Forever Us

“What was that for?” she asked with a smile.

“Just because I love you, and I want to have sex right here and right now.”

“Here? In the parking garage?” she asked as her teeth slid across her bottom lip.

“Yep, right here, in our SUV, in the parking garage.”

“You’re a kinky man, Co

I leaned closer into her and traced her jaw line with my finger. “No one’s going to see us, baby; the windows are tinted.”

She reached her hand down and felt my erection through the fabric of my pants as I reached for her breasts from underneath her shirt. She moaned and closed her eyes when my bare fingers touched her nipples.

“Wouldn’t you rather do it here, without the risk of Julia disturbing us?” I whispered as my tongue softly licked the tender spot behind her ear.

“Backseat, and I’m on top,” she whispered back.

“I’m not going to argue with you,” I said as I opened the back passenger’s door and we both climbed in.

Chapter 16 Ellery

A couple of days later, as I was getting Julia dressed, my phone rang. I reached over, grabbed it from the bed, and saw it was Sal from the art gallery.

“Hi Sal,” I answered.

“Hey, Ellery. My brother is opening up a large art gallery in Chicago, and he wants you to be a part of it. He was going to call you, but I told him to hold off until I talked to you first. His art show is going to be big, and he has a lot of influential people and critics attending. This could be a big break for you as an artist. He said he wants at least five of your new paintings to showcase.”

My heart began beating with excitement as I said yes right away. The thought of painting again thrilled me.

“Thank you, Sal. Tell your brother to call me and that I’m very excited.”

“I will, Ellery, and congratulations. I know you’ll do fantastic,” he said as he hung up.

I picked up Julia and did a little happy dance with her. I hadn’t painted since before she was born, and I missed it. Co

“Good morning, Ellery.” She smiled.

“Good morning, Claire. Can you keep an eye on Julia for me while I finish getting ready? We’re going to go shopping today for Camden’s birthday and then we’re going to pay a surprise visit to Co

Claire smiled as she looked down at Julia. “Of course I can keep an eye on this little doll.”

“Thank you, Claire. I won’t be too long.”

As De

“You better get that. It may be important,” I said.

He picked up his phone and answered it. He kept watching me through the mirror. He didn’t offer much to the conversation except a few “Okays.” This was the second time he had behaved strangely with a phone call while I was around. I was begi

De

“I want to hear all about your date with Ben,” I said as the man dressed as a toy soldier held the door open for us.

“It was a lot of fun. Not only is he hot, but he’s fu

“I think I remember him being on the fu

“Tell Co

“I already did, but he wants to be the only hot man in my life.”

“Of course he does. He’s madly in love with you. But the weird thing is, I didn’t think he was the jealous type.”

“I quickly put his fears to rest.” I winked.

Cassidy and I walked around the store for over two hours. Julia had just woken up and she was starting to get fussy. When I stopped the stroller and took her out of it, Cassidy lightly touched my arm. I looked over at her as she stared ahead. My eyes diverted over to where she was looking, and I saw my husband standing there, next to the big piano, with a wide smile on his face.

“What are you doing here?” I smiled as I walked over to him and he took Julia from my arms.

“I was hoping to take my three favorite girls to lunch.”

“Oh, so, now I’m one of your favorite girls?” Cassidy asked him as she kissed his cheek.

“You’ve always been my favorite sister.” He winked.

“Julia and I were going to surprise you and come to the office.”

“Well, it looks like I surprised you first,” Co

Cassidy walked over and stepped onto the big piano with one foot. “Co

“I sure do. Mom and Dad used to bring us here, and the both of us would try to play a song on that.”

“Come play with me; just for fun. Like we used to,” she said as she held out her hand.

There was nothing I wanted more than to see Co

“You looked really sexy doing that.” I smiled.

“We used to come here all the time. Sometimes when Cassidy and I would be playing on it, one of the other keys would light up that we didn’t step on, and I’d tell her that Collin was here playing with us. It sort of freaked her out.”

I broke our embrace and put my hand on his chest. “I bet he was here. He’s always with you in spirit.”

Co

While we stood in line, waiting to make our purchases, Co

“Well, look at Daddy Co

Co

“Sarah. How are you?” he asked politely.

“I’m good, Co

“Thank you, Sarah,” I replied as I watched her move closer to Julia.

Seeing her always put a sick feeling in my stomach. Just knowing how she and Co

“Ellery, she’s adorable, and she looks just like you.”

I smiled politely as she backed away. “It was good seeing both of you again. You’re a perfect little family, and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was jealous. Have a good day,” she said as she walked away.

Cassidy looked at me and then looked at Co

Co