Leap of Faith (La Flor #1) by Ml Rodriguez Page A

he’s so handsome and I really want to keep him.”
    “Momma, he’s here to see you,” Rylee says, turning to me. “I wonder what he wants. Hmmm, might be why he’s been askin’ questions . . .”
    Oh, crap. He seriously wants to talk now? Doesn’t that man realize that it’s too early in the morning for our “talk”? I’ve made my decision but I wanted to tell him when I didn’t look like a clown with a bad paint job.
    “Tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes. Let me jump into the shower first real quick.”
    “Okay. By the way, he’s in the kitchen. He brought breakfast tacos and I wasn’t turning those away—they’re my favorite. He’s pullin’ out all the stops and I’ll take full advantage,” she says, laughing at my predicament.
    “Okay, okay. I’ll hurry.” I’m too freaked out to get onto Rylee for letting him in our house without my permission.
    Well, there goes my long hot shower to work the kinks out of my body. Instead of my long and leisurely Saturday morning, I am going to have to do everything in less than ten minutes. He owes me for this. Big time.
    Twelve minutes later, I’m walking into my delicious-smelling kitchen. Oh, yeah . . . nice greasy breakfast tacos after a night of drinking and dancing. Best breakfast ever.
    I walk in to find everyone. Even Julia is up, sitting at the table eating. I have to keep my laughter in when I see Zane eating his taco off a pink Disney princess plate, a purple place mat, and drinking from a pink cup. I can guess who gave him the dining set. I wish I had my phone on me for a picture. He looks so darn cute, poor man.
    “Did y’all save me one?” I ask.
    “Of course, Momma,” my girls say at the same time.
    “There’s one in the bag for you, baby,” Zane informs me.
    At the word “baby,” Rylee and Julia just stop and stare. Oh man, how do I explain this? And, Skylar—well, she is too busy eating her breakfast to notice anything. That girl was blessed with her father’s stomach and fondness for food.
    Rylee looks between Zane and me. She slowly starts to smile and then resumes eating. She quickly finishes and asks to be excused, then rushes out of the kitchen. I’m sure it’s to phone Josilyn. Great! Now, I should expect a call from Jackie. Well, there’s no keeping it a secret now. Damn it. I’m sure he did this on purpose.
    Julia keeps staring until, I imagine, she starts remembering the events of last night because she perks up, like a light bulb went off in her head. I’m sure she saw us kissing and remembers that Zane and I danced the whole night until he brought us home and led us to the door. Now, she starts smiling. She scarfs down the rest of her taco, grabs Skylar and her unfinished breakfast, and high-tails it out the kitchen, leaving me and Zane alone. Thanks a lot, Julia.
    “Mornin,’ baby.” Zane greets me like it’s the most normal thing in the world and he’s not barging into my world and turning it upside down.
    “Seriously, Zane. You couldn’t let me talk to the girls first before havin’ you over?” I’m pretty upset. “I remember we agreed to talk today and that’s all.”
    “Faith, I remember sayin’ ‘tomorrow we’ll be us,’ and now it’s time. You’re damn lucky I wasn’t at your door earlier. I told you we’re talkin’ today and we are . . . about us. If I let you pick the time, you’ll put it off until God knows when. I want this handled so I can grab you and kiss the hell out of you. I want to be able to hold your hand in front of your girls without worry. I’m takin’ this out of your hands and we’re gettin’ this talkin’ over and done with, so eat up.” He pauses to continue eating off the Disney princess plate. He looks seriously adorable, not that I would tell him just yet. “And, I want to tell the girls together, like we’ll be from now on.”
    “Zane, you know that Rylee is currently on her phone tellin’ Josilyn about breakfast. We’re probably gonna be