Caught Up (Windy City, #3)

by Liz Tomforde

“Dadda.” Max squishes my cheeks together before pointing toward the woman again. “I know, buddy.” I don’t know shit.

“I mean, no, thank you. He doesn’t do well with women.” “Wonder where he got that from.”

“Thanks for the ride, Baby Daddy. It was…interesting.” That it was.

He’s one of the good ones. In fact, I’d argue he’s the very best.

“He’ll be on his hands and knees most of the time.” “As all men should be.”

“Nah. A little rejection is good for his overgrown ego, but by turning him down you probably made him fall in love with you. So, good luck with that.”

“She sounds cute.” She is cute. In the same way a tornado is cute. Or a pack of starved lions. Super cute.

“Seriously though, those seem like the biggest pain in the ass to take off.” “So, you’re thinking about taking them off of me?” “No—” “At least get me inside first, Baseball Daddy. We’re in public.”

“And I look good in your kitchen.” I attempt to hold back, but fuck it, I like sparring with this woman. “That you do.”

He’s getting to know me.

“You’re with me, Montgomery.” I like the way that sounds far too much.

“He’s never been to one of my games before,” I tell her, my voice a bit hoarse. “Thank you for bringing him, Mills.” A single brow lifts. “Mills, huh?” “Don’t try to ruin the moment with humor, Montgomery. I’ll call you whatever the hell I feel like.” “Yes, Daddy.”

“I like to see pretty girls in my jersey. Like to take it off them too.”

“No. I like watching you beat yourself up over wanting to look at me. It’s much more satisfying to know I piss you off than it would be to know I turn you on.” A small laugh rumbles in my chest. “Well, much to my frustration you, Miller, are excellent at both.”

“You flirting with me, Montgomery?” “Have been since we met. You gonna start flirting back?”

“Get your fucking hands off her.”

“I’m not going to hit him.” Dean’s hand that was on her back drops dangerously lower. Okay, I lied. There’s a chance I’m going to jail tonight.

“Kai, I am not your problem.” My attention dips to her lips. “Be my problem.”

“Your dad is passed out in my bed.”

lol

For a split second I thought I should tell him he was a grandfather.” “But you didn’t?” “Nah. Didn’t need to. Monty kind of earned that title right away.

“I want Max to think of me the way you think of him.”

“Oh.” He studies my new work area. “I’ll just return all this then.”

“You promised to help me find my balance in life. I thought I’d try to help you find your joy.”

“Trust me, if I ever kissed you again, it will be as my last and final resort to shut you up.”

“And cover up your guy thighs. We’re being professional here. I technically work for you, and I didn’t even know I had a thing for men’s legs until you came along with all that tatted skin and lean muscle.” “Me?” His head jerks back. “What about you? I get hard just looking at your legs.”

I did the laundry and may or may not have given one of his used T-shirts a deep inhale. The guy smells good. Sue me.

I guess we’re making some motherfucking banana bread.

Cupping my son’s cheeks, I give him a kiss on his head before reaching over, about to do the same to his nanny until it hits me midair on the way to cradle the back of her head that I’m out of my fucking mind right now.

“Go ahead and admit that you’re obsessed with me, keeping track of my stats like that.”

“Five or six. Give or take depending on if Isaiah shows. And they all assume we’re fucking so heads-up on that.” “If it were up to me, they’d be right.”

“They called us cute.” “How dare they.” His head jerks back. “The last word I’d ever use to describe you is ‘cute.’” “Exactly. God, you know me so well.”

you’re out of your goddamn mind if you think any of this could be easily forgettable for me.”

“For me?” “It’s always been only for you.”

“You’re like a completely different man than you were at the beginning of summer.” “Yeah, well, in the last two days I got laid and pitched a no-hitter, so things are looking up for me.”

“He skinny-dipped.”

placing a kiss on the top of her hair. Max, in my other arm, catches on and flops his body in half to place a sloppy one on her head as well.

“Thank you for tonight.” He leans his cheek on my hair. “I’d do anything for you, Miller.”

Having a sick toddler is no fun. Having a sick toddler while on a work trip? Absolute nightmare.

“Because there are more important things than work, Mills.” She doesn’t respond, and yeah, maybe I said that in a way that referred to her work as well.

“Miller,” I whisper. “If you’re this sad, I have a shoulder you could lean your legs on.”

“Rio, I love you, man, but Kennedy would eat you alive.” He shrugs. “That sounds nice.”

“I can’t think of a single person who would feel burdened by having you in their life.” “You did. When I first got here.” “Well, I changed my mind. Now I just feel lucky.”

“You want to know how what feels like?” “To be yours.”

“Mills, you already are mine. Even if I haven’t been allowed to show you, you’ve always been mine.”

“Well, to be fair, you thought I was a lunatic when I first got here.” “Sorry to break it to you, but I still think that.”

There’s no part of me that wants to be in the kitchen. I only want to be with them.

“You’re everywhere, and when you leave tomorrow, I’ll still see you everywhere. In this kitchen. In Max’s room. In my bed. There’s nothing about us that’s easy. This is fucking miserable, Miller, knowing there’s a clock counting down the seconds until I don’t have you anymore, but I’d do it all over again. I’d fall in love with you all over again. I’d break my heart all over again because loving you was one of the two greatest surprises of my life.”

“Miller,” he says, making sure my attention is on him. “If you ever decide to stop running and make a home…” His eyes are begging, pleading. “Make it with me.”

I hope she’s finding her joy. Because I sure as fuck lost mine.

I hope you’re out there finding your joy because you’re the reason we found ours.