“I really could have done all the cooking,” Samantha said as she stood in front of me, glancing toward my kitchen. “I don’t know why you insisted on bringing in a chef for the night.”

I hadn’t just hired a chef.

I’d hired Chef Fern, the best private chef in Miami. With her came two assistants and three servers. My kitchen looked like we were hosting a fucking gala.

I put my hands on her face, moving her head so that she looked at me. “If you cooked, then you’d be spending the whole night in front of the stove. I don’t want that. I want you hanging out with our friends.”

She released a long breath and wrapped her arms around my waist. “But this is costing you a fortune and—”

I cut her off with my lips, kissing the fuck out of hers.

It was cute as hell that she was worried about money. But she didn’t have to. I’d just made five million off her brother, and he was only one of my clients.

Hiring a chef for the night certainly wasn’t going to break me.

When I pulled my mouth back, I asked, “Is Lucy still in the shower?”

“Yes, and it was a huge mistake, letting her use your bathroom, because I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get her out. She can’t stop squealing over the jets in the walls.”

I laughed and brushed my lips across hers, needing a small taste again. “Let her have fun.” I held her face tighter. “Maybe, if she loves my shower enough, she’ll start nagging you about moving in here, and then she can shower in there every day.”

Her stare softened. “Are you ready for us to move in, Jack?”

“Yes.” I gripped her with so much more force. “Say the word, and I’ll have the movers at your apartment tomorrow.”

She took a breath. “Let’s sleep on it, and we’ll talk to Lucy about it tomorrow.”

I pressed my nose against hers. “I can’t wait to have the two of you living here with a wedding band on your finger and our second child growing in your belly.” I drew back, so she could see my eyes. “But, this time, I’m going to be there when you deliver, and I’m going to watch my child come into this world.”

“Mmm,” she sighed, leaning her body into mine. “Everything you just said was so perfect, except for one teeny-tiny part.”

“Which is?”

“When you said you were going to watch your child come into this world.”

My brows rose. “You’re going to stop me from doing that?”

“You see, you spend a significant amount of time between my legs. Some days, you lick me so much, I wonder how your tongue doesn’t fall off. But I’m afraid that, once you see the baby crown, every fantasy you’ve ever had about my pussy will come to a screeching halt. So, you can hold my hand, and you can let me dig my nails into your skin, but you will stay above my waist. No exceptions.”

Normally, bossiness like that would make me lift her into my arms, set her on the first surface I came to, and fuck those demands right out of her.

But this was an argument worth having later on when the time came because Samantha’s pussy was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. My child coming out of her wouldn’t change my opinion. And, once she was cleared by her doctor, my tongue would be right back between her legs, doing one of the things I loved the most.

“Go finish getting ready, and I’ll make us some drinks. Everyone should be here in twenty minutes.”

She leaned into my lips, breathing against them for several seconds, before she turned around to head toward my bedroom.

I watched her walk, thinking about her goddamn ass and how she’d begged me to fuck it last night. When she disappeared behind the door, I shook my head and went to the bar, pouring myself several fingers’ worth of scotch. I got Samantha a glass of wine, and I carried both into the kitchen.

“Are we all set?” I asked the staff.

The chef stopped mixing whatever was in the large bowl and said, “Sure are, Mr. Hunt. We’re prepared to start passing appetizers as soon as your guests arrive. We’ll also be setting up a station near your living room where they can help themselves to some shellfish on ice. We’ll serve dinner about forty-five minutes later, followed by the sundae and cookie station you requested for your daughter.”

My daughter.

I fucking loved hearing that.

And my daughter was going to freak out when she saw all the cookies and ice cream and frosting and candies I’d requested. Samantha was probably going to kill me for giving her that much sugar before bed. But I didn’t care.

Tonight was important, and I wanted to spoil my kid.

I thanked the chef and her staff, and I moved toward my bedroom, hearing Samantha and Lucy giggle as soon as I got to the door.

“Is everyone decent?” I called out.

“Jack!” Lucy yelled. “Come in.”

I stepped inside and noticed they were in the bathroom, Lucy sitting on the counter while Samantha did her hair.

“What’s so funny?” I said from the doorway.

“Lucy asked if she could have her birthday party in your bathroom.”

“My bathroom?”

“Yes!” She moved her arms in front of her, her fingers shooting to the right and then the left, like her little hands were airplanes. “That’s what your water is like, Jack. It’s everywhere! My friends will looove it. So, can we? Can we have a party in there?”

This had to be a joke.

A bunch of eight-year-olds didn’t want to hang out in my goddamn bathroom.

I needed to step this up a notch.

“How about we go to Disney instead?”

Lucy squealed, “Did you just say DISNEY?”

I gazed at Samantha. “We can take the plane to get all the kids there, rent a big suite for the night, and do a few of the parks. Then, we’ll fly back the next day.”

Samantha’s eyes were so fucking large, I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets. After she gave me that look, she turned toward Lucy and said, “Baby, don’t listen to your daddy. He’s obviously lost his mind.”

She didn’t want me to spend the money.

I knew that was the cause of her reaction.

I moved over to them, putting an arm around Samantha’s waist and another one around Lucy’s shoulders. “Your dad hasn’t lost his mind. I actually think it’s one of the best ideas I’ve come up with.”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Samantha said, wrapping the final twist around Lucy’s ponytail.

“Mommy, Jack said Disney. He said he wants to bring me and my friends to Disney. Oh my God, DISNEY.”

Samantha groaned and gave me the eye again. “I hope you realize you’ve just created a monster.”

I laughed at both of their faces. Their expressions couldn’t be more opposite. “Lucy, we’ll discuss Disney tomorrow once your mom warms up to the idea a little.”

I kissed Samantha’s cheek and gave her the softest growl that I was sure Lucy couldn’t hear. But I knew Samantha could, and she knew exactly what I meant by it. She was getting my tongue later tonight after Lucy went to bed in the room Samantha had decorated for her.

* * *

All of us were sitting in the living room after dinner and dessert—Max and Eve, Brett and James, Scarlett and Vince. My couch wasn’t big enough to hold everyone, so James and Samantha took the floor, and Lucy was sitting on my lap.

This was the first night they had all met my daughter, and it had gone better than I’d planned. They’d spoiled the hell out of her, showing up with so many goddamn gifts. Samantha was overwhelmed by their generosity, especially with presents like a year’s worth of horseback riding lessons and getting to have lunch with Taylor Swift.

She’d eventually get used to the way my friends and I spent money because I planned on dropping plenty of it on her and Lucy.

I wanted to give them everything, and I could afford to do it.

The four of us from The Agency had come from nothing. We’d grown up in rent-controlled apartments in Boston, and that was what had fueled us to get to where we were, what had driven us to keep fighting and never backing down. We didn’t take our success for granted, and we appreciated every fucking second of it.

But my priorities had recently changed.

I wasn’t just working for me anymore.

I was working for Samantha and my daughter.

I looked around the room, at everyone on the couch and on the floor. We were all a little sluggish after eating so much, and the room had turned quiet.

Max held up his phone and said, “Lucy, what’s your favorite song? I’m going to play us some music.”

I didn’t know the answer to this one.

I wished I’d thought of asking it before Max.

“My favorite song is ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,’” Lucy replied.

I turned her little body, so I could see her face. “That’s your favorite song, too?”

I couldn’t believe what she’d just said.

“Mommy told me she named me after that song because, when she was in the car with you, you were singing it.” She talked loud enough for the whole room to hear, and she put her arm around my neck. “It’s been my favorite ever since I was little, and now, I know it’s your favorite, too.”

The room was silent, and I could feel every set of eyes on me.

I looked at Samantha, trying to keep my emotions in check, but fuck, it was hard. “It was playing in the taxi that night,” I said softly. “On our way back to the hotel.”

She nodded, and I could tell she was struggling with her feelings as well. “You asked the taxi driver to turn up the radio. You sang every word to me, and then you told me how much you loved it.”

“See, Jack? I told ya,” Lucy said.

I kissed her on the cheek and glanced back at her mother.

We had an audience.

I didn’t care.

“You named our daughter after my favorite song and Jacklyn as her middle name.”

“I couldn’t give her you, so I gave her every piece of you that I could.”

I barely had time to take a fucking breath before the song began to play softly in the background.

Lucy wiggled off my lap, moving out from underneath my arm, and now, she was standing in front of me, tugging on my fingers. “Come dance with me, Jack.”

I couldn’t say no.

As Samantha wiped the corners of her eyes, I rose from the couch, and I let Lucy lead me to the middle of the living room. She stepped onto my feet, her sparkly shoes resting on my leather ones, and she tried so hard to reach my shoulders.

She wasn’t even close.

I bent down and lifted her into the air until her hands were resting on me, my arm tightly holding her back.

“Much better,” she said. “Now, we can really boogie.”

I swayed our bodies and belted out the lyrics while Lucy sang along with me.

My daughter.

It was a word I’d gotten used to.

One I fucking loved to say.

“Lucy, hold on; I’m going to dip you,” I told her when we got to the first chorus.

“Yay!” She giggled.

Her laughter was my favorite sound.

Right before I leaned Lucy toward the ground, I glanced at Samantha. Tears were dripping from her eyes, emotion filling her whole face, her hand pressing against her heart.

I fucking loved that woman.

Eight years had passed between us.

I didn’t want another second to go by without her knowing how deep my love was.

While the most important people in my life watched me from the other side of the living room, I put my hand up to Lucy’s ear, and I whispered several words.

When I finished, she turned her face toward me and said, “Really? I can say that?”

I nodded. “Yes, sweetheart, you can.”

She looked at her mom, and with my encouragement, she said, “Mommy, Jack wants to know if you’ll marry him.”