I silence my phone completely and settle in. “Take all the time you need.”
8
Maddie
“I’m in love.” I sigh. My heart has never felt so full in my whole life. “I love you, and you, and you.” I touch each of their little noses as I say it. “You and you!” All five kittens stare up at me from inside the box. Renato pulls the seatbelt over the box to help keep it in place for the drive home.
“Anything else you think we might need tonight? I have someone grabbing the list of items you requested already.”
“I can’t think of anything else in this whole world I need right now.” I’m smiling so much my face is starting to hurt.
I mean, this by far has been one of the best days of my life. If you would have told me this morning that I’d be engaged to a man I met mere hours ago, moving in with him, and the mommy to five of the most adorable fur babies, I would have said you were crazy. Yet here I am living my best life.
“All right.” Renato shuts the door to the SUV before coming around and getting in on the other side. I’m sandwiched in between him and my babies.
“You were such a bad ass in there,” I tell him. “They were all ‘Policy only allows for two kitten adoptions per family’ and you were all ‘Grrrr’!” I try to mimic the same stern face Renato gave them. He only smiles, so I think I did it wrong, because when he does it, everyone shuts their traps and agrees with him. The same thing happened earlier with Aubrey and my tea kettle. One second he was claiming it, and the next Renato was handing it to me to carry.
“I understand their policy, but our home is big enough, and we can always hire help if we need to.”
“I’ve got it. I swear I can handle them.”
“I know you can.” He gives me a reassuring smile that tells me he really does believe I can handle them.
“I can’t believe you let me get five kittens.” This man keeps surprising me at every turn. “You’re like the best husband ever.” Before I can think better of it, I lift up and press my mouth to his. I only meant for it to be a quick brush, but the second my mouth meets his I’m lost.
I part my lips, allowing his tongue to slip in as he deepens the kiss. His fingers dig into my hair. He tightens his hold, giving it a small tug. I gasp, the sensation like a lightning rod through my body. I try to crawl into his lap, but the seat belt digs into me.
“Maddie.” Renato lifts his mouth from mine. “Seat belts must stay on.”
I huff.
“Safety first when it comes to my wife.”
Wow, he’s such a sweet, good man. Even if I’m not his real wife, he’s thinking about my safety first. I’ve never had someone who looked after me that way.
“Fiancée,” I tease, but he doesn’t crack a smile.
“Only for a few more hours.”
I jerk back in surprise. I mean, I knew this was going to be pretty fast, but that’s really fast.
“We’re getting married today? Like right now?”
“Yes, is that going to be a problem?”
“No,” I shake my head. “Where are we getting married?” Don’t I need a dress or something?
“The house. Everything is being taken care of.”
“You have a lot of people who take care of things for you. You must be really busy.”
“Never too busy for my little bird.”
I lean back into my seat, pondering what will happen next. He needs a wife right now, but then what?
“So, I’m going to be a stay-at-home kitten mom and wife pretty much? That’s my job description?” I ask, wondering what I’ll be doing each day. I still have a few clients. I’m not sure how that will work.
“If that’s what makes you happy, little bird. You can do whatever your heart desires.”
“So you’re not opposed to me keeping my job?” I probably should have worked out these little details before I agreed to marry him. But I’d gotten so excited at the mention of being able to have my very own fur baby. Not that I wouldn’t have agreed to be his wife anyway, but that gave me a little extra incentive.
“Don’t you think you’ll have your hands full with our little ones?”
My stomach does a funny dip at his words. Our little ones. This is getting serious.
“I might need to give notice or something. Some of them might be counting on me.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“You make everything sound so easy.” I reach my hand into the box to absently pet my kittens. They’ve settled down and are snoozing away in a fluffy little pile.
“As your husband, it’s my duty to make sure most things are easy for you if I can handle them.”