A Perfect Storm
Page 122

“Well, as to that, I had to. I needed you to see that I could handle myself.”
“I figured that out. You’re a woman meant to champion others. And you were pretty amazing.”
No way could she bite back her grin, and she didn’t give a damn if it made her head hurt more. The compliment left her beaming. “Yeah?”
Spencer sighed with fond exasperation. “What I’m trying to say here is that I thought I’d help you, and instead you helped me. You brought me out of the past. Now all I can see is the future.”
Her toes curled, and she squeaked, “With me?”
“Today, tomorrow and for the rest of our lives.”
“That would be…awesome.”
His grin came slowly. “You think so?”
Before Spencer, she couldn’t imagine saying the words, but with him, it was pretty damn easy. “Yeah, since, you know, I really love you, too.”
Spencer’s grin widened. She smiled, too, because now that the words were said, she felt totally…free.
Gently, he cupped the back of her neck and kissed her. “Come on, honey. Let’s go home.”
* * *
PROPPED AGAINST A WALL with Dare at his side, Spencer watched as Arizona held the tiny newborn. She looked in awe, and she looked incredibly soft. Like a woman.
His woman.
She would be the most amazing aunt ever.
“Man, Jackson, she’s beautiful.”
Jackson sat beside Arizona, his free arm around her shoulders while his baby girl held on to his pinkie with her tiny hand. “She smells awful good, too, don’t you think?”
Arizona put her nose to the mop of downy soft blond hair and inhaled. “Mmm. Yeah, she does.” She cuddled the baby closer. “We could bottle you up, little girl, and make a fortune.”
Jackson grinned. “She looks like Alani.”
Trace stood behind the couch, leaning down to do his own marveling at the new addition to the family. Alani, who’d only recently finished feeding the baby, was in the other room with Molly and Priss, going through yet more gifts.
Chris came in, fresh from a shower. He pulled on a clean T-shirt and crowded in close to Arizona’s other side. “You have all the right instincts, Arizona.”
Arizona smiled, but when she turned her attention to Chris, it was to say, “You did the background check on the owner of the massage parlor?”
“Yeah. Dare says it’s worth investigating.” He touched the baby’s toes. “Forced labor at the very least, but probably trafficking, too, given the owner’s connections.”
“I’ll go by and check it out,” Trace added. “Do a visual. Get some firsthand evidence if I can.”
“How do you plan to get evidence at a massage parlor?” Jackson asked. “You going to pay for a ‘happy ending’?”
“I already have my happy ending, you ass.”
“Oh, real nice. You don’t want me to curse in front of Alani, but you can do it in front of my daughter?”
“She’s too young to understand.”
The baby stretched, and Arizona said, “Ahhhhh…” in a meltingly sweet voice before looking back at Trace. “You’ll let me know what you find?”
Trace flicked the end of her nose. “You’ll be the first I tell.”
“Thanks.”
Dare nudged Spencer, disturbing his silent reverie. “Giving you any baby ideas?”
He was so content, so happy, it almost scared him. He and Arizona would move into their newly built home later in the week. She had stacks of family photos ready to decorate the walls.
So far their working arrangement was perfect. It worried him every time she went after a scumbag—but it made her happy, and she was good at it. Really good.
Now that she’d been accepted, she coordinated with the others, which cut down greatly on the risks. And she’d had only a few nightmares; each had quickly faded once they made love.
So with great sincerity, he said, “Whatever Arizona wants.”
Dare smiled. “An attitude like that is liable to get you into trouble.”
That attitude had gotten him everything he never knew he wanted, because as it turned out, all he ever really wanted was Arizona.