Chapter Seventeen

SIMON

“H-how?” Magnolia asks, looking up at me with wide eyes.

“What do you mean how?”

Magnolia looks down at her unpolished nails, staring at them like they’re the most interesting thing in the universe. “I mean, w-wouldn’t you rather be with s-someone who can g-give you children?”

I tip her chin up so her eyes are on mine. “I love you, not what you can give me, not what you can or can’t do for me. I love who you are—your strength, your kindness, your thoughtfulness, your humor, your sass—when you let it show—but most of all, I love your heart. You’re so fucking magnificent, Magnolia, and you don’t even see it. You’re good and pure and honest, and that’s so rare. If I have any say at all, I’m never letting you go.”

“Promise?” She utters the word, breathy and low, her body leaning toward me as if my answer is the most important thing she’ll ever hear.

“Promise.”

Magnolia launches herself at me, kissing me all over—my face, my chest, everywhere. “Slow down, pretty girl. We have time.”

“I’m just s-so happy, Simon.”

“I am too, believe me, but we need to get ready at some point so we can go down and talk to Mateo about your car.”

She deflates a little at the mention of it. Luckily, I know just the way to perk her back up. “Let’s get showered?”

“T-together?” she asks, her cheeks going rosy.

“I was hopin’.” I keep my tone light, not wanting her to feel pressured.

Wordlessly, Magnolia rises from the bed and drags the shirt she’s wearing over her head, dropping it at her feet.

“Swear to God, Goldilocks, I’ll never get tired of lookin’ at you.”

She bites her lip, though not because she’s nervous. Nah, my girl’s turned the hell on, and I very much intend to do something about it.

I scoot to the edge of the bed and pull her toward me so she’s standing between my legs. I place a kiss to her right hip, and then to her left, my eyes never leaving hers. Magnolia sighs in pleasure at the contact. I skim my nose across the expanse of smooth, tan skin between her hips until I’m just below her belly button. I press an open-mouthed kiss to her soft yet toned stomach, nipping lightly as I pull away.

“C’mon, let’s go get dirty so we can get clean.” I say the words as a joke, but when I look back up at Magnolia, her eyes are glazed over with want and need.

Grabbing her hand, I guide her to the shower. Once the water feels just right, I help her over the ledge of the tub, climbing in right behind her. Under the spray of the hot water, I make good on my promise of getting us dirty, using my hands and my mouth to make her feel so damn good, her bones feel like jelly.

Even though she’s spent, my girl offers to return the favor, but I decline. It’s not because I don’t want her, because shit, I do. Rather, I want her to know she’s worth more to me than her body. I want her to know she always comes first, literally and figuratively.

§

Thirty minutes later, we’re both clean, dressed, and ready to head over to Mateo’s shop. Magnolia’s fairly quiet on the ride over, and I can only assume she’s reflecting on everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours—and Jesus, has it been a lot.

I slide my hand that’s not holding the steering wheel over to her and take her hand in mine. “Everything’s gonna be okay,” I say to her, hoping she believes me.

“Okay, Simon,” she whispers back, as if she’s not quite sure. Can’t say I blame her, especially with the thought of her shit-stain of a husband possibly being in town.

Speaking of him, that’s one more thing we need to deal with, but I don’t want to overwhelm her; one thing at a time—for now, at least.

When we turn into the parking lot, Mateo and his brother, Arrón, are both outside waiting for us. I press a quick kiss to Magnolia’s lips before shutting off the engine and exiting the truck. I rush around to the other side to help her down, pleased as hell she actually waited for me to do so.

Magnolia looks a little nervous as she checks out the two men over my shoulder, and I can see why she’d be a bit intimidated. Mateo and his brother are both big, imposing men. Mateo stands at just under six feet tall, and Arrón is maybe an inch shorter. They both have skin the color of rich toffee and jet-black hair. Arrón looks especially intimidating with his black monochromatic full-sleeve tattoos that creep right out of his collar and up his neck.

“Hello there, buenas tardes,” Mateo calls out, his warm, friendly tone immediately setting Magnolia at ease.

“Hey there,” I say to the brothers. “Always good to see y’all, though I gotta say, I’m not loving the circumstances.”

“Brother, you’re singlehandedly gonna keep me in business.” We all share a laugh then Mateo suggests we step into his office to get out of the sun.

Once inside, he starts laying it on real thick. “Simon, don’t you want to introduce me to this mujer muy hermosa you have with you?”

I nod toward Magnolia, grinning like a fool, because damn straight, she is a very beautiful woman. “Gladly. This here is my girlfriend, Magnolia Ellington. Magnolia, this is Mateo.” I nod toward the elder Reyes brother. “And that’s his baby brother, Arrón,” I say, nodding toward him as well.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Mateo murmurs, a knowing smile plastered across his face.

“Sorry about your ride,” Arrón says to her as he shakes her hand.

“It’s really good to meet y’all,” Magnolia replies in that sweet voice of hers, sounding like an angel sent just for me.

“Now, about your car. Luckily, all we really have to do is replace the back windshield and order four new tires and mount them. So, while it sucks that this happened, it’s a good thing the little estúpido didn’t do any damage to the body. I just need you to sign off on the paperwork.”

“H-how much will that be?” Magnolia asks, worry evident in her tone.

“Insurance will cover the costs, but you do have to pay your deductible.” Mateo drops into his desk chair and rolls over to his computer. He clicks around for a few seconds and announces, “It looks like your deductible is five hundred dollars.”

Magnolia brings a hand to her chest. “F-five hundred?”

“Sí,” Mateo says, “I know that seems like mucho dinero, but when you think about what the out-of-pocket cost would be, you’re coming out on top.”

“I guess you’re r-right,” Magnolia says, tripping over the words. I know she’s worried about the money, but I also know she’ll be annoyed if I swoop in and offer to pay.

“Tell you what, I’m gonna give you the same discount I gave Simon here on his truck the other day—the mujer enamorada discount.”

“The what discount?” Magnolia asks, tilting her head to the side.

Mateo and I exchange a knowing glance as Arrón blurts out, “The woman in love discount.” I rotate my head to look at Magnolia, and sure enough, her cheeks are a pretty red.

“Oh…um…th-thanks?” Her voice rises at the end, making her gratitude seem like a question.

Mateo tips his chin to her. “How do you feel about one hundred today and the rest over the course of four months?”

“So, one hundred a month?” Magnolia asks.

“Sí.”

Magnolia tilts her head to the side and scrunches her eyes closed. Mumbling under her breath, I hear her running the numbers. “Um, yeah, that should w-work. Thank you so much!”

Mateo smiles widely at her, as does his brother. “You’re very welcome. We should have your car ready by Tuesday. That okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Magnolia replies, looking relieved.

Mateo runs her card for the first one hundred and after he locks up, the four of us file out of the shop. I help Magnolia back into my truck and tell her to give me just a few seconds to talk to Mateo.

Walking over, I wrap my right arm around him, giving him a manly hug. “Thanks for coming in on a Sunday for us, brother. Appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Simon. See you Tuesday.”

They both hit me with one-armed bro hugs as they file past me toward Mateo’s sweet-as-hell GTO.

I climb up into the truck and crank the engine. “Ready to head home, pretty girl?”

“Yeah, Simon, I am.”

With her hand in mine, I make the short drive back to my place.