Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(42)
Author: Jennifer Foor

She laughed some more. “That’s okay. I think this will do. I’m so hungry that I don’t even care about ambiance.”

“So you’d be cool with eating on the floor?”

She kicked me under the table. “Shut up and decide what you want. You’re so disgustin’ sometimes.”

I laughed at myself before I even made my next comment. “I can’t stop thinking about poking you in the ass with my meat.”

Miranda’s face turned a shade of crimson, and I quickly realized that a very shocked waitress was standing behind me waiting to take our order. Obviously, since things like that only entertained me, I ordered as if she’d not heard a single thing I’d said to my wife.

Once she left, I prepared my shins for another wave of kicks, but she began to laugh at me instead of inflicting her wrath of bodily harm. “You are so embarassin’.”

I threw my arms in the air. “How was I to know she was behind me? Besides, I really can’t stop thinking about it.”

She giggled and then curled up her face. “Ty, give me one hour of maturity. Just one hour to act like a gentlemen while we eat. As soon as we leave you can say whatever you want.”

I looked around the restaurant and spotted a couple walking in. At first I thought it was a man and his granddaughter, but they sat in a booth side by side and had begun making out, like teenagers.

Miranda spotted it, too, and gave me a look. “Mature, Ty. Please don’t do what I think you’re goin’ to do.”

I folded my hands on the table and remained quiet, even though I wanted so badly to yell something across the room.

When we went out, we usually had our kids, which meant we’d end up eating whatever they got. It had been so long since we were able to order something, enjoy it, and finish it while it was still hot.

I savored every bite of my western omelet, while Miranda feasted on meatloaf that looked like it may have come from a can. Literally, it was shaped like a cylinder.

She doused it in ketchup, albeit I refused the bite she offered me. I’d do anything on a dare, but that didn’t look like meat, and it scared me. At least we already knew that the plumbing worked efficiently at the hotel.

We finished our meals around midnight and we headed to the front to pay. As we passed the odd couple, I gave the old man a thumbs up. The old bugger held up his fist and pounded mine. My wife, who’d made me promise to behave, couldn’t hold in her laughter. She was hunched over out of breath as the cashier rang us up.

Once we’d paid and finally calmed down enough to walk, we headed back to the hotel. Miranda started walking inside, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the beach. “Let’s go for a walk. Nobody’s here, so we have the beach to ourselves.”

“Are you tryin’ to get me naked already?”

I grabbed a good chunk of her ass while we walked. “If you want to get naked, I won’t stop you. I’ve gotta warn ya, though. That water is cold as shit. There’s no way I’m getting in there, on account of my dick shriveling up to nothing. It might not want to come back out ever again and then you’d be shit out of luck.”

“I’m not gettin’ in that water in the dark. You’re crazy. Sharks come into feed at night. Goin’ in there is like askin’ them to bite your ass. No thank you!”

I laughed. “Chicken?”

“When you do it first, I’ll consider it.”

She wasn’t challenging me. She was purely proving to me that it wasn’t ever going to happen. “Fine, let’s just be romantic people for a bit.”

I was being sarcastic, but as the sand hit our feet and we got further down the beach, I realized it really was romantic.

The moonlight lit the path for us, and once we were passed the sand dunes, it sparkled over the waves as they came crashing in. There was nothing like the sounds and the smell of being at the beach. An added bonus was that it was deserted. Most of the condos weren’t even lit up.

We walked for a good five blocks before plopping down in the sand. It was chilly, and I cuddled up against my wife, pressing her into the soft granules beneath us. Her hair blew in the wind, and she was so stunning from the light of the moon shining down on us.

A few clouds lingered above, but added a dramatic feel to the chill of the night. The warmth of our bodies kept us comfortable as we stared up at the sky. “This is nice.”

I had to agree. It was relaxation at its best. “It’s fantastic. We should do this every year.”

“Definitely without the kids.” Our hands intertwined together as Miranda leaned into my kiss.

It felt like we were kids again. Sneaking around behind everyone’s backs to be together. That had been such a long time ago, when I realized that I’d fallen for her. Nothing would have stopped me from making her mine. She still made me feel like I was the luckiest man in the world, and we’d built something that some people only dream of having. “I wonder if they’re havin’ a good time. It would suck if Bella is givin’ them a fit.”

I brought her hand up to my lips and placed small kisses over it as I spoke. “I’m sure she’s being an angel for them. It’s only us she’s pissed at.”

“True.” It hurt knowing that was the case, but it wasn’t something that was new to hear. This had been going on for too long to play stupid about it. “I hate that we did all this to protect her, to spare her from experiencing the pain of knowing who Tucker was, and it was all for nothing. It didn’t make a damn bit of difference. Instead everything’s a cluster-fuck.”

Miranda leaned up on her elbows and gave me a cross look. “You’re wrong. It wasn’t for nothin’.” She ran the back of her hand over my cheek. I closed my eyes and accepted her comfort. “It may not be today, or even tomorrow, but one day she’s goin’ to see what you did for her, what we did for her. She’s goin’ to realize that no test can prove what a real father is. Only the heart is capable of that. You may not have created her, but you helped me make her the wonderful little girl we both know she is. Don’t you dare take that away from yourself. I lost my father when I was her age, and there ain’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I had more time with him. He was the most gentle, most caring man I ever knew until I met you.” She paused for a moment, and I could hear it in her voice that she’d begun to cry. “I just wish she would see how lucky she is, to have a man that stepped up and made a choice like you did.”