“Is that okay?” he asked, suddenly wondering if he was getting too much family time. That they might be getting sick of him.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun. You can ride with Mandy. She’s coming. I got two favors to ask you, though.” Math’s eyes were off in the distance, not on Hue.
“What?” Hue asked.
“First, Tess and I want you to be the godfather of Zia.” Math surprised him. With his other kids, Math had given that honor to family members. So, him choosing Hue was an honor, especially since Tess came from a large family, and this was her first child.
“Me, a godfather? I’m not even in the mafia.” He laughed at his joke, and Math rolled his eyes.
“Yes, you. Tess talked to Mandy this morning, so it’s all set. The baptism will be sometime in January.” Math rubbed his hands together. To warm them or because his evil plan was now in motion, Hue didn’t know.
“I would be happy to.” He had never been a godparent before.
“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear.” Math smiled back at the house.
“What else?”
“Could you stop in and see Mandy when you get back? She let Mom get to her today,” Math said.
“Yeah, I will. She looked depressed,” Hue agreed.
“Yeah, she gets this way sometimes. Sometimes babies get her down,” Math admitted, finally hinting about Amanda’s depression. If Hue didn’t already know, he might not have picked up on it.
“I know how she feels,” Hue admitted about himself.
“Shoot, man, I forgot. I’m sorry. I’ve been so into the whole new baby thing, I forgot about you.” His friend had been there when Hue had needed to talk when infertility got to be too much.
“It’s okay. I’m excited for you and Tess. I’ll stop by and see Mandy.” His heart jumped a little at the thought of seeing her one more time today.
“Thanks, I owe you one. And don’t forget about tomorrow.”
“I won’t.” Hue got into his pickup and headed to town. Heading to see Amanda again, with her brother’s permission.
Or maybe more importantly,withouther brother’s interruption.
CHAPTER10
Amanda didn’t knowhow long she had been sleeping when she woke up. When she had crawled into bed after shedding her clothes, she pulled the covers over her head. After leaving her mom’s in the middle of the meal, she had gone straight from car to bed and didn’t even stop to cry again. She just let sleep take away the pain. It had worked, she realized as her eyes opened.
The sight that greeted her upon opening them was Hue sitting on the edge of her bed, barely touching her as he ran his hand over her hair. When his eyes met hers, the softness of his made her want to burrow into his strong arms.
“How are you?” he asked quietly.
Naked, was all she could think. After all, shewascompletely naked under the covers. Instead, she said, “Fine.”
“You had me worried today. I don’t like to see you as sad as you were.” He continued to run his hand over her hair, causing her entire body to tingle. Pregnancy hormones.
“My mom,” was all she could say, then bit her lip to stop it from quivering as memories of earlier that day came back to her.
“Your mom is wrong, Mandy. You are perfect.” His hand went from her hair to run down the side of her face and across her jaw. A touch so light she almost didn’t feel it, except it left a trail of heat as it went.
“She’s right. I am getting fat again.”
“Don’t say that, Mandy.” His fingers ran over her lips. His hand left her face, and he pulled out his phone, pushed a few buttons and put it down on her nightstand. Turning back to her, he whispered, “I am going to kiss you, and I don’t want your brother calling to stop me again.”
Before she could ask what he was talking about, his mouth touched hers. Just a light kiss that made her think of soft, fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky onto her lips, only warmer—much, much warmer]. His hand went around the back of her head and pulled it up a little as he deepened the kiss.
Pulling her arms from under the cover, where they had been trapped, she was able to run her fingers through his auburn hair and pull him deeper into the kiss, opening to his tongue’s request. Everything inside her was hoping this wasn’t another one of her dreams.