The Job (Auctioned) by Cara Dee (highly illogical behavior txt) 📕

like he hadn’t been robbed to an outsider. So while we wouldn’t take the majority of the suits or clean out his kitchen or fill our vehicle with all the golf clubs, we would definitely shop till we dropped.

Seeing dollar signs flash before my eyes did brighten my mood.

I finished my smoke and took the camera, then pinched the screen and zoomed in on some of the watches. I wasn’t an expert, but I knew Richard Mille, Jaeger, Rolex, and Piguet. Some of these pieces started at thirty grand.

“You know what this means?” I paused at a picture from the kitchen. Mom would love that juice press. “We can buy a house.”

Boone joined me at my side and pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

I smiled a little and took my first easy breath in hours.

“Daddy, you’re hugging me a little too hard.”

“Am not.” I gave her another squeeze before I reluctantly let her go.

Ace snickered at me and returned her attention to the TV.

I shouldn’t push it. I was getting exactly what I needed tonight, a movie night with Boone and Ace, all in PJs for the special occasion, under the covers, snacks all around. In our family, pajamas were sacred for Christmas and nights like this one, and it was why we each had two sets. Well, Boone and I. Ace had countless. But on Christmas morning, even Boone and I donned flannel PJs and Santa hats. For movie nights, Boone had his Hulk pajamas, and I had a set with the blue Care Bear printed all over.

Our girl had picked them out for us.

I found ways to look at Ace more than the movie. Not that Brother Bear wasn’t a masterpiece by Disney, but today had really taken its toll on me. I felt overprotective and needed reassurance that everything was okay. That she was here, free, happy, safe, parked in the middle of the pullout with Boone and me on her flanks.

She laughed at something that happened in the movie and threw a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“He reminds me of you, Dad!” She giggled at Boone and pointed to the TV, where a big bear did something funny. “He’s a goof.”

“I’m not a goof.” Boone pretended to be offended and reached for two Cheetos that he stuck up his nose. “I’m the most serious person I know!”

I grinned.

Ace didn’t know what to do with herself, she was laughing too hard.

“Why are you laughing at me?” he demanded. “Huh?”

“You’re so silly!” she guffawed.

I wanted more memories. Grabbing my phone from the table next to the couch, I said, “Lemme take a picture of you.”

“Okay!” Ace scooted closer to Boone, and she didn’t stop there. She stuck two Cheetos up her nose too. Then I had the two of them, Ace halfway up on Boone’s lap, smiling goofily while I took a photo.

Perfect. My new home screen.

“You look a little serious, but we can’t have it all,” I said.

Ace peered down her nose and pursed her lips, then breathed out until the Cheetos popped out.

I laughed softly. “They don’t go back in the bag.”

“Yeah, no. Gross.” She deserted the popcorn bowl and crawled over me to drop the snacks on my plate from dinner. The ribs had been delicious once I’d showered off the day and listened to the two clowns engage in a tickle war while preparing for the movie night. And if I got lucky, I’d hear their laughter in my dreams tonight instead.

On the way back to her seat, Ace nearly kneed me in the balls and rubbed her nose against mine.

“Boop!” she chirped.

“Yeah, boop,” I chuckled through a grunt. Fuck, close call.

Oblivious to how she’d almost crushed the family jewels, she plopped back on the mattress and declared we needed more popcorn. So I guessed that was my job.

“Comin’ right up.” I grabbed the bowl and left the bed.

In the kitchen, I dug out the last Jiffy Pop from a cupboard and put it on the stove. It’d been BOGO at Walmart a few weeks ago, so I’d stocked up. Evidently not well enough. Ace had a severe popcorn addiction.

“I’ll be right back,” I heard Boone say.

“I’ll miss you,” Ace sang.

I smiled and leaned back against the sink.

Boone appeared in the kitchen doorway a couple seconds later with the remnants of the amusement from Ace’s comment in his eyes. Seeing him in higher spirits still gave me the best feeling. In retrospect, I must’ve been affected by his depressed state for longer than I’d known, because it seemed every smile mattered.

“I need your help with something.” He closed the distance between us and landed his hands on the counter behind me, effectively caging me in. I raised a brow in question. “Maybe you can figure this out.” He kept his voice down, which intrigued me. It meant he didn’t want Ace to hear. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Everything you do turns me on or makes me wanna kiss the daylights outta you. I can no longer imagine spending a night without you next to me. I want a future with you—a house, road trips, camping in the desert, fuckin’ bake sales, and soccer games.”

Well, fuck me. I swallowed a bout of nerves and suddenly understood the concept of butterflies in your stomach. This was what that felt like.

He leaned in and rested his forehead to mine. “I constantly wanna get my arms around you,” he murmured. “When you laugh, it automatically makes me feel better.”

I smiled unsurely, on the edge of my proverbial seat, and fidgeted with the drawstrings of his PJ bottoms.

“So you tell me, Case,” he said quietly. “Think I’m in love?”

A breath gusted out of me in a light laugh, and I shook my head at him. Because of how Boone he was. And to me, that was perfection.

“It certainly sounds like it.” I cleared my throat and did my best not to respond with just a shit-eating grin.

“It feels