Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“Look, babe!” Parker said as he crossed the room, holding up the book. Declan’s eyes widened, but the quiet man didn’t give any other indication that he was excited. “Rome brought Joy a gift. You can read it to her tonight.”
“Do you think she’ll like it? I promised to read her an article about convertible bonds tonight.” I almost thought he was serious, but a brief twitch in the corner of his mouth gave him away. Parker cackled and bent to give him a loud, smacking kiss, which made Joy shout, as if indignant that her father would hand out kisses and not include her. Parker grinned and kissed the top of her head full of dark hair.
“Thank you, Rome,” Declan murmured. “I plan to turn one of the bedrooms into a library for Joy. This will help us build the collection.”
I dropped onto the sofa, near Simon, and sighed. “No problem. How old is she now? She looks…bigger to me.”
Sebastian snorted, his arm tightening on Byron’s shoulders as they cuddled together on the love seat. “I’m pretty sure she’s supposed to be getting bigger. It’s how babies work.”
“She’s almost nine months, and getting much faster at crawling,” Parker chimed in.
Declan grunted in agreement. “And reaching things on tables.”
“Franks has been a savior in terms of babyproofing the house and getting all the random things off the tables.” Parker beamed at the tall, slender man in a neat suit as he silently glided into the room. A slight blush touched his cheeks, and it looked as though he were fighting a smile.
“I wish to make sure the Little Princess is safe at all times,” Declan’s home assistant and butler murmured. He paused next to Declan. “Chef Donovan has prepared Miss Joy’s dinner. I thought I would take her for a diaper change first.”
Declan glared at Franks, making Parker laugh. The artist dropped on the arm of the chair where Declan sat and nudged his knee. “Don’t give him that look. We agreed Franks would feed Joy tonight so you can pay attention to your guests. It’s just one night.”
Regardless of what Declan wanted, Joy was already stretching out her arms toward Franks, as if she understood that the tall, lanky man was her gateway to a clean diaper and food. Declan kissed Joy’s cheek and handed her to Franks.
“Thank you, Franks,” Declan mumbled, even though it sounded so grudging.
Parker chuckled, but it turned into a surprised gasp when Declan wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled his new fiancé into his lap. “You’re ridiculous!”
“Ugh. New couples. You all make me sick,” I grumbled, scrubbing a hand across my face. It wasn’t bad enough that Sebastian had won over the man he’d been pining and whining about for three years, but grumpy, silent Declan had to find the perfect man too? This sucked.
“I think they’re adorable,” Simon offered.
I shifted my glare to him. “You’re young. You haven’t been trying to find that special someone who can stick out a long-term relationship. You—wait, are you seeing someone?”
Simon grinned. “No, I’m in the single club with you, but I’m fine with that.”
A groan escaped me as I rolled my eyes. “Kids. Us old-timers need someone to take care of us.”
Byron snickered. “How old are you, Rome? You can’t be that old.”
“Thirty-four.”
Simon huffed. “Only eight years older than me. You’re not that much of an old man.”
“And he’s not a kid,” Byron pressed.
I waved my hands at them, trying to stop their assault. “Yeah, yeah. I think it’s just seeing you guys all cuddly and disgusting that has me annoyed. I am a pansexual, dedicated dater. You’d think I would have found someone by now. But I keep striking out.”
“Maybe you’d be better served narrowing your field a bit,” Simon advised.
“Eh, I’ve decided to pursue another project.” With a smirk, I nodded toward Sebastian. “I’ve taken a page out of Sebastian’s book and come up with an interesting arrangement, I think.”
“Why does that entire sentence send chills through me?” Byron shuddered against his lover.
Sebastian’s brow furrowed. “A page out of my book? What do you mean?”
I shifted to the edge of my seat, leaned forward, and rested my elbows on my knees as I told them about my interesting encounters with Liam and some highlights from my past with the asshole before launching into my wicked plan of tormenting him over a series of dates.
“That is not like my plan at all. My goal was never to torment Byron,” Sebastian growled. He turned his head and kissed the top of Byron’s head.
“I can’t say I’m a fan of this plan,” Byron murmured. “Pierce had mentioned something about you running into an old childhood friend when we saw him last week. I think you should have taken his advice and stayed away.”
“Screw that!” Parker laughed. My gaze snapped to him to find him grinning. He placed a kiss on one of Declan’s hands and returned to his perch on the arm of the chair. “I say if Rome is going to make a donation to the museum, which will inevitably save this dick’s job, he should get something out of it.”