chuckled, sending a deep, wonderful rumble against my lips. “I’m taking you out, remember? Wining and dining you.” His hands smoothed up and down my bare back, sending warmth and tingles to the stiff muscles which barely moved after eight hours of sleep. “There’s also the whole parenting thing I gotta do.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I smirked, pulling my head out of his chest. “Do you want me to go to my own room before she wakes up?” 

“What? No. Absolutely not.” 

He pulled me back into him and rolled on top of me, pinning me down and making me squirm with laughter as he tickled my neck and my sides with his scratchy stubble. 

“ Really, though. What are we going to tell her?” I asked.

He paused before planting a kiss on my belly. 

“I think she already knows on some level that we’re, you know, seeing each other. She’s a smart kid. When she starts asking questions, I figure we just tell her the truth.” 

“And that would be what, exactly?” 

He opened his palms, interlacing his fingers with mine and gave me a long, slow sensual kiss that stole my breath away.

“That you make me happy and I like having you here.” His grin turned wicked. “And you give the best blowjob I’ve ever had.” 

I made my best aghast face and he laughed. “Okay, maybe not that last part.” 

“What if,” I paused, suddenly nervous about the question. “What if she wants to call me Mommy?”

His smile dropped but his eyes remained soft and understanding. “That’s up to you if you would be comfortable with that.” 

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I mean, she’s a great kid. But I guess I’d want to see where… this, us, goes. Otherwise, it wouldn’t seem appropriate.”

“I completely agree.” He kissed me again and pulled back with a smile. “Not to rush anything but I’m not too worried. Seems like we’re getting along alright.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically. “I guess we are.”

He leaned in and tickled me with his face again until my stomach hurt from laughing so hard and I begged him to stop. 

“Come on,” he said, slapping my ass before rolling out of bed and pulling on a pair of shorts. “Let’s get the little princess situated so we can enjoy our adult time.” 

“So that’s what they’re calling it these days,” I smirked. 

I got Ari dressed while Sol prepared a massive breakfast of scrambled eggs, French toast, and sausage. For claiming to not cook much, he sure knew his way around breakfast foods. 

Netta would be coming to pick up Ari after breakfast to take her to another kid’s birthday party. 

The house was chaotic with crazy high energy that morning with Ari’s excitement for the party, Sol telling her repeatedly to calm down and eat, Netta coming over and ranting about other neighbors while she helped herself to coffee.

And I found myself enjoying it. 

I leaned back against the kitchen counter, sipping my coffee and observed the chaos before me. It was like one of those fictional families on sitcoms that sat around a table talking and complaining, but loved each other deeply and always stuck together. 

I never experienced that kind of loud family dynamic. With just Dad and me, it was always so quiet. Sometimes we hardly felt like a family at all. 

“Ready to head out soon, beautiful?”

Sol interrupted my trance with a coffee-flavored kiss right in front of Netta and Ari as they were leaving. Netta lifted an eyebrow but didn’t say anything while Ari just waved at us furiously from the door. 

“Bye Daddy! Bye Natalie!” 

“Have a good time at the party, sweetie!” I waved back, then refocused my attention on the handsome man in front of me. “Yeah, I’ll be ready soon. Just let me freshen up.” 

A few minutes later, I had quickly showered and changed into a simple blue shift dress that matched my eyes. It was a bit big when I first picked it out from Netta’s stash but now it threatened to hug curves I didn’t know I had. 

Sol was just buttoning up a white dress shirt with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. It contrasted with his tanned, tattooed skin and the flattering dark pants and shoes he wore. 

“You look nice,” I said, observing him from the doorway. If nice meant I wanted to rip the buttons off that shirt with my teeth and ride that handsome face all the way into paradise. 

“Thanks, babe.” 

He looked over at me and his jaw dropped. 

“Holy… fuck.” 

“That bad, huh?” I cracked, trying not to let his reaction sting. 

“No fucking way, you look amazing. Come here.” He grinned as he pulled me forward and slid his large, protective hands around my waist. “I can’t wait to walk around with this gorgeous woman on my arm.” 

I rarely felt shy but to hear him say that with such warmth and sincerity made me downright bashful. My eyes fluttered nervously to the ground to look at our shoes. 

He kissed my forehead as if gently reminding me that I didn’t have to be nervous around him, that I could be myself without worry or fear.

“Ready to go?” he asked. 

I nodded and we left the house together holding hands. 

“It’s a beautiful day to walk,” he said, gently leading me down the street. “We can be like tourists and check out the downtown.” 

In five short minutes, we were strolling down a beautiful block with charming brick buildings and streets that bustled with activity. People walked their dogs and window shopped as if they had all the time in the world. Fruit and vegetable stands displayed mouthwatering produce, which Sol said were all from local farmers.

Adorable shops ranging from coffee houses to jewelry stores to ice cream parlors lined the streets, their doors open and welcoming. As we walked with our fingers intertwined, Sol told me something about each one. The ice cream parlor had been owned by a local family for over forty years. He sold weed to the lady who owned the jewelry store, who said it helped with her arthritis and allowed her to keep creating. 

I paused outside the brilliantly decorated facade of a flower shop that said Dahlia’s Blooms in elegant, golden script on the floor-to-ceiling window. Not only were all the colors of the plants and flowers dazzling to look at, the whole place also smelled wonderful. 

“Let’s go in.” Sol pulled me through the front door before I could give it a second thought. 

“Hello, welcome in!” greeted the woman at the counter with a warm smile. She was young, not much older than me and had pale blonde hair that was almost silver in color and large dark eyes. 

“Hi,” I replied before feasting my eyes on the wonderful displays, colors, and shapes that surrounded me. 

Everything from classic rose bouquets to exotic orchids filled the room. There were also hanging plants and potted succulents that looked like precious jewels. But what took my breath away was an arrangement of lilies. So many colors from white to red to purple, with those elegant, thin petals that curled back in a complete circle toward the center. 

I’d always loved lilies. They were unusual but not as crazy-looking as orchids. They still had a classical, flower beauty to them. 

“We’ll take this one, Dahlia,” I heard Sol’s voice say. 

“What? No, that’s okay!” I whipped around and protested. “I was just looking at it.” 

“Too late,” Sol smirked as he handed a card over to the silver-haired woman, who wore a bit of a smirk as well. 

“How’s Araceli doing?” she asked Sol as she rang up his purchase. 

“She’s great,” he answered with the warmth in his voice always present when he talked about her. “How’s little Rosie?” 

“Becoming more of a smartass every day,” she said with a smile and an eye roll before looking over at me. “I’ll wrap up those lilies for you so they don’t dry out. Great choice, they’re one of my favorites too!”

“Um, thank you,” I said, feeling only slightly weirded out by so much kindness from a complete stranger. 

“Our kids go to school together,” Sol explained as we left the store, his fingers firmly entwined around mine that didn’t hold the bouquet. “She’s also my buddy Liam’s sister-in-law.” 

“Seems like this is one of those towns where everyone knows each other,” I observed, inhaling the sweetness of the lilies as we continued walking down the street. 

“Sort of,” he said. “It’s a safe, peaceful place to live. New people are moving in every day. It might become a big city before we know it.” 

“How will that affect you?” I asked. 

“Who knows,” he mused softly and I wondered if I inadvertently opened a can of worms. Big cities meant more crime, which meant more business for him but also more girls being trafficked like me. 

Most of which would never end up as lucky as I did.