Delectable

A Neighbor from Hell Novel

by

R.L. Mathewson

Other titles by R.L. Mathewson:

The Pyte/Sentinel Series:

Tall, Dark, & Lonely

Without Regret

Tall, Dark, & Heartless

Tall, Silent, & Lethal

Fated

The Hollywood Hearts Series:

A Humble Heart

A Reclusive Heart

The Neighbor from Hell Series:

Playing for Keeps

Perfection

Checkmate

Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell

The Game Plan

Double Dare

Christmas from Hell

Fire & Brimstone

The EMS Series:

Sudden Response

The Cursed Hearts Series:

Black Heart

Misc. Titles

The 2014 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection

The 2015 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection

The 2016 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection

Nonfiction Titles:

How to Write, Publish and All That Good Stuff…

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events described in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Delectable © Rerum Industries, Inc. 2017. All rights reserved.

http://www.rlmathewson.com

Edited by R.L. Mathewson, Debra MacArthur, Cyndi Rose, and Kirstie Grundy

eBook:

ISBN-10: 0-9986017-1-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-9986017-1-7

Dedication Page

As always, this book is dedicated to my children, Kayley and Shane, who put up with me, hook me up with plenty of Coke to keep me going and make me smile everyday.

I’d also like to dedicate this book to a good friend of mine, Debra MacArthur. She’s been there for me throughout this whole book, giving me her ear and letting me bounce ideas off her morning, noon, and night without killing me. She’s been a great friend throughout this and I just wanted to say thank you for everything.

I would also like to thank to Team Bradford for all their help with details, suggestions and helping me look up facts. You ladies are the best!

Thank you for purchasing this book and for being there for us every step of the way.

Sign up for my newsletter and receive the latest news about the Neighbor from Hell Series as well as my other series at:

www.Rlmathewson.com 

Table of Contents

Title Page

Other books by R.L. Mathewson

Dedication

Dear Reader

Prologue

Chapter 1

Epilogue

“Irresistible”

About the Author…

Dear Reader,

It took me almost six years, but Reese’s story is finally done, lol. I’ve probably spent more time debating every single detail of this book than any of my other books for the simple fact that I wanted to give Reese and Kasey the perfect story.

For years, I struggled with the beginning of this book, trying to figure out what kind of woman could tempt a man like Reese Bradford into finally giving up some of his infamous control. I wanted someone that was down to earth and deserved a guy like Reese and it took some time, but I think I got this one right.

Kasey is definitely nothing like any of the characters that I’ve created before. She’s witty, funny, but she’s also someone who’s been through hell and back and has come out on top. By the time that I was done with this book I realized something very important, I’d written Reese to be someone who deserved Kasey.

I loved writing this book, seeing how they would make this work, and how they would embrace the future. I actually had about ten more scenes that I wanted to add into this book, but once I reached 90,000 words I realized that might end up stretching the book a bit. So, I focused on giving them the happy ever after that they deserved.

Saying goodbye to this book has been difficult for me. I could probably happily write about these two characters for the rest of my life, but it was time to finish. So, now Reese and Kasey belong to you and I hope you enjoy their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thank you for your kindness,

R.L. Mathewson

Delectable: A Neighbor from Hell

Prologue

Dear Reese,

I’m sure you’re wondering why the locks have been changed and your stuff is gone. Well, that’s actually your fault. If you’d come home last Sunday like you’d promised then you would have found all your crap waiting for you, but you decided to sign up for extra training at the last minute so I didn’t have a chance to plan this better. Maybe this will teach you to keep your promises in the future.

Not that you deserve it, but I did manage to save a few of your things that they didn’t want. I put all of it in a white box, which should be on the floor unless they came back and stole that, too.

Roger thinks I should just get to the point so that we don’t miss our flight. I probably should tell you that Roger and I are in love and that we’re flying to Vegas to get married. He says he’s sorry. He’s really sweet, isn’t he? He feels really bad about this. If it makes you feel better all that sneaking around we did behind your back was really stressful. I almost had problems sleeping at night and you know how important my twelve hours of beauty sleep are to me.

Anyway, I really don’t think I should have to feel all that bad about cheating on you since it really was all your fault. When you told me that you weren’t interested in sex I thought you were just kidding. Had I known that you weren’t kidding I never would have gone out with you. I know you proposed and all, but I feel like you wasted a year of my life. Well, maybe not a year since I didn’t make it a month before I started sleeping with Roger, but again that’s your fault. If you’d taken care of me like you were supposed to then I wouldn’t have slept with your best friend.

Also, I have to tell you that I think it’s really weird for a 29-year-old guy to still be a virgin. All the girls at the mall, work and at the grocery store think so too and they think that you were using me to cover up for other problems, which I have to tell you right now that I don’t appreciate one bit. But I’m a big enough person that I suppose that I should forgive you.

I thought I’d tell you that I don’t like your family. Their obsession with food is creepy and I really just don’t like them, especially your cousins who ignored me. Their kids are little brats. My cellphone still isn’t working right and I think you should have to pay for it, but Roger said to just let it go. For him I will, because he’s so kind and sweet and brings out the best in me. He makes me such a good person.

I was going to give you back your engagement ring, but then I decided that you kind of owe it to me for such a stressful year. I sold it so that Roger and I can have a wonderful week in Vegas. I would say I’ll call you when we get back, but why bother?

Hugs and kisses,

Missy

P.S.

I feel bad about taping this note to the door, but you didn’t have any envelopes.

Chapter 1

“How many men?” Kasey asked, as she dumped a bag of ice in the old red cooler that she kept for days like this.

“Three,” was Sara’s, her best friend since eighth grade, no nonsense response.

“Women?” Kasey asked, running a hand over her short spiky hair and smoothed it down as she opened the refrigerator and considered her choices.

“Three women.”

“Children?”

“Seven, but they’re inside with the women,” Sara said, keeping a vigilant eye on the newly rented beach house next door. As the only permanent resident on this strip of beach, Kasey felt it was her duty to know what was going on next door, for safety reasons of course. Sara, the good friend that she was, felt that it was also her duty to help in this endeavor. They liked to refer to themselves as “The Neighborhood Watch.” It was a tough job, but someone needed to do it.

Deciding that they were definitely going to need sustenance for this job, Kasey grabbed several of the large whoopie pies that she’d picked up at Karl’s Grocery last night and tossed them in the cooler along with a six-pack of Coke. She shared a look with Sara and knew that they couldn’t put their responsibility off any longer. With a nod, she closed the cooler and carried it towards the backdoor that Sara was holding open for her.

Without a word, they walked over to the old picnic table that sat at the edge of her property, which just happened to be right next to the neighboring cottage’s driveway and afforded them a great view of the activities that they really needed to keep an eye on.

Folding her arms over her chest, she approached one of the large, shirtless men carrying a suitcase. She noted his good looks, perfectly tanned body, and the name “Zoe” tattooed across his left peck. Not bad, she thought as she came to a stop in front of him.

“We need to speak to your wives, girlfriends, or whatever they are to you,” she informed him.

For a moment he could only frown down at her until one of the other men joined him. “What’s going on?” he asked and of course Kasey noted that this one was also devastatingly handsome, had a perfect body and that bad boy look that she really liked.

“They want to talk to our women,” the first man said, still frowning.

“For what?” the second one demanded.

“Guys?” she said, drawing their attention. “If you could just go get your wives,” she said, noting the wedding bands on both their left hands. “We really don’t have much time here,” she said, gesturing for them to get on with it before crossing her arms back over her chest.

With a shrug, the men walked off following the third man, the much larger and hotter of the three men, she’d like to add, into the house. When two women stepped out of the house a moment later followed by the two men that she’d spoken with she had to hide her surprise. She’d actually expected the men to have supermodel wives, but this was definitely a nice surprise.

The two women were a few inches shorter than her. The first one, the one smiling sweetly, wore glasses, had her long bronze hair pulled up into a messy bun and was adorable in a vixen kind of way. The other one was cute, had long brown hair pulled up into a ponytail, and was a little on the chubby side, but if the look the man with the “Zoe” tattoo was sending her ass as she walked towards Kasey was any indication then her husband had no complaints.

“Hi, I’m Haley,” the woman with glasses said, as she held her hand out. Kasey shook her hand as Haley gestured to her friend. “This is Zoe and you’ve met our husbands, Jason and Trevor.”

“I’m Kasey. I live next door and this is my friend Sara. We’re here to ogle your men while they work, but if that’s a problem for you then we’ll go back to ogling them from my bedroom window, but we’d rather not since the view’s not as good,” she explained with a shrug.

“It’s true. The view isn’t as good,” Sara agreed on a sigh.

Zoe and Haley’s lips twitched while their husbands let out twin snorts of disgust as they returned to sorting through the bags in the back of one of the large SUVs.

“And do you do this often?” Haley asked, sounding amused.

“No,” Kasey said, sighing. “This is an honor we only bestow upon my neighbors two, maybe three times a summer.”

“And how many times a summer does this cottage get rented out?” Zoe asked, looking equally amused.

Kasey shared a look with Sara before she answered, “Two or three times a summer.”

Both women chuckled. “And what if the men are old or overweight?” Zoe asked, chuckling.

“Then we’re obligated to add catcalls to our ogling session,” Kasey explained.

“It really goes a long way to helping with their self-esteem,” Sara added solemnly.

“It really does,” Kasey agreed with a shrug. “We perform a public service of sorts.”

“They’re not going to let you ogle us,” Jason pointed out as he walked past them carrying what looked like an Xbox system.

“They’re very possessive,” Trevor said, shooting another hungry look at his wife’s ass.

“No, we’re really not,” Haley said, sounding bored.

“You can stare all you want,” Zoe added with a shrug.

“How could you betray us like that?” Jason demanded in outrage. “I thought you loved me?”

Kasey grinned hugely as the woman shrugged indifferently, earning another gasp of outrage from her husband. They were a very entertaining family. She liked that. Too many times over the years she’d got stuck next to some real jerks. This was going to be a nice little treat for her.

“If you’d like to join us in our ogling we have Coke and the best whoopie pies in town,” she said, gesturing to the picnic table.

“Whoopie pies?” Jason and Trevor asked in unison, shooting a hungry look towards the cooler. She noticed that the third man just kept on working, not bothering to stop and say hello or wipe that scowl off his face.

“I’m sorry, guys, but they’re only for the spectators. If you win our competition then we’ll give you one,” Kasey explained as she walked back to the picnic table and sat down. Sara sat down on her right and she was pleasantly surprised when the two other women joined them.

“What competition?” Jason asked, frowning and clearly not getting this.

Sara handed out drinks while Kasey asked, “What’s the point of ogling if we don’t pick a winner?” in a tone that said they really should have known that.

“You’re going to judge us?” Trevor demanded, folding his arms over his chest as he glared down at them.

“Of course,” Sara said with a shrug as she handed Kasey a Coke.

“It is our civil duty to figure out which one of you is the hottest.”

“You’re going to let them do this?” Jason demanded of his wife.

Haley nodded as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I think it’s a good idea...unless you’re afraid you’ll lose,” the woman said with a mischievous little grin.

“Lose? To him? Puhlease, my little grasshopper. That would be a cold day in hell before I lose to-”

“Damn straight you’re going to lose, you bastard. There’s no way-” Trevor began, but she felt it was time for them to return to working so that they could properly ogle them.

“Yummy is in the lead,” she felt obligated to point out.

Both men frowned down at her, but it was Trevor who demanded, “Who’s Yummy?”

She shifted to the side so that she could point at the glowering man as he grabbed a large bag and threw it over his shoulder. “Him and he’s at least five points ahead of you now.”

“I’d say six points,” Sara said, adding, “He’s got a nice ass,” when both men turned their glares on her.

They opened their mouths, probably to argue, when their wives said, “He really does.”

“How could you?” Jason demanded hoarsely as he shook his head in disbelief.

Haley shrugged. “He does and if you want to win then I’d suggest you get moving so we can see the goods in action.”

“I’d give him two extra points for that Celtic tattoo on his shoulder. It’s hot,” Zoe said before taking a sip of her soda.

Trevor gestured wildly to the tattoo on his chest. “How the hell can you say that’s hotter than this? It’s your name!”

Zoe shrugged. “I’m just saying...”

“Guys,” Kasey said, drawing back their attention, because really, she did have other things to do today, “if you could get back to work I would really appreciate it.”

The men simply stood there glaring at her.

Deciding that perhaps the guys needed a visual, she reached back into the cooler and grabbed one of the large, overfilled whoopie pies and held it up so that they could see what was at risk here. The men’s glares instantly disappeared and were replaced with desperate need. They licked their lips hungrily as they took an involuntary step towards her.

“Sorry, but you need to win these and remember, the winner gets a bag to call his very own,” she said, once again gesturing for them to get on with it.

Jason snorted at that, seeming to come to his senses. It probably didn’t hurt that she’d dropped the whoopie pie back in the cooler and out of sight. “We’re not whores that you can buy with a few delicious looking baked goods.”

Trevor shrugged. “I am,” he said, leaning down to press a swift kiss to his wife’s lips. “I better get an extra point for willing to whore myself out for this competition.”

“Two points,” Sara said and when Haley and Zoe murmured their agreement Jason stormed off, muttering something about homewreckers and a bad little grasshopper.

For the next ten minutes, they watched the two men doing whatever it took to win. When they awarded points for Best Set of Abs, Jason shoved Trevor into a bush. When they awarded points for Best Hair, Trevor put Jason in a headlock and brought him down to the ground where an amusing fight took place and they ended up awarding points to Trevor for Best Fighter. That of course caused Jason to tackle Trevor to the ground and they were forced to call it a tie.

Whenever they awarded points for Yummy, and Kasey couldn’t help but wonder if the third woman watching the kids inside the house belonged to him, Jason and Trevor glared at him. He didn’t acknowledge them in any way except of course that little tick that went double-time in his jaw whenever he won. He really was a Yummy specimen and she wouldn’t mind a summer fling with him, but he was also grumpy and grumpy equaled too much work for a fling so she focused all of her attention back on the two men glaring at her as they carried more bags into the house. Besides, he was probably with the mystery woman in the house, she mused as she watched him disappear back inside the house.

“These really are good,” Zoe said, practically groaning in ecstasy as she took another bite of her whoopie pie.

“They really are,” Haley agreed as she went to take another bite, but suddenly found her baked good ripped out of her hands.

All four of them looked up to find Jason holding the stolen whoopie pie. He scowled down at his wife as he took a large bite. Then, after sending her one last glare, he stormed off. Trevor wasn’t too far behind, but not before he stole Zoe’s treat and Kasey’s cooler.

“I guess they realized that Yummy was winning,” Kasey said, laughing with the other women as she stood up.

“I have to get back to the office,” Sara muttered unhappily as she fixed her platinum blonde hair and smoothed down her blouse and skirt. She looked at Haley and Zoe as she said, “Thank you for the best lunch break ever.”

“You’re welcome,” Haley said, grinning hugely as she looped her arm through Zoe’s and the two women followed their husbands back inside the house.

Kasey waved goodbye to her friend as she collected all the empty cans and wrappers. Just as she finished picking up the last empty soda can she looked up and found a pair of intense green eyes watching her from the driveway. She sent him a wink as she walked away. “See ya later, Yummy.”

“The name’s Reese,” he said in an erotically deep voice that sent goose bumps racing over her skin.

She looked over her shoulder and ran her eyes over his damp bare chest, rope after rope of golden muscle and shook her head. “No, you’re definitely yummy.” With that, she walked back to her house and prepared herself for the long night ahead of her.

 Chapter 2

“So, this is hell,” Reese said with a thoughtful frown as he shifted his gaze from the heart-shaped ass of the woman that had made this already difficult day fucking worse, to the large beachfront cottage that he was contractually obligated to share with his relatives unless he wanted to pick up the ten thousand dollar tab by himself.

He didn’t.

In fact, he didn’t even want to be here, but since he was on paid-leave until the end of summer or until the nightmare that had taken over his life died out, he was stuck spending the entire summer at the house that he’d rented to surprise Missy, the ex-fiancé that had fucked him over for his best friend, for their honeymoon. Now that he was standing here, taking in the large cottage and private beach behind it, he couldn’t help but wonder why he’d even bothered.

She would have taken one look at this cottage, glanced at the neighboring houses, thrown a fit when the neighborhood watch came out to “welcome” them, and immediately demanded that he take her to the nearest five-star resort. He considered saying the hell with it, getting back in his truck and going home, but there was only one problem with that.

He didn’t have one.

He did, however, have his choice of couches, pullout beds, and bunk beds thanks to his family. He’d been crashing with his cousins and brothers since he came home and discovered that he was homeless, single, and out of options. He could accept his parents’ offer and move back home, but that would be admitting defeat and he wasn’t sure that he was there yet. He also wasn’t sure that he would survive living with his parents after the last time he’d made the mistake of staying there.

Then again, he wasn’t sure of a lot of things, which was the reason that he was here. Since that note that Missy had left on his apartment door had gone viral, he’d been forced to give up his empty apartment, take a leave of absence from the force, and work for his Uncle Jared while he waited for the barrage of offers to marry and fuck him to die down. To be fair, it probably wouldn’t have been so bad if someone hadn’t leaked a picture of him in his uniform online and mentioned that he had an identical twin. After that things had gotten a little out of hand…

Women, and quite a few men, began calling 911 and reporting fake crimes in the hopes that either he or his twin brother, Darrin, would respond to the call. A few had actually committed crimes and assumed the position before he had a chance to put his vehicle in park. When it became obvious that they couldn’t perform their regular duty, they’d been placed on desk duty with the hopes that it would die down.

It didn’t.

In fact, some might say that it actually got worse. Now instead of being content with calling 911, they showed up at the station at all hours of the night, wearing nothing under their coats and taking it upon themselves to drop their coats, bend over his desk, and wiggle their asses in invitation. He still couldn’t get the image of Mrs. Watson, his old kindergarten teacher, shoving aside her walker and dropping her nightgown so she could slowly bend over his desk, hand him a tube of KY lube and asked him to be careful of her new hip.

After that, it was decided that perhaps it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if he went on paid leave for a little while and since Darrin was getting hit with the same attention perhaps he should join Reese in being bored out of his fucking mind. While his brother was more than happy to use the extra time to spend with his newborn baby girls, Reese was fucking miserable and the sad part was that he couldn’t exactly say why.

He knew the obvious answers should have been his failed relationship, finding out that he’d been played for a fool, having everything that he owned stolen, and having his life ripped apart by complete strangers, but none of that explained why he was standing here feeling completely lost. If he were going to be honest, he’d admit that he’d been feeling like this for most of his life and nothing that he ever did seemed to make it better.

His twin brother never seemed to have that problem. Darrin had always known what he wanted ever since they were little and never had a problem going after it, no matter how long it took to get it. Reese, on the other hand, had never cared one way or the other and had always been happy to follow his brother’s lead. It had always been that way. Darrin had known what he’d wanted in life and because Reese really hadn’t cared and they were twins, he’d never thought twice about following his brother’s lead no matter where it took him.

Now he wasn’t so sure that had been the right thing to do.

He needed to figure some things out for himself and he wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to do that spending the summer with the two large bastards currently glaring at him. Maybe he should admit defeat and go stay with his parents for a while, at least until he figured out his next move. Before he could seriously consider it, he was walking back to his truck to grab the rest of his shit. Going home where his mother could worry and fuss over him while he was forced to count down the minutes until Labor Day weekend when he was supposed to be reinstated wasn’t going to help.

Besides, he wasn’t sure if he could handle walking in on his father bending his mother over the back of the couch again, he thought, biting back a gag as he turned around and came face to face with the two large bastards that never seemed to learn.

“We want to have a word with you about that contest, Yummy,” Trevor said, letting him know that this summer was going to be extra fucking special.

“Then I suggest you take it up with the judges,” Reese said, moving to step around them only to sigh heavily when Trevor pushed him back.

“We’re taking it up with you, homewrecker,” Jason said, shoving him back and because Reese was a Bradford after all, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is this because your wife wants me?”

“She gave you a pity vote, you bastard! A pity vote!”

“Really? Because it didn’t feel like pity,” he drawled, flexing his muscles and reminding the bastard just whose wife had given him the winning point.

After that, Jason and Trevor decided to make a few points of their own.

*-*-*-*

“After reducing the flour by a quarter of a cup and adding two more tablespoons of butter, I believe that I have finally figured out your grandmother’s secret recipe,” Kasey said with flourish as she held the fudge brownie that had taken her five attempts to make at an angle in front of the camera so that “Mamabear,” one of her website’s followers and the woman who’d paid her three hundred dollars to decipher her grandmother’s handwriting off an old, water damaged recipe card, could see the results.

“Oh my, God! That looks just like the brownies that my grandmother used to make!” “Mamabear” gushed excitedly, smiling hugely and bouncing in her seat as she leaned closer to her computer screen to get a better look at the infamous MacArthur brownie.

“I’m glad I could help,” Kasey said, smiling as she placed the plate down on the cracked granite top even as she silently prayed that Mr. Parker got a two-by-four shoved up his-

“When do I get the recipe?” “Mamabear” asked, cutting off the violent fantasies that had been pouring through Kasey’s mind since Mr. Parker had presented her with a twenty-thousand-dollar bill to remodel her kitchen.

“I’m sending the recipe to you now. If you have any problems, please e-mail me” Kasey said, as she hit “send.”

“Thank you so much, Kasey!” Mamabear said, smiling hugely.

“You’re very welcome,” Kasey said, smiling warmly as she ended the video call.

As soon as the call ended she was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and reading through the recipe, making sure there weren’t any typos. She uploaded the pictures she’d taken of the brownies and the video of her making them before putting the final touches on today’s recipe. Once she was done, she hit the publish button and shared the recipe on her website, “KaseyCooks.com.”

Even though the brownie recipe would make a good addition to her website, she really wished that “Mamabear” would have forked over the extra two hundred dollars to keep that recipe private. It would definitely go a long way in helping her remodel her kitchen that had seen better days, she thought with a sigh. Groaning, she reached into the top drawer, pretending that she didn’t notice when it refused to close after she grabbed the roll of duct tape she kept for just such an occasion, tore off a strip and added it to the growing pile of duct tape that held the old tiled countertop together.

When the corner of the countertop broke off a few seconds later and hit the cracked tile floor she sighed, pushed her wobbly stool back, stood up, and stepped over the mess on the floor. Groaning pathetically, she walked over to the tiny closet that was supposed to be the pantry, but was barely big enough to hold the broom and a bucket that she kept in there. She grabbed the broom and closed the door with a wince as the hinges emitted a grinding noise that no amount of oil seemed to help.

Broom in hand, she turned around and looked at the old kitchen that had once belonged to her grandmother and groaned. This kitchen had definitely seen better days, she thought as she took in the old cabinets that were cracked, worn, warped, and in some cases, barely hanging onto the old hinges that refused to stay in place. The counters and floors hadn’t fared any better over the years either. They were cracked, stained from decades of children tearing through the house, and in some areas, she mused as her gaze shifted to her kitchen island, were missing.

She should dip into her savings, but even though she had more than enough money to cover the costs of remodeling the kitchen, she couldn’t justify spending the twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Parker’s work wasn’t the best and for twenty thousand dollars she expected a heck of a lot more than just the basics that he’d promised her.  Maybe she should look into selling the house again.

She already knew that she’d end up walking away with a small fortune if she did, but she just couldn’t stomach the idea of selling the house that her grandfather had built even if it meant that she could buy a huge house with central air, a chef’s kitchen, an office, family room, and her very own bathroom, and a game room so that she wouldn’t have to put up with all of the baseball memorabilia all over the-

“You throw like a girl!” Mikey, her pride and joy, yelled as she stormed into the house, tossing her worn and dirty baseball mitt onto the couch before yanking the refrigerator door open, grabbing a Gatorade, and downing it all while she glared at the man who’d stumbled into the house after her.

“You’re a brat!” Eric, the poor, misguided man that had actually volunteered for this, snapped as he stormed in after Mikey and tossed his baseball mitt on the couch, renewing Kasey’s dreams of one day having a sports-free room.

“And you throw like a girl!” Mikey announced once again with a murderous glare for her uncle.

“Brat,” Eric bit out, grabbing his own Gatorade as he gave Mikey an affectionate pat on the head before he reached for one of the infamous MacArthur brownies.

“I’m guessing practice didn’t go well,” Kasey said, chuckling as she cleaned up the mess on the floor.

“Your daughter is the devil,” Eric said matter-of-factly around a mouthful of brownie.

“You knew this going in,” Kasey pointed out as she finished cleaning up the mess and put away the broom.

“He throws like a girl, mom,” Mikey said, sighing heavily as she helped herself to a brownie.

“Well,” Kasey said, pursing her lips up thoughtfully, “you knew that going in as well.”

“I don’t throw like a girl!” Eric snapped in outrage only to moan with pleasure seconds later when he took another bite.

They all knew that while Eric had many fine qualities, playing sports was not one of them. But, since he always volunteered to take Mikey to practice and help coach her games, she kept her mouth shut.

“Really?” Mikey asked, adjusting her baseball cap, “Then what would you call it?”

“Keeping you on your toes,” Eric said with an affectionate glare as he put his drink down so that he could help Mikey fix her baseball cap.

Mikey dropped her hands away and stared blankly up at her uncle, “By making me run after the ball?”

“Exactly,” Eric said with a smile as he fixed her braids and turned her cap around so that it was facing backwards.

“Since I have you both here,” Kasey said, deciding to press her luck, “I could really use a hand peeling potatoes and chopping some vegetables.”

But, before she was finished, the two traitors were both making a run for it and leaving her to peel ten pounds of potatoes by herself.

Chapter 3

“Who are you?” a pretty little girl with sun kissed brown hair pulled into two braids and wearing a backwards baseball cap demanded, as she stopped in front of him.

Reese cocked his head to the side as he looked up at the little girl staring right back at him. “Who are you?” he countered as he settled back against the old log that he’d escaped to an hour ago.

“I asked you first,” she pointed out as she crossed her arms over her chest and shot him an expectant look, clearly deciding that she wasn’t leaving him alone until she got her answers.

“So you did,” Reese murmured with a smile. “I’m Reese.”

“Are you visiting or renting?” she asked next, not wasting any time in starting her interrogation.

“Renting.”

“Which house?”

“The one right behind you,” he said, gesturing towards the large house that he was avoiding at the moment.

“For how long?”

“The summer.”

“Any kids?” she asked, producing an old baseball mitt with a baseball securely held inside it from behind her back.

“Seven.”

“Seven,” she repeated with a thoughtful nod as she glanced over her shoulder.

“And what’s your name?” he asked, curious about the little girl that was interrogating him.

“Can’t tell you that. I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” she said with a sniff as she returned her attention back to him.

“I see,” he murmured, not pointing out that she was currently interrogating a stranger and decided to reassure her that he wasn’t a serial killer.

He pulled out his wallet, flipped it open and held it out to her so that his badge was facing her. He didn’t say anything as she slowly reached out and took his wallet from him. He watched as she looked down at his badge and ID, to him and then back down at his ID again.

“You’re a police officer?” she asked, shooting him a questioning look as she handed his wallet back.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, returning his wallet to his back pocket.

“Are you the one that handcuffed those two men to the pole?” she asked, as she absently gestured towards the street.

“That would be me,” he said with a nod, wondering how long it would be before they managed to escape and come after him.

“You know they’re telling on you, right?” she asked, scrunching her face up in disgust as though the very act disgusted her, making him chuckle.

“I figured,” he admitted with a shrug, already knowing that Haley and Zoe would be more amused than anything to find their husbands handcuffed to a telephone pole.

“I see,” she murmured thoughtfully as she tossed the ball in the air and caught it, assessing him with a new look on her face, one that actually kind of scared him.

“Are you going to tell me your name?” he asked only to frown when she once again ignored his question and demanded, “Do you throw like a girl?”

*-*-*-*

“So, what’s the verdict?” Eric asked, as he strolled into the kitchen and leaned back against the kitchen counter as she finished dicing the last potato.

“On what?” she asked, putting the diced potato in the pot with the others.

“The kitchen,” he said, watching as she moved around the kitchen island so that she could focus the insanely expensive camera that she’d bought last year, on the bowl of potato cubes soaking in the pot and snapped a few pictures.

Shaking her head, she grabbed the pot and placed it on the stove. “I haven’t decided yet,” she admitted, as she grabbed a large mixing bowl out of the cabinet and placed it on the kitchen island.

“I think you should do it,” Eric said, walking around the kitchen island so that he could snap a few pictures of the bowl for her while she grabbed the hamburger, eggs, and ketchup from the fridge and placed it on the counter along with the large mixing bowl.

“I know,” she said, sighing heavily as she looked around the depressing area again, noting that the modern appliances that she’d added since she’d moved in didn’t match the rest of the kitchen, which created problems when she had to do her job.

“It’s a tax write off,” he reminded her as he took a few more pictures.

“I know that, too,” she said, as she grabbed some seasonings and the leftover loaf of bread that she’d made yesterday.

“Then what’s the hold up?” he asked, snapping a few more pictures before he looked over at what she was doing with interest. “What are you making?”

“Meatloaf,” she said, cracking an egg open.

“Which recipe?”

“Your favorite,” she said with a smile as she slowly added the rest of the ingredients, pausing long enough so that he could snap pictures as she worked.

“There are other contractors out there,” he pointed out, before licking his lips and asking, “Are you going to make fried apples?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” she said, grabbing a pan for the meatloaf and already resigning herself to making a batch of fried apples for the man that had saved her from spending the better part of the day sitting on an old splintered bench in this sweltering heat.

“And biscuits?” he asked, sounding hopeful and making her chuckle.

“Are you going to do the dishes?” she asked, mentally adding biscuits to tonight’s menu.

“I would,” he said, sighing heavily, “I really would, but you know that you do them so much better than me.”

“Cause you throw like a girl?” she asked teasingly as she put the pan in the oven and started on the apples that she hadn’t planned on making.

“Exactly,” he said, waving it off as though that was a given. “What about the kitchen? What are we going to do?”

Toying with the apple in her hand, she slowly sighed as she glanced around the eyesore that was becoming more difficult to deal with each passing day. “I honestly don’t know. It needs to be done, but twenty thousand dollars is a bit steep.”

“It is,” he murmured in agreement, “but it needs it.”

“It does,” she agreed, rolling the apple between her hands as she thought about the cost, the time it would take to complete the renovations, and the hassle of dragging her camera, pots and pans, cooking equipment, and ingredients across town to Sara’s place so that she could use her best friend’s kitchen.

Then again, that might not be a possibility since Sara’s husband felt that she was a bad influence and usually went out of his way to provoke her into screwing with his head. She really didn’t know why he didn’t like her since she was such a joy to be around. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she’d kicked him in the junk at the eighth-grade dinner dance after he’d promised to take Sara to the dance only to end up taking another girl?

She thought that over for a minute before quickly dismissing it, because if anything, he owed her his gratitude for reminding him of his previous obligation since it had led him to realize just how special Sara was and marrying her. Maybe he was still mad at her for crashing his bachelor party? she wondered only to shrug it off as well, because she simply didn’t care.

“Why don’t we look for someone else to do the work?” Eric suggested with a pointed look at the apple for her to move her ass.

“There is no one else.”

“There has to be.”

“You would think,” she said, peeling an apple and placing it in a bowl of ice water before she grabbed another apple. “I’ve asked around, but Mr. Parker is the only contractor that has the availability.”

“Maybe we could do it ourselves,” he suggested, making her pause mid-peel, because that was actually a pretty good idea.

Well, not him, because of that whole throws like a girl thing, but she could probably do most of the work and find a handyman to do what she couldn’t. It could work, she decided as she thought of everything that she was going to have to do to get this project moving. She was going to need a hammer, she thought as she looked around, amending that decision when she took in the cabinets and countertop.

She was going to need a big hammer to tear this room apart.

Of course, that didn’t solve her other problems. She still needed to find a kitchen that she could use while she was doing renovations. Maybe she could rent the church’s kitchen? It was worth a shot, she decided, reaching for another apple when she realized that they weren’t alone anymore and that her daughter may very well end up being the death of her.

Oh, that and the man standing behind Mikey might be losing too much blood.

“I think I might have thrown the ball a little too hard,” Mikey said with a sheepish look as she glanced up at the man that Kasey belatedly realized was the same man that she’d dubbed Yummy earlier.

“I’m fine,” Reese, if she remembered correctly, said, but something, mostly all that blood running down his face, told her that he wasn’t.

 “Eric, why don’t you help Mikey to her room since she’ll be staying there until she’s old enough to collect social security,” she said smoothly with a pointed look at her daughter. “Oh, and you might want to check the lock on her window.”

“I didn’t go far,” she said with that same expression that Mikey’s father used to use when he got caught pulling his IV out of his arm and sneaking out of his hospital room so that he could hit the vending machines before his next dose of chemo.

It hadn’t worked on Kasey then and it wasn’t going to work on her now.

“Go,” was all she said before cocking her brow in warning.

That’s usually all it took and this time would be no different.

“Bye! Hope you feel better, Reese!” Mikey yelled over her shoulder, and with that she was gone, leaving Kasey with several questions for the large man muttering under his breath and bleeding all over her kitchen floor.

Chapter 4

“Couldn’t stay away?” the infuriating woman that he’d hoped to avoid said, as she grabbed a kitchen towel and ran it under the faucet.

“Yeah, that was it,” he said dryly, turning to make his escape when he suddenly found himself stumbling back as the small woman, who was a hell of a lot stronger than she looked, dragged him towards the kitchen table and before he could argue, he was being shoved down onto a wooden chair that wobbled to the side and threatened to drop him on his ass.

“That’s what I thought. Now, let’s have a look at that cut, shall we?” she said brightly as she dragged another chair closer, sat down and-

“Son of a bitch!”

“You’re lucky it wasn’t her fast ball,” she said with a sympathetic wince as she continued to clean the gash on his eyebrow and made him bite back another curse as the action caused a sharp sting to pierce his skull.

“Sure felt like one,” he said, reaching up to take over only to have his hand swatted away.

“It usually does,” she murmured as she leaned closer to get a better look at his cut and in the process giving him one hell of a view of lightly tanned breasts and a black lace bra that reminded him of the other reason that had brought him here on this fucked-up trip from hell.

Silently cursing, he shifted his gaze back up to her face and watched while she worried her plump bottom lip between her teeth as she carefully cleaned his cut. Having nothing better to do, he watched her, taking in her expressive baby blue eyes, the way she kept worrying her bottom lip as she worked, the barely-there laugh lines that told him just how easily and freely this woman smiled, the short jet black hair that almost matched his own and couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like if she let it grow out.

She was pretty in that bad girl kind of way, passably cute, and most importantly, nowhere near his type. He preferred women with long blonde hair, even longer legs, and who loved to be pampered. He quickly took in her v-neck black tee shirt, worn jeans, black boots and dismissed her as a problem. Now her friend on the other hand…  

She definitely would have been a problem if it hadn’t been for that ring he’d spotted on her left hand earlier. She was exactly his type and that was something that he wanted to avoid this summer, he absently reminded himself as his gaze landed back on the top of those lightly tanned breasts. He wanted to clear his head and figure some shit out before-

“Ouch!” he snapped when the vicious woman pressed the towel against his cut harder than he felt was necessary.

“Eyes up here, Yummy,” she said with a teasing smile.

“I wasn’t looking,” he said, but of course he had been. She might not be his type, but she was still a woman and he was a man who appreciated a woman’s curves.

“It’s okay. I understand that I’m irresistible, but,” and here’s where she sighed dramatically, “I can’t help it,” she said before shooting him a wink and a smile that had him relaxing.

At least she didn’t look like she was going to hit him.

That was something.

Not a hell of a lot, but something, he decided as he forced himself to sit still while she cleaned his cut. It stung, but he’d had worse so he just sat there and let her work while he tried to come up with a suitable lie for the two assholes that were probably waiting to pounce on him, because there was no way in hell that he was admitting that a little girl had done this to him.

He could always tell them that he’d been injured when they’d tried to take him down with a headlock, he thought as he glanced around the large kitchen and couldn’t help but frown when he realized that the grey slashes on the cabinet doors and countertop was actually duct tape.

  “Look, I’m sorry about this,” she said, as he took in the rest of the kitchen, noting all the wasted space, the outdated cabinets, and the layout that was all wrong for this room.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said absently as his attention moved to the tiles that had been placed down wrong. The lines didn’t match, most of the tiles were cracked and even with blood seeping into his eye he could tell that they weren’t even. Just looking at this mess made his head hurt.

“I think we should get you to the hospital,” she said, somewhat distracting him from the kitchen before he could think about all the changes that he would make if he had the chance.

“I’m fine,” he said, taking the cloth from her and pressing it to his head as he stood up.

He heard a small sigh and then found himself shoved back down onto the wobbly chair. “No, you’re not,” she said, as she momentarily left him to grab a handful of paper towels, a bottle of water, and a first aid kit.

“It’s just a cut,” he said, already over it. It hurt like hell, but he’d had worse. He just needed to pop a bottle of Advil, grab a beer, find a bed, and he’d be fine.

“I think it might need stitches,” she said when she came back and replaced the ruined towel with paper towels.

“I’ll live,” he said, shrugging it off as he held the paper towels against his head, absently noting that they were already soaked.

“I’m sure you will,” she said, gently tilting his head to the side so that she could finish cleaning the rest of the blood off his face. “But, to make sure that happens I think we should bring you to the emergency room.”

“I’m fine,” he said, closing his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to look at the kitchen that offended his senses. Well, that and because his head was fucking pounding now and every few seconds he thought he was going to be sick or pass out, most likely both.

“Yeah, you look it,” she said grimly as she gave up trying to clean his face and took over pressing the paper towels to his cut when his hand started to tremble, letting him know that it might be time to call it a night.

“I’m fine,” he bit out, deciding to ignore the blood dripping down his face.

“So, you’re going to keep saying that until it’s true?” she asked, wiping away the blood running down his face only to have more take its place.

“That’s the plan,” he said with a resigned sigh as he opened his eyes and stood up, deciding that it was time to go while he still could. Before she could push him back down, he was plucking the bloody paper towels from her hand and heading towards what he hoped was the front door.

“Leaving so soon?” she asked, easily catching up to him and slapping a stack of napkins in his hand.

“I’m afraid so,” he said, pausing to swap the paper towels out and making note of the trail of blood he’d made on the carpet that he would have to deal with later when his head wasn’t fucking pounding.

“This breaks my heart, Yummy. It really does, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to insist on taking you to the emergency room” she said with a resigned sigh as she grabbed a set of keys off the side table and gestured for him to go ahead of her.

“I’m-” he started to tell her that he was fine, but she apparently wasn’t having it, because she grabbed his arm, forced him to turn around and announced, “I can see your skull,” which of course explained quite a bit.

“I see,” he murmured thoughtfully as he was forced to reach out and grab onto the back of the couch when a shot of pain tore through his head, threatening to knock him on his ass.

“I didn’t want to tell you.”

“I really wish you hadn’t,” he admitted, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to breathe through the pain, but god, did it fucking hurt.

“And I wouldn’t have, but you really didn’t give me much of a choice,” she said, as he once again found himself being shoved, this time down onto something a hell of a lot softer than the wobbly kitchen chair.

“Your kid has a hell of an arm on her,” he felt obligated to point out as he was forced to lie down on his side and wait for his head to explode.

“She gets it from her father,” she said proudly as he felt her switch out the bloody napkins for a towel.

“The man you were talking to in the kitchen?” he asked, wondering if that had been her husband.

“No, that’s her uncle. Her father passed away before she was born,” she explained, as he felt something cool pressed against his head.

“I’m sorry,” he said, because he honestly couldn’t imagine what it was like growing up without a father.

“I’m sorry, too,” she said, making him frown until he realized that the fucking move hurt.

“For what?”

“For this,” she said, as she pressed a bag of ice against his skull.

It took him a few seconds to understand why she was apologizing, but once that cold seeped into his throbbing skull, he understand perfectly, because that was right around the time that it felt like a sledge hammer slammed into his head and he was forced to roll over and make a lasting impression.

Chapter 5

“Don’t,” Kasey warned as she stared down at the large stain on the carpet that was never coming out.

“I didn’t say anything,” Sara pointed out in that innocent tone that only worked on her husband and well, every man alive, but it never worked on Kasey, because she knew better than to believe that innocent act.

“Yeah, but you were going to,” Kasey said, looking from the large stain that no amount of cleaning was going to remove to the dried trail of blood that her steamer had turned into an interesting shade of brown.

“But-”

“Don’t,” Kasey said, shaking her head as she looked between the two stains, wondering if she could somehow rearrange the furniture to cover them.

“Fine,” Sara said, sounding truly disappointed and making Kasey’s lips twitch with amusement even though she was anything but amused this morning.

“How long were you at the hospital?” Sara asked, as she glanced towards the kitchen where the real reason for her mood waited along with a box of Brillo pads and the biggest bottle of Lysol she could find.

“Until nine. I would have stayed longer, but apparently there was an emergency at home that needed my attention,” she said dryly, reluctantly following her best friend’s gaze towards the mess that she was going to kill Eric for.

“Is he going to be okay?” Sara asked, as Kasey took in the burnt mess covering the stove, the ruined pans, and scorched countertop and shook her head.

“I hope so,” she said, assuming that Sara was talking about the poor man that her daughter had nearly maimed and not the bastard that almost burned the house down, because he’d tried to make the meatloaf cook faster.

Thank god Mikey hadn’t been practicing her fast ball, Kasey thought as she propped her hands on her hips and looked from the kitchen to the living room and back again, deciding that she really didn’t have much of a choice any longer.

She was going to have to gut both rooms.

“Where is he now?” Sara asked, as she walked over to the kitchen and helped herself to a Coke.

“Next door resting,” and hopefully not making plans to sue her, Kasey silently added.

“What did the doctor say?” Sara asked, as she stepped over the mess on the floor and leaned against the kitchen island before she thought better of it and settled for a chair at the table instead.

“That he was lucky that Mikey hadn’t thrown her fast ball,” Kasey said, deciding that there was no point in putting it off any longer. She grabbed her cleaning supplies so that she could make use of her kitchen one last time before she was forced to take matters into her own hands.

“Speaking of Mikey, where is she?” Sara asked, as she examined her nails, looking for any imperfections the manicurist might have left behind.

“In her room praying for a miracle,” Kasey said, sighing heavily as she once again wondered what she was going to do with that kid.

“It was an accident,” Sara pointed out quietly, earning a glare.

“I know it was an accident, but that’s not the point. She shouldn’t have been out there in the first place,” Kasey said, trying not to think of just how many rules her daughter had broken last night.

It had to be a record and that was saying something.

“You used to sneak out of your room,” Sara said, clearly feeling the need to come to her goddaughter’s rescue, but sadly, the compassionate gesture was going to get her killed.

“Not when I was ten!” Kasey snapped, wondering what the hell was wrong with her-

“You’re right. You were six,” the betraying bitch said with a smirk.

“I had my reasons,” she said with a sniff as she set to work on scrubbing the stove.

“Really? And what were those reasons?” Sara asked innocently.

Since answering that question would only make her look bad, she decided to shift the focus back on Mikey and away from all the horrible things that she’d done as a child. “She shouldn’t have been out there.”

“No, she shouldn’t have been,” Sara agreed.

“And she shouldn’t have been talking with a stranger,” Kasey said, as she mentally tallied all the offenses that Mikey had committed last night.

“No, she shouldn’t have-”

“Reese isn’t a stranger,” the little convict said, as she tentatively walked into the kitchen, unsure of her welcome and thankfully no longer looking like she was on the verge of crying.

Kasey blinked at her daughter. “Because he’s an old friend of the family that you’ve known since birth and therefore felt completely justified in sneaking out of the house so that you could be alone with him on the beach and out of screaming distance? Is that why?”

“His name is Reese Bradford and he’s a cop,” Mikey said with a shrug as she opened the fridge and helped herself to some chocolate milk while Kasey stood there, rubbing the bridge of her nose, wondering if the state of Massachusetts considered spanking her child until her hand fell off child abuse.

Probably, she mused with a sigh as she forced herself to focus.

“And you know this how?”

“Because he showed me his badge,” Mikey said with a shrug as she closed the refrigerator door and leaned back against the kitchen island, only to send Kasey a sheepish smile and a, “Sorry,” when the move caused another chunk of counter to break off and add a new crack to the collection marring the tiled floor below.

“Wait. He showed you his badge?” Sara asked, as Kasey stood there trying to decide whether or not this new piece of information made this worse.

Judging by the expression on Sara’s face it was worse, a lot worse.

Mikey nodded as she grabbed one of the many baseballs that she kept lying around the house and started rolling it between her hands. “He works for the State police department,” her sweet baby girl said, as Kasey tried to wrap her mind around the idea that her ten-year-old daughter had taken down a cop.

“What were you planning on making?” Sara asked, as Kasey rubbed her temples, for some reason having a difficult time seeing the bright side of things this morning.

“Cupcakes,” she said lamely.

“Might want to add a casserole to the mix,” Sara, always helpful, added as she returned to inspecting her manicure.

“It’s the least we can do,” Mikey added solemnly.

For a moment, Kasey considered making Mikey help her cook, but the poor man had already suffered enough. Trying not to think of everything that she already had to do today, she checked the fridge, made sure that she had everything that she would need to make lasagna. After that she started pulling the ingredients out for the cupcakes, knowing that they were going to have to cool before she could frost them and resigned herself to spending the next couple of hours cooking for Yummy.

  “What are we making him?” Mikey asked, as she leaned back against the kitchen counter, the part that wasn’t on the verge of breaking off.

“Shouldn’t you be in your room?” Kasey asked pointedly, still trying to figure out what she was going to do with her. She wanted to yell, but she was afraid that once she started that she would never be able to stop. So, it was probably best for everyone concerned if Mikey spent the day in the safety of her room.

“Yeah,” Mikey said with a small sigh while she looked down at the baseball as she rolled it between her hands before looking back up and making Kasey’s heart break for the poor kid when she saw how completely devastated she was by all this. “I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she said with a stubborn set of her jaw as her bottom lip quivered and her eyes teared up, struggling not to let them know just how bad she felt about what happened.

“I know you didn’t,” Kasey said, pulling her into her arms and giving her a reassuring squeeze, praying that Mikey didn’t lose it, because she wasn’t sure that she could deal with trying to talk her down from the attic today on top of everything else.

“I made sure that he didn’t throw like a girl first,” Mikey explained with a little sniffle after a slight hesitation.

“I’m sure you did,” she said, somehow managing to keep a straight face, which meant that under no circumstances could she look in Sara’s direction, because she’d lose it if she did.

“I didn’t throw my fast ball,” Mikey added with a little sniffle.

“And we all appreciate it,” she said solemnly, thankful that her daughter had at least followed that rule last night.

If only she’d followed the others, Kasey thought, biting back a sigh before she gave one last squeeze and nudged her in the direction of her room, where she would be spending the rest of the day. Once Mikey was out of sight, she threw an exasperated look in Sara’s direction and said, “This is all your fault.”

“My fault? How is this my fault?” Sara demanded in outrage as she gave her manicure one last look so that she could return Kasey’s glare.

“Because you encouraged her to play baseball!”

“What?” Sara said, frowning in confusion before she snapped, “That wasn’t me! That was you!”

Which of course, it had been, but since pointing fingers wasn’t going to help, at least not when it was her fault, she decided to change the subject.

“Think he’ll be mad?” she asked, toying with the egg carton as she looked at her best friend, praying that for once that she would tell her what she wanted to hear.

“You mean because your ten-year-old daughter split his head open? Why would he be mad about that?” she asked brightly before rolling her eyes, shaking her head in disgust and mumbling, “I really just can’t work with you sometimes.”

“Maybe I should make another casserole?” Kasey said, nodding to herself, definitely another casserole and maybe some cookies.

“Yeah, that should make up for it,” Sara said dryly, making Kasey whimper pathetically and had her reaching for a bag of lemons as she resigned herself to putting off starting renovations for another day.

Chapter 6

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Reese said, grabbing the pillow that was too damn soft and pulled it over his head in a useless attempt to block out the sound of the doorbell chiming, but the sound was already trapped in his head, echoing against his battered skull.

Shoving the pillow away, he rolled over onto his side, gritted his teeth together and waited for the chime to stop playing so that he could go back to tossing and turning in peace. As the doorbell continued to play out its chime he laid there, staring at the pale blue wall and waiting for the abuse to his head to come to an end.

As the chimes slowed down, he closed his eyes and slowly exhaled, noting that each passing chime was shorter than the one before until finally there was nothing but beautiful silence. Grateful that at least one thing was working in his favor, he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling, noting all the imperfections in the plaster, the fact that the ceiling fan was slightly off-center, and the ceiling dipped towards the right corner.

He started to sigh only to close his eyes and suck in a breath as pain shot through his head, alerting him to the fact that it was time for his next pain med. Pressing a hand against his forehead, he reached over, grabbed the pills off the nightstand and popped two in his mouth, laid back, and waited for them to kick in while he focused his attention back on the ceiling.

He noted the uneven strokes, the spots that needed a touchup, the way the fan wobbled with each quarter turn and let his mind go. He thought about all the things that he could do to fix the ceiling to make it aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Then when he was done with that he rolled over onto his side, slowly breathing through his nose as he did the same thing with the wall, noting everything wrong with it, with the trim, the window, the choice in shades and one by one, he slowly made the changes in his head until his breaths came a little easier and the pain started to subside.

He’d been doing this since he was a little kid. Sometimes he did it when he needed to relax, he was bored, or simply because he couldn’t help himself. When he was little, his mother would put him down in the playroom so that she could chase after his twin brother. As he waited for her to return, he would sit there, reorganizing the playroom in his head, over and over again until he had it the way that he wanted it. Then he’d wait for Lucifer, his older brother, who just happened to have a little problem with OCD, to waddle into the room and then he’d point out all the toys that were in the wrong spot so that Lucifer would fix it for him.

As he got older, it became something of an obsession. Everywhere he went he saw things that needed to be fixed, that weren’t right, that didn’t match, or that should have been done differently. When he was supposed to be paying attention in class and taking notes, he was staring off into space, calculating how much paint and tiles he would need to complete the imaginary project going on in his head, which had ended with his teachers sending notes home on a regular basis, strongly suggesting that he might benefit from a less strenuous environment.

After a few strongly stressed words from his father, and his mother asking him to try harder, he slowly started to get his shit together to the point that he could do what needed to be done. He’d focused more on school, followed in his twin’s footsteps and joined the football team and the baseball team, anything to help him get his act together. He’d kept himself busy, only allowing himself to indulge his personal obsession when he couldn’t fall asleep at night.

Since this bullshit had started, he’d been doing it a lot more than he liked. Over the past few months he’d seriously considered buying a rundown house, renovating it and flipping it. He’d actually found himself surfing real estate sites, looking for property that he could get at a steal and fix up, but in the end, he couldn’t force himself to go through with it. More than once he’d found himself parked outside his cousin Trevor’s house, staring across the street at the old Jackson house and more than a little tempted to find out how much they were asking for it.

Imagining all the things that he would do if he had the chance was one thing, but actually doing it…

Wasn’t going to happen.

He had absolutely no idea what he was doing and no guarantees that once he fixed up the house that anyone would want it. He’d been working on houses since he was a kid, learning how to build a house from start to finish like most of the men in his family, but that was it. He’d never designed one or planned a renovation. The only thing he did was follow blueprints and did what his Uncle asked him, and that was pretty much it.

But sometimes he wished that it wasn’t.

He also wished that his cousins hadn’t decided to spend the day at the beach so that they could tell whoever was ringing the doorbell to fuck off. Head pounding, he shoved himself upright, ignored the rush of vertigo that threatened to knock him back down on his ass, and stormed off towards the front door, more than happy to kill whoever it was that couldn’t take a fucking hint.

“I’m coming!” he yelled, wincing with a curse when they rang the doorbell again, sending a whole new wave of agony through his pounding skull.

While he wrestled with the deadbolt, he heard someone mumbling, which only sent the pounding in his head going double time. When he finally managed to throw the lock open, he ripped the front door open and snapped, “What?” which immediately had him grabbing his head with one hand and the doorframe with the other.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry that I hurt you!” a little girl cried, making him curse when he realized that it was Mikey standing on his doorstep, crying and looking absolutely miserable.

Before he could say anything she was mumbling another apology, sobbing harder, and running away, leaving him standing there, feeling like the biggest asshole on the planet.

*-*-*-*

“Mikey, come down!” Kasey yelled as she gave up on trying to find what she needed and dumped her “miscellaneous” box over and continued her search for whatever that tool was called that she needed.

There was a sob and then a choked, “N-no,” that followed her demand for her ten-year-old daughter that had run crying into the house and straight up into the attic a few minutes ago to climb back down.

Then again, they both knew that Mikey wasn’t going to be able to get down until she figured out a way to shimmy the ladder door open. As she grabbed what she was pretty sure was a screwdriver, she shoved the wobbly kitchen chair beneath the attic access door that had jammed like it always did when it was closed too fast, she really couldn’t help but wish that Mikey would find a better hiding spot.

“Oh, crap!” she gasped when the chair wobbled, threatening to drop her on her ass before she managed to shift her weight and force the chair to behave.

Shaking her head, she reached up and tried to shove the metal end of the screwdriver into the crevice and-

“Oh, what the hell?” she groaned when the metal part broke off in the crevice, leaving her standing there, holding the hard plastic end and shaking her head, because this was the last time that she bought tools from the Dollar Store. Muttering to herself, she tossed the plastic end aside, climbed off the chair and started rummaging through her miscellaneous box, looking for something else that she could use to pry the door open.

“Mikey?” she said, needing to make sure that her baby girl was still okay.

“I hurt him, mom!” Mikey cried.

“I know, baby girl. I know,” she said absently, not finding what she was looking for.

Maybe she should look in her car, she wondered, but she knew the odds of actually finding something that she could use were slim. As soon as she managed to get Mikey out of the attic she was going to nail that damn door shut, she decided.

“Keep talking to me, sweetheart,” she said, wiping her hands off on her apron so that she could get a firm hold of that metal thingie and-

“Oh, crap!”

-somehow manage to break it in half.

“I really hurt him, mom. You should see his face!” Mikey cried as Kasey stared down at the piece of metal in her hand, shaking her head in wonder.

Mumbling in disgust, she tossed it aside, reached for the small piece of metal still embedded in the ceiling and-

“Mom? Mom, are you okay?” Mikey yelled, shifting closer to the attic door and trying to budge it open by the sounds of it when Kasey promptly lost her balance, fell off the chair and landed on the carpeted floor with a painful thud.

“I’m fine,” she lied, biting back a groan and praying that she hadn’t just broken her ass. She shifted to the side, determined to get back up on that chair that was probably going to cause her to break her damn neck and-

“You’re in the way,” Yummy growled, and really there was no other way to describe that terrifying snarl, as he helped her to her feet and ushered her out of the way before he reached up and managed to do what she’d failed to do with a screwdriver and five years of experience on her side and ripped the attic door open and lowered the stairs.

For a moment she just stood there, unable to do anything else as she took in the large man in front of her with the incredibly sexy Celtic tattoo on his chest, golden muscles flexing with every movement and the cargo shorts that hung low on his hips. God had definitely brought his “A” game when he’d made Yummy, she mused with an inward sigh.

Somehow resisting the urge to reach out and trace that tattoo with her finger, she shifted her attention and sighed with relief when she spotted Mikey kneeling by the top of the ladder. Her relief was short lived when Mikey took one look at Reese’s face, mumbled, “Oh, no!” and promptly disappeared, leaving her alone with the man that didn’t look particularly happy to see her.

Chapter 7

“What the hell just happened?” he asked, rubbing his hands down his face only to curse when the motion pulled at his stitches.

“She’s gone into hiding,” Kasey said with a sympathetic wince as she pushed his hand away and checked his stitches. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“I was,” he said, deciding not to mention that Mikey was the reason that he was out of bed since the poor kid was in enough trouble as it was.

“You need to sit down,” she said, already dragging him towards the kitchen that he’d hoped that he would never see again.

“No, I need to lie down,” he said, pulling his arm free as he turned around and-

“What’s that smell?” he asked with a frown, uncaring that the action pulled at his stitches as he scented the air, positive that his mind was playing tricks on him.

“Part of our apology,” Kasey said, gesturing for him to follow her into the kitchen that he’d fantasized about taking a sledgehammer to last night while the doctor had stitched him up.

Slowly, he took a step closer, barely paying attention to Kasey as she moved around the kitchen, telling him how sorry she was about everything while he stood there, taking in all the platters of food covering the kitchen island and table and couldn’t help but wonder if he’d died and gone to heaven. Not that he really cared one way or the other right now, not when it meant that he was surrounded by all this food.

He shifted his attention back to Kasey to find her rushing around the large room, piling fried chicken and baked macaroni and cheese onto a plate while apologizing for not knowing what he liked as she added more food to the plate than it should have been able to hold. Seconds later, he found himself sitting at the kitchen table, a fork slapped in his hand and the plate overflowing with food placed in front of him.

“I hope you’re hungry,” she said, adding a large glass of what he hoped was homemade lemonade in front of him.

“Starving,” he heard himself saying as he took in the food before him.

God, he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life, he thought as he picked up a piece of fried chicken. He took a bite and moaned as a combination of flavors that he hadn’t even known existed hit his tongue.

“Oh, God,” he groaned loudly as he took a second bite, terrified that the first bite had been a figment of his imagination, but if anything that first bite had been nothing more than a hint of what lay ahead.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a concerned frown as she reached over and-

“Did you just growl at me?” she asked, amusement twinkling in her eyes as she placed another piece of fried chicken on his plate.

“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said, smiling easily as she pushed the platter of cornbread closer to him.

“As you should,” he murmured between bites, helping himself to a large piece of cornbread as she sat down and poured another glass of lemonade.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, gesturing towards his temple with her glass.

“Like I took a sledgehammer to the side of the head,” he answered with a shrug as he took a sip of the best lemonade that he’d ever had.

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head slowly and looking at a loss as to what else she could say.

“It was an accident,” he said, hoping that she would stop apologizing before his head exploded. “Next time I’ll wear a helmet,” he said with a shrug, helping himself to another slice of cornbread.

“Next time?” she asked, looking adorably confused the same time he heard a commotion in the hallway seconds before Mikey came sliding to a stop next to him. “Next time?” she asked, absently wiping at her red eyes as she waited anxiously for his answer.

Shrugging, he took a sip of his lemonade. “Your curve ball needs work.”

Mikey’s face scrunched up adorably as she considered his words. “I can’t control the release,” she admitted, surprising him.

“No, you can’t,” he agreed, placing his empty glass back on the table.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” Kasey said, worrying her plump bottom lip between her teeth even as she poured more lemonade into his glass.

“But, Mom-”

“Shouldn’t you be in your room praying for mercy?” Kasey asked, shifting her attention to her daughter.

“Probably,” Mikey agreed, throwing him one last wistful glance before mumbling her goodbyes and walking away with her head bowed, sighing heavily as she made a dramatic exit that most of the men in his family would envy and damn near making him smile, but the woman now glaring in his direction promptly put an end to that urge.

She waited until Mikey was out of sight before she said, “Someone will get hurt,” which of course earned her a pointed look.

Waving it off, she said, “You know what I mean,” as she stood up, grabbed a pair of oven mitts and walked over to the stove.

“She loves baseball,” he said, pointing out the obvious as he took a bite of macaroni and cheese and nearly moaned in ecstasy before taking out his phone, snapping a quick picture of his plate and sending it to the two bastards that had mocked the shit out of him last night in the emergency room.

“That’s an understatement,” Kasey said, shaking her head in resignation as she opened the damaged oven door that hadn’t been like that yesterday and pulled out a large pan as his phone chimed, letting him know that the bastards had responded. Ignoring the mean bastards, he put his phone away.

“Is she on a team?” he asked, hating the fact that he cared so damn much.

He had enough problems and didn’t need to add any more bullshit to his already fucked-up life. If he had any brains he would finish his food, thank her, steal that platter of double-fudge brownies and cupcakes, and get the hell out of here so that he could spend the rest of his summer wallowing in self-pity. But, after spending the night in the emergency room with absolutely nothing to do but think about all the fucked-up choices that he’d made in his life, he realized that wallowing in self-pity was the last thing that he needed.

He didn’t want to sit around dissecting every fucked-up decision that he’d made in his life, second-guessing every choice that he’d ever made, or wondering what he could have done differently. He already knew that he’d fucked everything up and nothing that he said or did was going to change that. He needed to accept his fucked-up life, move on and do his best not to fuck it up again.

After spending the night in the ER, he realized something important, he was done following in his twin’s footsteps. He needed to start making some hard choices and sitting on his ass and whining about his life wasn’t going to change anything.  It wasn’t going to bring back the last year and a half and it sure as hell wasn’t going to get his job back. He needed to stay busy and if what he’d overheard the nurses talking about last night was true then the woman cutting an obscenely large piece of lasagna could use the help.

“Technically, she’s on a team,” she said, placing the large slice of lasagna in front of him.

Wondering if she had any Italian bread, he asked, “How can she technically be on a team?”

“Because they wont let her play,” she said, sounding tired as she sat back down and rubbed her hands down her face. “The parents don’t want her on the team and the coach is terrified that she’s going to hurt someone. So, if she wants to practice, which is the only thing that they’ll let her do, Eric has to go with her and risk his neck so that she can toss the ball around.”

He nodded as he watched her, taking in her short spikey black hair, down to her baby pink tank top partially hidden behind a bright white apron before switching his gaze to glance around the terrifying kitchen they sat in as he ran everything that he’d heard last night at the emergency room through his head and couldn’t help but feel like a fucking asshole.

“She’s going to end up getting frustrated sooner or later,” he pointed out as he took a bite of lasagna and groaned.

“You like it?” she asked with a warm smile.

“It’s incredible,” he said, taking another bite and wondering how she’d learned to cook like this.

“I try my best,” she said with a smile and a wink that he refused to find sexy.

“There’s no point in her being on a team if they won’t let her play,” she said, getting back to the topic at hand as she shot a worried glance over her shoulder.

“And they won’t let her play until she gets a little more control of her arm,” he guessed.

“Exactly,” she said, taking a sip of her lemonade, looking a little lost and god help him, but he wanted to help her.

“I can help her with that,” he said,

“I can’t ask you to do that,” she said, shifting her attention to the battered side of his face.

“You’re not asking me. I’m offering,” he said with a shrug as he dug into his food.

“Why?” she asked, looking genuinely confused by the offer, which made two of them, because for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why he was really doing this. He considered telling her that he had nothing better to do, but she didn’t need to know that.

Instead, he shrugged it off and reached for another piece of cornbread, “We didn’t get a chance to finish our game.”

“Because she split your skull open and sent you to the ER?”

“There is that,” he conceded with a nod.

“And it was such a fun experience that you can’t wait to do it again?” she asked, blinking at him and giving him a look that clearly told him that he was insane.

She was probably right, but since admitting that would only be detrimental to his plans, he decided that it might be for the best if he didn’t voice his opinion on the matter. Instead, he said, “She’s got a hell of an arm on her and I’m curious to see what will happen once she gets it under control.”

Sighing heavily, she refilled his glass with a sad shake of her head, “Something tells me that you’re going to regret this, Yummy.”

“Probably,” he agreed with a shrug, not really bothered, because there wasn’t much in his life that he didn’t regret.

Chapter 8

“So, what are we watching exactly?” Sara asked, as she sat down on the towel next to her right around the time when Reese threw off his baseball glove and shook his hand off with a, “Goddamn it!”

“Sorry!” Mikey yelled, biting her lip and shifting nervously on the beach as they watched Reese try to breathe through the pain.

“It’s fine,” he promised her as he pulled his glove back on and gestured for her to throw another ball.

“I’m not really sure, but I think he might have a death wish,” she said with a sad shake of her head, because she could easily think of a hundred less painful ways to go. The only thing that was stopping her from putting an end to this, or cringing in fear every time Mikey threw the ball¸ was the fact that Reese had insisted on using a tennis ball instead of one of the hard baseballs that Mikey preferred.

“I see,” Sara said, gesturing towards Trevor and Jason, who stood a few yards away, glaring at Reese. “And what are they doing?”

She shifted her attention from the incredibly handsome man that had taken it upon himself to teach her precocious daughter how to properly throw a baseball so that she wouldn’t accidentally kill someone one day to the two men glaring at him.

“I think it has something to do with their wives,” she said, gesturing to the two women cheering for Reese and Mikey in between watching their kids play on the beach and discussing which was hotter, a police officer in uniform or one with tattoos.

Both.

 Unfortunately, she was too busy cringing every time her daughter threw the ball so she didn’t voice her opinion. Since they seemed to be enjoying the effect that it had on their husbands, Kasey shrugged it off and tried not to think about the woman sitting silently on the other side of them, watching her every move.

“And the chick glaring at you?” Sara asked, stealing her Coke and finished it off as she gestured to the beautiful woman that had been quickly introduced to her as, “Mac.”

“I’m not really sure,” she admitted as she adjusted her bikini top, because she’d been wondering that herself.

Kasey was pretty sure that she hadn’t said anything rude, but then again, she did have a tendency to piss people off without trying. It was one of her many talents, one that usually filled her with such joy, but today it was a bit unnerving.

“Is she with Yummy?” Sara asked, as Kasey shifted her attention back to the man in question.

“Not really sure,” she said with a shrug and not really caring, because she wasn’t interested.

“He’s incredibly hot,” Sara pointed out as though Kasey had somehow missed that fact between dubbing him Yummy and shoving his semi-conscious body into a wheelchair outside the emergency room last night.

“I don’t have time for-”

“Oh, my God. Not this again,” Sara groaned as she shook her head in disgust, but since Kasey obviously needed to remind her friend of the decision that she’d made for the sake of her daughter and career, she finished.

“-a fling.”

“I can’t,” Sara said, shaking her head as she grabbed an overpriced bottle of water out of her bag and took a sip. “I just can’t.”

“It’s just not in the cards right now,” she said, shrugging it off as she swiped her friend’s bottle of water and took a sip, noting that it tasted like tap water.

“It’s never in the cards,” Sara said with a sigh as she gestured towards Mikey, who appeared torn between smiling and cringing as she threw the ball. “She looks happy.”

“Yes, she does,” Kasey said, unable to stop herself from smiling.

Mikey looked more than happy. She looked relaxed, which probably had something to do with the fact that she was playing with someone who wasn’t crying, diving out of the way, praying for God to save them, or yelling at her to be more careful. Kasey wasn’t a hundred percent positive, but it looked like her throws had improved a little bit.

As she sat there, watching her daughter playing catch, she couldn’t help but wonder what Michael would have thought about their daughter having an arm that terrified most grown men. He probably would have bragged, she thought with a wistful smile. The two of them would have been inseparable; watching games, playing catch, and driving her out of her mind by talking about baseball every minute of the day, but she would have loved it because it would have meant that Michael hadn’t died and left her to do this all alone.

God, she missed him.

She missed hearing his laugh, seeing his smile, and feeling his arms around her, but then she just had to look at Mikey and it felt like he was still with her.

“Hey, I thought we were supposed to be working,” Sara said, nudging her with a smile, knowing her better than anyone else.

Returning her smile, she gestured to Mikey. “Let’s give her a few more minutes.”

“Fine,” Sara said, sighing and sounding absolutely bored as she shifted to get more comfortable. “Do you think she’s his wife?” she asked, returning to their previous conversation.

“No clue,” Kasey said with a shrug as she leaned back on her elbows and watched as Reese showed Mikey how to move into the throw.

“Girlfriend maybe?”

“Probably,” she said, not really caring and hoping that Sara dropped the subject, because she wasn’t really in the mood for this.

“Do you want to go change?” Kasey asked, hoping to distract her.

“What are you talking about?” Sara asked with a frown as she looked down at the designer tee shirt and hundred dollar jeans that she was wearing.

“What do you mean, what am I talking about?” Kasey asked with a pointed look at her best friend’s ensemble. “We’re gutting a kitchen.”

“I know,” Sara said, not really looking like she did.

“Umm,” Kasey said, taking in her best friend’s freshly pressed clothes and manicure as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, wondering if she might be better off asking Eric for help instead, but then remembered what he’d done to the kitchen the other night and decided that she wasn’t in a position to be picky.

“What about you?” Sara asked, cocking a brow in question.

Frowning, Kasey looked down at herself and shrugged. She was wearing a black bikini top, cut off jeans and flip-flops. “It’s the equivalent of a guy working shirtless,” she pointed out.

“True,” Sara murmured in agreement, leaning back on her elbows and tilting her face towards the sun while Kasey shifted her attention back to Mikey.

“Okay, kiddo, you’ve got five more minutes before we have to call it a day,” she said, giving her daughter fair warning, something that she’d learned years ago was absolutely necessary when it came to all things baseball related.

Mikey looked like she was going to argue, but then seemed to think better of it, probably realizing that she was in no position to argue and nodded. “Five more minutes.”

“Can she stay for a little longer?” Reese asked, taking her by surprise. “I was hoping to see her fast ball.”

She opened her mouth to answer when the two men glaring at Reese did a double take. “That’s not her fast ball?” Jason demanded, sharing a look with Trevor, one that she had seen too many times and one that would most likely end with someone spending the night in the emergency room or the I.C.U.

“Not even close,” she said, as Mikey admitted with a shrug, “I’m not allowed to throw my fast ball.”

And for good reason.

“Oh, I’ve gotta see this fast ball,” Jason said, grinning hugely.

“Yeah, I really don’t think that would be such a good idea,” she said, coming to her feet.

Jason looked like he was about to argue, but after a sigh he shook his head and gestured to Mikey. “How about her curve ball? I think I can show her how to control it better,” he said, repeating his cousin’s promise from the night before.

“Maybe tomorrow?” she said, not really comfortable with leaving her ten-year-old child alone with a group of people that she barely knew.

“Mom?” Mikey said, worrying her bottom lip and trying not to look too excited, but Kasey knew that this was a treat for her since she was normally regulated to playing catch with Eric, who couldn’t throw or catch to save his life.

Thankfully she was with Sara, who didn’t mince words. She turned her attention to Reese. “You’re a police officer?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Reese said, looking a little surprised, but before Kasey could wonder about that look Sara had already moved on.

Nodding, Sara turned her attention to Jason. “And you?”

“I’m a school teacher,” he said, gesturing to Haley, who was smiling warmly at them. “And so is my wife. Both of us have passed criminal background checks and we love kids. I promise that she’s safe with us.”

“I think she’s in good hands,” Sara said with a reassuring smile, which Kasey took to mean that she’d already ran their license plates and knew exactly who they were and where they lived. It was the kind of thing she expected from her overprotective best friend.

But just in case she was wrong…

“You ran their plates?” she discretely asked, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shot her friend a questioning look.

“Before they had a chance to unload the last bag,” Sara said with a wink.

Hoping she didn’t live to regret this, Kasey looked at Mikey. “You know the rules.”

“I can stay?” Mikey asked, smiling hugely.

“Yes, you can stay, but please don’t make me regret it,” she said with a pointed look as she said, “And no fast ball.”

“No fast ball,” Mikey promised, nodding firmly. “Got it.”

“Okay,” she said after a slight hesitation, reminding herself that she had a kitchen to demolish. With one last look at Mikey and a pointed look at Reese, who seemed to read the silent message clearly, she turned around and headed to the house, eager to get this project started.

Chapter 9

“Don’t start,” Reese said, gesturing for Mikey to throw another ball, wishing like hell that the asshole standing next to him hadn’t caught him running an appreciative eye over their temporary neighbor’s incredible body, but Christ, he was only human after all.

It took everything he had, but somehow he managed to stop himself from looking back towards the two women walking up the path, one of them overdressed for the beach and the other one…

Had him shifting and trying to think of something other than a black bikini top concealing large breasts, a flat stomach adorned with a navel ring, cut-off jeans and the heart shaped ass that had him licking his lips and imagining how good it would feel to run his hands over. He needed to get his shit together, because the last thing he needed was another complication in his life.

“I didn’t say anything,” Jason said with a huge smile and a jaunty whistle as he lazily rocked back on his heels as he stood next to him, clearly intent on bugging the shit out of him.

“I know that look,” Reese reminded him, in absolutely no mood for any of the typical Bradford bullshit that came from spending too much time in his cousins’ presence.

“What look?” Jason asked, blinking innocently at him as he reached over and intercepted the ball as it was thrown at Reese and-

“Holy shit!” Jason yelped, dropping the ball and shaking his hand as he bent over and bit back several of the more colorful expressions that he no doubt wanted to get off his chest at the moment.

“Sorry!” Mikey yelled with a sheepish smile that had Reese chuckling as he leaned over and picked up the ball, throwing it back as his cousin dropped to the ground and proceeded to curl up into the fetal position.

“Oh, my God!” Jason gasped, hugging his hand against his chest as he tried to breathe through the pain.

“Next time, wear a glove,” Reese said, chuckling as he raised his glove and caught the next throw.

“Is he okay?” Mikey asked, worrying her bottom lip the same way that he’d seen her mother do it, looking adorable with those braids and backwards baseball cap.

“He’s fine,” Reese promised, holding his glove up for her next throw.

“Dying,” Jason gasped as he rolled over onto his back.

“Let me have a shot,” Trevor said, stepping over Jason and gesturing for Reese to toss him the glove.

Nodding, Reese tossed the glove to him and stepped back.

“She has a hell of an arm,” Trevor said, holding up his glove and releasing a pained chuckle as the ball soared through the air and slammed into his glove. “One hell of an arm,” he repeated with a grin and a nod as he threw the ball back.

“I’d hate to see the damage her fast ball could do,” Reese said, absently brushing his fingers against the damage her curveball had left behind.

Chuckling, Trevor caught the ball and tossed it back. “Me, too.”

“Kill. Me,” Jason gasped, but since they were busy, they ignored him.

“How are you holding up?” Trevor asked, keeping his focus on Mikey as they continued to throw the ball.

“It doesn’t hurt as much today,” he said, already knowing that his cousin wouldn’t bring up the bullshit that had brought them all here this summer.

That was one thing he loved about his family. They might fuck him over for their own entertainment, but they knew that there were certain topics that were off limits. Not once since all this bullshit had started had anyone in his family taken a shot at him, mocked him for fucking up, mentioned the bullshit all over the internet, or even asked him if he was really a virgin.

It wasn’t any of their business and they knew that. They did however do their best to get him to laugh and to let him know that they were there if he needed them. It was one of the things that he loved best about his family. They pissed him off and annoyed the shit out of him, but they always had his back no matter how badly he fucked-up and he’d definitely fucked-up.

“We keep you up last night?” Trevor asked, gesturing for Mikey to step back a bit.

“I couldn’t sleep anyway,” he said with a shrug, not mentioning that he’d been having problems sleeping for a while or that he’d ended up on the couch last night when the sounds of beds slamming rhythmically against the walls and their moans and grunts had driven him from his room.

Trevor nodded as he caught the ball. “You want to trade rooms?”

Shaking his head, he gestured for Trevor to hand the glove back over. “No, I’m fine,” he said, resigned to sleeping on the couch until his cousins left in two weeks.

“So, she’s not your usual type,” Trevor said nonchalantly and Reese didn’t pretend to misunderstand.

“I’m not interested,” he said, catching the ball with a grunt as the impact rattled the bones in his arm.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” he said, throwing the ball back, impressed by the way Mikey easily caught it. The girl definitely had skills.

“Okay,” Trevor said, nodding absently as he glanced over his shoulder to watch his children play.

Reese waited a minute, fully expecting his cousin to push the subject, but he didn’t. A miracle, he thought as he caught the ball and-

“That’s probably for the best,” Trevor murmured with a shrug.

He would not take the bait.

He would not do it.

He wouldn’t!

Aw, hell.

“Why is it for the best?” he bit out, hating himself as every syllable left his lips, because he knew better.

“Well, you know…” the bastard said, letting his words trail off and Reese swore that he wouldn’t react, again.

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Jason said with a long-suffering sigh as he joined the conversation from where he now lounged on the beach.

“She’s not your usual type,” Trevor added with a shrug.

“True,” Jason murmured his agreement.

“And what’s my type?” he bit out even as he couldn’t help but wonder how they managed to fuck with his head like this.

“Dumb bimbos with the personality of an ice cube?” Jason said helpfully, and since he couldn’t really argue with that description, he didn’t. Instead, he caught the ball and threw it back.

Which seemed to piss off his instigators, because after a moment of glaring at him as they waited for him to react, they shrugged their shoulders, said, “The hell with it,” and tackled him just as the next ball soared over their heads.

As he shoved Jason’s face into the sand, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is this because your wife wants me?”

Which didn’t end well for him and as he was being dragged into the ocean, he told himself that it had been worth it.

*-*-*-*

“So, where should we start?” Sara asked, as they stood there, holding one of the rusty hammers that Kasey had managed to find yesterday when she’d rummaged through the garage looking for anything that they could use today.

“The cabinets?” Kasey suggested, because they seemed like the easiest place to start.

“Sounds good,” Sara said, nodding as she pulled her sunglasses on and raised her hammer, clearly ready to commence with the destruction of Kasey’s ugly kitchen only to hesitate. “Maybe we should empty them first?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Kasey agreed, chewing on her bottom lip as she glanced from the top cabinets filled with dishes and bowls to the kitchen sink.

Since she kept her cleaning supplies in the small “pantry,” the small cabinet beneath the sink was empty. Deciding that was the place to start, she gestured towards the sink. “That’s empty.”

Nodding, Sara said, “The sink it is.”

And with that the two of them took up positions in front of the sink, assumed positions of destruction, and with a nod, they both swung. Sara’s swing resulted in the rusty hammer in her hands breaking in two upon impact and Kasey’s wild swing-

“Oh, shit!”

-resulted in something really bad happening.

“Why did you do that?” Sara demanded, as they tried to stop the water from spraying everywhere, but with the faucet now embedded in the small kitchen window there was nothing to stop the water from flooding the kitchen.

“Get a towel!”

“Okay!” Sara said, nodding like an idiot as she grabbed a kitchen towel and handed it to Kasey, who quickly shoved the towel into the hole she’d created in a desperate attempt to make it stop.

But it didn’t.

What it did manage to do was to make the water spray out harder through the sides, soaking everything within ten feet. Worrying her bottom lip, she slapped her hands over the hole, which once again, didn’t work out like she’d planned.

“Why are the sinks filling up?” Sara asked, as she frantically searched for something else to shove down the hole.

“I don’t know!”

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know!” she said, although it really should have been obvious at this point.

“Maybe we can shut it off by-oh, crap!” Sara started to suggest when Kasey somehow managed to push on what remained of the faucet and made things worse.

A lot worse.

“Oh, my God!”

“Stop yelling!” Kasey yelled back, trying not to panic and failing miserably as the water that refused to go down the drain now poured over the top of the sinks and flooded the floor along with the water that was still shooting out everywhere.

“I can’t help it!”

“Well, try!”

“What are we going to do?” Sara asked, waving her hands frantically around as an idea came to Kasey, probably not a good idea, but an idea nonetheless.

“We have to stop the water,” she said and with that, she hopped up onto the counter, turned around and with a silent prayer, she shifted back so that she was sitting on the hole.

“Oh, my God! It’s working!” Sara said with a relieved smile as Kasey sagged with relief and-

“Oh, crap,” she said when the move caused her to shift and she felt the pull on her shorts.

“Did something just rip?” Sara asked, meeting her gaze with a frown.

Nodding slowly, Kasey said, “You could say that.”

“Your shorts?”

“Yup.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Sara said, clearly biting back a smile as Kasey was forced to sit there, wondering how this had gone so wrong so fast.

“Yes, it is,” she said, deciding that this wasn’t helping and moved to climb off when she realized something else.

She was stuck.

Somehow her shorts had become stuck on the faucet handles, which she took as a bad sign. Shifting to turn, she heard another interesting rip and then-

“Ouch!” she gasped when something stabbed her shoulder.

“Uh oh,” Sara mumbled as Kasey became aware that her bikini top had become snagged on the faucet that had embedded itself in the window and had just ripped it in two.

“Damn it!” she said, pressing her arm across her chest as she tried desperately to free herself from the faucet, but the move only managed to rip her shorts further.

“Help me!” she said, pulling her legs up and placing her feet in the sinks full of water and tried to push up only to-

“Ow!” she yelped when the moved caused something sharp to dig into her ass.

“Oh, I don’t think that helped,” Sara said with a tsk and a sad shake of her head.

“I know that!”

“Stop yelling at me!” Sara cried, wringing her hands together.

“I can’t help it!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!” she snapped back, only to end with a groan as she took in her precarious position.

She was stuck in the sink with her boobs hanging out, her ass hanging out, something stabbing her ass and shoulder, water trying to shoot its way up where it didn’t belong and absolutely no idea how to get out of this situation.

“Okay, I think you’re going to have to make a choice,” Sara said, nodding to herself as though she was trying to psych herself up for what was about to happen.

“What?” she asked weakly as she tried to move off the sink, but it wasn’t letting her go.

“Your boobs or your ass, Kasey. Make a choice.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Your boobs or your ass!” Sara snapped, looking terrifyingly focused as she picked up the hammer that got them in this mess in the first place.

“What? Neither, you demented psycho! Get me down!”

“I don’t know how!”

“Well, then Google it!” she yelled, uncaring that she was now screaming as water continued to…well, she really didn’t want to think about the way the water was currently violating her.

Sara opened her mouth, closed it and then opened it again with an excited gasp while Kasey was forced to sit there, soaked to the bone, cold, semi-naked and distraught that her demolition project was not going according to plan.

“I’ve got it!” Sara said with an excited squeal as she turned around and ran off, sliding and stumbling most of the way towards the front door while Kasey sat there, shaking her head and sighing, “Whatever,” trying to tell herself that it could be worse, but at the moment she wasn’t sure how that was even possible.

Thankfully, Yummy came tearing into the house a minute later, letting her know that yes, yes things could get a lot worse.

Chapter 10

Thanks to his job, he’d seen a lot of things over the years, things he wished that he’d never seen, things that had left him sick to his stomach, things that had left him struggling not to laugh, but he could honestly say that nothing, and he meant absolutely nothing, could compare to what he was seeing right now.

“I’m going to kill her. That’s all there is to it,” Kasey muttered with a resigned sigh as she closed her eyes and dropped her head in defeat as he stood there, trying to remember how to breathe.

When Sara had dragged him off Jason and shoved him towards the house and told him that Kasey was in trouble, he hadn’t asked any questions. He’d simply shoved Trevor aside, ignored his grunt of pain, and ran. A hundred things had raced through his head, she was burned, cut badly, fell, or had managed to piss someone off and was forced to run for her life, but nothing came close to the truth.

Then again, there was probably nothing that she could have said that would have prepared him for this, he thought absently as he took in the scene before him. Kasey was perched on top of the sink where the faucet should be, the sinks were overflowing with water and water was spraying out from all around her, her shorts were shredded, revealing an indecent amount of skin, and her large breasts were barely concealed by her arm.

“Before you do anything, I just wanted to get a picture,” Sara said, smiling hugely as she joined him, holding up her phone and snapping away while Kasey sat there, sighing heavily and muttering, “I hate you.”

“You really don’t,” Sara said, as she turned the camera to the side for a better angle and snapped a few more pictures. “This is going to make a great Christmas card.”

“I really hate you right now.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” Sara conceded with a nod and a pleased sigh before she threw him a wink and said, “Have fun.”

With that, she was gone and he was left standing there, feeling like an idiot. Shaking his head clear, he moved his ass and carefully made his way to the sink. One look at the damage told him everything he needed to know and in seconds he was reaching under the sink and turning the water off.

Once that was done, he stood up, telling himself that enjoying this would be wrong, and asked, “What the hell were you doing?”

“I don’t really think it would be in my best interest to disclose the events that took place today,” she said with a sniff, refusing to meet his gaze.

“So, you’re pleading the fifth?” he asked, leaning forward so that he could get a better look and frowned.

Why was the faucet embedded in the window? Of course, the better question would probably be why she was trying to block the leak with her ass, but he figured that she would tell him eventually. He shifted to the other side and noted that the broken faucet handles were wrapped around her jeans and digging into her lower back, keeping her trapped.

“Any chance that you can help me out here, Yummy?” she asked him as he took a closer look to see how bad it was and not because it gave him a better look at the curve of her ass, he told himself, but he was a fucking liar and at the moment he simply didn’t care.

“Just give me a second,” he said, as he tried to make sense of the mess she’d made.

“Okay,” she said with a hiss of pain when she shifted, drawing his attention back to the broken faucet lodged in the window. He moved closer and that’s when he saw the small welt in the middle of her back from where the faucet was digging into her skin.

Biting back a curse, he reached for his shirt only to remember that he’d taken it off at the beach. After a quick glance around the kitchen and finding nothing, he forced his hand between her skin and the jagged faucet, ignoring the sting to the back of his hand and said, “Lean forward and cover your eyes.”

As soon as she did it, he wrapped his hand around the faucet and forced it the rest of the way through the small pane of glass, careful to release his hold before his hand went through the glass. Once that was done, he put his hand on her bare shoulder and gently guided her to sit back up so that he could get a better look at the mess that was keeping her trapped.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, trying to twist around to see what he was doing.

“Getting you free,” he said absently, seriously wondering how she’d managed to do this.

“Well, maybe we should-” she started to say only to end on a startled gasp when he reached behind her and finished the job the faucet had started by ripping the right side of her cutoff jeans in two.

“No, wait! Let’s talk about this!” she said, trying to shift out of his reach, but since she was still attached to the broken faucet and she couldn’t move her arms without giving him one hell of a show, she wasn’t able to do anything more than give him better access to the other side of the mess she’d made.

With a, “Hold on,” he grabbed hold of the torn and twisted material and-

“Wait!”

-tore it in half. Before she could argue, and something told him that she was going to argue, he was pulling her into his arms.

“Reese, wait!” she gasped as he picked her up and-

Groaned as the move forced her to throw her arms around his shoulders and brought her bare breasts against his chest. As she slowly slid down his body, because for the life of him he couldn’t seem to put her down any faster, he couldn’t help but lick his lips hungrily as hard nipples traced a path down his chest and his hands found her soft, round bottom, making him realize that she was completely naked. Lost to the feel of her in his arms, he watched her, noting the way that her beautiful blue eyes met his, the way her mouth worked soundlessly as her grip tightened around him as he became aware of every enticing curve pressed against his body. In that moment, only one word came to mind.

“Delectable.”

Her eyes went wide a split second before she shoved him away with a muttered, “Thanks,” and hurried out of the room, leaving him standing there, groaning at the loss of all those delectable curves.

 Needing something to do, because he wanted to go after her and pull her back in his arms so that he could find out if she’d really felt that fucking good in his arms or if he’d imagined it, he forced his attention back to the mess that she’d made. Slowly exhaling, he plucked a hammer out of the sink and waited for the water to finish draining. Once that was done, he took another look around the kitchen, noting the broken window, broken sink, soaked wallpaper falling off the walls, and water dripping onto the floor from the counter before deciding that he couldn’t leave her with this mess, especially since he hadn’t got his answers yet.

Which was fine with him, he decided as he walked over to the refrigerator and helped himself to the leftover fried chicken and macaroni and cheese from yesterday, because he was in no rush. Sooner or later she would have to leave the safety of her bedroom and they both knew it and when she did, he’d get his answers.

*-*-*-*

“Mom?” Mikey said loudly when it should have been more than obvious that this was a conversation that required whispering.

“Is he still here?” Kasey whispered through the keyhole, telling herself that it was perfectly normal for a grown woman to hide in her bedroom for two hours in order to avoid the man that had called her delectable.

“Who? Reese?” Mikey asked loudly, making Kasey wonder where she’d gone wrong.

“Yes! Reese!” she whispered harshly, shifting to get more comfortable, but after two hours of kneeling on the thin rug she was running out of positions.

“He’s in the kitchen fixing the sink,” she said, sounding like she had a mouthful of food.

“What are you eating?” she asked, shifting back into a sitting position and leaned back against the door.

“A burger. Reese made me lunch.”

“He made you lunch?” she asked, genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, he asked me to ask you if you wanted one,” Mikey explained, making Kasey frown.

“But, you didn’t ask me,” she pointed out, not that she wanted one, she did, but still…

“I already told him yes.”

“Then where’s my food?” she demanded with a sad shake of her head, because the room service in this place was horrible.

“At the table,” Mikey said, making her close her eyes and bite back a whimper, because there was no way that she was going out there and facing him after he’d seen and touched…things.

“I’m not hungry,” she muttered pathetically as she resigned herself to eating the Tic Tacs in her purse.

“They’re really good,” Mikey groaned around another bite of what she was assuming was a burger.

“I’m not hungry,” she said, forcing the lie.

There was a slight pause and then, “So, I can have your burger?”

“No!”

“But, you said-”

“I don’t care what I said! Don’t touch my burger!” she said with a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest with a grumble.

“Fine,” Mikey said with a heavy sigh. “But, you should probably come out here soon.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t!”

“O-kay,” Mikey said, stretching out the word while Kasey sat there, well aware that she was pouting and not really giving a damn, not when her burger was getting cold and she was forced to hide in her own house. “Then where should I tell him to put the sink and the cabinets that he destroyed?”

“What?” she yelled, quickly getting to her feet and yanking the bedroom door open.

In seconds, she was racing across the house and stumbling to a stop just in time to see Reese rip the sink from the wall. Her mouth dropped open as she took in the destruction that had once been her kitchen. Before she could utter so much as a gasp, Sara was throwing her arm around her shoulders and announcing, “Behold, I’ve found you a contractor.”

Chapter 11

“Where’s the new sink?” he asked once he set the old sink carefully down on the towel he’d laid out and stood, facing the two women in front of him and absently noting that Mikey had snuck back into the kitchen, grabbed another burger and happily headed back to her room.

“Probably in the store?” the woman that was practically bouncing with excitement said, looking immensely pleased with herself while the other one…

“Oh, crap,” Kasey mumbled as she dropped her face in her hands and whimpered, which wasn’t exactly reassuring at the moment so he focused on her sidekick.

“You said that she was switching out the sink,” he reminded her, having a bad feeling about what was coming.

“Well, that’s true,” Sara hedged, still grinning hugely, he’d like to point out, “but probably not until after she finished remodeling the kitchen.”

“I really do hate you,” Kasey mumbled, still hiding behind her hands and was that a blush creeping up her neck?

Why yes, yes it was.

He really liked that blush, he realized entranced as he watched the blush disappear behind her hands. Definitely intrigued, he thought, forcing his thoughts away from that blush and all the places that it might touch and turned his attention to the woman that had bullshitted him.

“And this remodeling…” he said, letting his words trail off and leaving her to fill in the blanks.

“We just started this morning,” Sara answered brightly as Kasey mumbled, “Oh, God.”

“I see,” he murmured, looking down at the ruined sink that he’d torn out of the wall to the damage that had been left behind from their remodeling attempt and nodded, because he did see.

They were insane.

“I’m glad that you do, because it will make this a heck of a lot easier,” Sara said, still sounding quite pleased with herself as Kasey mumbled, “Please shut up.”

“And how exactly were you planning on accomplishing this remodel?” he drawled, noting the broken and thoroughly rusted hammer laying in pieces on the floor.

“Mostly through YouTube videos and Google,” Sara admitted with a shrug, which of course was met with a, “You really need to shut up now.”

“I see,” he said, doing his best not to smile, but there was just something about seeing the woman who’d named him, “Yummy,” embarrassed.

“And you were planning on doing it with hammers?” he asked, innocently.

“That was the plan,” Sara agreed, nodding solemnly as Kasey muttered, “Seriously. Stop talking.”

“And your permits?” he asked, already knowing the answer to that, but he wanted a reason to torment the woman a little more simply because he couldn’t help himself.

“Were unnecessary,” Sara ventured with a shrug.

“I-I’m going to kill you,” Kasey choked out as that blush that intrigued him somehow turned a darker shade of pink.

“What?” Sara asked, blinking innocently. “He asked.”

“Did you at least have plans drawn up?” he asked, as he glanced around the large kitchen, mentally going over all the changes that he would make if the choice were up to him, but alas, it wasn’t.

At least, not until she made it interesting for him, he amended a second later when she released another miserable sigh and mumbled, “Not exactly.”

“So, no plans, no permits, no tools,” he said, going over everything that he’d learned so far as he watched her while she shifted nervously, obviously debating the situation until finally, she dropped her hands away from her face, mumbled something inaudible and asked, “What do you want?” which pleased him immensely, because that meant that they were finally getting somewhere.

*-*-*-*

“Let me handle the negotiations,” Sara said, smoothing her ruined designer tee shirt down while Reese stood there, arms folded over his bare chest, undamaged eyebrow cocked and clearly waiting for the bullshit to begin.

“You’ve handled enough,” she said, walking past Sara, absently noting that the floor was dry and sat down at the table with a groan, grabbed the burger that was waiting for her, took a bite, and nodded her approval, because this was a damn fine burger.

“I’ve got this,” Sara whispered, clearly intent on ignoring her, as she sat down, folded her hands on the table and waited for Reese to join them.

“You’ve got nothing,” she felt obligated to point out as she took another bite of the delicious burger and resigned herself to Sara making this worse, only to have Eric walk in and do the honors.

“What the hell happened?” Eric demanded, as he threw an accusing glare at her. “You promised that you were going to wait for me!”

“I lied,” she said with a shrug as she grabbed a chip and popped it in her mouth.

“But, I bought a belt and everything!” he said, holding up a bag that she was assuming held the, “belt and everything.”

“Too bad, so sad, we’re in the middle of negotiations so go away,” Sara said dismissively before she cleared her throat and faced Reese, who she’d like to point out was watching her every move, hers, not Sara’s, and looking terrifyingly predatory. “Now, where were we?” Sara asked, wearing what Kasey liked to call her “car salesman” smile, because it was just plain creepy.

“We were talking about you starting without me,” Eric said with a huff as he gave the bag in his hand a shake, reminding them all that he’d come home prepared to do a job that no one in their right mind would allow him to do.

Then again, after today’s incident the same could probably be said about her, but since she couldn’t stop blushing and the bastard wouldn’t stop staring at her, she kept that to herself and focused on eating the delicious burger, hoping that he’d shift his attention to someone else so that she could think about something other than the fact that he’d seen her naked.

“Eric, I’m going to need you to keep up here. We’ve moved on and so should you,” Sara said with exasperated patience before shifting her attention once again to Reese, who was still staring at her!

“Now, Reese-” Sara began only to once again get cut off.

“Why’s he here?” Eric asked, gesturing to Reese, who was still freaking watching her!

“He’s a contractor,” Sara said with a pointed glare for him to shut up and go away.

“I thought he was a cop,” Eric said with a frown as he dropped the bag by his side.

“I’m both,” Reese drawled, still. Watching. Her.

Or was he…

Deciding to test this theory, she shifted to the right, noting that he shifted his head slightly to follow the movement. Worrying her lip between her teeth, she shifted all the way to the left, watching as he followed the move. Curious, she popped a chip in her mouth, steeling herself for what must be done. She stood up and slowly walked over to Eric, well aware that Reese was still watching her every move.

Needing a moment, she stepped behind Eric, wishing that he was bigger and slowly exhaled, telling herself that everything was fine and that the incredibly handsome man that had seen her naked didn’t make her nervous.

He didn’t.

She was just overwrought by the loss of her precious hammer, she told herself as she risked a peek to find him watching her with a look in his eye that made her heart skip a beat and had her licking her lips, because that look in his eye wasn’t going to work for her.

Not. At. All.

“So, Reese, how long would it take you to renovate this kitchen?” Sara asked with that creepy smile, even as she threw Kasey a look that clearly asked, “What the hell is wrong with you,” for which Kasey promptly shook her head with a shrug, because she had absolutely no idea what was going on here.

“Two months, give or take a week,” he answered Sara even as he kept his gaze locked on her, which only left her feeling unbalanced. It was not a feeling that she welcomed.

“And how much would it cost for you to do said remodel?” Sara asked, pointedly clearing her throat to get his attention, but he didn’t take the bait.

He also didn’t shift his gaze away from her.

“I could do it for free,” Eric offered, sounding hopeful and she would have rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t seem to move, not with Reese watching her.

It was stupid and foolish and she had no idea what was wrong with her, because men didn’t make her nervous. They didn’t make her heart skip a beat, make her palms sweat, make her mouth go dry, leave her trembling, or make her wonder what it would take to have his arms wrapped around her again, because that wasn’t something that she wanted.

So, why did it feel like she was lying to herself?

Chapter 12

“Don’t make me kill you, Eric!” Sara bit out, but he vaguely registered the threat that promised bodily harm, because he couldn’t for the life of him take his eyes off the woman in front of him and he had no idea why.

“I can help!” Eric snapped back, all while the woman that intrigued him more than he ever thought possible noticeably took a fortifying breath and then practically ran the rest of the way to the refrigerator, threw the door open, and promptly hid behind it.

The smart thing would be to leave her alone and go back to enjoying his vacation, but as he watched that blush crawl up the back of her neck as she did her best to ignore him, he found that he didn’t want to leave her alone. He wanted to keep making her blush, and make her lick her lips in the way that was starting to drive him crazy for the simple fact that he could.

She cleared her throat, awkwardly, before saying, “He’s on vacation,” as though that was going to somehow save her.

“Which means that he has plenty of time to kill,” Sara quickly added.

“He probably has plans,” Kasey pointed out, sounding so damn hopeful that he couldn’t help but smile.

“Actually…” he said, letting his words trail off, loving the frustrated groan she released as she grabbed a bottle of water and reluctantly closed the refrigerator door.

“See? This works out perfectly!” Sara announced while he watched Kasey make her way back to the safety of the table, worrying her bottom lip and clearly trying to come up with a reason to get rid of him.

“And what about his girlfriend?” Kasey suddenly asked, looking relieved as she latched onto whatever fucked-up excuse was running through her head.

“What girlfriend?” he couldn’t help but ask, because he honestly had no fucking clue what they were talking about.

“The hot chick that loves to glare?” Sara suggested, blinking innocently.

“Loves to glare? I have no idea who you’re talking about,” he said with a shrug and a shake of his head as he continued to watch Kasey and noting that she was once again blushing.

Had he mentioned how much he loved that blush? Because he did, he thought as his eyes devoured the way that she shifted nervously in her chair, causing her breasts to bounce ever so slightly and giving him a better view of that heart shaped ass that was now clad in another pair of cutoff shorts.

“Mac?” she said, looking hopeful, really hopeful, he noted.

“Mackenzie’s my sister,” he said, tearing his eyes away from her ass and glad to have the matter settled so that they could-

“But, don’t you think that you should spend some quality time with her?” Kasey suggested in that same hopeful tone.

He pretended to think about it before he said, “No, not really.”

“But…” Kasey started to say only to let her words trail off as she tried to come up with another bullshit excuse to keep him from taking this job that she hadn’t exactly offered him.

“It’s a lot of money!” she suddenly blurted out and it took everything he had in him not to smile, because she was just so fucking cute right now. “I’m not sure that I can afford it right now,” she added in a softer tone with a shrug that had her best friend rolling her yes.

“What the hell are you talking about? You’ve been saving for this for years,” Eric, his new best friend for life, said, shooting her a confused look that earned him a glare that should have eviscerated him on the spot.

“I’ve changed my mind,” she bit out evenly, throwing him a look that dared him to argue, but thankfully his new BFF was completely oblivious.

“Since this morning?” Eric asked, frowning at what was left of the kitchen sink.

“Yes!” she hissed, which had Sara shaking her head with a pitying sigh and absently petting Kasey on the head.

“It’s okay, sweetie. No need to play hardball anymore,” she said and before Kasey had a chance to argue, Sara got to the point. “How much and when can you start?”

“I don’t remember offering him the job,” Kasey pointed out, which they all ignored, except for Eric, of course.

“I can start tomorrow!”

Reese ignored the ensuing argument and glanced around the large kitchen and for once he wasn’t thinking about all the changes that he would make if he had the chance. Instead, he was thinking about beautiful blue eyes and an intriguing blush and just how badly he wanted to see both of them again.

“I’ll do it,” he said, forcing himself to leave before he ended up talking himself out of doing this and ended up with one more regret.

Then again, he thought as he walked away, he might just end up regretting this, too.

*-*-*-*

“What? Wait, no!” Kasey said a tad desperately, but she didn’t care, not when the man that was threatening her equilibrium walked off before she could get a chance to put an end to this nightmare.

“Not happening,” Sara said, as she deftly grabbed hold of her arm and held on with all her might as Kasey struggled to stop this before it was too late only to groan pathetically when the front door closed behind him with a resounding click.

“Crap,” she muttered, yanking her hand free so that she could rub her hands down her face as she struggled to figure out what just happened.

“What the hell was that?” Sara asked, sounding terrifyingly intrigued.

“I don’t know!” she snapped, dropping her hands away and shrugging, because she had absolutely no idea what just happened.

“You blushed,” Sara said, grinning hugely.

“No, I didn’t,” she scoffed in outrage, because if there was one thing that she could say for certain, it was that she hadn’t bl-

“You really did. It was disturbing,” Eric said, tossing his bag on the kitchen island before joining them at the table.

“You’re exaggerating,” she said, folding her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, uncaring that she was pouting.

“Oh, how I wish we were,” Sara said with a sad shake of her head. “But, you, my friend, blushed.”

“Shut up,” she grumbled, hating them almost as much as she hated herself for what just happened.

“You also hid,” Eric pointed out.

“And mumbled,” the other traitor said.

“And she blushed when she mumbled,” Eric added with a thoughtful expression on his face as he studied her. “It was probably the creepiest thing that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“It really was,” Sara agreed.

“I hate you both,” she said, picking up a chip off her forgotten plate and popped it in her mouth as she glared at the two traitors that were enjoying this way too much.

“You love us, which is why we’re concerned,” Sara said, sighing heavily as she shifted in her chair in order to give Kasey her full attention. “Now, would you like to talk about what just happened?”

“You mean besides you screwing me over?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at the woman that had just guaranteed that she was going to have to hide out in her bedroom for the next two months, give or take a week.

“By screw you over, do you mean saving your ass?” Sara asked before nodding. “Then yes, let’s talk about that.”

“What the hell were you thinking?” she asked, getting to the point.

“I was thinking that you needed a contractor,” Sara said with a sniff as she checked her manicure.

“Umm, I’m right here,” Eric reminded them as he pulled up a chair and joined them.

“Yeah, we didn’t forget,” Sara said with a sad shake of her head as she returned her attention back to Kasey. “Is this because you can’t look at him without imagining tearing off his clothes and tracing every delectable golden muscle with your tongue?” she asked, blinking. “Is that why?”

“What? No!” she snapped, because she hadn’t been thinking about that…until now.

“I’m not interested in him,” she said, wondering how they’d ended up having this conversation.

“Really? Then please explain the blushing and the fact that you couldn’t take your eyes off him?” Sara suggested, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her chair and waited for an answer that would hopefully shut her up.

Since telling her best friend that Reese had torn her clothes off and held her in his arms would only come back and bite her in the ass, she moved on. “Did it ever occur to you that I’m not interested in him? Or that maybe I wanted to do this myself so that I could save money and get the kitchen done the way that I wanted it?”

Sara seemed to think it over for a minute before she shook her head and said, “No.”

“What exactly happened to the sink?” Eric, the bastard that she should have never let move in with her, asked, gesturing towards the mess that they’d made with the potato chip that he’d swiped off her plate.

“Yes, Kasey, what happened to the sink?” Sara asked brightly with a triumphant look that she really didn’t appreciate at the moment.

“Nothing,” she bit out with a glare as she shoved another chip in her mouth.

“Really? Because to me it looks like someone that didn’t know what she was doing tried to do renovations on her own and ended up being saved by an incredibly hot cop, who also just happened to be a contractor,” Sara said, ending with a satisfied sigh as she helped herself to a chip.

“Look,” Kasey said, pushing on and ignoring the fact that her best friend was right, “I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“And why’s that?” Sara asked, giving up on stealing her chips and settled for stealing the entire plate.

“Besides the fact that he never gave us a quote? How about the fact that we don’t know anything about him?” she pointed out, wondering why they were having this conversation when it should be more than obvious that hiring Reese just wasn’t a good idea.

“Maybe because you didn’t tell him what you wanted?” Sara shot back as she nibbled on a chip, looking thoughtful while Kasey sat there, scowling at the chip-stealing bitch.

“Because I don’t want to hire him?” she shot back.

“You don’t want to hire an available contractor, who just happens to also be incredibly hot and can renovate your kitchen within your timeframe?” Sara asked, blinking.

“How do we even know that he can do the work? For all we know he might be a glorified handyman,” she pointed out as she got to her feet and headed for the refrigerator, confident that she’d made her point and had effectively ended this conversation before it had a chance to shift back to her and all the mortifying things that she’d done today.

“Because he showed me pictures of his work on his phone and the website for Bradford Construction where he works when he has the time,” Sara said, sounding smug.

Needing a minute, she grabbed a juice box from the fridge, tore the thin plastic cover off the straw and viciously stabbed it in the hole before taking a much-needed sip. Turning around, she watched Sara for a moment as she tried to come up with an excuse to cancel the whole thing, but between the damage they did to the sink and every other problem that she had with the kitchen, she didn’t have much of a choice.

She needed his help, which meant that she was going to have to suck up her pride, pretend that today hadn’t happened and pray that he did the same.

Chapter 13

“You’re going to wake him up!” came the whispered hiss as the sounds of someone, probably several small someones, snuck past him on their way to the kitchen.

“I’m starving,” eleven-year-old Sebastian announced, which was seconded by his twin brother, Johnny.

“There’s no food!”

“I told you that we should have hidden some!” came the accusing whisper from one of the twins, which one, he wasn’t sure and he really didn’t care since there was no chance in hell of him falling back to sleep now, not after they’d mentioned food.

A quick glance at his watch had him rubbing his eyes and sitting up on the couch with a heavy sigh. It was seven in the morning, he was fucking exhausted and with a houseful of Bradford children on the prowl there was no way that he was going to get any sleep anytime soon.

“Go get dressed,” he told them, deciding that he might as well take the boys out for breakfast before they woke up the rest of the house.

The boys didn’t need to be asked twice, not when food was involved. Grinning hugely, the boys shoved each other out of the way and raced back to the room they shared with their cousins. He didn’t have to tell them to be quiet, because they knew better than to wake anyone else up.

Hoping to get them fed and back here before nine so that he could go make a certain neighbor blush, he went back to his room, took a quick shower, dressed, attached his gun holster to his ankle, and opened his bedroom door to find his cousin’s boys waiting for him. He cocked a brow in question and the boys nodded, letting him know that they’d told their mother where they were going.

Gesturing to the front door, the boys preceded him and in minutes they were in his truck, and pulling out of the driveway. As soon as they reached the end of the road, the boys were sighing with relief and turning the radio on.

“What are you in the mood for?” he asked, taking in the restaurants along the beach-lined streets and noted that their options were limited at this time of the morning.

“Food!” came the response from both boys, making him chuckle.

Having had enough donuts and fast food egg sandwiches to last him a lifetime, he kept driving until they came upon a diner that looked promising. “How about pancakes?” he suggested, already pulling into the small parking lot.

“God, yes,” Sebastian said, sighing heavily with relief.

“You boys paying?” he asked, cutting the twins a look to find them watching him with calculating looks that would probably scare anyone else, but since he was a Bradford twin himself, he simply chuckled and gestured for the boys to get out.

Before he had a chance to close his door, the boys were there by his side, fully alert and dragging him towards the diner. They’d barely managed to get through the door when the boys were saying, “Three, please,” startling the hostess.

“Three, please,” he said with an apologetic smile as the waitress shifted her attention to him and-

Christ.

-smiled invitingly.

“Three it is,” she murmured as her gaze dropped to his left hand in search of the gold ring that would save him from situations like this before looking back up at him and murmuring, “Right this way.”

Resigning himself to the hour of bullshit ahead, he turned to follow her and couldn’t help but smile when he spotted his delectable neighbor sitting in the booth by the back window, glaring at her daughter and his new BFF, who were sitting separately several booths away, looking at menus, and pointedly ignoring her.

Feeling his lips pull up into a predatory grin, he gestured to Mikey. “You boys remember Mikey, right?”

“Dad won’t let us play catch with her,” Johnny said, looking excited.

“For good reason,” he said, absently touching the damaged side of his face.

Nodding, Sebastian said, “I’d give anything to throw like her.”

“Maybe she can give you some tips,” he said, already shoving the boys in that direction.

“But-” the waitress said, gesturing towards an empty booth near the hostess station.

“We’ll be joining our friends. Give both checks to me, please,” he said, not really caring that the glaring woman probably wouldn’t be happy with his company.

“Mikey, you remember the boys, right?” he asked, shifting his attention from the woman, who he couldn’t wait to torment, and smiled at the little girl that was nodding.

“Eric,” he said, noting the man’s glower before shifting his attention back to the woman that was no longer glaring, but openly panicking as she wrestled with a menu, trying to open it as she did a piss poor job of hiding behind it.

So. Fucking. Adorable, he thought with a heartfelt sigh as he shifted his attention back to Mikey and Eric. “Would you mind a little company this morning? I wanted to talk to your mom about the renovations,” he said, already shoving the boys towards the booth.

With a shrug, the boys sat down and helped themselves to menus as Mikey absently nodded and returned her attention to her menu all while Eric watched him with a curious expression that he didn’t really care about, not when he had an adorable little thing blushing behind him.

“Excellent,” he murmured, making his way to the woman that was trying to hide behind an upside down menu and most likely praying that he went away, but since that really wouldn’t work for him, he swiped a menu off a nearby table and sat down across from her.

“What would you recommend?” he asked, as though she wasn’t currently trying to inch her way towards the end of the bench and make her escape.

When it became obvious that he wasn’t going away, she grumbled something as she dropped her menu on the table and glared at him.

“Everything here is delicious,” she said with a glare as he sat there, watching her and murmured, “It definitely is.”

*-*-*-*

Oh. God, she thought, sitting there staring at the man that was devouring her with his eyes as she struggled to come up with a suitable response only to sigh with relief when Mary, their waitress who incidentally hated her, walked over.

“Good morning. I’m Mary and I’ll be taking care of you today,” she said, pointedly ignoring Kasey as she glanced at Reese and-

Frowned?

“Good morning, Mary,” Reese said, thankfully shifting his attention to their waitress and giving her a chance to clear her head and think of something, anything, to get out of this before she did something mortifying.

“What are you in the mood for?” Mary asked after a slight hesitation and a quick look over her shoulder towards Pam and Jenny, who were standing by the cash register, watching them, which had Kasey rolling her eyes even as she shifted closer to the edge, deciding that hiding in the bathroom for an hour was the only sensible solution when the bastard answered.

“I don’t think it’s on the menu,” Reese said, shooting her a wink that had her blushing, damn him!

Deciding that they needed to clear a few things up, meaning that she was going to make a bigger ass out of herself, she said, “Mary, could you give us a few minutes?”

“Sure thing,” Mary said in a daze, throwing Reese a curious look as she walked away.

“Desperate to have me all to yourself?” he murmured with a knowing look that was going to get him kicked.

Deciding not to take the bait, she cleared her throat and said, “Reese-”

“I thought I was Yummy,” he said, cutting her off with a smoldering look that left her flustered, that is, until she saw it.

His lips twitched.

She narrowed her eyes on him as a sinking suspicion crawled up her spine.

He was playing with her.

The bastard was actually playing with her!

Oh, thank God! she thought just as quickly, nearly sagging with relief, because she honestly wasn’t sure what she would have done if he’d been serious. This she could handle, she thought with a sigh as she returned his smile, more than ready to play this game as she signaled for Mary.

“I think we’re ready to order.”

Chapter 14

“Look, Yummy, I know you want me and I really can’t blame you, but I’m not interested,” she said with a heartfelt sigh as soon as their waitress walked away, making his lips twitch, but not for the reason that she thought.

She was full of shit, but since it was more than obvious that he made her nervous he was going to have to play along.

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re not madly in love with me?” he asked, drumming his fingers against the table as he watched her, noting that the woman who blushed and hid from him was gone and in her place was the woman who loved to tease him and called him “Yummy.” As he watched her, he couldn’t help but wonder which one was the real Kasey.

“Yes,” she said solemnly with a nod, “I’m afraid that’s the problem.”

“Really?” he said, blinking, “Because I’ve already named all ten of our children.”

“What are their names?” she asked, playing along.

“Thomas, Scott, Dennis, Andrew, Patrick, Jennifer, Melissa, Tobias, and Zachary,” he said without hesitation.

“That’s only nine.”

“Did I forget little Nathaniel?” he asked with a rueful shake of his head.

“I believe you did,” she said with a smile.

“It’s an unforgiveable oversight,” he said, making her laugh, which pleased him.

“I’m sure he’ll forgive you,” she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

“We’ll never know,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“No,” she agreed, “I guess we never will.”

“Unless you’re ready to admit that you want me?” he asked, earning another smile.

“And give you false hope? No, no I couldn’t do that to you,” she said with a sad shake of her head that had him chuckling as he glanced over his shoulder to check on the boys only to find Eric glaring in their direction.

“What did you do to piss them off?” he asked, shifting his attention back to the woman who intrigued him more than she should.

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t let him call in sick so that he could help with the renovations.”

“And Mikey?”

“I’m making her go to summer camp so that she doesn’t waste the entire summer sitting on the bench,” she said with a yawn as she leaned back when their waitress appeared with their food.

“Ah,” he said, accepting a plate from the waitress and moving it aside so that she could put the rest of his order on the table.

“Can I get you anything else?” their waitress asked, shifting nervously as she shot another glance over her shoulder at her entourage that was waiting for her, which normally would have caught his attention, but right now his attention was focused solely on the woman sitting across from him.

“I think we’re all set,” he said, eager to have Kasey all to himself again.

“Yell if you need anything,” she said with one last lingering look before finally walking away.

“She wants you,” Kasey said, reaching for the bottle of syrup.

“But, I don’t want her,” he said with a pointed look at Kasey, which earned him a chuckle and an eye roll.

“Because you’re desperately in love with me?” she teased with an easy smile as she grabbed the bottle of maple syrup.

“Desperately,” he agreed with a wink and a chuckle that seemed to please her as he plucked the bottle of syrup from her hands and poured it on his pancakes and French toast.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she said, nodding solemnly.

“Is this where you let me down easily?”

“Yes, I’m afraid that I don’t have a choice,” she said with a sniffle.

“What about the children?” he asked, matching her solemn expression as she stole his orange juice and took a sip.

“I think that with time, a new puppy, and of course a rich step-daddy that buys their love that they’ll be able to move on someday,” she said with a wistful sigh as she finished off his orange juice and signaled for the waitress, who promptly turned her back to her and walked away.

“I don’t think she likes you,” he murmured as he signaled for another waitress.

“Well, we can’t all be Yummy, now can we?” she said with a sad shake of her head that ended with a chuckle and a wink as a new waitress walked over and took their order for more orange juice.

“I’m sensing a story behind that,” he said, gesturing with a forkful of pancakes in the direction their waitress had scurried off to.

Pursing her lips, she shook her head. “Not one worth sharing.”

“It’s not good to keep secrets in a relationship,” he said with a forlorn sigh as he took a bite.

“Then, I’m afraid that we’re doomed from the start, Yummy,” she said, helping herself to a bite of his food, which he took as an invitation to steal her bacon.

“It’s a damn shame,” he said with a sad shake of his head as he popped the last piece of bacon in his mouth.

“It really is.”

“Now what will we do?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the boys were okay only to look back and find Kasey, once again, finishing off his orange juice.

“Somehow find the willpower to move on,” she said with a wink as she pushed the rest of her breakfast towards him.

“I guess we don’t have a choice,” he said, finishing off her toast.

“We really don’t.”

“Our love was doomed from the beginning.”

“It really was,” she said, nodding in agreement.

“I guess the only thing to do is to move on and finish this renovation that you started,” he said, pulling out his wallet.

“It’s for the best,” she said, reaching for her purse, but one glare from him had her rolling her eyes even as she said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he murmured absently as he looked over his shoulder to signal for the bill and check up on the boys, who were laughing at whatever Mikey said while Eric continued to sit there glaring in their direction, which reminded him…

“What does Eric do?” he asked, returning his attention back to Kasey, who was staring wistfully at the empty glass of orange juice. Chuckling, he picked up the empty glass and signaled for a refill, absently noting that she had a bit of a juice addiction.

“Besides annoy me?”

“Yes, besides that,” he said, chuckling as he sat there, enjoying the most relaxing conversation that he’d ever had with a woman.

“He’s an accountant,” she said, squishing her face up adorably at the admission.

“Sounds fun,” he murmured absently, searching her features for any resemblance to the man in question and coming up short.

“Well, he seems to really hate it,” she said, chuckling as she stacked their plates and pushed them out of the way.

“And he’s your brother?” he asked, still wondering about that.

“No, he’s Michael’s little brother and my best friend,” she said with a fond smile that had him nodding absently as he considered his next words.

“And Michael is Mikey’s father?”

“Yes.”

“I see,” he murmured, not really sure how he should take the news that she was living with a man, but before he could ask any more questions their waitress was there, placing a large glass of orange juice in front of him and shooting him a wink as she said, “It’s on the house, Officer Bradford.”

Chapter 15

“What was that about?” Kasey asked with a pointed look at the trio of waitresses who were hovering around an iPad, laughing.

“Nothing to worry your pretty little head about,” Reese said with a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes as he held the door open for her and the kids.

“Is this the point when I should drop the subject and move on?” she asked, feeling uncharacteristically generous this morning as they headed towards the parking lot with Mikey and Eric in the lead and the boys already heading towards a large black pickup truck that she assumed was Reese’s.

“Yes, yes it is,” he said with a heavy sigh as he pressed his hand against the small of her back and gestured towards the truck in question.

“I guess I can do that,” she said magnanimously as she smoothly stepped away from his touch only to find herself once again heading towards his truck when he placed his hand back and steered her towards the boys, who were suddenly racing back towards them and yelling, “Dad!” as a large SUV pulled into the parking lot.

“It’s for the best,” he murmured, suddenly dropping his hand away and grabbing the boys before a minivan trying to back out of a spot could hit them.

“Be careful,” he said with a pointed look at the driver as he released the boys safely on the sidewalk so that they could race the rest of the way and slam into Trevor as soon as the misguided man made the mistake of climbing out of his truck. With a nod in Reese’s direction, he had one of the boys thrown over his shoulder and was heading inside the diner with the rest of his brood in tow. Zoe barely managed to say, “Hello,” before the smallest boy dragged her inside. Once they were out of sight, Reese was back to his manhandling ways.

“Umm, I have a ride,” she pointed out when Reese once again started leading her towards his truck only to end up frowning as she watched Eric and Mikey drive by only slowing down long enough to send her a well-timed glare before completely abandoning her, which really shouldn’t surprise her.

But, still…

“And they seem really excited about spending some quality time with you, but on the off chance that they’re not coming back, why don’t I give you a ride?” he suggested, opening the door and gesturing for her to climb in.

“They’re so damn fickle,” she said with a heavy sigh and a shrug as she moved to climb in only to find herself swept off her feet and set down on the bench seat before she had a chance to blink.

“Umm, thanks?” she said, not really sure what the proper etiquette was for being manhandled.

“You’re welcome,” he said, shooting her a smile as he closed the door and quickly made his way around the truck as she sat there, reminding herself to relax.

“Do you need to go anywhere?” Reese asked, as he climbed into the truck.

“Not until tonight,” she said with a shrug, silently congratulating herself on surviving this encounter with him as she turned her attention to the radio, needing a distraction from the incredibly handsome man sitting next to her that was seriously screwing with her sanity.

“What’s going on tonight?” he asked, pulling out of the parking lot and headed back home.

“Taking Mikey to the carnival,” she said with a shrug, although she really wasn’t sure that she wanted to share her cotton candy with the little traitor, not after this recent betrayal.

“What time?”

“It starts at seven,” she said, contemplating inviting his cousins since the kids seemed to be getting along.

Not that Mikey actually wanted to go to the fair tonight since there was a game on. Mikey was determined to stay home and watch the game and Kasey was determined to remind her daughter that there was more to life than baseball. Mikey would fight her tooth and nail, but in the end she would drag Mikey to the fair and she would have a great time.

It was just a matter of dragging Mikey out of the house before she had a chance to lock herself in the bathroom with her iPad and the stash of drinks and snacks that Mikey didn’t think she knew about. It had taken some time and a lot of failed attempts, but now Kasey had this down to a science. Mikey would try to run, hide, outright beg, throw in a few tears, make promises that she never planned on keeping, use embarrassing flattery, and say and do whatever it took to stay home and watch the game, but in the end, Kasey would prevail. Mikey would be at the fair tonight even if she had to drag her there, kicking and-

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” came the sudden announcement, breaking into her inner musings.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, too late.

They’d arrived home and Reese was already out of the truck and walking around to her side before she managed to get the words out. Steeling herself for one last encounter with him today, she slowly exhaled, nodded to herself because she was an idiot, and climbed out of the truck, ready to talk her way out of this.

“I’m-” she started to say in a reasonable voice even as she ignored the urge to run away only to get cut off by the man that had absolutely no idea how badly she was struggling not to freak out right now.

“We can grab a bite afterwards if you want,” he said, not asked, she’d like to point out.

“That’s really not-”

“Or before,” he said, shrugging as he placed his hand on her back and gave her no choice but to walk the short distance to her front door with him. “Whatever you want is fine with me.”

“That’s nice of you, but-”

“Don’t get mad!” Eric, whom she’d liked to point out was supposed to be on his way to work at this very moment, said, as he stumbled out of the house, soaked to the bone, covered in white dust, odd fragments that appeared to contain hair of some sort, bits of wood, and pieces of wet newspaper.

“What the hell happened?” she asked, momentarily forgetting the man standing next to her and focused on Eric, who was standing there, licking his lips nervously and shifting anxiously as he said, “It’s not that bad.”

“What’s not that bad?” she asked, eyes narrowing on him as she noted the tool belt that hung around his hips with the price tag still attached to it, the condition of his clothes, that guilty expression on his face that reminded her so much of his brother, and cursed under her breath as she shoved past him.

Before she reached the kitchen, Mikey was standing there, holding up two filthy hands and trying to pull off a smile as she said, “It’s really not that bad, mom.”

Whatever was in her expression had Mikey quickly losing that smile, clearing her throat, nodding with a mumbled, “Alright then,” before taking off running towards the safety of her bedroom.

Telling herself that Eric and Mikey couldn’t have possibly done that much damage in the five-minute head start that they’d had on her, she slowly blew out a breath, started towards the kitchen when an odd squishy sound accompanied the one and only step she’d taken towards the kitchen. Looking down, she watched as water pooled around her feet only to disappear seconds later into the thick rug that she definitely needed to replace now.

A pathetic groan escaped her that came off more as a whimper as she followed that flow of water into the kitchen, splashing water the entire way until she found herself standing in a puddle of water, feeling absolutely numb as she took in the scene before her.

Five minutes…

That’s all it took, she thought as she slowly took in the scene before her and shook her head, trying to make sense out of what she was seeing. The kitchen was flooded, water was shooting out of what was left of the wall to her left, chunks of horsehair plaster were everywhere, pieces of newspaper were floating past her, there was a huge hole in her wall, and a sledgehammer that she’d never seen before was lodged in the “pantry” door.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d stood there, staring at that sledgehammer, or when she’d tackled Eric to the ground and tried to make him eat that tool belt, but as Reese and Jason tried to drag her off him, she realized something very important, after this she wouldn’t have to worry about trying to come up with an excuse to get out of going tonight.

Chapter 16

“What? No! I can’t go!” Kasey screamed somewhat hysterically later that night when all her well-laid plans were ruined and she found herself trying to smother Sara with a pillow.

In self-defense, of course.

“Let go!” Sara demanded, sounding out of breath as she tore the pillow out of Kasey’s hands and turned the tables on her.

“I’m not going!” Kasey said, rolling over in a desperate attempt to escape the mad woman.

“Yes,” pant, “you,” groan, “are!” Sara bit out as she grabbed hold of Kasey’s ankle and -

“Oh, crap!” Kasey gasped when she suddenly found herself pulled back into the middle of the bed, shoved onto her back and a demented woman pinning her to the bed.

“You’re going!”

“Hell no!” Kasey yelled, trying to wiggle her way to freedom, but unfortunately for her, Sara was a lot heavier than she looked.

“You’re,” grunt, “going!” she said through clenched teeth as Kasey did her best to throw the larger woman off her.

“Oh, my God! I’m naked,” she reminded her best friend, hoping to buy herself a little time.

“You’re wearing pajamas!” Sara shot back, accusingly.

“Same thing!”

“No, it’s not!”

“I still need to get dressed!”

“You can do that in the car,” Sara snapped, adjusting her hold and-

“What are you doing?” Eric asked, as he climbed onto her bed and sat back, grabbing the remote and not really looking like he cared that they were beating the shit out of each other as he sat there, scrolling through channels and taking a bite out of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he’d been forced to make since her kitchen was now out of commission.

“She’s trying to get out of going,” Sara said tightly as Kasey continued to struggle.

“I’m not going!”

“Yes, you are!”

“Why do we care if she goes?” Eric asked around another bite, sounding bored.

“Because!” Sara snapped as though that said it all, which in her mind it probably did, but since she’d clearly lost her goddamn mind that wasn’t saying much at all.

“I’m tired and I just want to go to bed,” she groaned, which was sadly true.

From the moment they’d managed to drag her off Eric, they’d been working non-stop, trying to clean up the mess until about a half hour ago when their wives had forced them to call it a night. She still wasn’t sure how they’d managed to get it done so quickly, but within the hour they’d had the water shut off, a large dumpster delivered, and a permit to cover the damages that needed to be fixed.

After Eric had fled for his own safety they’d quickly decided that there was no point in trying to save the rug. So, Trevor and Jason had moved her furniture into the garage and had torn up the ruined rug, rolled it up and threw it in the dumpster while Reese had worked on fixing the damaged pipes. Once the rug was out, she took over the job of pulling up the old padding and carrying it out to the dumpster while the guys were forced to tear out all the cabinets on the damaged wall so that they could replace the pipe that Eric had destroyed.

Except for the meal breaks they’d taken, and she’d honestly never met anyone who devoured as much food as they did, they’d worked nonstop until the pipes were fixed while she’d worked with Mikey on pulling all the staples out of the living room floor. When their wives came over and announced that it was time for dinner, she’d nearly wept with joy.

That is until Reese had reminded her that they had plans. Well, they were really his plans since she planned on curling up in her bed with a bottle of Advil. Every muscle hurt, which made her wonder what kind of sick bastard would even suggest going out tonight? Clearly the man had issues, but that was something that he needed to work out with his therapist, because she had her own issues to work out, the biggest one being the psychotic bitch trying to force her to leave the confines of her bed.

“You need to go!”

“Why do you care if she goes?” Eric asked, shoving the last bite in his mouth as Kasey finally managed to free herself.

“Because she needs to go!”

“Why?” Eric asked, looking incredibly confused.

“I’m not going,” she said firmly as she slowly backed up towards the headboard, not stupid enough to turn her back on her demented friend twice in one night.

“I thought you were looking forward to the fair,” Eric said, oblivious to Sara’s plans, which gave her hope.

“I’m tired,” she repeated, wondering why they were having such a difficult time understanding this.

“Really?” Sara asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “So, your sudden desire to skip the fair has nothing to do with a certain neighbor that makes you blush?”

“I’m not interested in him,” she said, deciding to get straight to the point. “I don’t have time for a-”

“Oh, my fucking god,” Eric mumbled in disgust, cutting her off as Sara said, “This again? Really?”

“What?” she asked, shoving a pillow behind her as she shifted closer to Eric so that the woman scowling at her could join them as they sat against the headboard.

“What? Are you freaking serious?” Sara asked, shaking her head in disgust as she reached over her and snatched the remote out of Eric’s hand.

“I don’t have time for a fling,” she said, shrugging and wondering what their problem was.

She was too busy with Mikey, her job, putting together her cookbook and about a dozen other things to worry about some guy. It just wasn’t in the cards for her right now and that was fine with-

“When’s the last time that you went out on a date?” Sara asked with a pointed look while she shifted to face her as she waited for an answer.

“I don’t know. A couple of months?” she said with a shrug, wondering where she was going with this.

“Try a couple of years,” Eric said with a snort of disgust as he reached over her and snatched the remote back.

“I’m thinking five,” Sara said and this time it was Kasey’s turn to snort in disgust.

“It has not been five years.”

“She’s right,” Eric said, putting the game back on.

“Thank you.”

“It’s been six and she only went on that date, because we guilt tripped her into going,” Eric said matter-of-factly as he settled more comfortably against the headboard.

“It has not been six years!” she said with a scoff and a shake of her head, because someone was lying his little ass off, which was sad.

“When’s the last time that you kissed a man?” Sara asked, cocking a brow in triumph as Kasey suddenly decided that she’d had enough for one night and climbed off the bed. She walked over to the bureau and toyed with one of Mikey’s baby pictures.

“It was Thomas James,” Eric announced.

“I don’t want to talk about this,” she said, all her good humor gone.

“You cried for a week after he kissed you,” Sara said softly as though her tone would soften the blow of the reminder of the first and last time she’d betrayed Michael.

It didn’t.

She hadn’t wanted to go on that date, but she’d let them convince her that it would help her move on. She’d known Thomas since they were kids. He was kind, funny, and one of the few boys who hadn’t called her a slut in high school. The date had actually been nice. They’d grabbed a bite to eat, caught a movie, talked, and laughed. She’d actually enjoyed herself for the first time in a long time, but all that changed when he’d kissed her.

She hadn’t expected it, which was foolish considering that they’d been on a date. One minute, they’d been laughing and the next…

She’d been struggling to catch her breath, sobbing uncontrollably, and he’d been screaming for Sara, who’d been inside her house, babysitting Mikey with Eric and waiting to see how the date had gone. She didn’t remember much after Eric came out and wrapped his arms around her or what they’d said to Thomas, but she remembered the pain that followed.

God, it had felt like she’d lost Michael all over again.

It was something that she never wanted to experience again, which is why she hadn’t gone on another date since. She could tell them whatever bullshit story she wanted, but in the end, it was quite simple.

“I’m not ready yet,” she said softly with a small shrug, waiting for an argument, but instead she felt Sara’s arms wrap around her.

“Then you’re not ready,” she said with a shrug and a squeeze.

“What about Reese?” Kasey asked, worrying her bottom lip.

“Will understand,” Sara promised her.

“But-”

“Honestly, I don’t think he’s looking for anything anyway. I think he just came down here to relax and kill some time. I don’t think that he’s looking for anything more than someone to hang out with and pass the time,” Sara said, giving her another reassuring squeeze.

“Are you sure?” she asked, after a slight pause.

“I’m sure.”

Chapter 17

“She’ll kill you!” came the hissed warning as Reese stood on the front step for the second time that day and raised his hand to knock on the door only to have it ripped open as Sara snapped, “I don’t care!”

She barely spared him a glance as she latched onto his arm and pulled him back down the stairs. He shifted his attention from Eric, who was standing in the doorway looking lost, to the small woman dragging him towards the beach.

“Is there a reason why you’re dragging me?” he asked, feeling his lips twitch with amusement even as he was forced to bite back a yawn.

God, he was fucking exhausted.

Not surprising since he was running on fumes lately. He couldn’t remember the last time that he’d slept more than a few hours at a time and it was starting to catch up with him. He should call it a night and take advantage of the fact that his cousins were taking their kids out to the fair and get some sleep while he had the chance, but he’d been looking forward to teasing another blush out of Kasey to do the smart thing and call it a night.

“We have to talk,” was all she said, as she continued to drag him and since he was too fucking tired to argue, he allowed it.

It also didn’t hurt that she shot him a look of warning that told him exactly what she’d do to his balls if he tried to argue. More than happy to keep his balls where they were, he followed her down the path, onto the sandy beach and then down to where the tide was slowly rolling in, wondering if she was going to try to bullshit him into putting a new roof on Kasey’s house…

Although, it could use one, he mused, glancing back at the house in question only to have the small woman with an agenda suddenly drag him to the right only to release him just as suddenly so that they were taking a casual stroll down the beach.

“What are your intentions towards Kasey?” she asked, taking him off guard.

Instead of answering the question that he was still wondering himself, he asked, “Is there a reason why you’re asking?”

Nodding, she glanced up at him as they walked past a few people enjoying the last rays of a beautiful summer day. “What do you know about Kasey?”

“Besides the fact that she enjoys tormenting strangers and shouldn’t be allowed within fifty feet of a hardware store?” he asked before answering, “Not much.”

“Oh, Officer Bradford,” she said with a heavy sigh and a disapproving shake of her head, “I can’t believe that you’re going to lie to me after everything that we’ve been through.”

“And what am I lying about exactly?” he asked, coming to a stop beside her.

“Are you really going to tell me that you’ve been here for almost a week and none of the lovely natives have shared the tale of Kasey Gallagher? I don’t believe that for a second,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked out at the ocean.

“You mean about the seventeen-year-old girl that was forced to raise a baby alone after her boyfriend lost his battle with cancer?” he asked, content to watch the waves roll in as they had the conversation that he’d been trying to avoid.

“I see you’ve heard the kind version,” she murmured.

“Is there another version?”

“Oh, there are many versions to this tale, but only one of them is true,” she said, glancing up at him with a sad smile. “She was sixteen when she had Mikey. Michael died a couple of months into the pregnancy.”

“I see,” he said, thinking back to when he was sixteen and wondering how he would have handled something like this.

It was simple.

He wouldn’t have.

It was the one of the reasons that he’d made the decision to wait. He hadn’t been ready for a kid or the responsibilities that sex brought and had decided to wait until he was. That wasn’t the only reason of course, but it was the only one that mattered right now.

“He was also her husband,” she said, nearly knocking him on his ass.

“Christ,” he said, stabbing his hand through his hair as he tried to wrap his mind around everything.

“Michael changed her, mostly for the better,” she conceded with a slight nod.

“Meaning?”

“Before Michael, Kasey was a bitch,” she said with a cringe. “Hell, even I hated her.”

“What changed?” he asked, having a hard time believing the that the woman who was always smiling could ever do something to earn that title.

“The eight grade dinner dance,” she said with a fond smile. “She found me crying in the bathroom, quickly figured out that I’d been stood up, and took it upon herself to go remind the guy that he already had a date by making him sing soprano for a week.”

“Ouch,” he said with a wince.

“Exactly. After that, we just clicked and became inseparable. I thought my parents were going to kill me the first time I brought her home for dinner,” she said, chuckling.

“Why’s that?”

“Well,” she said, slowly exhaling, “Kasey had always been a wild child, but at that point she was already following in her mother’s footsteps as the town slut. My parents, like most of the parents at the time, didn’t want me anywhere near her. They were afraid that she was going to rub off on me and I was going to end up pregnant, a high school dropout, or dead in a ditch somewhere.”

“Were they right to be concerned?” he asked softly.

She laughed. “With Kasey on my ass every time I stepped out of line? God, no! She knew things were bad and she didn’t want me ending up like her. She’d resigned herself to living out her mother’s legacy, but she wasn’t going to let me join her. As soon as my parents figured that out she was always welcome at my house.”

“And when did Michael come into the picture?” he asked, feeling like an asshole, because he already knew that he wouldn’t have given her a second look in high school.

“I honestly don’t know. I didn’t even think they knew each other. I mean, he was the star pitcher, popular, and she-”

“Wasn’t,” he finished for her, not sure that he could handle hearing her being called a slut again.

“I don’t know how it happened, but one day she was glaring at him and the next, she was falling in love with him. She started smiling more, trying harder in school, and suddenly became shy. I used to tease her, because you couldn’t even say his name without making her smile. I honestly thought that was it for her. She was going to get her life together, graduate, go on to college and marry Michael one day,” she said quietly.

“But, it didn’t happen that way, did it?” he asked, his heart breaking for Kasey, because he already knew how this story ended.

“First you have to understand that Michael’s parents weren’t happy when he brought her home. Michael was an amazing kid. By freshman year, college teams were already scouting him and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was going places. His parents didn’t want to see him throw it all away over a girl, but especially not someone like Kasey.”

He didn’t say anything so she continued.

“It started off with his leg bothering him, but he’d shrugged it off, thinking that it was just a pulled muscle. Soon, it was obvious that something was wrong and then it became a race to save him. The whole town came together, trying to save him, supporting his family, and I think that scared the hell out of him even more than the cancer. Everyone treated him like he was already dead.”

“Everyone, but Kasey,” he said, already guessing that Kasey stood by him, teasing him and making him smile to the end.

Nodding, she continued. “I think she truly believed that he was going to make it. I don’t think that she ever really thought that she was going to lose him. Michael, on the other hand, was absolutely terrified. He was also determined to die without any regrets.”

“And that’s when he married Kasey and got her pregnant,” he said, slowly exhaling and reminding himself that Michael had been a terrified kid and probably hadn’t meant to destroy her life, but god, did he want to hate this kid for what he’d done to her.

“Kasey’s mother hadn’t cared and his parents had been helpless to say no to him once they’d found out she was pregnant. They’d barely managed to say, ‘I do,’ when things went really bad and Michael ended up back in the hospital. Within days, he’d slipped into a coma and died and Kasey was left all alone, pregnant, and devastated.”

“What did his parents do?” he asked, rubbing his hands down his face, honestly wishing like hell that she’d never told him any of this, because knowing made it a hell of a lot harder to stop himself from caring about her.

“They were drowning in their own grief and Kasey was just a reminder of everything they’d lost. Before Mikey was born they’d moved out of town, taking Eric with them. By that time, Kasey’s grandmother had been moved into a nursing home and had reluctantly given Kasey the house. I honestly don’t think that she would have survived losing Michael if it hadn’t been for Mikey.”

“She forced herself to keep going, determined to give Michael’s baby a good life. She got her GED, worked any job she could get her hands on, and struggled. She worked so hard and no matter how many setbacks she faced, she never gave up. She taught herself how to be a mom, how to cook, and how to stand on her own two feet.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked, already knowing that this wasn’t something that she would share with just anyone.

“Because she’s not ready for someone like you,” she said, meeting his gaze with a sad smile.

“Is this the part where you warn me away?”

“Would you listen?” she asked, with a curious frown.

“Not a chance in hell.”

Chapter 18

“How much sugar do you think she had?” Eric asked, gesturing with the large bag of pink and blue cotton candy that Mikey had shoved in his hand a minute ago before she’d jumped in line for the Anti-Gravity ride, towards the small woman practically bouncing with excitement as she raced from one game to another.

“I’m not really sure,” Kasey said, pursing her lips up in thought as she watched Haley, who hadn’t stopped smiling since she’d first spotted her an hour ago, do a little happy dance when she won a stuffed bear only to release an excited squeal seconds later when she spotted a vender selling caramel apples.

“She seems to really like carnivals,” Eric noted as he helped himself to some of Mikey’s cotton candy.

“She really does,” Kasey agreed with a solemn nod, shifting her attention to the man resigned to trail after her, picking up all the stuffed animals that she dropped in her haste to get to another game.

“Can I go again, mom?” Mikey asked, smiling hugely as she ran over to join them.

“Sure,” she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out another strand of tickets that had cost a small fortune.

“Thanks!” Mikey said before once again taking off and leaving them to watch as Jason was suddenly forced to change directions when Haley spotted the Ferris Wheel.

“That poor bastard,” Kasey said, sighing heavily with a sad shake of her head as she shifted her gaze back towards Mikey, who was now standing in line with Trevor and Jason’s kids, laughing at something one of the twins said.

“I can’t believe you let her play with them,” Eric said in disgust, drawing her attention back to find him standing there, viciously biting off a piece of cotton candy as he glared at Trevor, who she realized was glaring right back at him.

“Is there something that I should know?” she asked, turning her attention back to Eric in time to see him discretely flip off the much larger man. “Besides the fact that you’ve clearly lost your goddamn mind?” she asked, wondering if this was going to end like last year’s chili cook-off.

God, she really hoped not.

“They’re Yankees fans,” he snarled as she stood there, blinking and wondering when he was going to get to the point.

“And?” she found herself asking a minute later when it became obvious that he was going to ignore her question so that he could continue to glare like a psychopath at the man who had a good fifty pounds of muscle on him.

“And?” he asked, frowning as he suddenly shifted his attention back to her. “What the hell do you mean, ‘and?’ They’re Yankees fans!”

“I’m really not following you there, chuckles,” she said, shaking her head and wondering why he would think that she cared.

“We’re Red Sox fans!” he hissed with a wild gesture to the old Red Sox tee shirt that he was wearing.

“We are?” she asked, frowning, because she honestly hadn’t known that, which only seemed to make things worse.

“What the hell are you talking about? How could you not know that the Red Sox are your daughter’s favorite team?” he demanded with a crazed look in his eye that just made this whole thing so sad.

“Mikey doesn’t have a favorite team,” she said with a shrug, because if there was one thing that she knew about baseball, and this was mostly likely the extent of it, it was that her daughter didn’t have a favorite team.

She had favorite players.

“Of course, she does!’

“Are you sure?” she asked, taking a sip of the small fresh squeezed lemonade that she’d spent eight dollars on only to find it empty.

“For God’s sakes, woman! She’s always wearing that hat!” he snapped, gesturing towards Mikey, who was at this very moment turning her hat around so that she could sit on the ride without the brim of her hat hitting the back of her seat, revealing a Red Sox emblem.

“It’s worn in,” she said with a shrug, already getting bored with this conversation.

“Mikey!” Eric yelled, obviously a glutton for punishment. “What’s your favorite team?”

Squishing her face up adorably, Mikey shrugged and admitted, “I don’t really have one.”

“Oh, my God,” Eric choked out as he slapped a hand against his stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“My heart is literally breaking for you,” she said dryly as she popped the top off her drink, hoping that there was a little juice left at the bottom only to discover that the only thing left was the ungodly amount of ice that they’d filled her cup with.

“You’re welcome,” Sara said with a satisfied sigh and a smile as she finally joined them, an hour later than promised, she’d like to point out.

“For what?” Kasey asked absently as she tilted her cup to the side, hoping to draw out a few forgotten drops of lemonade only to end up resigning herself to forking over another eight bucks.

“I can’t believe this…after all this time!” Eric mumbled to himself, because she’d already stopped caring.

“Do you really need a reason to thank me?” Sara asked, shaking her head with a tsk as she pulled out her phone and started checking her email.

“Yes, in fact I do,” Kasey said, reluctantly throwing her cup away and pulling out the money she’d set aside for the fair only to blink when a large cup was held in front of her.

Unable to help herself, she followed that large tan hand holding the cup up to the equally large man that it belonged to only to find Reese standing next to her, looking bored as he glanced around the fair. “Be ready by eight,” was all he said before she found that large cup pressed in her hand and he was walking away, leaving her standing there, not really sure what just happened.

But something told her that it would probably be in her best interest to be ready on time.

*-*-*-*

“I’m not going!” came the loud refusal as soon as Reese reached the front door the next morning.

“You’re going!” came the instant reply.

He didn’t bother knocking, because at this point he really didn’t see a point. He simply leaned back against the house, noting that the shingles were loose and that the house would have more appeal with grey siding when the front door opened and Mikey stepped outside. She didn’t see him, but then again, she was too busy stomping off saying, “I’ll never forgive you for this! Do you hear me? Never!”

“Because I’m making you go to summer camp where you’ll spend your time learning how to make macaroni art and building friendships that will last a lifetime?” Kasey asked, blinking as she stepped out of the house. “Is that why?”

“Yes!” the little girl hissed as she stormed off towards the driveway.

“Is this your way of telling me that you’re not excited about going to camp?” Kasey asked dryly, making his lips twitch. “Is that what you’re telling me?”

Mikey turned around to hiss, “Yes!”

“But, today’s clay day! Isn’t that exciting?”

“No!” Mikey growled, turning back around so that she could march the rest of the way to Kasey’s SUV.

“This makes me so sad, pookie,” Kasey said, adding a fake sniffle that had him chuckling as he pushed away from the house and joined her.

“Good morning, Yummy,” she said brightly, barely sparing him a glance as she took a sip from the black tumbler cup in her hand, which he’d be willing to bet held juice, and joined her daughter, leaving him to follow.

“Good morning,” he said as he placed his hand at the small of her back and steered her towards his truck.

“Back to the manhandling, Yummy?” she drawled, smacking her lips lightly as she savored another sip.

“Never stopped,” he admitted with a smile, wondering what it was going to take to bring back that blush that he really liked.

Chapter 19

“So, what exactly am I doing here?” Kasey asked, as she nibbled on one of the apple fritters that they’d picked up from Aaron’s Bakery before returning back to her house so that he could break out the measuring tape.

“Keeping me company,” he said, as he measured the distance from the door to the sink before adding the measurement into his iPad.

“By eating all the apple fritters and playing on my computer?” she asked from the living room couch where it was decided after Reese had dragged some of the furniture back inside that it was the best place for her since it kept her out of his way.

“Yes,” he said absently, rechecking the measurement.

“I could help you with…” she started to offer only to snap her mouth shut and return her attention back to her computer when he shot her a look that he probably used on criminals to intimidate them, because it had her shutting her mouth and pretending to be working while he continued to do whatever it was that he was doing.

“So, you run a website?” he asked a few minutes later, interrupting her as she was scrolling through Facebook, shaking her head and wondering when Facebook was going to come out with the “Bullshit,” button, mostly for entertainment purposes to see how many FB fights she could start.

“Yes,” she said, deciding that it would probably be for the best if she got back to work.

There was a slight pause before he said, “And?”

“And that’s pretty much it,” she said, glancing down at her empty glass and wondering if it was worth trying to sneak back into the kitchen that was now apparently off limits to her between the hours of eight a.m. and six p.m.

Not that she’d really believed him when he’d made the announcement, but…

She wasn’t sure that she wanted to find out what he was willing to do. So far, she’d been able to hold her own with him, but that probably had something to do with the fact that he’d stopped flirting with her. The fact that he’d been in the other room for over an hour probably hadn’t hurt either, she mused as she nibbled on another bite of fritter before returning to the document that she was supposed to be working on.

“That sounds like an amazing website,” he said dryly as he sat down on the couch next to her with his iPad and a fresh glass of apple juice, which she decided was rightfully hers since he’d banned her from the kitchen in the first place.

“It is,” she said, taking the glass from him and took a sip before she placed it on the coffee table, which was the only other piece of furniture in the room now.

“Are you going to elaborate?” he asked, as he helped himself to the apple fritter on her plate.

“Are you going to let me help?” she countered, replacing the stolen fritter with the last one in the box only to end up scowling down at her empty plate when he stole that one, too.

“Sure,” he said absently as he toyed with something on his iPad, taking her by surprise.

“Really?” she asked, unable to stop herself from smiling only to end up scowling at the bastard when he said, “No.”

“Jerk.”

“Yup, that’s me,” he said, shifting closer so that his leg was brushing up against hers and before she could come up with a reasonable excuse for jumping off the couch and doing something incredibly embarrassing like locking herself in the attic for the summer, he was holding the iPad between them and making her realize that she was being an idiot.

“This is your kitchen,” he said, shifting the iPad so that she could see the room that was supposed to be her kitchen, better. “What we’re going to do now is figure out what to do with this space.”

“It looks small,” she said, frowning as she looked from the 3D image of her kitchen to the room in question.

“It’s not. Trust me. You actually have a pretty decent amount of space, but the problem is that most of it is wasted,” he said, voicing her earlier opinion.

Wanting a better look, she closed her laptop and placed it on the coffee table along with her empty plate only to sit back and find his arm draped along the back of her seat. Before she could come up with an excuse or a smart-ass remark to cover her nervousness, he was shifting impossibly closer and handing her the iPad.

“Now, this is your kitchen as it is right now,” he said, pointing at the basic setup that was her ugly kitchen. “It’s open space that’s shared with the dining room, but if you look here,” he said, leaning in closer so that he could point to the space in question, “you have a lot of wasted space between your kitchen island and the section that you use for your dining area.”

“What would you recommend?” she asked, hoping that he didn’t recommend building a wall and separating the space like Mr. Parker had, because she needed that space to do her cooking videos.

Not only did it offer extra light and space, but it also allowed her to help Mikey with her homework while she cooked. She wanted to keep the space open so that she could sit at the table and keep an eye on the stove and be able to enjoy the beautiful ocean view that the glass doors allowed.

“Well, that depends on a few things,” he said while she sat there, trying not to notice how nice he smelled or how good it felt to have his arm around her.

Giving herself a mental shake, because obviously she was beginning to lose her goddamn mind, she asked, “On what?”

“On what you want and what you need the space for,” he clarified, even as he tapped something on the iPad that caused everything in the room to disappear.

“I don’t want a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room,” she said, deciding that it was probably for the best to get right to the point.

“And I wouldn’t recommend one. I think we should start making use of this space, but I need to know what you want,” he said, giving her a pointed look for her to start filling in the blanks.

For a moment, she considered lying to him and telling him that she just wanted the kitchen renovated because she hated this one since she had a feeling that Mr. Parker had jacked up the price because of her website, but there was just something about Reese that made her want to trust him. It was incredibly foolish and Sara would probably slap her when she found out, but it didn’t stop her from admitting, “It’s for my website, KaseyCooks.com. I run a cooking website and I need a kitchen with more counter space and storage. I also run a catering business that’s almost more than I can handle at the moment so the added space would be nice.”

Nodding, he said, “So, on top of space and storage you’ll probably be interested in a larger refrigerator, stove, ovens, and a kitchen island.”

“Yes,” she said, hesitantly even as her stomach knotted with dread, because there was no doubt that they were already so far past her twenty thousand dollar budget that there was no way in hell that she was going to be able to do this.

“And what’s your budget?” he asked, looking lost in thought as he glanced back towards the kitchen.

“Twenty thousand dollars,” she said, sighing in defeat as she waited for him to break the bad news to her.

“Twenty thousand,” he repeated, glancing from the ruined living room floor to the kitchen before he stood up, taking her hand in his and taking her with him. “Let me run a few ideas by you,” he said, releasing her hand before she could start panicking, which was probably why she didn’t think twice about following him into the kitchen.

“We’re going to have to gut this kitchen. There’s no way around it. Your electric is shit, your walls are rotting away, your insulation is shit and your floor was laid down wrong. What I’d like to do is replace this wall separating the living room from the kitchen and add an archway,” he said, gesturing as he spoke.

“Okay,” she said, nodding, because so far he hadn’t said anything to make her panic.

“This room’s facing the ocean, giving it a great view, but you have this one small window above the sink and two small glass doors leading out to a deck that needs to be replaced. I’d like to tear them out and throw some more windows in here and replace those doors with French doors. They’ll give you better light and help you save on your energy bill.”

“Okay,” she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she tried to follow what he was saying without getting too excited, because she had a feeling this dream kitchen that he was describing to her was just that, a dream and reality was going to be depressing.

“I’d also like to move the fridge over there against that wall and cage it in with two pantry cabinets. We’ll shift the kitchen island over by four feet and then extend it with a custom-made kitchen island to give you more space so that you can have a stovetop there with plenty of cabinets and shelves beneath it. I also want to shift your sink over by five feet to get it out of the corner.”

“I’d like to give you double ovens where the refrigerator is now, add more cabinets and counter space. Removing the stove and refrigerator from this area is going to give you more room for an additional pantry. We’ll add more lights in both areas and extend the cabinets further so that they end three feet from your new doors. This should open the space up for you, give you triple the amount of cabinet space you have now, and more than double the counter space as well,” he said, describing exactly what she wanted, which of course meant that she was never going to be able to afford it.

Hating herself for ruining this dream so soon, she looked around her crappy kitchen and asked, “How much?”

“To renovate the kitchen and replace the living room floor?”

“Yes,” she said, worrying her bottom lip, because she’d honestly forgotten about the living room floor, which was now just a mess of mismatched, warped floorboards.

He made a show of looking around before he met her gaze and announced, “Twenty thousand dollars.”

“That’s it?” she asked, feeling her lips pull up into a smile, because this was honestly the best news that she could have hoped for. She could definitely afford this, which meant that she was finally going to get her-

“Well, that,” he said with a shrug before adding, “and you have to spend the day with me.”

“I’m sorry. What’s this now?” she asked, praying that he hadn’t just asked her out, because she honestly wasn’t sure that she could do it, not without freaking out, kind of what she was starting to do now.

“I’m going to have to take a trip back home tomorrow to get some equipment to keep the costs down and I’m going to need some help,” he said with a shrug as though what he was suggesting wasn’t a very big deal.

It was a very big freaking deal!

“Couldn’t you take one of your cousins?” she asked, feeling like a bitch before the words were out of her mouth, but she couldn’t help it, not when it meant saving herself from spending an entire day alone with him.

There was just no way that she could do it. She just couldn’t. She could handle spending time with him in small blocks without feeling like she was going to lose her goddamn mind, but a whole day?

She would never survive it.

“Normally, I would, but…”

They were here on vacation with their families and she felt like a selfish brat for even suggesting it. For a moment, she looked around, trying to imagine what her kitchen would look like if she gave Mr. Parker a call instead and had him do the job, but she just couldn’t do it. She wanted the kitchen that Reese promised her and that was the only reason why she was about to agree to do this and not because she liked spending time with him, making him smile, or wanted an excuse to do both of those things.

At least, that’s what she was going to tell herself so that she didn’t freak out and call this whole thing off, because apparently she was a horrible little liar and right now, she was actually okay with that as long as he didn’t figure it out. 

“Okay, but you’re buying breakfast,” she said, deciding not to mention that he was also buying her as much juice as she could handle for the long drive to wherever he was taking her since he’d figure it out sooner or later on his own.

“Fine. Then you’re buying me lunch,” he said, shooting her a wink as he headed to the door, leaving her standing there, smiling, because he was just so damn cute when he thought he got his way.

“He’s definitely buying me lunch,” she said to herself as she returned to her computer and decided that she should probably get back to work since it appeared that she was going to be taking a day off tomorrow.

Chapter 20

“Oh, God, look at that breast,” Jason said, licking his lips hungrily as Reese was helpless to do anything but look at the breast that he would kill to get his hands on.

“I wish Zoe’s breasts looked that good,” Trevor added with a sad shake of his head as all three men stared down at the iPad in Jason’s hands before reluctantly scrolling to the next page only to break out in identical groans.

“Lord have mercy,” Jason hissed as Reese imagined all the ways that he could devour that breast.

“What are you looking at?” Mac asked, as she joined them at the kitchen table and leaned in to get a look at the iPad before rolling eyes her eyes with a chuckle and headed towards the refrigerator that was most likely empty. “You guys are pathetic.”

“Don’t act like you don’t want to sink your teeth into that delectable morsel,” Trevor said, leaning in closer to get a better look.

“Is there a particular reason why the three of you are gawking at a cooking website?” she asked, smiling easily as she grabbed a bottle of water and sat down at the other end of the kitchen table.

“Reese’s new girlfriend runs the site,” Jason said, scrolling back to the page for desserts.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Reese corrected him as he took one last look at the picture of the triple fudge cake that he would somehow convince Kasey to make for him before this summer was over and returned his attention back to the list of tools that he was going to need for this renovation.

“Then what is she?” Trevor asked, sounding genuinely curious as he took the iPad from Jason and opened up the designs for Kasey’s new kitchen.

“The woman that hired me to do a renovation,” he said instead of admitting that he had absolutely no idea what she was to him or why she intrigued him so damn much, because he honestly had no fucking clue and until he did, he wasn’t going to say anything.

“And you’re taking this job, because…” Jason, the nosy bastard, prompted.

“I want to stay busy,” he said, which was the main reason that he was doing this.

Trevor gave an appreciative whistle as he looked over the plans that Reese had worked on last night. “Whatever she is, this is going to end up being one hell of a profitable job. How much did you quote her? Forty grand?”

“Something like that,” he said, still wondering why he’d agreed to do it for twenty.

“There’s no way this job is going to cost less than forty-five,” Jason said, frowning as they looked over all his plans. “Especially with that custom kitchen island. Jesus, Haley would kill for something like that.”

“Zoe, too,” Trevor said, throwing him a curious look. “You can really do this?”

“Yes,” he said, as he continued to stare down at his list, debating on which skil-saw he was going to need. He had a few that he could grab, including his father’s, but space was going to be an issue unless he took one of his Uncle’s trucks.

“Did you design this?” Jason asked after a slight pause.

“Yes,” he said, adding another saw to his list, already knowing that he would regret it if he didn’t grab it now.

“Oh, my god, mom would kill to have this!” Mac said, shoving her way between their cousins and snatching the iPad from Trevor’s hands.

“Hey!” Trevor snapped, but made no move to get it back, knowing damn well that he would never survive the encounter and if he did, Reese would be honor bound to kick his ass on principle alone.

“When did you design this?” Mac asked, already shoving Jason out of his seat and ignoring his murderous glare as she sat down in the freshly vacated chair.

“Last night,” he said, double-checking his holster before standing up and grabbing his list, eager to get going.

“No fucking way,” Trevor said, momentarily forgetting the danger of pissing off a Bradford female and snatched the iPad back.

“Let me see,” Jason said, leaning in to look at the design that had taken Reese most of the night to create.

“This alone is going to cost five thousand to make,” Trevor said, shaking his head in awe as he took in the design and Reese would have to agree, that is if he was planning on charging her for his labor and time, which he wasn’t.

After checking out her website and seeing just how insanely talented she was, he hadn’t been able to help himself. He’d designed this with her in mind, even adding a little drawer for Mikey’s collection of baseballs that she seemed to like to leave around the house. He’d watched a few of her videos, taking note of the equipment that she liked to use, how she liked to use it, what she used the most and he used all of that information to design this kitchen island for her.

“I’ll be back tonight,” he said, heading towards the front door, hoping to avoid any more questions.

“Are you sure you don’t want help?” Trevor asked, again just like he knew he would when he’d spotted him waiting for him this morning, which was why Reese was trying to get out of here before his plans for the day were ruined.

“All set,” he said, already heading out the door, eager to get next door and see if he could start the day off right with another one of those blushes that he couldn’t seem to get enough of.

*-*-*-*

“What do you think?” Jason asked, as soon as Reese was out the door.

“Every woman in the family is going to want this,” Trevor said, still having a hard time believing that Reese designed this.

It was incredible.

Hell, the entire kitchen that Reese had designed was incredible. As far as he knew, Reese had never designed anything before, but you wouldn’t know it from these designs. They were perfect, absolutely perfect and it made him wonder why Reese hadn’t done this before.

“He’s in the wrong line of work,” Jason said, voicing his opinion as the two of them took their time going through the designs that Reese had created.

“No kidding,” he agreed, shaking his head and wondering if Reese would let him help with this project, because he would kill to work on that kitchen island.

“He’s going to need help,” Jason said, grinning and obviously coming to the same conclusion.

“Yeah, he’s really not going to want your help,” Mac said, as she moved her chair closer so that she could look at her brother’s plans.

“He won’t want it, but he’s going to need it,” Trevor said, swiping the page until he came across the plans Reese had drawn up for the living room floor.

“Holy-” he started to say only to have the sentiment finished by Jason.

“Shit. There’s no way that he’s going to be able to do this on time without help,” Jason said with an excited gleam in his eye, because this was the type of thing that every man in their family would kill to work on.

The only question that remained, of course, was…

“Where did he learn how to do this?” he couldn’t help but ask as he shifted his gaze to the side to take in the intricate floor that Reese had designed, seriously wondering if his cousin was going to be able to pull this one off.

“Rory,” Mac said with a shrug as she dug a candy bar out of her bag and proceeded to open it in front of them.

“When?” Trevor had to ask even as he snatched the candy bar away and took a huge bite.

Narrowing her eyes on him, she snatched it back. “Dad started to send him to spend summers with them when he turned fifteen. I think he was hoping that the time apart would help Reese figure some things out for himself instead of always letting Darrin call the shots,” she said with a shrug as she went to take a bite only to end up glaring when Jason snatched the rest of the candy bar out of her hand and finished it off.

“And Rory showed him how to use the saw?” Jason asked, which explained so damn much, because if there was one person in their family who could pull this project off it was Rory.

And apparently Reese, Trevor thought, absently noting that Mac was taking another candy bar out of her bag and snatched it, needing the sustenance to figure a few things out about his cousin, who clearly required his help with this project among other things…

“He smiled,” Mac noted with a soft smile of her own as she reached over and-

“Ow! What the hell?” he snapped as she did what needed to be done in order to reclaim her candy bar, because they both knew that he never would have given it back otherwise.

“Who smiled?” Jason asked, still going through the designs that Reese had created.

“Reese,” she said, looking quite pleased with herself.

“What about him?” Trevor asked, rubbing the back of his head even as his other hand started to go after that candy bar.

“He’s smiling,” she said around a small bite of chocolate. “She has him smiling.”

“How do you know it’s not because of us?” Jason asked with a pointed look that Mac chose to ignore.

“Yeah, so I’m gonna go call in reinforcements before the two of you screw this up,” she said, popping the rest of the candy bar in her mouth as she pulled out her phone and began texting, which given their track record in the past was completely understandable.

Then again, given the history every man in their family had of fucking things up on their own maybe she should be a little more concerned about Reese screwing this up.

Chapter 21

“Please, don’t leave me!” Mikey begged and as much as she wished that she could say that heartfelt plea was for her, she couldn’t.

“Mikey,” she said, sighing heavily as she tried to pull her daughter away, but unfortunately for Reese, she had one hell of a hold on his arm.

“Please!”

Already exhausted and it was barely seven in the morning, she released her hold on Mikey to rub the bridge of her nose, mostly to hide the smile that she knew that Eric wouldn’t appreciate at the moment and said, “It’s just for today.”

“But…” Mikey started to say only to let the word hang there as she looked from the man that she was trying to stop from leaving to the one that was most likely going to wring her neck the moment they left.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” she promised, dropping her hand away so that she could gesture for Mikey to go back inside.

With a stubborn set of her shoulders, Mikey shook her head. “No.”

“You don’t have a choice. The camp lost power last night and it’s still not up so you have to spend the day with Eric,” she said, using her firmest mom voice only to earn an eye roll from the little traitor as she tightened her hold around Reese’s arm.

“Please, don’t make me go,” she begged as she closed her eyes and held on for dear life.

“Since I have absolutely no idea what’s going on,” Reese drawled as he stood there, looking more amused than anything, “would someone care to explain?”

“That mean lady right there,” Mikey said, freeing one arm so that she could point in Kasey’s direction, “is trying to make me spend the day at a soul sucking office.”

“Hey!” Eric gasped in outrage as Kasey sighed, “Mikey,” as she was once again forced to rub the bridge of her nose as she struggled not to laugh.

“I see,” Reese murmured, clearly sharing her struggle.

“My office is not boring!” Eric sputtered in outrage, earning an accusing glare from Mikey.

“No, but your job is!” she snapped back.

“How dare you?” Eric gasped, and god, it would really not help if she started laughing.

Clearing her throat as she fought for control, Kasey said, “It’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” Mikey demanded, releasing her hold on Reese’s arm so that she could gesture wildly as she said, “The last time you made me go they ended up high-fiving each other for twenty minutes straight, because they’d figured out a quicker way to download IRS forms!”

“It wasn’t twenty minutes!” Eric said, but sadly, Kasey had a feeling that it had probably gone on longer than that since she’d experienced the boredom that was Eric’s office a time or two in the past.

“It was!” Mikey shot back. “I timed it!”

Eric gasped in outrage. “I was going to let you use the new pencil sharpener and everything!”

Deciding to ignore the fact that Eric had just proven Mikey’s point, Kasey cleared her throat and tried to push on. “Aunt Sara is going to swing by to take you to lunch. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Mikey said, “No, no it really doesn’t.”

“It sounds like fun to me,” Reese said with a smile, obviously trying to help, but god love him, he’d just made it worse.

“Really?” Mikey asked whirling on him. “Have you ever tried edible twigs?”

“Mikey,” Kasey groaned with a heavy sigh, because she really couldn’t argue this one, not when she was the reason why Sara was dragging Mikey off to try a naturalist restaurant that she’d absolutely refused to go near.

“They actually have edible twigs there. I know, because I Googled it last night when she told me that we were going there,” Mikey said with a look that dared her to try arguing about this one, which she couldn’t and they both knew it.

“Fine. Then I’ll take you out to lunch,” Eric said with exaggerated patience as he once again gestured for Mikey to go back in the house, which only made Mikey more determined.

“Your idea of going out to lunch is to come home and see what mom made!” Mikey pointed out, which was sadly true.

“How is it my fault that she’s ruined lunch for me?” Eric asked, throwing his hands up in a helpless gesture that had her rolling her eyes and looking at Mikey, who was either going to get stuck eating edible twigs today or whatever Eric could find leftover in the break room at work.

She just couldn’t do that to her, which meant that she was going to have to put this off for another day or drag Mikey along with her and…

That actually wasn’t a bad idea, she decided, realizing that having Mikey along would probably be her best bet at surviving spending the entire day with the man that she found herself thinking about a little too much, a little too often, and making her think about things that she’d sworn off years ago. She liked him, more and more with every passing day. The fact that she’d only known him for a week and she was already feeling like this was absolutely terrifying.

Her only consolation was that he wasn’t interested in her and even if he was, he was only here for the summer. She could survive two months with him, she decided even as she admitted that she really liked spending time with him, which meant that she was going to need a buffer with her at all times.

For some reason, she didn’t think that was going to be a problem.

*-*-*-*

He should stop smiling.

He really should, especially since the woman squeezed in tightly against him didn’t seem to appreciate it. Not that he could blame her, not after it became painfully obvious with that sly little grin she’d tried to hide when she’d announced that they were just going to have to bring Mikey with them that she’d thought she’d found a safeguard against whatever it was that was going on between them only to have her plans ruined in a blink of an eye.

If Sara hadn’t filled him in on the woman that was currently glaring at the windshield, he probably would have shrugged off his curiosity, accepted the fact that she wasn’t interested, and moved on, but sadly for her, everything she did or said was now taken as a challenge. Not that he hadn’t been disappointed when he’d realized that his plans to spend the day alone with her had been ruined, but that had quickly changed when Kasey’s plans had backfired.

“Can we stop, Uncle Reese? I’m kind of hungry,” Sebastian, who was the reason why Kasey’s plan had backfired, asked, as he shifted to make more room for Mikey, who was sharing the passenger seat with him.

“I’m thirsty,” Mikey added with a sheepish smile and a shrug as she continued to roll a baseball between her hands.

When Reese shifted to get a little more comfortable, which caused his leg to touch hers, Kasey sat up straight and said, “We should definitely stop!” with a panicked little squeak that he found fucking adorable.

Deciding to take pity on her, he pulled off the highway at the next exit and followed the signs towards a gas station and a couple of promising restaurants. He’d barely managed to pull into the parking lot and throw the truck in park when Kasey started urging the kids to climb out of the truck with a somewhat desperate smile.

Shaking his head and wondering when she was going to learn, he climbed out of the truck, turned around and wrapped his arms around her just as she was about to shift to the other end of the bench so that she could climb out of the truck after the kids. Smiling, he pulled her towards him until she was sitting at the end of the bench and facing him. Noting the beautiful blush crawling up her neck and staining her cheeks, he bit back a groan as he stepped closer until he was standing between her legs and all he wanted to do was to lean in and press his lips against her neck where that beautiful blush started.

“I’m starving!” came the reminder that they weren’t alone.

“We’re coming,” he said, unable to stop himself from brushing his knuckles across her jaw as he took in the way her short hair swooped forward, matching his own, the way her beautiful blue eyes hungrily searched his for an answer that he didn’t have, the way that she worried her beautiful plump bottom lip between her teeth, and he was absolutely…fucking…lost.

Chapter 22

“No! Mikey, get back here!” Kasey whispered somewhat hysterically as her ten-year-old daughter ignored her and ran off with Sebastian towards what Reese had sworn was the best tree house in the state.

“They’ll be fine,” Reese, the man that she needed to get a little distance from so that she could think clearly, said softly as he reached past her and closed the driver’s side door.

“Okay,” she said, because that was apparently all she was capable of saying right now.

“Do you want to go inside?” he asked, stepping back only to place his hand on the small of her back and gestured towards the large two story Victorian house that she assumed belonged to his parents.

“Okay,” she said, immediately feeling like an idiot as she allowed him to lead her towards the front door while she tried to get her mind off the fact that for a moment there, she’d actually thought that he was going to kiss her.

When he stepped back and broke whatever spell he had over her, she should have been relieved, but instead she was…

Confused.

“My father’s at work, but my mother should be here,” he said, opening the front door and gestured for her to go inside.

“What does your father do?” she asked, proud that she’d managed a whole sentence, especially since he was now running his thumb back and forth over the small of her back in a gentle caress and making it hard to think about anything else but him and just how close he was.

Back and forth…

Back. And. Forth.

“He’s a doctor,” he said, keeping his touch soft while he continued caressing her back as he led her inside the incredibly beautiful house.

“What about your mother?” she asked, deciding that she needed to put a stop to this before it went any further.

But, in another minute.

Her back was just so sore from that four-hour drive and if she was going to be any use to him, she was going to have to suck it up and enjoy this. The things she did to help others, she thought with a sigh, wishing that she wasn’t so damn giving even as she paused in the foyer so that he could continue attending to her sore back.

“She’s the boss,” he said with a warm smile as his hand slid across her back and settled on her hip, and before she could start freaking out, he dropped his hand away and gestured towards the back of the house, “and she’s most likely in the kitchen.”

“Lead the way,” she said with a smile as she shoved her trembling hands in her pockets.

With a wink, he did just that, leading the way and giving her a chance to…

Well, since she had no idea what she was supposed to say or do, she settled for following him, promising herself that she’d figure this whole thing out later. Telling herself that everything was going to be fine, because apparently she was still lying to herself, she followed him as he walked into the kitchen and-

Slammed into his back when he suddenly stopped and that’s when things really got interesting.

“Reese!”

“Shit!”

“Oh, my god!” this one came from Reese as he stumbled back, forcing her to jump out of the way, which gave her a view of an incredibly handsome man, definitely older and definitely Reese’s father judging by the uncanny resemblance, leaning over a woman that she really hoped was his wife, in a desperate attempt to shield her.

Sadly, the attempt only made what they’d just been doing more obvious.

Well, that and the fact that his pants were down around his ankles, he was pressed up tightly against the woman that he had bent over the table and…

Sighs, he had a really nice ass, she noted, shifting her gaze to Reese’s and couldn’t help but wonder if he took after his father. Probably, she thought with a wistful sigh and a tilt of her head, but before she could make a more informed decision, she found herself being herded back out of the kitchen.

“Maybe you should have called first?” she asked with an innocent smile.

“We never speak of this again,” he bit out as he rushed her back down the hallway towards the front door.

“Speak of what? The lovely kitchen table that your father had your mother bent over? Or the special exam that your father was giving her? Are those the things that we’re not supposed to speak of?” she asked, blinking up at the man scowling down at her.

“You’re evil, did you know that?”

Sighing heavily, she nodded solemnly and said, “Yes, yes, I did.”

*-*-*-*

“Do you want the drop cloths?” his father asked.

Still. Fucking. Smiling.

“Yes,” Reese bit out with a glare as he grabbed the stack of drop cloths from his father and placed them next to the large stack of tools that was never going to be able to fit in the back of his truck.

“So,” his father said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels, “what do you need all this equipment for?”

“I took a job to keep busy,” he said, checking the blade of his utility knife before placing it back in his toolbox and moving on to check the rest of the tools in the toolbox.

“What kind of job?” his father asked, picking up the circular saw and looking it over for him while Reese shot a glance towards the kitchen door, wondering how Kasey was holding up with his mother.

“Renovating a kitchen and laying down a new hardwood living room floor,” he said, glancing out the window that overlooked the backyard to make sure that Mikey and Sebastian were okay.

When he spotted them safely sitting in the tree house that he’d built with his brothers, he shifted his attention back to the toolbox that he was packing and added another hammer. For several minutes, they worked in blissful silence until the bastard that had put his dirty hands all over Reese’s mother decided to break the silence.

“Who’s the girl?”

“Which one?” Reese asked, glancing up again to make sure that Mikey was still okay.

His father followed his gaze and chuckled. “Is this the little girl with the killer curveball?” his father asked, letting him know that someone in his family had a big fucking mouth.

Nodding, he said, “That would be the one.”

“She’s a little cutie pie,” his father said with a chuckle as he moved on to check the socket set for him.

“She definitely is,” he agreed with a smile.

“And her mom?” his father asked, shooting him a look that had Reese swallowing back a groan, because he knew that look.

“I have no idea what she is, but I’m doing my best not to scare her off and it’s hard. It’s so fucking hard to hold back with her sometimes,” he admitted with a heavy sigh as he rubbed his hands down his face, starting to regret bringing them here, but the thought of going a day without seeing her hadn’t been a possibility.

One fucking week…

He’d only known her for one fucking week and the idea of going even one day without seeing her was tearing him up inside. He was in over his head on this one, but no matter how many times he told himself that he couldn’t seem to stop himself from thinking about her, wanting to touch her, to hold her, and that was dangerous.

She was-

“Oh, then perhaps one of us should go inside before your mother manages to get out the baby pictures.”

-going to be the death of him, he realized as he shoved past his father and ran towards the kitchen door, praying that he was able to get to her in time.

Chapter 23

“Did I show you the picture of Reese being potty trained?” Mary, Reese’s very determined mother, asked, smiling hugely as she closed the thick leather-bound photo album. She tossed it aside and grabbed an identical photo album off the coffee table and opened it to the page of Reese smiling, naked and very adorable as he held up a bra for whoever had been holding the camera before she could utter a response.

Not that she had one, because she really didn’t.

She was used to mothers glaring at her, ignoring her, mouthing, “bitch,” at her when they didn’t think anyone else was looking, and crying hysterically, demanding to know where they went wrong when guys brought her home, but this…

“Wasn’t he adorable?” Mary asked, gushing over the picture of Reese as a baby, sitting on a blue plastic potty that matched the one his twin brother was sitting on.

“Very adorable,” she agreed, nodding, because that’s what she assumed she was supposed to do in this situation.

Well, besides being amused, because she was definitely amused. Should she be smiling? Probably not this much, she thought, pulling back her smile a bit. If she had known that coming here would end up like this, she would have dragged Sara along, because she would have freaking loved this!

“He was such a sweet little boy,” Mary said, smiling as she flipped to another page, this one showing Reese running around naked outside.

For a second, Kasey considered asking her if it would be cool if she snapped a picture of that picture so that she could taunt Reese whenever the need arouse, but reluctantly decided against it. Besides, Mary was already moving on to the next page where Reese and his twin brother, Darrin, whom she hadn’t known existed until this afternoon, were playing in a kiddie pool, smiling hugely for the camera.

“He used to smile all the time,” Mary said with a wistful smile as she turned the page, making Kasey frown, because she never had a problem making him smile.

Granted, he was usually smiling at her expense, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. Right now she was wondering what happened to change this smiling little boy. As Mary continued flipping through the pages, she watched as things slowly changed and that easy, carefree smile of his was replaced with that scowl that she knew so well. He still smiled in most of the pictures, but now that smile was tainted with a level of seriousness that just broke her heart.

As Mary flipped through the book, it became easier to tell Reese apart from his brother. While Darrin had a carefree smile that reached his eyes, Reese had that haunted look of someone who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. She watched as he went from an incredibly cute baby to the insanely handsome man that she liked so much.

There.

She admitted it.

She liked him.

It wasn’t a big deal. She was a grown woman who was attracted to an incredibly handsome man, who apparently loved to glare a lot. It was normal. This was normal. She was normal, which meant that this whole thing between them was no big deal. Just because she was attracted to him didn’t mean that she had to act on it. She’d been attracted to other men in the past and she’d never acted on it before, which meant that this was fine.

More than fine.

Then again, she’d never been this attracted to any of them before, but...

Whatever.

She’d figure it out.

Until then, she fully planned on enjoying this lovely visit with his mother.

“Is that his prom picture?” she asked, really enjoying the fact that someone had decided to shove him into a pink shirt with ruffles.

“Yes, he was so handsome,” Mary said with a watery smile.

“He still is,” Kasey said, only realizing seconds later that she’d made a tactical error.

“Yes, yes he is,” Mary said with an assessing look that she actually found a bit frightening.

Kasey opened her mouth to change the subject, but Mary wasn’t having that. “I like you.”

“Umm,” was the clever response that she came up with, but again, Mary didn’t seem to mind.

“I didn’t like Missy,” Mary announced with a firm shake of her head and a hard press of her lips as she reached for another album, making Kasey wonder how she was supposed to respond to that.

Since she had absolutely no idea who Missy was, she went with a nod.

“I try to stay out of my children’s lives, but it just broke my heart to see him with her. She was so vein, selfish and mean, god was she mean, and Reese-”

“Isn’t,” Kasey said, unable to imagine someone like Reese, who was gentle and kind, being with someone that was selfish or mean.

She just couldn’t see him going for someone like that, because he was…honorable.

“No,” Mary said, shaking her head, “he isn’t. I should have said something the first time that he’d brought her home, but I didn’t want to overstep. I just didn’t think he’d end up with her or maybe it was more like I’d hoped that he wouldn’t end up with her.”

“When she left him like that, and for his best friend, I was actually relieved. I think we all were. I just wish that she hadn’t hurt him like that,” Mary said, shaking her head in disgust while Kasey sat there, waiting to hear what this Missy woman had done to Reese, which was kind of funny, because she hated gossip.

Hated. It.

It probably had something to do with the fact that she’d been a topic of gossip since before she was born, but whatever. She didn’t want to hear it, didn’t share it, and avoided it at all costs. Yet, that didn’t stop her from sitting on the edge of her seat, tapping her foot, and wringing her hands as she waited for more.

Instead of saying anything more, and god, was this woman good, she shook her head and went back to looking at pictures while Kasey sat there, waiting.

And waiting…

Finally, Kasey couldn’t take it any longer and she blurted, “What did she do?”

“What didn’t she do?” Mary asked with a disgusted shake of her head as she continued to flip through the pages while Kasey sat there, not really sure how to proceed on this one.

On the one hand, it wasn’t any of her business, but on the other hand…

It wasn’t any of her business.

With a disgusted shake of her head at herself, she shifted her attention back to the pictures and couldn’t help but smile when she spotted the picture of Reese in his uniform the day that he’d graduated from the academy. He was so handsome, she thought with a smile, somehow resisting the urge to reach over and trace her finger along his chin.

“He’s so handsome,” she said, smiling as she leaned in to get a better look.

“He really is, isn’t he?” Mary said softly, turning her head to study her.

“How old was he in that picture?”

“Twenty. He’d just finished training with the reserves before he went to the academy,” Mary said, going back a few pages to show her a picture of Reese standing at attention in an army uniform.

“I didn’t know he was in the reserves,” she said even though it kind of made sense.

He was just a good guy all around and god, did he look incredibly sexy in a uniform, she thought as she watched a familiar large, tanned hand pluck the photo album off Mary’s lap. She followed that hand up to the large muscular arm, well-defined chest showcased by a navy tee shirt and up to the handsome face marred by stitches and an aging bruise, reminding her of how incredibly kind he’d been to Mikey after it happened when any other man would have probably screamed at her.

“There’s a lot that you don’t know about me,” he murmured with a challenge in his eye as he closed the book with one hand and reached out and took her hand into his, “Why don’t we go get this done, sweetheart?”

Chapter 24

“Kill. Me!” Kasey pleaded, finally accepting the fact that it was her time.

She didn’t want to go, God knows that she didn’t want to, because she wanted to watch her baby girl grow up, but she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“You do realize that I’m four hours away, right?” Sara asked, sounding amused as Kasey squeezed her eyes shut and slowly rolled over on the double bed that she’d been given for the night only to stop mid-roll with a shake of her head, because it just wasn’t happening.

“And if you cared about me at all, you’d grab a baseball bat, get in your car, and get your ass over here and put me out of my misery,” she pointed out with a pained groan as she fell over onto her back and stared up at the black ceiling fan as it spun around. She shifted her arm so that she could use the cellphone more comfortably as she begged for a quick death.

“Tell me again why you’re still there?” Sara asked while Kasey watched the fan blades cut through the cool air being pumped into the room as she tried not to think about the pain radiating from her knee to her back.

“By the time that we finished loading the truck everyone was hungry so we went to his brother’s restaurant where an insane amount of cousins, uncles and siblings showed up and before we knew it, it was too late to head back,” she explained, not bothering to mention that she’d spent the entire evening trying to ignore the way her back muscles continued to lock up on her anytime she shifted in her chair.

“Are you okay with that?”

No, not really, but she didn’t really have a choice. It was either stay here in Reese’s old bedroom, which was surprisingly spacious and comfortable, or spend the next four hours squeezed in tightly between Reese and Mikey while her back locked up completely on her.

Not that staying here was going to stop her back from locking up, she thought with a pained groan.

“Yeah,” she said, deciding that her muscles were not happy with her current position and shifted back onto her side.

“What about Mikey?”

She sighed as she once again gave up on trying to shift onto her side. “Has completely forgotten that I’m alive,” she said, smiling as she thought about how happy Mikey had looked tonight.

Tonight, Mikey had smiled more and laughed freely as she’d spent time with Reese’s family. They’d treated Mikey like one of their own, talking to her, teasing her for knocking Reese on his ass, and seemed genuinely pleased to have her around. If she hadn’t been in so much pain she would have joined in, but god help her, she couldn’t remember ever hurting this much before.

“They’re spoiling her?” Sara guessed with a pleased chuckle.

“Absolutely,” she said, smiling, because smiling didn’t hurt right now.

“And that’s the real reason you stayed, isn’t it?” Sara asked with a heavy sigh of her own, because they both knew that this short trip was a real treat for Mikey.

“Yeah, probably,” she admitted with a small smile, although she was pretty sure that pulling that muscle in her ass, back, leg or wherever it was had something to do with it.

While Mikey was loved and adored more than any child could ask for, she was also an only child being raised by a single parent. She had Eric and Sara wrapped around her little finger, had since the moment she came into this world, and they loved her more than anything, but…

That didn’t make up for the fact that there was no one else. Kasey had no idea who her father was, her mother had bailed on her a long time ago and she had absolutely no idea if she was dead or alive, and that was pretty much it for family on her side. On Michael’s side was Eric. Just Eric. He was the only one that had anything to do with Mikey.

His parents had tried, they really had, but they hadn’t been able to handle seeing Mikey. She was the reminder of everything they’d lost. It didn’t excuse abandoning their grandchild or even abandoning Eric for that matter, but she could understand how devastated that they’d been when they’d lost Michael. She’d been devastated, too, but she’d forced herself to move on for Mikey’s sake.

One day, they were going to regret missing out on so much, but that was their problem. Her only concern was her daughter. She needed to do her best to make sure that Mikey was loved and taken care of and that was it. 

Or at least, it should be.

Sometimes though, she wished she could give Mikey more, cousins, more uncles, aunts, people that adored her almost as much as she did and that could be there for her, make her smile, but that just wasn’t in the cards. Not unless she could get Eric to get off his ass and get married, but that was looking less likely with every passing year.

Selfish bastard, she thought with another groan as she tried to get more comfortable only to end up gasping when the move made things hurt.

“Did you just whimper?” Sara asked with a snort of amusement, because clearly she was mean.

“I hate you,” she said, wondering what had possessed her to do this to herself.

“You love me and we both know it,” Sara said, laughing, which officially ended their conversation.

With a glare at the ceiling, Kasey hit the “End,” button, tossed the phone aside, and seriously considered dragging her ass back down the hall with the hopes that another hot shower would help ease some of the stiffness out of her muscles, but that just sounded like a lot of work so she settled on laying there and being miserable.

Eventually Mikey would remember her and would come to check on her, but until then she was just going to lay here, wearing one of Reese’s old shirts…staring at the ceiling.

“You look like hell,” the incredibly sexy voice that sent shivers down her very angry back, said, as the owner of that voice sat down on the edge of the bed, which resulted in her jumping up and-

“Oh, my freaking god!” she gasped as pain shot through her back, knocking her back on her side where she curled up and waited for the excruciating pain stabbing her in the back and ass to subside so that she could climb off this bed and walk away with as much dignity as she could muster while wearing one of his old shirts and pretty much nothing else.

Except for her panties, but since he couldn’t see those she wasn’t going to add them to this already mortifying moment. As she gasped through the pain, and god did her ass hurt, she couldn’t help but notice that he was kicking off his boots and pulling his shirt off, revealing rope after rope of golden-delicious muscle.

He was definitely Yummy…

There was something seriously wrong with her, she thought with disgust as she tried to breathe through the pain shooting up and down her back and in other areas. She’d barely resisted the urge to rub her ass as she reached down and shoved the hem of the large tee shirt down as she slowly shifted towards the other side of the bed.

“Umm, where’s Mikey?” she asked a bit awkwardly as she continued to move towards the other side of the bed, ignoring the slow burn moving up her cheeks as mortification set in. Seriously, how big was this bed? she couldn’t help but wonder as she alternated between shifting over an inch, gasping in pain, and shoving the hem of her borrowed tee shirt back down to keep her ass covered.

“She’s having a sleepover with Sebastian and my mother in the living room,” he said with a shrug as he reached into the nightstand and pulled out a small metal tin.

“Okay then,” she said, awkwardly clearing her throat again, because apparently she was an idiot when he was around.

Granted, she’d already figured that out a few days ago, but she kept forgetting that fact until he was close, really close, and she couldn’t seem to think straight. As he took the top off the metal tin and tossed it aside, permeating the air with the sweet scent of lemongrass, she couldn’t help but wonder why he had this effect on her and why she couldn’t honestly say that she hated it.

Chapter 25

Absolutely. Fucking. Adorable, he thought with a chuckle as he put the tin down, reached over and plucked the small woman trying to get away from him off the edge of the bed and placed her back in the middle where she belonged.

“Oh, for the love of god!” she muttered, throwing her hands up in defeat as he shifted her onto her stomach. “Would you stop manhandling me?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head as he picked the tin back up and put it on the bed next to her.

“Then would you would mind telling me what you’re doing?” she asked, reaching back to shove the hem of his old tee shirt down even as she tried to scoot towards the other end of the bed, again.

Sighing heavily, he pressed his hand against her back and held her there as he picked up the tin of liniment and smelled it, savoring the familiar scent that had saved his back more times than he could remember. He ignored her ineffectual wiggling, placed the liniment on the bed and pushed her shirt up, revealing that panty-covered heart shaped ass that had caught his eye nearly a week ago.

Forcing his attention north, and somehow ignoring the incredible curve of her ass that had his fingertips tensing with the need to trace those delectable curves, he settled his hand on her back. Applying a little pressure, he ran his hand over her back, noting the way the wiggling woman trying to get away suddenly went still under his touch and then slowly, ever so slowly, relaxed and released the sexiest little groan that he’d ever heard.

“You’re hurt,” he murmured as he ran his hands over the softest skin that he’d ever had the pleasure of touching. 

“It’s nothing,” she said while he watched as a beautiful blush crawled up her back, making him smile as he picked up the salve and dabbed a small amount onto her back.

“It’s not nothing,” he said, gently working the salve into her skin as he worked his hand over her back, taking his time as he worked the tightness out of her muscles.

“I just pulled something. It will be fine,” she said, slowly exhaling as she continued to relax.

Nodding, he added a little more salve to his hand and worked it into her back. “That doesn’t mean that you have to be in pain, Kasey,” he said softly as he watched his hands move over her back, shaking his head, still pissed that he hadn’t noticed that she was in pain sooner.

Considering the fact that he hadn’t been able to tear his eyes off her all night, he should have figured this out sooner, but he’d been so busy trying to figure a few things out for himself that he’d missed it. Then again, he should have realized something was wrong when he saw her work, he thought with a smile.

She’d been so fucking cute dragging that large bucket of joint compound to his truck. Then she’d looked fucking amazing bending over and struggling to pick that bucket up and put it into the back of his truck. If he hadn’t been so damn busy enjoying the view, he would have grabbed the bucket from her sooner, but god help him, what a fucking view that had been.

It wasn’t until he’d watched her slowly walking up the stairs with a pained look on her face and a mumbled, “That really freaking hurts,” that he got a fucking clue. His mother and father seemed to pick up on it too, because his father had reminded him about the lemongrass salve in his nightstand and his mother had kicked him out so that she could have a sleepover with the kids in peace.

“Did you take anything for it?” he asked, running his hands over her back.

“Advil before my shower,” she said on a moan that had his lips twitching.

“Did it help?”

“The shower or the Advil?” she asked, groaning.

“Either one,” he said, rubbing the excess salve onto his own chest before shifting so that he was using both hands on her, slowly working the tension out of her lower back and shoulders.

She chuckled as she closed her eyes. “No.”

“Is this helping?” he asked, using his thumbs to work the muscles in her lower back.

“Stop and I may be forced to hurt you,” she said, shifting to get more comfortable as she released a little sigh of pleasure.

Chuckling, he pressed a little firmer. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Take it however you want, just don’t stop,” she mumbled, grabbing a pillow and making herself a little more comfortable.

“I won’t,” he promised her, continuing to rub her back long after she’d fallen asleep with a smile on her face.

Returning that smile, he fixed her shirt, pulled the blankets up, and leaned over and did the one thing that he’d been dying to do since the first time he saw her blush, he pressed his lips against her cheek and smiled, because it seemed that she blushed in her sleep, too. Closing his eyes, he pulled back and forced himself to walk out of that room when all he wanted to do was to crawl in bed with her and touch her again.

*-*-*-*

“So, why didn’t you want to stay back at the cottage?”

“You already asked me that,” Sebastian pointed out as he moved his empty bowl aside and helped himself to the large bowl of popcorn that Mikey had abandoned.

“And you never answered,” she reminded him as she pushed the bowl closer to him and shifted on the makeshift bed that Aunt Mary had made for them.

“And I’m probably not going to,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Aunt Mary was still asleep.

“Do you want to know what I think?” Mikey asked, as he shifted his attention back to the movie that he really didn’t want to watch and the bowl of cold popcorn.

“Not really,” he said even as he had to smile, because she reminded him of his sister.

Instead of getting mad, she laughed as she stole a handful of popcorn and ate it while they watched this horrible movie that he really wished he had vetoed when he’d had the chance. Now he was stuck watching it, which really wasn’t a big deal since he usually got stuck watching horrible movies with his brothers and sister.

He really wasn’t into watching television or movies so he didn’t care one way or the other. The only time he watched TV was when someone in his family bugged him until he caved. He’d probably be watching a movie right now if he’d stayed back at the cottage with his family. His dad and Uncle Jason would run to the store, grab an insane amount of drinks and snacks while his mother and Aunt Haley would try to find a movie that they hadn’t watched yet and he’d help the younger kids make up beds and tents in the living room.

As soon as everyone was settled and the movie started playing, he’d pull out his mother’s iPad and read until the movie was over and then his father would shut off the lights and he’d lie there, trying not to think about everything that was happening and all the reasons why it was his fault. That was the reason why he was here, because he couldn’t stay there knowing that there was nothing that he could do to fix this.

“He’s nice,” Mikey announced.

“Who?” he asked, grabbing another handful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth.

“Reese.”

“Uncle Reese?” he asked, nodding in agreement. “He’s awesome.”

“Uncle? I thought he was your dad’s cousin or something,” she said, shifting to get more comfortable.

“He is.”

“Then why do you call him your uncle?” she asked, repeating the same question that he got asked all the time.

“Because that’s just the way my family is,” he said, too tired to explain the complexities of his family.

Nodding, she said, “You’re lucky.”

Smiling sadly, he murmured, “I know.”

Chapter 26

“Get up,” the annoying man that she was stuck with for the rest of her life said, as he tried to pull the pillow away.

“Go away!” she snapped, blindly slapping the grasping hands that were hell-bent on dragging her out of bed at this unholy hour.

“No! Get up before you ruin everything!” Eric snapped back as he gave her pillow another yank before shifting his attention to the blanket that she was damn well not going to give up without a fight.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Kasey demanded, as she pulled the blanket over her head and curled up on her side so that she could pin the blanket in place.

“I’m serious, Kasey! Get up!” Eric growled as he struggled to tear the blanket away from her before finally giving up with a growl of frustration and a huff.

“No.”

There was a slight pause and then, “Please?”

She had to snort at that, because he really should have known better. She was a single mother of a very active ten-year-old, who liked to keep her on her toes, which meant that she was still catching up on the sleep that she’d missed during the first five years of Mikey’s life. She loved sleep, needed it badly, and she was willing to kill anyone that tried to prevent her from getting more of it. Eric knew better than anyone the danger that he courted by coming in here at the crack of dawn

“I will kill you, Eric. Do you understand?” she snapped when he returned to tugging on her pillow. “I will end you!”

“Yeah, whatever you say, princess. Just get your lazy ass up so that I can help with demolishing the kitchen,” he said, not sounding like he was all that concerned with his imminent death.

“That’s why you’re doing this? So, that you can swing a sledgehammer around?” she asked with a snort of disgust.

“Yes!” he hissed.

“This is just sad,” she said, shaking her head in disgust as she shifted to get more comfortable, more determined than ever to ignore him.

“Are you getting up?”

“No, you don’t need me to get up so that you can demolish the kitchen,” she pointed out with more patience than she was normally capable of this early in the morning.

“We really do.”

“You really need to leave before I hurt you,” she grumbled into her pillow.

“And you really need to get your ass out of that bed so that I can live out my dream!”

“Your dream is to meet Stan Lee, not tear apart my kitchen!”

“Don’t stifle my dreams!”

Turning over, she threw her pillow at his head, wishing that she had Mikey’s arm when it merely bounced off his shoulder and landed on the floor. “Get. Out.”

“Get. Up,” he shot back with a glare.

She snorted at that. “No.”

“Yes!”

“You don’t need me to get up!” she snapped, tired of arguing with the demented bastard.

Instead of arguing with her like she’d expected, he pointed one damning finger at her and said, “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Yawning, she curled back up onto her side, grabbed the extra pillow, closed her eyes and settled in to fall back asleep. “No, you won’t.”

He didn’t answer, and for that alone, she didn’t throw her remaining pillow at him. After a moment, she felt herself begin to drift off, thankful that it was the weekend and she didn’t need to drive Mikey to camp. This morning she could sleep in before dragging her butt out of bed around ten, take Mikey out for an early lunch, maybe take her to a movie, the batting cages, and-

Jump out of the bed with a shriek when the resourceful little bastard came back with Mikey’s pet snake, the same one that Kasey had only allowed her child to have as long as she kept her room immaculate so that she never, ever, ever had to go in there. As she ran from the room screaming, she vowed to block all the sports channels in revenge.

*-*-*-*

“Umm, Yummy?” came the semi-amused voice of the woman currently sitting on the picnic table that had been dragged closer to the house so that their audience could watch the proceedings more comfortably.

“What is it now, my little pain in the ass?” he drawled, stopping on his way to the large dumpster as he shifted the kitchen drawer that had been rusted in place over his shoulder.

“You know that he’s looking at the saws again, right?” she asked, blinking as she pointed towards the truck.

“I’m on it,” Trevor said with a tired sigh, walking past him as Reese glared at the smug woman sipping another Coke.

“Bet you’re regretting sending him in to wake me up this morning, aren’t ya, Yummy?” she asked, taking a slow, deliberate sip of her Coke as those smug blue eyes watched him.

“Oh, come on!” Eric yelled before adding. “Oh, crap!” somehow making the woman sitting in front of him even smugger.

“Maybe you could find something else for Eric to do?” Zoe asked, shifting nervously as she shot anxious glances towards where her husband was no doubt trying to wrestle another saw from Eric’s hands before he managed to cut through another-

“Oh, crap!”

Shooting one last glare at the smug woman that looked too damn good for his sanity in those cut off jeans and navy blue bikini top, he strolled over to the large dumpster they’d rented. He dumped the drawer inside it before shooting a warning glare at Eric, who was now standing there, shooting him a sheepish smile.

“Sorry,” Eric mumbled, discretely shoving the cut wire behind him.

Deciding that he’d handle kicking Kasey out of bed from now on in the morning, he headed back into the house, smiling when the smug woman decided to follow him.

“So, Yummy,” she drawled, following him into the house, “how long do you think I’ll be out of a kitchen?”

“Until I’m done,” he said, wondering how she was going to react when he put the tarps up and banned her from the kitchen and living room.

Probably not well, he mused with a smile as he grabbed his own Coke off the kitchen island that he looked forward to tearing apart and turned around to face the smug woman that made him want to go get that snake that had sent her screaming from the house only hours earlier and toss it at her.

“I see,” she murmured, regarding him with a curious look that left him a little unnerved, especially when it turned calculating. “So, that cottage you’re renting…”

“Yes?” he said, waiting to see where the devious little woman was going with this.

“If memory serves me correctly, it has a very nice kitchen, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” he conceded with a nod.

“A kitchen that I believe will probably be free most of the day?” she asked with an adorable little smile that made him want to kiss her, but then again, it seemed like most of the things that she did made him want to kiss her.

He’d barely known her for a week and she already had him wrapped around her little finger. He should be embarrassed, but sadly, he was too damn entertained by her to care.

“Would you like to use my kitchen?” he asked, chuckling when she tried to play it off.

“I suppose I could do that,” she said, adding a little sigh at the end there to make him think that she’d just done him a favor by accepting. “If I can find the time that is.”

Devious and fucking adorable.

“Is there something else?” he asked, noting the way that she couldn’t stop running her eyes over him.

“Yes, yes there is, Yummy,” she said, reaching over and swiping his Coke. “I’m going to need you to understand something.”

“And that is…”

“Sleep, Yummy. I value my sleep.”

“I see,” he murmured, biting back a smile as he waited for the threats of bodily harm that he’d heard her shout at Eric as she’d hidden in the living room closet to come.

“I’m sure that you do,” she said, sipping his Coke as she surveyed the damage around them before adding, “So, we’re in agreement?”

“About?”

“Not sending your lackey to do your dirty work,” she murmured, taking a sip of his Coke.

“Ah, that,” he said, nodding in agreement, because he’d already decided to give that job to someone else.

Chapter 27

“God, you feel so fucking good,” Trevor groaned, making his wife moan while the sounds of Haley whimpering echoed throughout his room accompanied by the sounds of a bed hitting one of the bedroom walls while Reese laid there, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to block out the sounds of his cousins trying to make their wives scream for the third time that night.

He should have switched rooms when he’d had the chance, he realized as he was forced to reached down and readjust the painful erection tenting his boxers while he did his best to drown out the noises coming from the bedrooms on either side of him. Closing his eyes, he tried to think about all the things that he needed to do tomorrow and when that didn’t work, he mentally went over the list that he still needed to write, making sure to add an extra gallon of putty, copper pipes, another bag of drywall nails, and-

“That’s right, baby. Just like that,” Jason all but purred, making his wife moan as Reese’s mind shifted to a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

His mind quickly went to the plump pink lips that she liked to nibble on, making him wonder if she would lick her lips when he slid a finger inside her. He’d slowly fuck her with his hand, gently teasing her clit as he worked a finger inside her, making her wet, he decided as he ran his hand over his cock, rubbing the underside as he imagined the sounds that she would make as he did it.

He’d tease her, taking his time as he licked and sucked her nipples, making them hard as she begged him to fuck her and if she begged him, he probably would do just that. He’d fantasized about fucking other women in the past, but none of them had ever made him seriously consider it, not like Kasey.

She had him releasing the button on his boxers and wrapping his hand around his cock, groaning softly as he imagined her hand wrapping around him. Just thinking about her touching him had his cock bouncing and his balls pulling up tight, making him think about doing something incredibly stupid like going next door, climbing in bed with her, and waking her up in new and interesting ways.

Over the past week, he’d been amusing himself as he woke her up in the morning, curious to see just how far he could push her before she finally snapped and made good on all those promises of bodily harm that she made to him every morning when he’d dragged her out of bed. Waking her up was the best part of his day, but it was also the worst, because late at night when he couldn’t stop thinking about her, he would imagine all the different ways that he wanted to wake her up.

As he slowly stroked himself, he thought about how he would have loved to have woken her up this morning. When he’d walked into her room and found her lying on her back, wearing the latest shirt that she’d stolen from him, baring those beautiful tan thighs of hers all he’d wanted to do was to crawl on that bed, push the shirt up and kiss his way to the lilac panties that he’d caught a glimpse of.

He wanted to trace her plump lips through her panties, defining the lines of her pussy before he pulled her panties down and pressed a kiss against the soft slit that would feel fucking amazing enveloping his cock. He’d press teasing kisses against her slit as he pushed her legs apart, giving him better access so that he could lick and touch her at his heart’s content.

As much as it would kill him, he wouldn’t slide his tongue inside her until she was awake and moaning his name and when she finally did, he would slide his tongue inside her, slowly fucking her, he thought with a moan as his hand slid up to the tip of his cock and gave the velvet head a gentle squeeze as he imagined running the tip of his tongue from her clit to her-

“Oh, god, Jason!”

“Trevor! Trevor! Oh, god, Trevor!”

And, he was done, he decided as he shoved his cock back in his shorts, and rolled off the bed with a glare towards the bastards that had ruined another night for him. Grabbing a pillow and a blanket, he headed towards the couch before the next round could start. After tossing the latest collection of crayons, comic books and all the shit that his cousins kids needed to get through the day off the couch, he slammed his pillow down, punched it for good measure and laid down with a sigh, pulling the blanket over the erection that refused to die.

Still trying to figure out why she affected him like this, he closed his eyes and somehow managed to fall asleep only to wake up sometime later to the sounds of someone humming. The scent of cinnamon and apples cooking had him opening his eyes to find the woman that had him tossing and turning all night leaning over the back of the couch, humming as she absently waved the spatula in her hand back and forth, looking bored as she watched him.

“Good morning, Yummy,” she said, absently looking over her shoulder at something in the kitchen before returning her gaze to him. “Sleeping in today, are we?”

“What time is it?” he asked with a frown as he glanced at the windows and noted that the sun was barely up.

“A little after six,” the crazed woman that had broken into the house said with a bored sigh as she pushed away from the couch.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, rubbing his hands down his face as he wondered if this was a dream or-

Grunted when the devious woman plopped down on his stomach with a satisfied sigh that had him glaring at the cruel woman.

“So, Yummy,” she said, drawing out her words as she leaned back with another sigh, “did you sleep well?”

“No,” he bit out with a glare that she ignored.

“Good, that’s good, Yummy,” she said, nodding absently as she glanced over her shoulder again.

“Is there a reason that you’re here?” he bit out, trying to shift the damn appendage that was obsessed with her away from her hip before she spotted it and made this morning worse.

“Besides to make my famous apple streusel coffee cake?” she asked, blinking down at him.

“Yes, besides that,” he said, placing his hand on her knee, unable to help himself even though he knew there was a good chance that she might take that spatula and shove it up his-

“Well, I thought we’d discuss our morning routine,” she said, shifting her attention back to him.

“And what would you like to discuss about it?” he asked, absently running his fingers in circles over her bare knee, noting the soft skin even as he had to stop himself from running his fingers down the rest of her leg.

“The fact that we have a morning routine,” she said, shifting on top of him to get more comfortable and ripping a grunt from him with a smile.

“Comfy?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on her as she leaned back with another one of those sighs that was making his lips twitch.

“Quite,” she said with a nod.

“So, you want me to let you sleep in?” he asked a bit distractedly as he scented the air, almost positive that he smelled bacon, eggs, French toast, and possibly pancakes.

“Yes,” she said with a nod as she glanced towards the back hallway this time before shifting her gaze back to him.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, sweetheart,” he said, shaking his head in regret.

“And why exactly do you need to wake me up every morning at the crack of dawn to work on my kitchen and living room?” she asked with another shift that had him grinding his teeth and biting back another groan.

“Besides the fact that it brings me such pleasure in the morning to have my balls threatened?”

“Yes, besides that,” she said, waving her spatula regally as she gestured for him to continue.

“Because I don’t trust you not to try sneaking a peek at what I’m doing,” he said, giving up on trying to behave and allowed his hand to slide up to her thigh as she considered his words.

“What if I promised not to try to look?”

“You’ve promised that before.”

“Well, what if I put it in writing?”

“You wrote ‘void’ over the last written promise that you gave me,” he pointed out with a sigh as he closed his eyes, deciding that he was going back to sleep since this conversation was going nowhere and they both knew it.

“What if I cooked dinner for you for a week?” she offered.

“For letting you sleep in or letting you take a peek at the kitchen?” he mumbled, surprised that he was already starting to drift off.

“Both?”

“No,” he said, because they both knew that she’d do it anyway.

Every day she used his kitchen to cook, bake and sauté her little heart out and every night he came home to find a collection of plates and goodies waiting for him. He still wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get his cousins and their children to keep their hands off his food, but he was thankful. There was honestly nothing better than coming home to a home cooked meal at the end of the-

“Yummy?”

“Yes?” he managed to get out groggily.

“Do we have a deal?” she asked, clearly needing to work on her negotiating skills.

“Will you make me that triple chocolate cake from your website?” he asked, because he clearly didn’t have any problems negotiating.

“The one with the fudge or the pudding?” she asked, sounding hopeful, which was sad, really sad.

“Fudge.”

“Deal!”

“Fine,” he said, sighing heavily and making sure to sound putout as he rolled over onto his side, making her squeal as the move tossed her off the couch.

“Bastard!” she gasped as he climbed off the couch, tossing the blanket on top of her as he made his way to the kitchen to see what kind of goodies she’d made him this morning even as he wondered what she was going to do to him when she found out that he had absolutely no intentions of giving up the best part of his day.

Chapter 28

Five Long, Frustrating, Yet Amazing, Weeks Later…

“Get up.”

“No!” she whined, uncaring that she was bitchy since she’d literally just fallen asleep.

“Kasey,” came the heavy sigh as Reese tried to pull the covers away, but she refused to release her hold on the covers that she desperately needed in order to fall back into the unsatisfying sleep that had been leaving her exhausted and cranky for the past month and a half.

“Go away,” she said, rolling over onto her stomach so that she could bury her head under her pillow where she would either pass out or cry.

God, she was so exhausted.

“Let’s go,” the person who was responsible for her exhaustion said, plucking the pillow off her head.

“No!” she snapped, almost missing the days when he sent Eric in here to do his dirty work.

“Kasey, I need you out of here,” Reese said, emphasizing his words with a light slap on her ass and a, “Come on.”

“No, I hate you. Go away,” she groaned, curling up on her side and blindly reaching out to grab another pillow to pull over her head, but Reese, who was now used to their early morning routine, took the pillow and blankets away, leaving her exposed to the early morning air.

There was another heavy sigh and then, “Are you ever going to give me back my shirts?”

“No, no I’m not,” she said even as she reached down and pushed down the hem of the tee shirt that she had rightfully claimed as her own.

“Are you planning on getting up anytime soon?”

“No.”

“I need to work,” he said with a heavy sigh as she reached out, blindly searching for her pillow and comforter, but the large bastard had taken them away and most likely threw them on the chair in the corner, probably hoping to force her to get out of bed.

“No one’s stopping you,” she pointed out, giving up on trying to get her blanket back and settled for curling up on her side and using her folded arms as a pillow.

“You are,” he said, as she felt his hand close around her ankle and-

“No, Reese, no!” she gasped as he dragged her to the edge of the bed, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

“I gave you a chance to do the right thing.”

“You gave me nothing!” she snapped with a resigned sigh, because she knew that fighting this was pointless.

“I gave you the same chance that I give you every morning,” he said, walking into the bathroom where he would drop her in the middle of the room, give her a look that told her what would happen if she tried to sneak back into bed, and then leave the room, giving her exactly fifteen minutes to get ready before he came back pounding on the door and demanding that she move her ass.

“Did you pack a bag?” he asked, placing her on her feet.

“No,” she said with a groan as she ran her fingers through her hair, mussing it up even more than her pillow had during the few minutes of sleep that she’d managed to get this morning.

“Kasey, I need you out of the house,” he said, leaning back against the sink counter as he folded those insanely large arms of his over his chest so that he could scowl at her as though that was going to somehow intimidate her. “And I told you that you needed to be out of the house by today.”

“I know,” she said, rubbing her hands down her face.

“Then why are you still here?”

“Because my website crashed last night, Mikey forgot to pack for her stay with Sara, and for some insane reason, I stupidly believed Eric when he said that he knew what he was doing, which resulted in me having to spend most of the night on the phone with tech support,” she said, shaking her head in disgust as she listed excuse after excuse, but never once did she mention the real reason why she was here, too exhausted to do anything more than grumble, bitch, and moan.

Him.

In the past month, he went from being the person that made her nervous to the only thing that she could think about and she had absolutely no idea how it happened. He’d been sweet, patient, and kind, always smiling when he saw her, always there for her, and so…

There.

He’d been there for her, never taking it personally when she backed away, never getting angry with her or trying to push her for too much, too soon, he’d just been there for her.

There was really no other way to describe it.

She loved seeing him first thing in the morning, teasing a smile out of him, spending time with him, and making him glare at her. She just loved being around him. She was also afraid that she was already half in love with him.

She was also afraid that if he didn’t kiss her soon that she was going to end up losing her damn mind.

*-*-*-*

“Are you going to leave?” she asked, as he took in her messy short hair, spiking up at odd angles, the shadows beneath her eyes, the exhausted glare she was sending his way and he could honestly say that he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

“Are you going to try to sneak back into bed like yesterday?” he shot back, smiling when she muttered angrily as she turned around, turned the shower on and busied herself with grabbing everything that she was going to need for the shower. Hopefully, she was also grabbing everything that she was going to need so that she could leave for a couple of days and he could get a break before he lost his fucking mind, because he honestly didn’t know how much more of this that he could take.

He wanted her so fucking badly that some days it took everything that he had not to give in to all the fantasies that he’d had over the past month and a half, find the nearest bed, and touch, lick, and fuck her in every way imaginable. He’d never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her and that fucking terrified him.

He needed to get away from her before he did something that scared her off and if he gave into any one of the thousands of fantasies that ran through his head on any given day, she would fucking run. He had to be patient and take his time with her, but right now, as he stood in the bathroom with her wearing his tee shirt, he didn’t want to be patient.

He wanted her.

“I’ll go set up while you’re getting ready,” he said, hoping like hell that she took pity on him and was out of here by the time that he finished setting up.

“Fine,” she grumbled, crankily grabbing a towel from the shelf and slapped it on the counter.

Jaw clenched, he nodded, because he’d already reached his limit today. He needed to get back to work and get her out of his hair for a few days so that he could think straight before he did something to fuck this up, but god, did he want to do all those things and more that would make her run away screaming.

Over the years, he’d dated a few women that had brought him close to saying the hell with it and finally putting himself out of his misery, but never with a woman that he hadn’t even fucking kissed. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, imagining how good it would feel to slide his finger inside her, how wet she would be, how she would taste on his tongue as he licked her, the way her hand would run over his cock, the way her lips would tease his cock, and he couldn’t function.

She was driving him out of his fucking mind and he hadn’t even kissed her yet. She shouldn’t be affecting him like this, shouldn’t have him struggling to fall asleep at night and when he did, he shouldn’t be waking up with his hand wrapped around his stiff cock, stroking himself furiously as he imagined doing all those things to her that would scare her off.

All those things that he wanted to do to her right now…

Licking his lips, his gaze dropped to her heart shaped ass that had his hands clenching and unclenching, desperate to touch her. When he found himself taking a step towards her, he muttered a curse, turned around and stormed off, telling himself that he just needed to be patient.

Chapter 29

“Don’t make me break this door down!”

“You do what you have to do!” she snapped back, too freaking exhausted to do this today.

She didn’t care that she was supposed to be packed and leaving right now, not when she was this exhausted. She’d tried. God, knew that she’d tried to do the right thing and pack her bag so that she could clear out, but the moment that she sat down on her bed to apply lotion to her skin she’d lost the battle. Before she knew what was happening, she had her eyes closed and was curled up in her bed, already falling asleep. 

That’s when the pounding started.

Well, to be fair, he’d probably started off with a soft knock, but by the time she’d heard him, he was pounding on the door and demanding that she move her butt before he broke the door down. Let him break the door down, she thought, really not caring at the moment, not when she was finally on the verge of falling into a deep, peaceful, restful sleep for the first time in weeks.

She didn’t care what he did right now as long as he let her sleep. He could drag her out of here, throw her into his truck, and drop her on Sara’s doorstep for all she cared, just as long as he did it without waking her up.

God, she was just so freaking tired…

“What the hell are you doing?” Reese asked, not sounding mad as she felt the bed dip.

“Sleeping,” she mumbled, wondering if he’d be willing to grab her pillow and comforter for her before he left.

“I can see that,” he said, sighing as the bed jostled a bit and she felt him lying down next to her. “You know that you’re only wearing a towel, right?”

“And you realize that you’re still talking, right?” she shot back, curling up and even more determined than ever to fall asleep.

“And you’re hogging the bed,” he grumbled, shifting again.

“It’s my bed.”

“You can share.”

“I really can’t,” she muttered, absently reaching back to push him away so that he would stop jostling her.

“You really can,” he said, ignoring her demands that he move over and somehow ended up taking up more space.

“Don’t you have work to do?” she reminded him, forced to shift over even more, not even caring at this point if she lost her towel in the process.

“I do, but some pain in the ass won’t get the hell out so that I can get started,” he said, already sounding like he was half-asleep.

“Jerk,” she mumbled, enjoying his chuckle even as he shifted, once again jostling her.

“Brat.”

“Would you stop moving?” she asked, too tired to open her eyes so that she could glare at him.

So, instead she settled for lying there, getting jostled as the man that was clearly too big for her bed continued to move, slowly destroying her will to live. Whimpering, she grabbed hold of her towel, shifted to the edge, and released a long-suffering sigh only to end with a small grunt of surprise when she suddenly found herself dragged back into the middle of the bed and pulled up tightly against a warm chest.

“What are-”

“Shhhh, sleeping,” the manhandling bastard muttered as his arm tightened around her and god help her, but she was too tired to argue with him.

That, and he was so warm and comfortable and she was so freaking tired.

So. Freaking. Tired.

“Are you going to grab the pillow and comforter?” he mumbled, tightening his hold on her and making it impossible for her to do just that.

Not that she was actually going to do that when she was barely capable of doing anything more than mumble at the moment. Instead, she shifted back against him, put her arm over his, and slowly exhaled as she started to drift off when she realized that this was the first time that she’d fallen asleep in someone’s arms since Michael died and couldn’t help but smile when she realized that it wasn’t as terrifying as she thought it would be.

*-*-*-*

“What time is it?” the woman tangled up in his arms mumbled into his chest.

“No clue,” he said, refusing to open his eyes and find out that this whole thing had been nothing more than a dream.

A refreshing, soul-mending, blissful dream where he got to hold the woman that he wanted more than his next breath in his arms and-

“Oh, hell,” he groaned when she suddenly turned in his arms and pressed her wiggling bottom against him, drawing a surprised hiss from him as his arm tightened around her, praying that she stopped all that wiggling that had him grinding his jaw as she settled in to get more comfortable.

“Are you done yet?” he asked through a clenched jaw as he struggled to ignore just how good she felt in his arms.

“Maybe,” she said with a little wiggle that had him slowing exhaling and going over in his head everything that he was going to need in order to finish the kitchen and living room to keep from enjoying that wiggle, because he knew better than to let himself enjoy her touch when it wouldn’t end well for him.

“God, you’re mean,” he said with a pained chuckle, once against tightening his hold around her to get her to stop wiggling before he lost his fucking mind.

“Mmmhmmm,” she murmured sleepily, already starting to doze off in his arms again.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms and couldn’t help but smile. She was just so beautiful and pixie cute, he thought with a chuckle as he gave into the urge and released his hold on her so that he could run his fingers through her short, silky hair.

“What are you doing?” she asked with a twitch of her lips as she reached up and blindly swatted his hand away with a laugh and a, “Stop!”

“You know you snore, right?” he asked, chuckling when she cracked an eye open to glare up at him.

“I do not!”

“You really do,” he said, smiling down at the beautiful woman glaring up at him as she rolled over onto her back to glare more effectively at him, making sure to keep a good hold on that towel that refused to budge.

“You know it’s wrong to lie, don’t you, Officer Bradford?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“Oh, if only I was lying,” he said with a forlorn sigh and a sad shake of his head that had her narrowing her eyes on him.

“Lies, Yummy. All lies,” she said with a tsk as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair before smoothing it down as she smiled up at him.

“Are you sure?” he murmured, looking into her beautiful blue eyes as he felt the air around them suddenly shift.

“Yes,” she said, slowly losing that beautiful smile as she returned his gaze, looking a little lost as her hand fell away and he found himself looking at her beautiful plump lips, wondering how they would feel against his.

“I-I should probably pack,” she whispered softly as she tightened her hold on her towel even as her gaze dropped to his lips and all he wanted to do was to lean down and find out if her lips were really as soft as they looked.

 “Probably,” he said, unable to take his gaze away from those lips that he thought about damn near every minute of the day.

Unable to stop himself, he leaned down and found himself pushed back as Kasey shoved him away with a panicked, “I should get going!” as she raced from the bed, threw open the door and slammed it shut behind her, leaving him lying there, staring at the wall and wondering if she had any idea that she’d just escaped into the closet.

Rubbing his hands roughly down his face, he sat up and shook his head in disgust at himself, because he was about to seriously fuck this up again.

Chapter 30

“Oh, my god,” she said, staring into the darkness, “I’m an idiot.”

“Kasey,” came the softly spoken words by the man that she’d just ran into the closet to avoid kissing.

“I’m kind of busy,” she said, feeling like an idiot, but really there was nowhere else to go with this.

“I can see that,” he said from the other side of the door while she stood there, pressed up against all the junk she’d shoved into this closet over the years. Worrying her bottom lip, she shifted to the side only to wince when the move caused her to brush up against Mikey’s old baby stroller, reminding her that it had been a while since she’d been in here. 

“I might be a while?” she said, wondering why that came out as a question.

“I can wait,” was the response that had her choking back a whimper, because she really should have known better.

“Any chance that you could wait for me in another room?”

“No,” came the immediate reply.

“Reese-”

“I want to kiss you, Kasey.”

“I-”

“But, I think you know that,” he said softly.

She nodded into the darkness as she closed her eyes in defeat, because she did know. She’d known it by the way that he looked at her, the way that he touched her, and the way that she responded to him, because she wanted him to kiss her, too. Some days that’s all she could think about and other days…

She was scared to death that he was never going to kiss her.

It figured that she would freak out when the moment that she’d been waiting for finally came and she would end up running into the closet! Not that she’d done it on purpose, because she could honestly say that she hadn’t really been thinking when she’d decided to make a run for it.

One second, she’d been staring at his lips, realizing that it was finally happening and then…

She’d realized that it was finally happening!

“Do you want me to leave?” honorable, sweet, kind, patient Reese asked, because he would never push her into doing something that she didn’t want to do and that was one of the things that she liked so much about him.

She opened her mouth to take the out that he was giving her only to end up groaning pathetically, closing her eyes, and banging the back of her head against the door, because she didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to kiss him. Correction, she wanted to have already kissed him so that she could stop panicking and freaking out about it.

She just wanted to kiss him.

“So, this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to leave so that you can change out of that towel. While you’re changing, I’m going to go grab us something to eat. When I get back, you and I are going to curl up on the bed and watch whatever movie you want. Then, at the end of the night, I’m going to tell you goodnight and you can decide how we do that. We go at your pace, Kasey. Okay?”

“Okay,” she found herself saying with a nod and a shaky sigh, wishing that she had the guts to open this door and kiss him instead of waiting until she heard the bedroom door click shut before opening that closet door.

*-*-*-*

“I hope you’re hungry,” he said, as he walked into the cozy bedroom where he’d left Kasey, carrying enough fast food and junk food to give even a Bradford a stomachache.

“Starving,” Kasey said, smiling from where she sat in the middle of the bed, browsing through Netflix.

“Good,” he said with a wink, relieved to find her out of the closet, dressed in a pair of old boxers, that had better not be Eric’s, a lilac tank top, and smiling.

He’d actually considered just grabbing something from the snack box that Kasey kept well stocked since the kitchen was still off limits, just in case she’d decided to lock him out, but he’d decided to chance it. He needed to know just how scared she was, because he wanted to figure out if he’d pushed her too far and if it was time to back off and accept the fact that there was never going to be anything between them.

He wanted her, wanted to be with her, to touch her and-

He just wanted her, but not if it meant hurting her.

“Are we hungry, Yummy?” she asked with a teasing smile as she tossed the remote aside so that she could help him with the bags.

“A little,” he said, returning her smile as he pulled out the bottle of apple juice that he’d picked up for her at the store and handed it to her.

“What else did you get?” she asked with an excited little smile as she started her search with the bag closest to her while he kicked off his boots and sat on the edge of the bed, knowing how she worked by now.

Since her kitchen was out of commission, she either took over his kitchen, or ordered in, which wasn’t often since she was very particular about her food and how it was made. That being said, she had a system when she ate food that she hadn’t cooked.

First, she inspected everything, making sure that the food looked good, checking for things that were missing, condiments, seasoning, etc. Then, if the food was from a place that she’d never tried before, and there were surprisingly a lot of places around here that she hadn’t tried since she usually cooked, she would arrange the food by appetizers, main course, sides, and dessert and taste each one, taking her time, savoring each bite and deciding whether it was worth a second bite.

If she found something that she liked, she’d pull out one of those little notebooks that she kept around the house and in her bag, and start making notes. She’d write down what she liked, what she didn’t like, what she would change, and as soon as she got her hands on a stove, she would start playing around with those ideas.

He liked watching her work. She’d worry her bottom lip the way that he liked while her brows arched adorably as she focused on whatever she was doing. Normally, he hated when anyone came between him and his food, especially since most of his meals were on the go and there was never a guarantee that he was going to get a chance to finish his food before he got a call, but he never minded when Kasey did it.

He liked watching her work and if that meant waiting until she was done doing what she loved then that was more than fine with him. While she took out every item and put it in its place on the bed that she must have made when he ran out, he sat down on the bed with a sigh and pretended to scroll through Netflix when he was really watching her.

“You bought enough food to feed an army,” she said, chuckling as she placed the bottles of juice and water on the nightstand, the junk food that he’d bought for the movie right next to them and then organized the burgers and fries between them.

“I normally do,” he said, smiling as he waited for her to finish setting everything up.

When she sat back against the headboard and picked up the remote, he decided that it was time to dig in. She’d apparently already eaten from this place before, because she wasn’t sampling everything or pulling out her notebook. While she looked for something to watch, he unwrapped a burger for her and squirted some ketchup on her fries and placed it by her side.

With a smile and a murmured, “Thank you,” she picked up her burger and took a bite. He didn’t say anything as he waited for her to pick a movie, content with sitting here with her. He didn’t even mind when she put on a chick flick minutes later or when she helped herself to his ketchup and stole a bite of his burger.

It was then that he realized for the first time in his life that he was truly happy and it was all because of the woman stealing the last fry.

Chapter 31

“You…bastard!” she gasped, biting back a laugh as ice-cold fruit punch soaked the front of her shirt.

“Shit!” Reese hissed as he quickly plucked the bottle off her lap that he’d accidentally dropped on her before it could spill over onto the comforter. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said, shooting her a sheepish grin while he quickly worked to clean up the mess as she pinched her shirt and pulled it away from her chest to keep the juice from coating her.

“It’s fine,” she said with a shrug as she checked to make sure that none of the juice had spilled onto the bed. Once that was done, she looked from her ruined shirt to the pristine “Bradford Construction” tee shirt that Reese was wearing, which just happened to be the one that she’d had her eye on for a while.

“Shit!” Reese repeated as he climbed off the bed and made sure the bed wasn’t ruined before going to the bathroom and dumping the rest of the juice out before returning with a damp facecloth that wouldn’t be needed.

“The shirt, Yummy,” she said and thankfully, she didn’t need to explain, because he knew the way things worked now.

With a glare, he reached back and pulled it off, revealing all that delicious yumminess that she liked so much and tossed her the shirt. “Am I going to get this one back?”

Sighing with a sad shake of her head, she gestured for him to turn around. “Have you gotten any of the other ones back?” she asked, wondering why he would torture himself with false hope like that.

She pulled off her ruined shirt, tossed it aside, and pulled on her lovely new shirt that was going to go along nicely with the other ones that she’d helped herself to. Once she had it pulled on and it fell to her knees, she shut the lights off, climbed back onto the bed, stole one of the pillows from his side of the bed, and added it to her collection before she sat back, grabbed the remote, and hit “Play.”

Without a word, he joined her on the bed, shoved his pillow closer to join her pile and sat back, throwing his arm around her as he leaned back and settled in to watch the movie that she’d been meaning to watch for a while now. Shifting onto her side, she curled up against him, and settled in for the long haul.

“You know that I could probably get you shirts in your size, right?” he asked, wrapping his arm more tightly around her so that she could settle in comfortably by his side.

“You really don’t get this, do you, Yummy?” she asked, snuggling in closer to him, still amazed that she was comfortable enough to do this with him.

She didn’t even do this with Eric. She was close with Eric, loved him like a little brother and he was one of her best friends, but she’d never felt comfortable enough to snuggle him, sit on his lap, or demand that he carry her fireman style just to see if he could do it. With Reese…

She didn’t question it or overanalyze everything. It just felt right, she thought as she shifted closer so that she could lay her head on his shoulder and place her hand on his chest where his heart beat, strong and steady just like him.

“I’m running out of shirts, sweetheart,” he said, sighing heavily as though this somehow pained him when he should feel honored that she was willing to wear his shirts.

“Then you should probably get more,” she informed him, absently noting that he was more comfortable than the mattress.

Chuckling, he started tracing a path over her arm with his fingertips as he held her. He was honestly the sweetest man that she’d ever met and that thought should have made her feel disloyal, made her feel like she was betraying Michael, but it didn’t.

When Michael passed away he’d been a seventeen-year-old kid who’d never had the chance to become the man that he was meant to be. He’d been kind and funny, but in a different way than Reese. Reese was a grown man and he was settled into the man that he was meant to be, kind, funny, sweet, and incredibly sexy and Michael…Michael had been the love of her life.

He’d saved her from herself, gave her hope, made her want more, more than the life that she’d been given and the one that she’d been destined to live, he’d given her Mikey and then-

He’d broken her heart, destroyed her entire world, and she wasn’t sure that she would survive going through something like that again. She’d never wanted to try again.

Not until she’d met Reese, she thought, worrying her bottom lip as she tilted her head back and found Reese watching her with those amazing green eyes that she liked so much. He was an incredibly handsome man, she thought as she reached up and gently traced the small scar that Mikey had given him. He was also an incredibly kind man.

He’d never once said an unkind word to Mikey, made her feel bad about what happened, or treated her like a nuisance any time she begged him to play catch with her. Instead, he’d smile, gently pull one of her braids, promise that he’d play with her when he was done, and he kept that promise every time he made it. It didn’t matter if he was tired, and she knew that he was always tired, he played catch with Mikey, listened to her, laughed at her jokes, and always smiled when he saw her.

“Does this hurt?” she asked, tracing the pink scar with her fingertip.

“No,” he said softly as he reached over and cupped her face in his hand, gently caressing her cheek with a stroke of his thumb. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

She leaned into his touch as she traced a path along his jaw and down to his chin and back up again, losing herself in the motion until she found herself leaning forward and brushing her lips against his. The first brush of her lips against his had her breath catching. The second had her reaching up to cup his face with her trembling hands as she shifted to move closer to him, desperate to get closer. By the third, she couldn’t get enough of him.

*-*-*-*

“Kasey,” he said, only to end with a moan as she took advantage and deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself closer until her breasts were pressed up against his chest and he was on the verge of losing his fucking mind.

“Baby, please,” he said, the word ripped out of his mouth as he grabbed hold of the comforter to stop himself from grabbing her and pinning her to the bed so that he could do all those things that he’d been fantasizing about doing to her.

He wanted to devour every fucking inch of her.

He wanted to rip her shirt off and touch, lick, and suck her breasts as she squirmed on his lap and ground herself against his cock, teasing and caressing it until he couldn’t take it any longer and ripped off those boxers that had better not belong to Eric. Once he had her naked and writhing on his lap, he would run his hands up her thighs and tease her slit until she was dripping wet and begging for his touch.

Then he’d lay her down, part her with his fingers so that he could flick his tongue over her swollen clit, tease it to make her wetter before he ran his tongue down to her core where he would run the tip of his tongue around it before sliding it deep inside her. He’d rub his thumb over her clit, praying like hell that it would make her squirm so that she rode his tongue and gave him a reason to reach down and release his cock.

He’d wrap his hand around his cock as he fucked her with his tongue, imagining how good it would feel to slide inside her and he already knew that he would. He was done waiting, done making excuses, and he was done trying to play this role. He wanted her so fucking much that he hurt, which made what he had to do all the more painful.

Shifting to relieve some of the pressure, he kissed her one last time and leaned back, knowing that they needed to go slow, to give her a chance to get used to the idea. For her sake, they needed to go slow, he needed to give her a chance to get used to his touch, because he needed to do this right.

He wanted to make this absolutely fucking perfect for her. She deserved perfect, deserved to be swept off her feet, a romantic dinner, a midnight walk on the beach, roses, a five-star hotel room that was going to put a dent in his credit card, chocolates, candles and everything that would make this absolutely perfect for her.

She deserved perfect and god knows that she wasn’t going to get that with a twenty-nine year old virgin. For the first time since he’d made the decision to wait until he’d found “the one,” he regretted his decision. He wanted this to be good for her and he was absolutely terrified that he wasn’t going to be-

Losing his fucking mind when she took him by surprise and sat back on his lap with a moan as she slid her tongue against his, ripping a groan from his throat and caused him to seriously fuck everything up.

Chapter 32

“Kasey-”

“I’m fine,” she said, feeling her face burn with humiliation as she shoved his hand away and scooted back on her bruised ass, wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her whole.

“Kasey, I’m sor-” he started to apologize, again, but she didn’t want to hear it and honestly wasn’t sure how she was going to manage to keep it together if he did.

“It’s fine,” she said, shifting her gaze as far away from him as she could as she somehow managed to get up without wincing, but god, did her ass hurt.

Maybe not as much as her pride did.

“No, it’s not,” Reese said, coming around the bed to help her, but she’d had enough of his help to last her a lifetime.

“I’m fine,” she said, scurrying over the bed to get away from him, hoping that he would take pity on her and just leave before she…before she…

She had no idea what she was going to do, but she didn’t want to do whatever it was in front of him, not after what just happened.

“Kasey, please-” the determined bastard said, as she tried to do her best to hold onto what was left of her pride, but right now it was a quickly losing battle.

“It’s fine, Reese. Just go,” she said, wishing like hell that she could go back in her closet and hide, but he’d probably just stand outside the door, apologizing again as he tried to come up with a way to spare her feelings, something that he should have done instead of shoving her off his lap.

Yeah…

She definitely would have appreciated a different reaction, maybe one that didn’t leave her ass bruised? she thought, biting back another pained groan as she headed for the front door, needing to get away from him before she did something incredibly stupid like cry or babble, or god only knows what else she could do to make this day extra memorable.

“Kasey, wait. I need to explain,” he said, following her, because of course he couldn’t just let her walk away, now could he?

Nope.

Not Reese.

No, he would never let her walk off with her feelings hurt, because Reese wasn’t the type of guy to do that, she thought dryly. Then again, she’d never thought that he’d be the type of guy to play with her like this. It just figured that the first guy that she could actually see herself falling for turned out to be a jerk.

“Kasey, I-” he started again, but she was done.

She was just done with everything.

“You know what?” she asked, whirling on him and cutting him off before he could apologize or joke his way out of this one. “You’re an asshole.”

“What?” he asked, having the nerve to look confused as she was doing her best not to kick him or find something to throw at him.

“You’re an asshole. What part of that did you not understand? Because if you want I can annunciate it more clearly for you, but you would think that it would be pretty easy to understand.”

He opened his mouth to cut her off, but she wasn’t done, not yet.

“Was this a joke for you? A fun way to pass the summer? Or was I a charity case?”

“No, Kasey. I-”

“Seriously? Just stop!” she snapped, holding her hands up and taking a step back when he reached out for her.

“I get it. You didn’t want to kiss me and you don’t have to worry about it happening again. I got the point the first time that you knocked me on my ass,” she snapped, shaking her head in disgust as she turned around only to end up being pressed up against the wall and Reese kissing her in a way that didn’t feel like pity.

“I wanted to kiss you, Kasey,” he whispered against her lips as he slowly teased her bottom lip between his teeth. “You have no idea how badly I wanted to kiss you.”

Trembling, she licked her lips in an attempt to clear her head only to end with a whimper and a moan as the devious bastard that was making her head spin took advantage and deepened the kiss. It had been a very long time since she’d been kissed and her memory was a little shaky, but she was pretty sure that she’d never been kissed like this before.

Breaking off the kiss suddenly, he shifted so that his mouth was next to her ear, which was probably for the best since she could really use a moment to catch her breath and try to wrap her mind around that kiss.

“Don’t ever think that I don’t want to kiss you,” he said, deciding to punctuate his words with a soft kiss against her neck that had her licking her lips as a shiver rocked her.

She opened her mouth to ask him why he’d ended the first kiss the way that he had when he took advantage and kissed her again. Okay, devoured might be a better description, she amended a moment later as she was forced to grab onto him when her legs threatened to give out.

“Kissing you is the only thing that I think about most days,” he said softly as he gentled the kiss so that he was barely brushing his lips against hers, which should have given her a chance to think straight, but for some reason, those barely-there kisses that he was teasing her with had her trembling harder.

“Then why-” she started to ask, but that’s when he decided to swoop back in and steal her breath away with another one of those devastating kisses that she could easily become addicted to if-

“I’m a virgin.”

-he wasn’t such a freaking liar.

*-*-*-*

“You son of a bitch!”

“Baby, I-” he started to say only to wince when it became obvious that he’d made another tactical error.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” she demanded, wiggling wildly beneath him in an attempt to break free and find something else to throw at him.

Thank god she didn’t have Mikey’s arm otherwise that baseball that she’d chucked at his head probably would have split his other eyebrow open instead of bouncing uselessly down the hallway. He really hadn’t been worried until he’d caught her eying that hammer. That’s when he’d decided that perhaps it would be for the best if they continued this conversation in the safety of her bedroom.

Kasey had disagreed and had chosen to express her displeasure by going for that hammer, leaving him with a choice, run and come back another day or deal with it now. Since he knew that leaving would only end up being a mistake, he’d opted to stay.

Which had ended with him carrying the woman screaming at him and trying to beat the shit out of him with everything she could get her hands on to her room. It had also resulted in him somehow pinning the wiggling woman on the bed and wrestling the pillow that she’d tried to beat the shit out of him with out of her hands.

“You lying son of a bitch!” she bit out as she squirmed to get out from under him so that she could grab something off the nightstand and beat the shit out of him with it, which unfortunately had her incredibly well shaped ass rubbing up against him and-

“Are you freaking kidding me?” she asked, going completely still beneath him while he laid on top of her, hoping like hell that she hadn’t noticed-

“Oh, is this part of the game, Officer Bradford?” she asked, punctuating her angry words with a little wiggle of her ass that had him biting back a groan that would probably piss her off even more.

“It’s not a game,” he said roughly, licking his lips as pleasure shot through his eager cock as she continued to wiggle against him, making it hard to focus.

She snorted at that, but at least she’d stopped wiggling. “Let me guess, I’m special and you think that you might be falling for me,” she guessed correctly in a mocking tone that told him that he should probably keep his agreement to himself.

“You’ve waited all these years for someone like me and now that you’ve found me, you really just can’t help yourself, but you’re not sure if you can risk your heart by taking this to the next step,” she continued, getting part of it wrong.

“I’m sure,” he told her, because apparently he was a fucking moron.

“Yes, I’m sure you are,” she said, nodding emphatically and forcing him to move his head out of the way before she head-butted him in the nose.

“This isn’t a game, Kasey,” he said, shifting to move his aching cock away from her ass, which caused the little bastard to jerk in a vain attempt to press back against the ass that had caressed it in just the right way.

“Oh, isn’t it?” she asked, tilting her head so that she could glare over her shoulder at him as she said, “Isn’t this the part where I feel honored to be the one? I should probably be tearing my clothes off and dropping to my knees so that I can make this very difficult decision easier for you, because of course, I’m honored that you chose me,” she finished off dryly as she shoved back and this time, he let her go.

Nodding slowly, he backed away and climbed off the bed before he took a steadying breath and said, “You don’t go on the internet very much, do you?”

“But, clearly you do,” she said in disgust as she pushed off the bed so that she could glare at him. “Next time, find a better angle, because this one isn’t working.”

And how badly he wished that was true.

Nodding, he grabbed his boots and said, “Do me a favor, Google my name,” and with that, he left not knowing if she was going to do it or not, but on the off chance that she did, he really didn’t want to be there to see it happen.

Chapter 33

“He looks horrible,” Sara said on a bored sigh that Kasey chose to ignore as she shifted on the uncomfortable wood bench that she’d declared her desk over a week ago after she’d discovered how big of a prick Reese was.

“That’s nice,” she said, sounding bored as she stared at her computer screen, absolutely refusing to look at the jerk that she hated herself for missing so damn much.

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” Sara asked, popping a chip in her mouth as she sat down on the old bench that she should probably look into replacing, and sighed heavily.

When Kasey ignored her, Sara sighed again, shifted, which caused the bench to wobble and that splinter that had been poking her for the past hour to stab her in the thigh. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to focus on the recipe that she was working on and ignored her best friend bugging the shit out of her and the man that she really wished that she could honestly say that she hated as he continued to work on her house.

“Well?” Sara asked after a few minutes.

“Just leave it alone,” she said, shaking her head as she tried to focus on work, but it was difficult with Reese there, distracting her and the fact that she was exhausted made it nearly impossible.

“You’re still not sleeping?” Sara asked with a bored sigh.

“No,” she said, not mentioning the fact that the last time she could remember sleeping well, really well, had been that nap that she’d taken in Reese’s arms.

The bastard had ruined sleep for her, she thought with disgust.

“He looks seriously pissed,” Sara noted as she helped herself to Kasey’s bottle of orange juice.

“Good,” she said, glad that she wasn’t the only one.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him smile once in the past week.”

“Don’t care,” she said with a wistful sigh as she looked at her now empty juice bottle.

“He’s staring at you again,” Sara said, popping another chip in her mouth.

“Good for him,” she said, refusing to look, because she was done.

Absolutely freaking done.

She still couldn’t believe that the whole thing had been an act to get her in bed. Maybe she should be flattered that he’d been willing to put in so much effort to get her to spread.

No, she should definitely be pissed, she amended a moment later while she watched as the large tan hand that she wanted to slap, placed an ice cold apple juice in front of her. Then, without a word he was gone.

When Sara moved to grab it, she slapped her hand, twisted off the cap and took a deep satisfying sip, deciding that he owed her this for all the bullshit that he’d put her through.

Virgin her ass, she thought bitterly with a shake of her head and another sip of that refreshing juice that was making sitting out here in the hot sun somewhat more tolerable. Refusing to look at him, unless it was to glare, she returned to staring at her computer screen.

“You tell me everything,” Sara said with a pout.

“Apparently not,” she said, taking another sip.

“I thought you were friends.”

“So did I,” she said, starting to feel pissed again at the reminder that he’d played her so damn well.

“You’re not going to tell me what’s going on between you and Reese, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, so then tell me what’s going on between you and Eric,” Sara said, trying to steal her juice, but a well-placed slap to the back of her hand had her rethinking that bad decision and pulling her hand away with a huff.

“I have no idea what’s going on with Eric,” she admitted with a sigh as she looked at her phone and shook her head when she didn’t see any new text notifications.

This was just super fun having two men pissed at her, she thought dryly as she returned her attention back to the recipe that she’d been staring at for the past three hours. She had no idea what she did to Eric to make him this pissy and right now she really didn’t care.

About a week ago when he’d decided to start acting like this she’d asked him what was wrong. He’d ignored her and stormed off and she hadn’t seen him since. He still went to Mikey’s practices, but other than that, she had no idea where he’d been staying or what had his panties in a twist and she didn’t really care.

“So, then back to Yummy,” Sara said around another chip.

“Don’t call him that.”

“Okay, you really need to tell me what’s going on,” she said, shifting on the bench so that she was facing her.

Shaking her head, she admitted on a grumble. “He lied to me.”

“About?” Sara asked, popping another chip in her mouth.

“Can we just forget this?” she asked, rubbing her hands down her face and wishing that she’d gone to the library to work instead of opting to work here today.

“No, we really can’t,” Sara said, tossing the bag of chips aside. “What’s going on, Kasey?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kasey said, dropping her hands away.

“And I really don’t care. Start talking,” Sara said in a tone that told her that her best friend wasn’t going to stop bugging her until she told her everything.

Taking a deep breath. She did just that. She told her about the kiss, leaving out the whole closet episode, because they really didn’t need to talk about that. When she was done, Sara just sat there, staring at her for a few minutes, and kind of creeping her out, before she spoke.

“You didn’t Google him, did you?” she asked softly as she reached for the computer, pulled up Google and typed in Reese’s name while Kasey sat there, seriously wondering why she was bothering.

“Sara, it doesn’t matter,” she said even as her stomach dropped when the results popped up and when they did, she realized that she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Sara didn’t say anything as she clicked one link after the other, but Kasey thought she was going to be sick. There were videos, pictures, copies of that horrifying letter everywhere, whole websites dedicated to him, bets placed on him, some of the most hateful, vilest things she’d ever read said about him.

The whole thing was just…cruel.

To have something so private be shared like this…

God, she’d thought people in this town had been cruel when she was a kid, but they had nothing on this Missy woman and all the horrible people who were taking so much joy out of tearing his life apart for the entire world to see. It was just so sick and mean and-

“He was telling you the truth, Kasey,” Sara said, closing the computer while she sat there, sick to her stomach as she thought about all those things that she really wished that she could un-see and really wishing that she could find this Missy bitch so that she could slap the shit out of her.

“Mom! Mom!” Mikey yelled, running towards them with a huge smile on her face. “Reese is going to the hardware store and he said that I could come if it was okay with you!”

She looked past Mikey’s smiling face to find Reese standing in the driveway, watching her and looking absolutely miserable. Her heart broke for him and all she wanted to do was to walk over to him and wrap her arms around him, but she knew that he would hate any pity right now.

“Yeah, we can go,” she said, shifting her attention back to Mikey as she pushed her laptop towards Sara, who knew where it went, and walked towards Reese with Mikey in tow.

“Mom said we can go!” Mikey happily announced as she ran past her to go climb in Reese’s truck.

Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he nodded slowly and stepped aside so that she could follow after Mikey. Once she got to the truck, she paused by the open truck door for a second out of habit and when Reese didn’t pick her up and put her in the truck, she realized that she might have a bit of groveling to do to make this right.

*-*-*-*

“Guess what Reese is building for me, Mr. Grey!” Mikey said, smiling hugely as she jumped onto the counter and sat down so that she could enthrall the older man with the news of the new pitching target that he was building for her while Reese headed towards the back of the mom and pop hardware store, walking past a few bored looking teenagers and their mother.

“Reese, wait,” Kasey said, catching up with him as he navigated his way through the store.

“I’m not really in the mood to be called an asshole again, Kasey,” he said, knowing that he should be fucking thrilled that she was talking to him again, but he wasn’t because that could only mean one thing.

She’d Googled him after all.

“I’m sorry about that, Reese,” she said, following him down the paint supply aisle.

“It’s fine,” he said, hoping that she’d just let it go, because this was one conversation that he didn’t want to have with her.

“I thought…I thought that you were just trying to-”

“I know what you thought and it’s fine, Kasey. Just let it go,” he said, cutting her off as he took a turn down another aisle, forgetting why he came here in the first place.

“But-”

“Let it go,” he said, deciding that he’d come back later when he was alone and took another turn to head back towards the front of the store.

“Wait,” she said, grabbing his arm to stop him and because he was a fucking moron, he let her.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about-Mmm,” he started to say only to end up moaning when she grabbed hold of his shirt, yanked him down, and kissed him.

When she slid her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around him, he had to remind himself that they were in a hardware store with Mikey close by. But even knowing that didn’t stop him from wrapping an arm around her and reaching down and grabbing hold of that heart shaped ass that he’d been dreaming about for the past two months.

Her answering moan had him devouring her mouth as he backed her towards a shelf, pressing her against it and-

“Mom?”

-quickly putting some space between them.

“Mom?” Mikey called again, sounding closer.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” she managed to say while he stood there, struggling not to pull her back in his arms and finish what they’d started, but now was not the time.

“Tonight,” he bit out.

“Tonight?” she repeated with a cute little frown that had him ignoring that voice inside his head that told him that touching her again would be a bad idea and had him pulling her back into his arms anyway. “What happens tonight?”

“Tonight,” he said, brushing his lips against hers, “I’m going to make you mine.”

Chapter 34

“No, no, I can’t do it!” she said, closing her eyes as a wave of nausea slammed into her, threatening to make her race towards the bathroom. Well, it would have if she didn’t currently have a crazed woman pinning her down on the bed.

“It’s going to be fine, Kasey,” Sara promised when they both knew no such thing!

“No, it’s not!”

 “Oh, my god! Would you stop already? It’s just a date!” Sara snapped in exasperation as she sat up, grabbed the blouse that she’d picked out for her and tossed it at Kasey. “Get dressed.”

“No!”

“I will beat you!” Sara snapped, pressing her fingers to her temple as she closed her eyes and slowly exhaled, clearly praying for patience while Kasey took this opportunity to turn around and quickly crawled towards the closed bedroom door that separated her from her precious freedom.

“Seriously?” Sara demanded, as she grabbed hold of her ankle and-

“You didn’t even shave?” the woman that was supposed to have her back demanded, as she released Kasey’s ankle in disgust.

“I didn’t get a chance!” Kasey snapped defensively as she reached down and shoved her pajama pants back down.

“You had plenty of chances!”

“Really? Because, I believe some crazed bitch dragged me off to get my hair and nails done before I had a chance to do anything!”

“Maybe it had something to do with that uni-brow that you’ve been sporting for the past couple of weeks?” the horrible woman that she’d once called friend shot back.

“You...bitch!” she gasped, trying not to laugh.

“Look, clearly you’re in over your head on this one,” Sara said calmly with a sniff as she inspected her manicure.

“And you know this because of your vast dating experience? Is that why?” Kasey asked, blinking up at the woman that had actually helped her keep her sanity over the last few hours.

“I’ve dated!”

“Really? Who? Because I know that you’re not counting your husband since you’ve been together since the eighth grade and his idea of a date is grabbing fast food from the drive-thru and catching a movie on Netflix,” she said, deciding that it was time to climb off the bed before Sara could get another chance to tackle her.

“Hey, that counts!” Sara said in a huff as she snatched the blouses that she’d picked out off the floor where they’d fallen so that she could lay them back on the bed for her final inspection.

“For this?” Kasey asked, waving her hands desperately.

“Yes!” Sara hissed as she opened the bedroom door and-

“So,” Mikey said around a bite of her apple, “is this a date?”

“Yes,” Sara answered before Kasey got a chance to deny it, “and she needs to get ready.”

Instead of freaking out, which she fully expected any loyal child to do, Mikey simply nodded and said, “I like him.”

“Good. One less thing to worry about,” Sara said with a firm nod as she grabbed Kasey by the arm and dragged her towards the bathroom.

“Oh, come on!” she said, not bothering to fight her since a relaxing bath might actually help settle her nerves.

“As soon as I get your mom settled in a bath, you and I are going to pack a bag so that you can come stay with me for a few days,” Sara said with a warm smile that didn’t exactly match the promise of violence in her eyes if Kasey tried to make a run for it.

“Why can’t I stay here?” Mikey asked, already looking bored.

“Because your mom will probably be out late tonight,” Sara said, clearing her throat as panic once again blossomed in her chest.

“Can I watch the game?” Mikey asked while Kasey stumbled towards the bathroom, terrifying thoughts of the night ahead racing through her head as Sara shoved a towel in her arms.

“Sure,” Sara said, following Kasey into the bathroom.

“I-I don’t know if I can do this,” she mumbled as she stood there, terrified, because she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do.

“Yes, you can,” Sara said, starting a bath for her before she rummaged through the rest of the bathroom and found a new razor, shaving gel, lotion, and about a dozen other things that she was going to need to get ready for this date.

“I-”

“Look,” Sara said, suddenly cupping her face and forcing her to meet her eyes, “it’s just a date, Kasey. Nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen. You’re just going out and having dinner with one of your best friends, okay?”

“But-”

“You love him, Kasey. I know you do and I also know that if you don’t do this that you’ll regret it, because I will kick your ass,” Sara promised, making her smile.

“Tell me that you don’t love him and that you really don’t want to do this and I’ll go tell Reese that it’s not happening and everything will be fine,” Sara said with a shrug as though it was no big deal.

She opened her mouth to do just that only to close her eyes in defeat and admit, “I can’t.”

“Then I suggest that you get your ass in that tub and shave those legs before your prince charming arrives,” Sara said before she turned her around and gave her a gentle push towards the bathtub. “And don’t skimp on the lotion!”

“Fine, Mom,” she said dryly even as she had to smile.

As soon as Sara closed the door behind her, Kasey busied herself by adding a few drops of lemongrass to the tub, some bath salts, and broke out the good body wash. By the time she’d settled in the tub, she was nervous again, but she was also smiling.

She was going on a date and she was actually excited, nervous, but excited. She’d never been on a real date where a guy picked her up, brought her out to dinner, a movie, drinks, or whatever Reese had planned for them. She’d never really cared how the night ended, but tonight was going to be different.

She was ready.

She would always love Michael, nothing was ever going to change that, but she was ready to do this.

She was ready.

She kept telling herself that as she shaved, washed her body, and when the water had cooled off and she ran out of excuses, she reluctantly climbed out of the tub. Keeping herself busy so that she wouldn’t talk herself out of this, she took her time drying off, applying lotion, body spray, and perfume. She kept herself busy by brushing her teeth, carefully putting on her makeup, and by the time she’d moved onto her hair, she regretted cutting it for the first time in years.

Knowing that it was pointless to dwell on things that she couldn’t change, she quickly styled her hair, wrapped a towel back around herself and stepped out of the bathroom just as Sara and Mikey were walking out the front door. Telling herself that she was fine, she walked into her bedroom and ignored the outfits that Sara had laid out.

Deciding that tonight was all about possibilities and taking chances, she opened her closet and searched until she found the dress that she’d bought years ago, the one that she’d bought on a whim and never had a chance to wear. She took her time dressing, selecting a pair of white panties trimmed with lace, dainty sandals, her grandmother’s diamond bracelet, and by the time that she pulled on that beautiful sundress, she was ready.

But, as it turned out, Reese wasn’t.

He wasn’t ready by seven o’clock.

Or eight o’clock.

And by the time that nine o’clock rolled around, she’d decided that she was more than ready to share a few things with him.

Chapter 35

“Oh, come on!” he yelled in disbelief as he stared down at the remains of the midnight picnic that he’d set up on the beach, wondering what else could possibly go wrong tonight.

That’s when the sky opened up and poured down on him.

He stood there for another minute, letting the rain drench him before he slowly turned around and limped back towards the house in the new shoes that he’d been forced to run the last five miles home in. He couldn’t fucking believe this was happening. He’d planned the perfect night down to the smallest detail and nothing, absolutely fucking nothing, had gone his way today.

When he went for his haircut the barber had misheard him and decided to give him a military cut instead of a trim, which hadn’t been the end of the world. He’d been able to shrug it off and move on, which had resulted in him being forced to buy shoes that were a size too small. Again, he’d been able to move on, because it hadn’t really mattered. Then he came back to the cottage where he’d discovered Jason and Trevor settling in to stay for the week to help with final touches with the kitchen, which he’d appreciated.

He really did.

He also appreciated it when the two bastards packed up their shit and headed to the nearest hotel until they were forced to turn around and come back with the news that all the hotels and motels within fifty miles were filled to capacity. Of course, they’d broken the news to him while devouring the romantic dinner that he’d planned on having with Kasey.

After he’d shoved both of the large bastards into the broom closet and shoved a chair beneath the knob, he’d taken a shower, grabbed his keys, and headed to town, prepared to somehow salvage this evening. That had ended with him in a store with a grocery cart full of flowers, chocolates, pastries, and a very large box of condoms that he’d hoped to put to good use tonight only to discover that in his rush to get everything done in time, he’d forgotten his wallet.

When he went to call his cousins and ask one of them to bring him his wallet, he’d discovered that he’d also forgotten his cellphone. That was also around the time that he’d realized that he was already thirty minutes late for their date. Deciding that he was going to have to figure out the details later, he’d got back in his truck and headed home only to break down after three miles.

After two hours, he’d finally managed to flag down a tow truck. The driver had refused to give him a ride or let him use his cellphone, which had left him with no other choice but to move his ass. Five miles later, he was back home, trying to salvage this date only to discover that it had all gone to hell and there was absolutely nothing that he could do to salvage it.

He limped over to the front steps of his cottage, sat down, pulled off his shoes and chucked them before dropping his head in his hands with a groan, laughing without humor, because he’d honestly never been this pissed before. He’d planned the perfect fucking night and here he was sitting by himself, drenched, pissed, and still a fucking virgin.

After all these years, all the women that had come and gone from his life and he finally met the one and he was sitting out here on his ass, in the pouring rain instead of with her, holding her in his arms and letting her know how much she meant to him, how much he wanted her.

And god, did he fucking want her.

All day he’d been thinking about her, thinking about the way she felt in his arms, the way her ass had felt in his hands earlier, all the things that he wanted to do to her, and how it would feel to finally slide deep inside her. It had been the only thing that had gotten him through all the bullshit today, the promise of finally losing himself inside her.

She’d probably be in his arms right now, running her fingers through his hair, letting him kiss her, touch her, and fu-

“Oh, look! You’re alive!” came the heavily sarcastic announcement that had him slowly lowering his hands and taking in the incredibly beautiful woman standing in front of him, not really looking like she cared that it was pouring out.

“That’s great! Because, I was over there for the past three…hours…Yummy?” she started to trail off nervously and it was then that he decided that he wanted to hear her scream that nickname in his ear.

Tonight.

“Ummm, Yummy?” she asked, backing away nervously as he stood up, devouring her with his eyes from her short spikey hair to the cute little sandals on her feet, deciding that he was going to kiss, lick and nibble on everything in between.

“Umm,” she mumbled, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she took a step back.

Licking his lips, he followed her, smiling when the adorable woman took another step back and gestured weakly towards her house. “I-I’m gonna go home now. So, umm, yeah,” she said, swallowing noticeably as he took another step and then another.

She opened her mouth, shut it, opened it again, only to abruptly turn around and walk as fast as those tiny little sandals and that incredibly sexy dress would let her. Smiling, he went after her, deciding that he’d waited long enough.

*-*-*-*

“Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Oh, crap!” she mumbled over and over again as she rushed back to her house only to end up stopping with a pathetic groan and pulling off her sandals so that she wouldn’t scratch the new floor before she made a run for it.

She’d barely managed to get around the corner before she found herself hauled back against a familiar chest as his arms wrapped around her and his mouth was next to her ear. “I’ve waited my entire life for you,” he whispered as he pressed a soft kiss right below her neck, making her tremble.

“You have no idea how much I want you,” he whispered harshly as he ran his hands over her hips, across her stomach and back again as she stood there, trying to remember how to breathe. “How many times I’ve thought about touching you.”

Licking her lips, she leaned back into his touch, realizing just how badly she wanted this. She closed her eyes and lost herself, loving the way that his hands felt as they moved over her body.

“Where’s Mikey, sweetheart?” he asked, as his hands suddenly went still.

“Sara’s,” she managed to say before adding, “for the week.”

“And Eric?”

“No clue,” she said, damn near panting by now as she waited for him to start touching her again.

He didn’t make her wait long before he started running his hands over her again, using his touch on her hips to pull her back so that she could feel the unmistakable bulge pressing hard against her bottom.

“You have no idea how hard I tried to make this perfect for you,” he said against her neck as his lips lightly brushed against the skin, making her shiver.

“What happened?” she managed to ask as she felt his hands slide up her sides before running back down and over her hips again.

He chuckled as he ran his hands back up, this time lightly skimming the sides of her breasts. “Everything,” was all he said before he was skimming his hands over her stomach and back down her hips again.

“Tell me to leave, Kasey. If you don’t want this, tell me to go,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her nape as his hands slid over her stomach and-

“Oh, god,” she moaned as his hands lightly skimmed over her breasts before running back down her hips again.

“You feel so fucking good,” he whispered as he continued to tease her with light touches, making her feel like her body was on fire and leaving her desperate for more.

“Don’t stop,” she said, licking her lips as she opened her eyes and watched while his hands slid back up, barely touching her nipples that were aching for his touch as he trailed his fingers over her shoulders and slowly pushed the thin straps of her dress down.

“I won’t. Not tonight,” he said, and with that, her dress fell away.

Chapter 36

Pressing a kiss against the spot where her shoulder and neck met, he dropped his hold on her dress and slid his hands over her bare breasts.

The soft moan she released had him biting back a groan of his own as he gently cupped her breasts, enjoying the feel of them in his hands, moaning when she pressed her bottom back against him in a move that caressed his cock just right.

“Turn around,” he whispered, giving her breasts one last squeeze before releasing them.

When she turned around, he leaned down and kissed her forehead as he placed his hands back on her hips, enjoying the feel of soft silk and lace against his skin. He pulled back just far enough so that he could lean down and brush his lips against hers, slowly taking his time and savoring the feel of having her in his arms.

As much as he wanted to rip her panties off and bury himself inside her, he wanted to make this right for her even more. There was a reason that he was still a virgin at twenty-nine, he liked to be in control, enjoyed stretching out moments like this, teasing the woman in his arms and testing his self-control to the point that he thought he would lose his fucking mind.

It had always pissed off the woman that he was with when she couldn’t tempt him into giving in and fucking her just so that she could have the honor of making him lose his fucking mind. None of them had ever come close to making him lose control, not until Kasey.

With her, it was going to take every ounce of his self-control to stop him from giving in and taking her. He knew by the way that she trembled in his arms and the way that she licked her lips as she softly moaned that he could slide inside her at any moment and she would let him, but he wanted more.

He wanted her screaming for him and as desperate for him as he was for her. He wanted her to make him lose his fucking mind, to make the wait worth it so that he never regretted his decision to wait for this moment.

Using his hold on her hips, he pushed her back until she was pressed up against the wall as he continued to slowly devour her mouth. When she released another one of those little moans that he was starting to really love, he pressed one last kiss against her mouth, then one on her chin before moving down, taking his time as he slowly kissed his way down her body.

His hands slid up and cupped her breasts, holding each one in offering for his mouth. He took one nipple in his mouth, gently suckling it before moving on to the next and nearly moaned when he felt her arms wrap around his head, holding him as he pressed a kiss between her breasts and moved on. He kissed and licked his way slowly down her body, taking extra time to worship the faint stretch marks marring her stomach, a reminder that this woman was a mother and someone that deserved to be worshipped.

“Reese,” she moaned when he reached the white panties that sent his heart racing.

He pressed a kiss to her stomach, hoping to reassure her that everything would be okay as he slid his hands over her hips and down her thighs, loving the way her smooth skin felt against his hands. He pressed a kiss against the soft white silk just below where her skin ended before shifting lower and pressing a kiss against the soft lips between her legs.

“Oh, god,” she choked out on a moan when he pressed another kiss against her silk covered slit as he hooked his fingers in her silk panties and slowly pulled them down so that the next time he kissed her it was directly against her slit.

Shifting onto his knees, he settled in more comfortably between her legs as he cocked his head to the side so that he could press a kiss against the wet slit that had his cock throbbing for release. As he pulled her panties down the rest of the way, he was forced to shift back so that she could step out of her panties.

As soon as they were gone, he was back to tracing her slit with his lips, kissing a trail down to her core until he couldn’t take it anymore. He slid his tongue through her slit, groaning with pleasure as he got his first taste of her.

Fucking delectable.

Her legs shifted further apart as he pressed his mouth more firmly against her, desperate for another taste of her. He could easily become addicted to her, he thought as he ran his tongue through her, groaning at the sweet taste of her coating his tongue.

“Reese,” she said on a groan as he reached back and grabbed hold of his wet shirt, pulling it off and tossing it aside so that he could return to what was starting to become his favorite thing in the world.

*-*-*-*

Oh, god, she thought, licking her lips as she watched him running his tongue through her slit, moaning as he ran his hands back up over her hips and up her stomach until he was cupping her breasts.

It was in that moment that she could fully appreciate the difference between being with a boy and a man and there was definitely a big difference, she thought as her breath caught in her throat when Reese ran his tongue over her clit. Reese was relaxed, controlled, and in no rush to try to get between her legs.

He took his time, learning her body, making her tremble before pressing one last kiss against her slit and standing up. He paused on his way back to her mouth to lick each nipple and tug it between his teeth before finally coming back to her.

When his lips touched hers, they instantly devoured hers, teasing and tempting her as he leaned down and grabbed hold of her legs. When he stood back up, he took her with him, hitching her legs over his hips so that the bulge that she couldn’t get her mind off was pressed where she needed it most.

Keeping his hold on her, he pressed forward, grinding himself against her as he continued to tease her, rubbing his tongue against hers only to stop and gently suckle it seconds later, which was driving her out of her freaking mind and making it hard for her to think about anything besides pushing his pants down and putting an end to this torture. He might be a virgin, but he knew exactly what he was doing, which was a hell of a lot more than she could say about herself at the moment.

The realization made her smile, because for once, her past didn’t matter. That smile quickly disappeared with a gasp when Reese shifted so that the hard ridge of his erection hit her just right.

Once he ripped that gasp from her, he didn’t stop until he got another one, and another one and soon she was digging her nails into his back and screaming his name as an orgasm took her by surprise and tore through her, leaving her boneless in his arms.

Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face against his shoulder as she struggled to catch her breath while the last strands of pleasure rippled through her body. She didn’t notice when he pulled her away from the wall or carried her into her room and laid her on the bed, but she definitely noticed when he buried his face back between her legs and slid his tongue inside her.

*-*-*-*

He was a fucking idiot, he thought as he slid his tongue inside her, ripping another moan from her as he reached down and struggled to open his fly. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking so that he could get the damn zipper open. He’d never wanted anything more than he wanted her right now and if he didn’t get these damn pants off soon he wasn’t sure that he was going to survive.

When she ran her hands over his head, moaning his name as she rolled her hips, riding his tongue, he nearly fucking lost it. At any other time, with any other woman, he would have been able to free himself without a problem. He would have enjoyed the way she moved beneath him, the way she rode his tongue and moaned his name as he wrapped his hand around his cock and stroked himself, but with Kasey there was no more waiting and his body knew it.

She was the one and his body was definitely on board with what was happening. Somehow he managed to finally free himself. The first stroke had him cursing, the second had him dropping his hand away and pressing one last kiss against her clit. Before he knew what he was doing, he was moving up her body and kissing her.

He kissed her as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him as she spread her legs further apart, welcoming him, and driving him out of his fucking mind. When his cock brushed up against her slit he cursed and shifted, unable to help himself, he ground himself against her, each time more desperate than the last.

She moaned in his arms, held on tightly to him as the kiss turned wild and he was helpless to do anything more than kiss her back as each shift of his hips brought his cock closer to where it wanted to be until finally the head of his cock was exactly where it needed to be. The next time he shifted his hips he was pushing inside her.

Pulling back from the kiss that was going to end this before it began, he opened his eyes and gazed down at the beautiful blue eyes staring back at him. Licking his lips, he continued to push inside her, watching her as the tightest grip that he’d ever experienced enveloped him in a hot, wet sheath. Just when he didn’t think that he could take it anymore, he realized that he was buried to the hilt.

She felt so good, so fucking good, he thought, licking his lips as he watched her, needing to make sure that this was good for her. When she cupped the back of his neck and pulled him down for another kiss, he willingly went to her as he slowly pulled out, nearly losing it as the move caused his cock to get caressed in a whole new way.

With a groan, he pushed back in, loving the way that she gasped so he did it again. Terrified that this was going to end before it really began, he grabbed hold of the comforter and moved, taking his time as he fucked her, savoring every squeeze of her sheath, moan and whimper that she made as he moved inside her.

Definitely worth the wait, he decided as he buried his face against her shoulder, struggling to hold onto some semblance of control, but soon even that became difficult until finally he gave in to the pleasure ripping through his body and he found himself thrusting harder and harder, her moans and pleas for him to fuck her harder egging him on until he thought that he was going to lose his fucking mind.

Just when he didn’t think that he could take it anymore he felt it, her sheath tightening around him, threatening to break him in two as she cried out, screaming his name as she dragged him into oblivion and he willingly went.

Chapter 37

Trying to catch her breath, she curled up on her side and stared at the wall while she waited for the regret and the grief over Michael to slam into her and tear her apart, but it never came and that broke her heart. She should feel something, remorse, anger, denial, something! But, she didn’t and that kind of scared her, because it could only mean one thing.

She’d finally let Michael go.

Before she could panic, Reese was there, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer and the panic was...gone.

“You were definitely worth the wait,” he said, smiling as he kissed her shoulder, making it hard not to return his smile.

“No regrets?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip as she waited for his answer, because she realized that she didn’t have any.

He’d definitely been worth the wait.

“None,” he whispered as he pressed another kiss against her shoulder, shifting so that she knew exactly how happy he was at the moment.

Surprised that she could smile right now, she playfully wiggled her bottom, laughing when he growled.  Her laughter ended when he kissed the side of her neck as his hand moved over her stomach, holding her against him as that large erection that she’d thought was a good idea to tease a second ago rubbed against her bottom, tearing a surprised moan from her lips.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” she asked, smiling as she reached back and placed her hand on his hip, holding him close, and surprised to find that he was still wearing pants.

“I might be,” he said, chuckling as he kissed her again while he moved his hand south and-

“Oh, god,” she gasped, licking her lips as his finger teased her slit.

“Turn over,” he sad softly, making her lick her lips even as she moved to do just that only to have him stop her with another kiss and a stroke of his finger when she moved to roll over onto her back. “On your stomach, sweetheart.”

“You’re kind of bossy,” she noted with a moan as he rewarded her with another stroke of his finger.

“Yes, I am,” he said against her shoulder as he pulled his hand away and placed it on her bottom, giving it a possessive squeeze as he pressed a kiss against the middle of her back, making her gasp. “Turn over.”

Trembling, she slowly exhaled as she rolled over onto her stomach, licking her lips in pleasure as he rewarded her with a kiss on her other shoulder as his hand moved to the other cheek and gave it another squeeze. Not knowing what else to do, she folded her arms beneath her head, more than a little excited to see where he was going with this.

“You remember that backrub that I gave you at my parents’ house?” he asked, skimming his hand gently over her back as he gave her shoulder another kiss.

“Yes,” she said, because there was no way that she was ever going to forget that night and the way that it had felt when he’d touched her.

His hand skimmed down her back and over one cheek before skimming back up the other, leaving her licking her lips, and making her want more. He kissed her shoulder and her neck before his lips brushed against her ear as he slid his hand between her legs and ran his finger over her slit and whispered, “This is what I wanted to do that night.”

*-*-*-*

“Mmmmm,” came the moan that had his cock jerking against his stomach as he kissed her shoulder.

“You like that?” he asked, tracing her wet slit with his fingertips as he pressed another kiss against her shoulder.

“Yes,” she said, watching him with those beautiful blue eyes of hers as he leaned down and kissed her cheek before pulling back so that he could watch her as he teased her slit.

“Spread your legs for me, sweetheart,” he said softly, kissing her arm when she did as he’d asked.

Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he turned his hand and slid a finger inside her. She was wet, very wet, and warm and so damn soft. He loved the way she felt wrapped around him and couldn’t wait to do it again, but he wanted to take his time and learn her body, what she liked, what made her wet, made her moan, and most importantly, what made her lose control.

He added a second finger and slowly pushed them inside her as he watched that familiar blush that he loved so much spread over her beautiful body. Her eyes closed on a moan as her lips parted. In and out, he slowly fucked her with his fingers as he watched her, listened to the way that she moaned, watched as she licked her lips, and nearly growled when she spread her legs a little further to give him better access.

“Do you have any idea how good you feel, sweetheart?” he asked, kissing her shoulder when he was forced to shift as his cock throbbed painfully, more than willing to show her just how good she felt.

Moaning, she licked her lips again as she moved her hips, pressing back and trying to ride his fingers. As he continued to tease her, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to have her wrapped around his cock again. More than ready to find out, he pressed one last kiss against her shoulder and sat up, shoving his pants off along with his boxers and socks before shifting over her until he was forced to remove his hand when his cock ended up nestled against that heart shaped ass that had starred in the majority of his fantasies.

“Reese,” Kasey said on a loud moan as she shifted beneath him.

“What happened to Yummy, sweetheart?” he asked with a groan as the devious woman shifted beneath him again, causing the curve of her ass to caress the underside of his cock.

Unable to help himself, he rubbed his cock against her as he leaned down and pressed a kiss between her shoulders as he did it again. He continued grinding his cock against her, teasing them both as he kissed his way up to her neck, to her jaw, until finally, he was kissing her.

Shifting himself on his left arm, he reached down, cupped her hip, held her still and-

Quickly decided that he was going to have to work his way up to this position thanks to his lack of experience, but that was fine with him, more than fine, because it meant that he was going to have to keep trying. Smiling, he kissed her one last time before pulling back so that he could shift away from her.

Once he was on his knees, he said, “Sit up, sweetheart.”

He helped her onto her knees and pulled her back until her back was pressed against his chest. He reached around her and covered one large breast with his hand and he moved his other hand between her legs, found her swollen clit and gently teased it as he pressed himself back against her.

“Reese,” she said, moaning his name as he released his hold on her breast to reach between them and wrap his hand around his cock with a shaky hand and positioned himself back at her entrance.

Shifting lower, he pressed his lips against her shoulder as he slowly pushed inside her with a groan. She felt incredible, absolutely fucking incredible. Wrapping his arm back around her, he pushed the rest of the way inside her as he closed his eyes in pleasure.

So. Fucking. Good.

“Definitely worth the wait, sweetheart,” he said, groaning when he felt her hand slide over his hip, trying to pull him closer.

When her hand slid over his where it still rested between her legs, he nearly lost it. Pressing a kiss against her nape, he slid inside her and pulled back, again and again as her hand moved his, using his fingers to tease her clit. Closing his eyes, he pressed another kiss against her shoulder as he shifted his free hand back to her breast.

He squeezed her breast, teased her nipple, gently pinched it as he struggled for control, but the way she was pushing back against him and moaning his name made that damn near impossible until finally, he gave in.

He lost control.

There was no other way to describe it.

One minute he was taking his time with her, caressing her as he slowly fucked her and the next she was dropping onto the mattress with a gasp. He followed after her, too desperate for her to let her go. Wrapping his arms around her waist he quickened his thrusts, taking her at a new angle that had him grinding his jaw and struggling to make this good for her, but every thrust felt better than the last until finally, he couldn’t hold back anymore and thank god, neither could she.

With one last hard thrust, he let go.

Chapter 38

“You need a bigger tub,” the man that had decided to join her for a bath said with another one of those kisses to her shoulder that she was quickly becoming addicted to as he absently ran his fingers down her arm, making her smile as she closed her eyes and laid there, boneless, and too exhausted to do anything more than enjoy this moment.

“Probably,” she agreed with a small, satisfied sigh.

Six. Times.

They’d made love six times and she had a feeling that they would have made love a seventh time if she hadn’t winced the last time he’d touched her. She was sore, very sore, in places that she’d never been sore before and that was probably why she couldn’t stop smiling.

Making love with Reese had been incredible and so different from her past that she couldn’t help but smile. Before it had been…

Frustrating.

She’d actually been half-afraid to expect the same from Reese, but he’d proved without a doubt that there was a big difference between having sex with a boy in the back of a pickup truck and being made love to by a man nicknamed Yummy. He’d held her, touched, licked, and kissed her in ways that had left her trembling and wanting to come back for more, which was the reason why she was sitting in this tub at three in the morning.

“You should have told me sooner,” he said, kissing her cheek, which he seemed to do a lot.

Not that she was complaining.

Far from it.

“Then you would have stopped,” she pointed out with a smile and a wiggle to tease that hard erection she felt pressing up against her back.

Groaning, he shifted beneath her. “Yes, I would have,” he admitted with a chuckle as he continued to trace a path down her arm.

For several minutes she just sat there, enjoying his touch, but soon her curiosity got the better of her. She opened her mouth, only to close it with a sigh and a reminder that it was none of her business. It didn’t matter that she was curious and was dying to know the answer, because it wasn’t her secret to tell.

So, she wasn’t going to ask.

She was just going to sit here and mind her own damn business, she told herself as she bit her lip to make damn sure that she didn’t ask him that one question that she was dying to know, because it wasn’t any of her business. When that didn’t work, she tried to think about other things, other things that had nothing to do with asking him why he-

“Just ask,” he said, chuckling.

She shouldn’t.

She really shouldn’t, but…

“I made a choice,” he said, taking pity on her and for that, she would probably bake a cake for him just as soon as her kitchen was done.

Until then…

“And what exactly prompted this decision?” she asked, deciding to give him a little help along the way, because that was the polite thing to do in cases like this.

He pressed a kiss against the back of her head with a heavy sigh and wrapped his arms around her. “Marybeth,” was all he said, and really, that’s all he needed to say, because it wasn’t her business.

Nope.

Definitely none of her business, she told herself even as she decided that she’d had enough of this bath. Of course, it had nothing to do with the fact that the man that she’d stupidly fallen in love with was in love with another woman, one if memory served her correctly, was married to his twin brother.

Yup, definitely had nothing to do with that, she decided as she moved to climb out of the tub, uncaring if she elbowed the bastard in the process. He’d slept with her when he was in love with another woman?

Oh, the bastard was so not getting that cake, she thought, accidentally/on purpose, elbowing him. Instead of apologizing and begging for her forgiveness, the bastard simply chuckled as he pulled her back in his arms.

“Are you going to let me finish before you maim me?” he asked, giving her shoulder another kiss that had her glaring ahead at the faded tile wall.

“Maybe,” she grumbled with a pout, not really sure that there was anything he could say to make this better, which was just another reminder of why it was important to mind your own damn business. Because, if she had, she wouldn’t be sitting here wishing that she’d just kept her big mouth shut. 

“I wanted what my brother had, but not her. I’ve never been in love with Marybeth. She’s always been the pain in the ass sister that I never asked for,” he said, chuckling as he appeased her with another kiss.

“You probably should have started off with that,” she said with a sigh, relaxing back in his arms now that she no longer felt morally obligated to beat him with the towel rack.

“Probably,” he easily admitted as he took her hands in his and entwined their fingers before wrapping his arms back around her.

When he didn’t say anything else she cleared her throat, which thankfully did the trick. “It was also because of Haley,” he said, chuckling when she playfully elbowed him.

“You’re on thin ice here, Yummy,” she told him with a smile as she shifted so that she was lounging more comfortably against him.

“I’ll try to remember that,” he said, chuckling against her neck as he kissed her again.

“See that you do,” she said with a sniff, shifting again just for the hell of it and smiling when the move teased the large part of him nestled against her back. “Now, you were saying?” she asked innocently with another wiggle of her hips.

With a groan, he tightened his hold on her to stop the wiggling and she allowed it, for now. “It wasn’t really one thing, but a combination of things.”

“And what was that combination?” she asked, pulling her hands free so that she could run her fingers over his arms.

“I wasn’t ready to deal with what could happen,” he said slowly as though he was testing the words or trying not to upset her.

Understanding dawned.

“You knew a girl who got pregnant,” she said, as she traced circles on his arm.

“Several, but only one taught me a life lesson that I would never forget. I’d been dating this girl since I was fourteen and I’d thought that she was the sweetest girl alive, but it turned out that I didn’t know her at all. We’d done a lot of things, but we never took it to that point.”

“Why?”

“My father had a rule. It was pretty simple, but it was enough to make me think twice about having sex before I was ready. Until I was ready to support myself, a wife, and a baby I wasn’t ready for sex. It was that simple. When I found out that my girlfriend was pregnant I decided that was a damn good rule.”

“And it wasn’t yours,” she guessed.

“No, it wasn’t,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I don’t think I’d ever been so happy to be a virgin than I was at that moment,” he said, chuckling.

“I bet,” she murmured, wondering what he would think if he knew about her past and all the things that she’d done, because it could have just as easily been her. Well, it could have been if she’d ever been the type to cheat and try to lie about a pregnancy, which she could honestly say she never would have done.

“After that, I decided to wait until I found what my brother and so many of the men in my family had,” he said, taking her hand back into his.

“Why me?” she had to ask, because for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a single reason why after all this time that he would settle for someone like her.

He turned his head so that he could kiss the side of her neck. “Probably for the same reason that you’re here with me,” he said with another kiss.

“That’s not really answering my question there, Yummy,” she said, closing her eyes as she laid her head back against his chest.

 “Because you drive me out of my fucking mind,” he growled as he shifted her on his lap and made that bath a little more interesting.

Chapter 39

“I’m starving,” the naked woman currently draped over him grumbled, reminding him that they hadn’t had a chance to eat last night.

“Me, too,” he said, struggling to find the energy to get up and do something about it.

Nine times, he thought with a smile before frowning.

Or was it ten?

Deciding that it didn’t matter, he reached over and grabbed her cellphone off the nightstand and checked the time. It was after eight o’clock in the morning, he was starving, exhausted, and more than okay with passing out and sleeping away the rest of the day, but the demanding woman on his back was apparently having none of that.

With a groan, she rolled off his back and-

“Ouch.”

Kept on rolling until she landed on the floor on that beautiful ass that he couldn’t seem to get enough of. Smiling, he opened one eye to watch her as she stood up, gently rubbing her bottom as she dragged herself towards the bedroom door, pulling on one of his shirts along the way. Deciding that he needed to conserve his energy in case she needed help, he closed his eyes and groaned when she came back a minute later and flopped herself back down on top of him with a sigh.

“The snack box is empty,” she mumbled, which really didn’t surprise him.

“Trevor and Jason must have come over to work on the kitchen,” he mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes.

“That would explain why they’re outside getting out their tools,” she said, squirming on top of him to get comfortable.

“We’re almost done,” he mumbled, already starting to fall asleep again.

“This doesn’t solve my most pressing issue at the moment, Yummy,” she grumbled as she continued to squirm.

“And what’s that?”

“You need to feed me.”

“I wish I’d known you were high maintenance before I let you have your way with me,” he said on a heavy sigh as though this somehow pained him.

“Live and learn, Yummy. Live and learn,” she said, pressing a kiss against his shoulder that had him smiling.

When he didn’t respond, she squirmed again to get his attention. “Are you going to feed me?”

“Do I have to?” he asked, making sure to sound putout.

“Yes, yes you do.”

“I’m going to need a shower first.”

“That really went without saying, Yummy,” she said, pressing another kiss against his shoulder before she rolled off him, more carefully this time.

“And you’re going to let me have my way with you in the shower?”

“Again, that just went without saying,” she said, making him smile as he rolled off the bed and followed her into the shower where he put that faded tiled wall that needed to be replaced to good use.

*-*-*-*

“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind, Yummy,” she said, biting back a yawn as she picked up her menu and stared at the picture of a stack of pancakes that would really hit the spot right about now.

“And what exactly did you have in mind?” he asked, reaching over the table and taking her hand into his as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

“Breakfast in bed served to me by an incredibly hot man determined to see to all my needs?” she said, smiling when he chuckled.

“And I probably would have done just that if my cousins hadn’t eaten everything in sight,” he said, gently caressing the back of her hand with his thumb as he looked over his menu.

“Now we’ll never know, will we, Yummy?” she asked with a sigh as she took a sip of her orange juice.

“Next time,” he promised her with a wink and a look that told her there would definitely be a next time.

Most likely smiling like an idiot, she cleared her throat and shifted her attention back to the menu. “Will I be expected to put out to pay for my breakfast?”

“That really went without saying, sweetheart,” he said with a slow caress of his thumb that had her biting back a groan and a suggestion that they wrap this up and go home.

“Officer Bradford, what a pleasant surprise,” Kelly, their waitress for the morning and a woman that Kasey really could have happily gone without seeing this morning, said with a warm smile for Reese. “What can I get for you today?”

Reese looked at Kasey and asked, “What do you want, sweetheart?”

“Are you going to steal my food every time you think that I’m not looking?” she shot back, blinking.

“That really went without saying,” he said, chuckling.

“I see,” she murmured as she put her menu down and looked at Kelly only to find the woman that normally went out of her way to ignore her, staring at her with a frown and before she could question it, it was gone and Kelly was looking bored.

Shaking it off, Kasey ordered her food, making sure to add extra food so that Reese could steal it. As soon as Reese was done ordering, and she still couldn’t get over the amount of food that he was able to put away, Kelly was taking their menus and was back to smiling at Reese.

“How much longer will you be with us, Officer Bradford?” she asked, making Kasey frown this time, because now she had a pretty good idea how everyone in town seemed to know his name.

“A few more weeks,” he said, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face that left her stomach in knots.

“Aw, that’s too bad. We’re really going to miss you around here,” Kelly said with a slight pout.

“I’m not going far,” he said, keeping his gaze locked on her as she looked past him at the trio of waitresses that always seemed to be hanging out at the register when he was around, watching him as they whispered and laughed and made her sick to her stomach.

“Your food will be out in a few minutes,” Kelly said, as Kasey forced her gaze away from the gossiping trio and looked back at Reese to find him staring at her intently.

“We should probably talk,” he said with a heavy sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“We probably should,” she murmured in agreement as she took a sip of orange juice and waited for him to start, but instead he sat there, looking uncomfortable and if she hadn’t suddenly been sick to her stomach at the thought of never seeing him again she probably would have smiled.

When it became obvious that he didn’t know where to start, she decided to help him out. “When do you leave?” she asked even though it was the last thing that she wanted to talk about, but she couldn’t pretend that it wasn’t going to happen.

“In a couple of weeks,” he said, taking one of her hands into both of his.

She nodded as she stared down at their hands, wondering why Reese leaving suddenly felt real. She’d known since the beginning that he was only here for the summer, but the possibility of never seeing him again had never really crossed her mind.

“Four days on, three days off,” he said, giving her hand a small squeeze.

“What?” she asked, looking up from their hands to find him smiling at her.

“That’s my schedule. I work Monday to Thursday, twelve hour shifts, and then I’m off for three days. It’s only a four hour drive,” he said, and she considered pointing out that it was actually a six-hour drive this time of year thanks to all the tourists, but decided to save that argument for another time.

“This isn’t over, Kasey. Not by a long shot.”

Chapter 40

He glanced at the quiet woman sitting in the passenger seat of his truck. She hadn’t said more than two words to him since they’d left the diner and he wished like hell that they didn’t have to have this conversation. They only had a few weeks left before he had to leave and he didn’t want to waste them talking about this, but the look on her face when she’d figured out why so many people knew his name made him realize that he couldn’t put this off any longer.

Wishing that he’d never met the deceitful bitch, he parked his newly fixed truck in the large grocery store parking lot and stared ahead, wondering how he was going to explain the biggest fuck up of his life. He considered everything that happened and knew that when it came down to it, it was really just one thing that had caused this mess.

“I settled,” he admitted as they sat there.

“Did you love her?”

“No,” he answered truthfully.

“But, you asked her to marry you,” she said softly with a curious frown as she shifted in her seat to look at him.

“Yes, yes I did,” he admitted with a strained chuckle, still wondering how he’d managed to convince himself that was a good idea.

“Why?”

“Because I was a twenty-eight-year-old virgin and terrified that I was never going to actually find what my brothers and cousins had.”

“So, you settled,” she said with a nod of understanding, repeating his admission.

“Yes, I did. I found someone who needed me and didn’t seem to care that I was a virgin, but even then I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t convince myself that I was happy or that she was what I really wanted,” he said, absently tapping his fingers against the steering wheel.

“I read the letter,” she admitted, making him chuckle.

“The letter that started it all,” he mused with a sigh.

“Did you know about her and your friend?” she asked, shooting him a questioning look.

“I didn’t really care,” he said with a shrug.

“Would you have married her if you hadn’t found out?” she asked, not really sounding like she wanted him to answer.

  “Honestly? I don’t know. She wasn’t the one, wasn’t someone I even liked, but…”

“But?”

“But, it would have been so easy to marry her and pretend that at least that part of my life was figured out,” he said, grabbing his keys out of the ignition.

“And what exactly is wrong with your life?” she asked, moving closer so that she could trace his jaw with her fingertips.

“It’s not mine.”

*-*-*-*

When he didn’t follow up on that vague and somewhat depressing announcement, she decided to take matters into her own hands, because he clearly needed her help. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she shoved it aside and before he could protest, she was climbing onto his lap so that they could continue this conversation in a more amicable manner.

“How is this not your life, Yummy?” she asked, as she settled on his lap and wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders.

Shifting beneath her, he cupped her hips and rubbed his hands down her thighs. “I never really knew what I wanted before.”

Nodding, she reached up and ran her fingers through that short military haircut that looked so damn good on him. “Your twin?”

Chuckling, he leaned in to brush his lips against hers. “Who else?”

“And if you could do things differently?” she asked, moving closer so that she could kiss him again.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said, moving his hands to cup her bottom and pulled her closer so that she was pressed up against that large bulge pressing against his zipper.

“What do you know then?” she asked absently with a moan as he kissed his way around her neck as one sneaky hand slid beneath her shirt so that he was cupping her breast.

“Just this,” he said, kissing his way back up to her mouth as he reached for the fly of her shorts and-

Stopped with a chuckle.

Frowning, she pulled back to find him smiling at something next to them. Curious, she followed his gaze and-

“Oh, crap!” she gasped, diving onto the seat so that she could curl up out of sight.

 As she wrestled with her fly to return it to its proper position, she debated the pros and cons of taking that one last roll that would bring her to the floor of his truck where she could wait until she was safely in her driveway and away from the little old lady that had been watching them with a huge smile and a thumb’s up.

“Is she still there?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip as she looked up to find Reese winking back at the little old lady and making her want to kick him.

“Yes,” he said, chuckling as he gave her bottom a gentle pat. “Come on.”

“No,” she said, stubbornly shaking her head, because there was no way in hell that she was getting out of this truck.

In fact, she was never coming to this grocery store again. She didn’t care that she had two hundred and ninety-seven unused gas points or that they automatically applied coupons. She was going to find another grocery store, somewhere far, far away where she wouldn’t have to risk crossing paths with the little old lady that had Reese grinning, ever again.

End. Of. Story.

“Come on, sweetheart.”

“No.”

“I thought you wanted me to cook you dinner and serve you in the manner that you’re determined to become accustomed to?” he asked, blinking and making her scowl at the mimicking bastard!

“Are you going to drive?”

“Are you ashamed of our love?” he countered.

“Yes!” she hissed with a glare when he gave her ass another squeeze that was going to get him killed.

“Are you trying to tell me that you don’t want to go food shopping?” he asked, doing his best to piss her off and it was working, because she was never going to let him touch her again!

“Yes!”

“Oh,” he said, letting his shoulders sag.

“Can we please just go now?” she damn near begged as she leaned up and risked another glance to find the little old lady gone, which meant that she was in the store and now was the time to haul ass and get out of here while they had a chance.

“I guess,” he said with a shrug and a heavy sigh as he put the key back in the ignition and-

“It’s just that I thought you would want to go shopping.”

“I did!” she snapped, wondering why he wasn’t already throwing the truck in reverse and getting them out of there while he still could.

“I just thought that you’d want to go food shopping now that your kitchen was done and all,” he said with another shrug as he threw the truck in reverse and-

She gasped, reached over and threw her door open as she scrambled to sit up. She was out the door a split second later, making a mad dash to the grocery store where she fully planned on putting those automatic coupons to good use.

Chapter 41

Perhaps he should have taken her to a different grocery store? he thought with something close to terror as the manager that he’d promised that he was coming back rolled the carriage filled with all the stuff that he’d picked out yesterday to a stop in front of him with a huge smile.

“I saved your carriage for you, sir,” he said, stepping back and gesturing to the carriage as though he’d somehow just done him a huge favor.

He really hadn’t, Reese thought, praying that wasn’t a blush creeping up his neck as Kasey, smiling hugely like it was Christmas morning and Santa had brought her everything she’d asked for and more, joined him.

“What do we have here, Yummy?” she asked, as she reached into the carriage and absently sorted through everything he’d picked out to make last night perfect.

“Nothing,” he bit out with a glare at the manager, who’d just given the devious woman something to torment him with.

“It doesn’t look like nothing,” she said with that sexy smile that told him just how much she was enjoying this.

“It is,” he said, grabbing the carriage and pushing it towards the produce aisle, but unfortunately for him, he hadn’t moved fast enough.

“Is this the mega pack, Yummy?” the devious woman asked with a shit-eating grin as she held up the box of condoms that he’d planned on using last night.

The box of condoms that they should have used, he thought with a curse.

“I’m clean,” she reassured him with a sigh as she tossed the large box back into the carriage.

“Me, too,” he promised.

“Never would have let you touch me otherwise, Yummy,” she said with a playful wink as she reached into the carriage, grabbed the pastries that he’d picked out last night and returned them to the table.

“Which leaves…” he trailed off, not really sure that the grocery store was the right place for this conversation.

“They didn’t help me last time,” she said with a small smile as she added a large bag of apples to the carriage.

“Mikey hadn’t been planned?” he asked, kind of shocked, because he’d assumed that she had been.

“I was fifteen,” she said with a chuckle as she grabbed a bag of gold potatoes and put them in the carriage.

“You were in love with him,” he said, unable to help but hate the poor kid simply because he hated the idea of anyone else touching her.

“Again,” she said, licking her lips before she stressed with a chuckle, “I was fifteen.”

“What happened?” he asked, adding a bag of russet potatoes to the carriage.

“Well, apparently condoms are only ninety-eight percent effective,” she said with a wink as they strolled through the quiet produce department.

“Smart ass,” he said with a chuckle as he grabbed some barely ripe bananas and put them into the carriage the same time that she grabbed a bunch of over-ripe bananas.

At his questioning look, she said, “Banana bread.” Nodding, because he wasn’t one to turn down banana bread, and he was damn well getting some of that banana bread, he followed her down the next aisle.

“So, Mikey was a surprise,” he mused, seriously wondering how a fifteen-year-old had managed to handle the news, because he probably would have lost it.

She smiled fondly as she picked through the peach display. “You could definitely say that,” she said with a heavy sigh before adding, “it probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise considering everything that I was doing, but…”

“But…” he prompted when she trailed off.

She shrugged as she absently picked through the peaches and added them to the plastic produce bag that he’d grabbed for her.  “Before I met Michael, it wouldn’t have thrown me like it had. Even then I was being careful. I was young and stupid, but I knew better than to take risks. If it had happened then I would have understood it, but when I met Michael things changed.”

“How so?” he asked softly, looking around to make sure that they were still alone, knowing that she would hate for anyone else to hear this.

“I don’t know. I really can’t explain it. Before, I didn’t care what happened to me, didn’t expect much and then when I met Michael suddenly everything changed. I started to care what was going to happen to me and I stopped taking chances, stopped doing stupid things, and I’d thought that I’d made better choices,” she said, giving him a self-deprecating smile. “Clearly, I was wrong.”

“It depends on how you look at it,” he murmured as his gaze dropped to her ass simply because he couldn’t help himself.

“Because Mikey probably made me grow up and stopped me from making excuses?” she asked, sounding amused as she pointedly gave her ass a little wiggle that had him groaning. “That was my take on things as well.”

“Something like that,” he said, wondering how quickly they could get this done so that he could take her back home and put that box of condoms to good use.

Maybe he should grab another box? he amended a second later when she bent over to pick something up and he decided that once he got her home, they were never leaving that bed again.

*-*-*-*

“I need more eggs!” she said, shoving money into Jason’s hands as she pushed him out the door. “And sugar and flour!” she added, deciding that she should see how the second double oven handled baking cookies.

“I’m not your bitch!” Jason snapped in disgust as he stumbled back.

“I am,” Trevor said with a shrug as he shoved another cheesecake brownie in his mouth and plucked the money out of Jason’s hands on his way to his truck. “Text me if you need anything else.”

“Wait!” Jason said with something close to panic as he chased after his cousin. “I was negotiating, you bastard!”

Trevor simply shrugged as he jumped in his truck and tried to drive away only to have Jason jump in the back, determined to do whatever it took to help so that the procession of baked goods, casseroles and stews didn’t stop. She watched them for a few more seconds before releasing another satisfied sigh and returned to her brand new kitchen.

She still couldn’t believe it.

Reese had taken a seriously outdated kitchen on the verge of falling down around her and turned it into…this.

She glanced over her shoulder at the intricate wood floor that Reese had created in her living room, the built-in shelves he’d installed, the floor to ceiling entertainment center that she was going to fill with all the pictures of Mikey that she’d been storing in her closet over the years, and the large closet that he’d created for all of Mikey’s baseball gear before shifting her attention to her dream kitchen.

It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful, she thought with a sigh as she ignored the sulking man sitting at the beautiful handmade dining room table that he’d created for her to the dark tiled floor, the large kitchen cabinets, pantry cabinets, double ovens, oversized fridge, huge bay windows that now overlooked the beach until her gaze landed on the most amazing kitchen island that she’d ever seen.

It was oversized, had more than enough shelves, cabinets, drawers, power sources, cooled storage drawers for her vegetables, hidden drawers for Mikey’s baseballs, an elevated spot for her computer, one for her iPad and a locking system for her mini tripod so that she could make videos without having to use her large tripods and taking up most of the kitchen floor.

He’d given her everything he’d promised her and more.

It was so much more than she could have hoped for, she thought as she glanced at him to find him watching her with a predatory gaze that sent a tremor down her spine as she realized that he was more than she could have ever asked for.

Deciding that she’d make that lasagna later, she toed off her shoes while she undid her pants and turned around, heading towards her bedroom as she pulled off her top, tossed it aside with her bra quickly following. By the time she reached her room her panties were off and Reese was sweeping her off her feet with a growl as he kicked the door shut behind them.

After that…

Things got a little more interesting.

Chapter 42

“What are you doing?” he mumbled into his pillow as the woman that should be passed out by his side nudged him.

“Service me,” she said, making him smile.

“I can’t,” he admitted with a defeated groan as she nudged him again.

“You really can.”

“I really can’t,” he said, chuckling when the insatiable woman gave up on nudging him and tried to push him over onto his back.

“That’s loser talk, Yummy,” she said, sounding out of breath as she continued with her attempts to push him over onto his back and have her way with him, again.

Not that he was complaining, especially not after last night, but he was exhausted, sore, starving, and he was pretty sure that they’d run out of condoms a few hours ago. Before he touched her again, he was going to need at least twelve hours of sleep, a hot shower, a massage, a large meal and most likely a sacrifice to the gods to make him want to move again.

“You’ve worn me out, sweetheart,” he admitted with a manful grunt as she jostled him.

“You’re going to give up just like that?” she asked with a sigh as she crawled over him, further jostling him, so that she could see if she had better luck from the other side.

“Yup.”

“Have you no shame?” she asked, doing her best to turn him over.

“None whatsoever,” he admitted on a sigh as he moved his arms beneath his pillow to get more comfortable.

“You’re really going to give up that easily?” she asked with a heavy sigh as she paused in her attempts to roll him over.

“Yes.”

“Really?” she asked, giving up on trying to roll him over and settled for straddling his back.

“Yes,” he groaned when he felt just how wet she was.

“I see,” she murmured, shifting on top of him and dragging another groan from him.

“Then you’ll show me a little mercy and let me sleep?” he asked, sounding hopeful as the cruel woman leaned over him so that he could feel her hard nipples brush against his back.

“Are you sure you want that?” she whispered, making him groan.

“Maybe,” he said, biting back a yawn as he suddenly rolled over, taking her by surprise and earning a startled gasp.

Before she could fall on her ass, and he’d been more than willing to kiss it better if she had, he caught her and brought her back down on top of him so that she was now straddling his hips.

“Would you stop doing that?” she asked, trying to look pissed as she settled more comfortably on his lap, but that devious little smile that she was trying to hide from him told a different story all together.

“No,” he simply said, as he ran his hands over her thighs.

“Well,” she said, crossing her arms over those beautiful tear dropped shaped breasts that had his poor abused cock hardening, “then I believe we’re at an impasse, sir.”

“Meaning?” he asked, running his hands over her hips.

“That I will not be speaking to you until you service me, sir,” she said with a sniff and a little wiggle that had her slit sliding over his cock and making him rethink his list of demands.

Sighing like it was the last thing that he wanted to do, he asked, “Do I need to be awake for this?”

She pursed her lips as she thought it over before shaking her head. “I suppose not.”

Grabbing her hips, he guided her to roll her hips so that she ground herself down against him. “Will you respect me in the morning?” he asked, watching as she licked her lips hungrily.

“Don’t expect miracles, Yummy,” she said with a pitying shake of her head as she leaned forward and slapped her hands against his chest so that she could shift her hips and-

“Mom?”

-clumsily climb off him as she suddenly found the strength to shove him off the bed. He hit the floor with a grunt and barely managed a wince when he found himself being dragged towards the double bay windows that needed to be replaced.

“Mom?” Mikey said, sounding closer and making Kasey pause mid-shove to throw a panicked look at the closed, and hopefully locked, bedroom door.

“What-” he barely managed to get out when he found his clothes, minus his shirt of course, shoved into his arms, the windows open and the small woman shoving him outside.

“Sorry!” she whispered when he hit the packed sand below with a grunt. She then promptly closed the windows, leaving him sitting there, naked, aroused, and making him realize that the neighbor’s house was a lot closer than he thought.

Clearing his throat, he said, “Good morning, ladies. How are you doing on this fine morning?”

“Much better now,” the little old lady sitting in the wheelchair said with a huge smile as her daughter sputtered by her side.

“Excellent,” he said, returning her smile with a wink as he yanked on his shorts with a sigh and headed next door, deciding that he could really use a nap before his next encounter with the devious woman and there would definitely be another encounter, hopefully one that didn’t end with her throwing him out another window.

*-*-*-*

“Can we watch another movie?” Mikey asked around a mouthful of popcorn as she looked between them with a hopeful smile.

“I’m up for it,” Reese said, returning her smile and forcing Kasey to bite back a groan of frustration, because all she wanted to do was to drag Reese back to her bedroom and tear his clothes off, but she couldn’t do that, not with Mikey here.

Until this moment, she’d never really appreciated the difficulties that came with dating when you had a child. Those difficulties had become painfully obvious when she’d been forced to shove Reese out the window and dive over her bed and jerk on a shirt before her ten-year-old daughter walked into her room and got an eyeful.

It made her realize that she had to be careful, really careful, since the last thing that she wanted was for her daughter to get a glimpse into her childhood. When she’d found out that she was pregnant on that fateful day at the downtown clinic all those years ago, she’d made herself a promise that she would never subject her children to the type of childhood that she’d had, and so far, she’d been able to keep that promise.

But, with Reese here it was going to be difficult. He was kind, funny, sweet, and she loved him. There was no doubt in her mind that she was in love with him and that was the problem. She didn’t want to lose herself around him, especially in front of Mikey, which meant that she was going to have to behave herself, keep an appropriate distance from him, and of course, kick him out after the next movie was over, because under no circumstances was he going to spend the night when Mikey was here.

As she glanced over Mikey’s head to find him watching her, she felt her shoulders sag and found herself on the verge on whimpering pathetically, because she was half afraid that she was already addicted to him. Gesturing to Mikey to play another movie, she somehow managed to tear her gaze away from him and drowned her sorrows with a bottle of apple juice as she tried not to think of all the things that she was going to have to go without tonight.

There would be no snuggling, no falling asleep in his arms or waking up in new and interesting ways, and no tormenting him first thing in the morning, she realized with something close to a pout. She’d hate it, but for Mikey she would do anything.

So, when the second movie finally ended, she slapped a smile on her face and said, “Let me walk Reese to the door and then I’ll come tuck you in, okay?”

“Sure,” Mikey said with a shrug before she gave Reese a hug goodnight, switched the baseball in her hands for the one by the door and headed to the bathroom, leaving her there to explain to Reese that this was going to be more difficult than they’d thought.

“Reese, I-”

“No worries, sweetheart,” he said, warmly as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight,” he said, and with that, he was gone and she found herself dragging herself to Mikey’s room, tucking her in and promising her pancakes in the morning before she took herself to the bathroom, took a shower, and then finally dragged herself the rest of the way to her lonely, sad room.

Pulling on the latest shirt that she’d stolen from Reese, she shut the lights off, climbed in bed and immediately realized that this just wasn’t going to work for her. Flopping over onto her side, she grabbed the remote and decided to see what was on television when her bedroom window was suddenly shoved open by that large tan hand that she would recognize anywhere.

More amused than anything, she watched as that hand struggled to get the window to stay up. It took several tries and a few muttered curses, but eventually he was able to get the window to stay open so that he could climb in through the window and land on her bedroom floor with an “Oomph.”

“Can I help you with something, Yummy?” she asked, curling up on her side to watch him.

“I came for my goodnight kiss,” he informed her as he pulled himself up and crossed the small room to lock her bedroom door.

“Reese-” she started to say only to have the man, who’d apparently thought this one out, cut her off.

“I’ll be gone before she wakes up,” he promised, clearly understanding the problem.

“I see,” she murmured. “Do I have to get naked for this goodnight kiss?”

Nodding, he reached behind him and pulled off his shirt as he kicked off his boots. “That really went without saying, sweetheart.”

Smiling, she pulled off her shirt and flung it next to the one he’d tossed aside, already calling it her very own. Throwing a nervous glance towards the closed door, she reminded him, “You have to be gone before she gets up.”

“I will, sweetheart,” he said, pushing down his jeans as he joined her on the bed. “I promise.”

Chapter 43

“What are you doing?” Mikey asked, as she sat down on the bench seat that she’d declared was rightfully hers the other night when Sara had dropped her off and he’d resigned himself to sneaking into her mother’s room late at night and sneaking out early in the morning.

“Getting your mother’s bill together,” he said, staring down at the list that he’d compiled with all the receipts he’d collected over the past few months.

It was a small fortune, but he’d been able to cover it with the large settlement the judge had awarded to him after his brother had wiped the floor with Missy. She’d been forced to pay him everything she had and been placed on five years probation for grand larceny all because of that letter that she couldn’t help but share online simply because she’d thought it was funny.

“How much is it?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip as she helped herself to one of the large apple streusel muffins that her mother had whipped up this morning after he’d snuck out.

“Enough,” he said, chuckling as he looked at the total amount and sighed.

Between the appliances, wood, materials, windows, and all the other shit that he’d needed to complete this job she was looking at a nineteen thousand dollar bill. That didn’t include the money that he owed his cousins for helping, but he’d take care of that himself.

“You made mom cry, you know,” she said matter-of-factly as she nibbled on the streusel muffin.

“What?” he asked, looking up to find the little girl shrugging.

“She doesn’t know that I saw her,” Mikey said, giving him a look that he couldn’t quite make sense of.

“Do you know why she was crying?” he asked, already pushing his chair back to go check on Kasey.

“You made her happy,” she said, popping the last bite of streusel in her mouth before she jumped up and headed for the front door only to stop halfway there, run back and throw her arms around him and give him a bear hug. “The kitchen’s amazing, Reese. I gotta go! Uncle Eric is here! I’ll see you at my game tonight!”

And with that, she was gone.

He stood there for another minute, taking in the kitchen that he’d created for Kasey and looking for things that he could fix or change and for the first time in his life, he couldn’t come up with a single one.

It was perfect.

Absolutely fucking perfect, he thought chuckling as he walked out of the kitchen to do the same with the living room only to sigh when he glanced down the hallway to the rest of the house that didn’t match his perfect kitchen and living room. He walked down the hallway that needed to be gutted of the old horsehair plaster, warped floors and glanced into the bathroom he’d like to work on next before he continued the rest of the way to Kasey’s door only to find himself locked out.

Frowning, he knocked. “Kasey?”

“Just a minute!”

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked, leaning against the door.

“Yeah, I just need a minute.”

When a minute passed and she still hadn’t opened the door, he decided to take a look at the bathroom to see if it would be possible to expand it by taking out the hallway closet, something that he could do later when he came back during his days off. With that in mind, he went to find his measuring tape.

*-*-*-*

“Why did you tell me to get my ass over here if you were going to lock your door?” came the curious question that had her jumping off the bed and rushing over to her locked bedroom door.

“Is Reese with you?” she whispered.

“Uh, no? Why are we whispering?” Sara asked, as Kasey decided to make sure the coast was clear.

She knelt down in front of the door, closed one eye and looked through the keyhole to-

Get the crap scared out of her when she spotted a familiar brown eye staring back at her.

“Are you going to open the door or not?” Sara asked, sounding amused as Kasey muttered under her breath about hateful bitches and threw the lock before opening the door, reaching out and dragging her best friend inside so that she could shut and lock the door before Reese saw them.

“Where’s Reese?” she asked, double-checking the lock before returning to her messy bed and the laptop that she’d been working on all morning.

“No clue,” Sara said, climbing onto the bed so that she could join her. “What are we hiding from him?” she asked, as she helped herself to Kasey’s bottle of apple juice.

“This,” she said with a smile as she opened her laptop and pulled up the file that she’d been working on and didn’t want Reese to see until it was ready.

Sara passed the juice back over to her and pulled the laptop onto her lap so that she could get a better look. “Holy crap, does he know about this yet?”

“Nope,” she said, worrying her bottom lip as she waited for Sara to finish looking at the website that she’d created for Reese on a whim.

“You did this?” Sara asked, shooting her a curious look.

“Mmmhmm,” she said, shifting nervously.

“It’s amazing,” Sara said, shaking her head in wonder as she went through the “Before” and “After” pictures of Kasey’s living room and kitchen. “He’s going to love it.”

“You think?” she asked, throwing the closed bedroom door another nervous glance.

“Yeah,” Sara said, nodding with a chuckle. “It looks amazing. The color scheme, fonts, and layout look great, but I do have one question.”

“And that is?”

“Is Officer Yummy planning on leaving the force to open his own business?”

She snorted at that as she took back the computer. “What? No! This is just so that he could have a website if he decides to do this on the side and he should definitely keep doing this,” she said, still unable to stop smiling when she thought about the beautiful kitchen and living room that he’d created for her.

“I agree, but if he’s doing this on the side then when is he going to be able to come see you?” Sara said, as she leaned back and helped herself to the rest of Kasey’s juice.

Sighing, she rubbed her hands down her face and shook her head as she admitted, “I honestly don’t know.”

“Kasey,” Sara said, sighing heavily, “please tell me that you’re not already trying to find a way out of this.”

“Oh, you mean now that I’ve found a great guy that I love spending time with and can’t seem to get enough of that I’m freaking out and trying to come up with a way to push him away before he breaks my heart,” she said, blinking. “Is that what you mean?” she asked, laughing when Sara flipped her off with a glare.

“I hate you,” Sara said before chuckling.

“You love and adore everything about me,” she said, returning her attention to the website that she was hoping to surprise Reese with.

“Only because I don’t know any better,” Sara said, grabbing the remote and turning the television on. “Where’s Mikey?”

Glancing at the right hand corner of her computer screen and checking the time, she said, “With Eric.”

“Is he still giving you the silent treatment?”

“Yup.”

“Any idea what that’s about?”

“Nope,” she said, pissed that he was acting this way.

He was one of her best friends and to have him suddenly just drop out of her life like this made her feel sick to her stomach. She didn’t know what happened or why it happened, but she wasn’t going to waste the last few weeks that she had with Reese on it. She’d give him his space, let him figure out why he was so pissed and when Reese left, she’d slap the shit out of him.

“And Reese?”

“Was out in the hall the last time I knew,” she said, wondering if he’d be willing to pose for a picture for this website.

Probably not, she thought with a smile as she scrolled down the page and-

“Son of a bitch!”

-scrambled off the bed when the sounds of glass shattering followed that loud declaration.

Shoving Sara out of the way, she raced over to the door, fumbled with the lock and finally managed to get it open so that she could run down the hall, shove the bathroom door open and stumble to a halt when she saw Reese, standing there, holding what remained of her medicine cabinet, the one that she was pretty sure had been attached to the wall this morning, and looking incredibly guilty.

Clearing his throat, Reese carefully placed the ruined medicine cabinet on the floor, shoved it aside with his foot as he stood up and cleared his throat again as she took in the large hole in her wall where the medicine cabinet had once been and the cracked sink before looking back at the large man that was definitely making her dinner tonight.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he nodded as he slowly exhaled. “So, I’ll just get started on this today,” he said with a nod as he headed towards the door, pausing long enough so that he could kiss her cheek and mumble, “Sorry.”

“You might want to get a picture of this before he gets back here if you want a ‘Before’ picture,” Sara pointed out as Kasey turned around with a sigh and headed back to her room, resigned to spend the night over at Reese’s, which meant that she was going to have to put off finishing his website for another night.

Chapter 44

“No, that’s just not going to work for us,” Sara said, sighing long and loud as she gestured for him to pick up the beach chairs that she’d somehow suckered him into carrying for her along with a cooler filled to the max and a bag of shit that he wasn’t really sure that she was going to need for a kid’s baseball game.

Ignoring his glare, she gestured for him to move the chairs five feet to the right. “That would be great if you put them over there. Thanks,” she said with a smile as she pulled out a one-dollar bill and stuffed it in his pocket with a wink.

“What’s wrong with the bleachers?” he asked, gesturing towards the bleachers to their right and left, the ones that had plenty of space for them and would give them a better view of the field.

“We don’t sit in the bleachers,” Sara said with a sniff as she pushed her designer sunglasses back up on her nose before once again gesturing for him to move the chairs.

“And why’s that?” he asked, moving the chairs over only to force himself not to strangle the woman when she gestured for him to move them back a little to the left.

Before she could answer, he was releasing a small grunt and smiling when the woman that had ditched them to go check on Mikey launched herself onto his back. “Why what?” Kasey asked, leaning forward and kissing his cheek before sliding off his back so that she could stand next to him.

“He wants to know why we don’t sit on the bleachers,” Sara informed her, once again gesturing for him to move the chairs a little more to the left.

Kasey blinked as she looked at the bleachers, where he realized that most of the women were either glaring at her or openly gesturing towards her and laughing, to the section of the field that they were claiming as their very own. “If we sit there then how would we ogle the umpire?” she asked, smiling as she waved to Mikey, who was still sitting on the bench while the rest of the players were warming up on the field.

“Well, that and the bitches on the bleachers would probably have a heart attack if Kasey sat with them,” Sara said, giving up on waiting for him to move the chair and sat down with a sigh as she reached into her bag and grabbed a fashion magazine before turning her attention to the cooler.

“This is true as well,” Kasey said, nodding as she gestured for him to sit down and once he did, she was sitting on his lap and laying her arm around his shoulders as she accepted the small bottle of apple juice that Sara was handing her.

“And why’s that?” he asked even though he already had a pretty good idea.

“Because they’re afraid that Kasey will screw their husbands,” Sara said with a shrug as she returned her attention to her magazine.

“This is true. I am a slut,” she said, nodding solemnly as she took a sip of her juice and watched the kids play as though she didn’t care what half the town was saying about her.

“You really are,” Sara said around a yawn.

“I just can’t seem to help myself,” she said dryly, looking bored as she took a sip of apple juice while he sat there, seriously wondering why she stayed in this town. Then again, she really hadn’t had much of a choice, he thought as he glanced at Mikey to find her smiling hugely as she grabbed her mitt and headed onto the field to join her team.

“You really can’t,” Sara agreed, flipping through her magazine. “Then again, it doesn’t help that they already think that you’ve screwed their husbands and fathers.”

“I have been busy,” Kasey said, nodding as she took another sip.

“You really have.”

“I need to learn how to pace myself,” Kasey said with a sad shake of her head as she handed him the bottle of juice.

“You probably should at this point,” Sara said, tossing her magazine aside so that she could rummage through the cooler.

“I just don’t know if I can control myself,” Kasey said, taking the bottle of juice back so that she could finish it off before she hopped off his lap and headed towards the chain-link fence so that she could cheer on Mikey, leaving him sitting there thinking about just how much he hated this town.

“It’s not true,” Sara said after a minute.

“What’s not true?” he asked absently as he glanced over his shoulder to find the women glaring towards the fence, taking away any doubt that their glares were for Kasey.

“About Kasey sleeping with all of them.”

“Wouldn’t care if it was,” he said, shifting his attention to find Eric sitting on top of the bleachers and watching Kasey.

“Seriously?” she asked, handing him an ice cold Coke.

“She was a kid.”

“This is true,” she mumbled, looking thoughtful as a thought occurred to him.

“Why does she stay?” he couldn’t help but ask as he glanced around for a vender, hoping they had one here because there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to survive this game on an empty stomach.

“She’s stubborn and refuses to allow a bunch of bitches to push her out of her home,” she said, pointing past the bleachers towards a snack shack that promised the best hot dogs outside of Fenway Park.

“Shocking,” he said, making her smile as she tossed her magazine aside.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, getting up and heading towards the concession stand and before he could follow her to find out if those hot dogs were really as good as they claimed, Kasey was back and sitting on his lap.

“So, Yummy,” she said, helping herself to his Coke, “I was wondering about something.”

“And that is?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her so that he could pull her closer.

“Well,” she said, shifting so that she could reach into her back pocket and pull out the bill that he’d handed her this morning, “it’s about this bill, Yummy.”

“What about it?” he asked, taking his Coke back and took a sip, telling himself that she wasn’t on to him.

“Yeah,” she said, shifting on his lap with a little wiggle that had him choking on his Coke, “So, I’ve been thinking about this bill all morning and I can’t help but wonder about a few things.”

“Like what?” he asked only to grunt when the devious woman gave her bottom another wiggle that had him wishing that they were having this conversation somewhere more private.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, glancing off as she took his soda back and took a sip, “Things.”

“Things?” he asked with a grunt and a groan as she did another wiggle.

Nodding, she repeated, “Things.”

“What sort of things?” he asked, shifting his hands to her hips to stop that damn wiggling that was driving him out of his fucking mind.

Instead of answering, she said, “Yeah, funny story,” and something told him that it wasn’t going to be a funny story, at least not for him, “I made a video for my website showing what the living room and kitchen looked like before and what it looks like now and some of the ladies who’ve had their houses remodeled recently couldn’t help but share how much their remodels cost them.”

“I-”

“Yeah, and funny thing, they all paid more than I did, a lot more, and none of them had anything custom made,” she said with a pointed look at him while he sat there, trying to figure out how to respond.

Apparently, she didn’t expect one, because she simply nodded and continued, “Yeah, so that turned into them guessing how much it cost to have my living room and kitchen renovated. They of course decided that my renovation must have cost a great deal more than theirs because of the two rooms and let’s not forget the custom-made built in shelves, the hand carved dining room table and chairs, the restaurant grade appliances, and the kitchen island. The floor they decided added another fifteen thousand dollars to the price tag,” she said, with a pointed look at him as she took another sip.

He opened his mouth, closed it and cleared his throat before he asked, “And how much did they estimate the cost of your renovation?”

“Oh,” she said, pausing to finish off his Coke, “about sixty thousand dollars, but they didn’t add in the cost of the dining room table set since they felt that was separate from the renovation.”

“I see,” he said, as she reached up and petted him on the head with a big smile that scared the hell out of him, “I’m glad that you do, pookie. I’m glad that you do.”

And with that, she was off his lap and heading back towards the chain-link fence to cheer on Mikey while he sat there, deciding that it would probably be for the best if he slept with one eye open tonight.

Chapter 45

“Are you and Reese fighting?” Mikey asked, hopping onto the freshly made bed with a sigh.

“No, why would you say that?” Kasey asked, as she tossed a pillow onto the bed that Mikey was crashing on for the night.

“Because you haven’t spoken a word to him since the game and he keeps watching your every move as though he expects you to suddenly attack him?” Mikey asked, as she laid back on the bed and pulled the covers up so that she could return to rolling the baseball between her hands.

“Cause he’s paranoid?” she suggested, biting back a smile since it probably wouldn’t do to let her daughter know that she was screwing with someone’s head for the simple joy that it brought her. Well, that and they needed to get a few things straight like that bill for one thing.

“Probably,” Mikey easily agreed as she looked around the room that Reese had given her for the night. “Are you sleeping in here?”

“So that you can kick me out of bed in the middle of the night?” she asked, with a shake of her head and a sigh. “No, I think I’d be better off grabbing one of the other rooms.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Mikey said, rolling over onto her side.

“And why’s that?” she couldn’t help but ask as she turned the television on before handing Mikey the remote.

“Because you snore,” Mikey said with a shrug as Kasey narrowed her eyes on the cruel little girl that she’d actually shared her dessert with tonight.

Never. Again.

“Goodnight, brat,” she said, chuckling as she leaned over and kissed Mikey goodnight.

“Goodnight,” Mikey said, as she put on the sports channel and settled in for the night.

Once she was sure that Mikey wasn’t going to get up and demand another glass of water, try to con another snack out of her, or suddenly need to use the bathroom, she closed the door and headed down the hallway towards the room that she’d picked out earlier for herself, the one that was in the opposite direction of Reese’s bedroom.

Even though he’d offered to sleep on the couch and give her his room for Mikey’s benefit, she felt that sleeping in a different room so that he was forced to squirm for a few hours would also give her a chance to figure out how she was going to come up with the rest of the money to pay him, because there was no way that she was going to feel right about only paying him a third of what the renovations were actually worth.

He’d spent the entire summer working his butt off fixing her kitchen and living room and the only thing that he’d charged her for it seemed was the materials and the appliances and she wasn’t comfortable with that. She didn’t need charity and she definitely didn’t want it from Reese. In a few hours, he’d figure that out and-

“We’re going to talk,” Reese announced softly, which normally wouldn’t be a problem, but since he’d made that announcement as he’d taken her by surprise and pushed her up against the wall and pulled her hands behind her back so that he could handcuff her, she found herself having a difficult time coming up with a proper response.

That is until he turned her around, leaned down and threw her over his shoulder. After that she had plenty to say, but since she didn’t want to scare Mikey, she waited until he’d carried her into his room and closed the door before she decided to share those things with Reese. As soon as he started to put her down, she opened her mouth and-

Released an embarrassing squeal as he tossed her on the bed so that she landed on her stomach after bouncing a few times and ensuring that she never stepped foot inside another bouncy house for as long as she lived. Not really sure what he had planned and not really willing to find out in this position, she quickly rolled over onto her back, raised her knees and quickly worked her cuffed hands in front of her all while keeping an eye on the man standing at the front of the bed, watching her with a predatory expression that she really didn’t find all that reassuring at this moment.

“Umm, what are you doing?” she couldn’t help but ask as she used her feet and pushed herself back towards the headboard and away from the man watching her every move, wondering when exactly she’d pushed him too far only to sigh. She really needed to stop screwing with people’s heads for her own enjoyment.

“So, I’ve been thinking about a few things,” he said, ignoring her question as he reached down and plucked one of her sandals off and tossed it over his shoulder.

“Things?” she asked, testing her handcuffs only to find that there was no way out of them without the key. “And did we really need the handcuffs to have this conversation?”

“Yes,” he said, as he reached down and plucked off her other sandal and tossed it aside.

“Okay,” she said, nodding slowly as she licked her lips and shifted to the right, hoping that he didn’t see the-

“Hey!” she gasped as he reached over, grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her back towards him until her legs were hanging over the edge and Reese was standing between them.

“I didn’t charge you for labor,” he said absently as he released his hold on her ankles so that he could run his fingertips over her thighs, leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake.

“And that’s a problem,” she said with a nod, mentally congratulating herself on being able to think clearly at the moment.

With a slight shake of his head, he watched his fingers continue to run over her legs. “I don’t think it is.”

Sighing, she sat up. “Reese, I-” she started to say only to end with a gasp when he cupped the back of her thighs and with a flick of his wrists had her dropping back onto the bed with a grunt.

“I quoted you twenty thousand dollars and we agreed,” he said, reaching back and pulling off his shirt as she laid there, watching him doing it and telling herself that it would be wrong, so very wrong to enjoy this.

“But, you should have charged more,” she pointed out as she licked her lips, unable to help herself.

“And if you had been anyone else I would have,” he agreed as he tossed his shirt aside and reached for the button of her cut off jeans.

“Because when you met me you realized just how amazing I was?” she asked dryly, finishing with a snort of disgust that turned into a moan when the devious bastard slowly pulled her shorts off.

“Actually, I thought you were a pain in the ass when I first met you,” he said, tossing her shorts aside and since she couldn’t really argue that one, she didn’t.

“And that endeared you towards me so that you screwed yourself out of forty thousand dollars?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“No,” he said, shaking his head as he ran hungry eyes over her.

“Then why did you do it?” she asked, as she shifted her cuffed hands to the side so that she could sit up.

“Honestly?” he asked, as he reached down and pulled off his boots. “I have no fucking clue.”

“That’s not really helpful, Yummy,” she said, leaning back against the headboard as she watched him climb onto the bed and move towards her.

“Grab the headboard, sweetheart,” he said, as he lowered himself onto his arms so that he could kiss the spot right above her knee.

“What?” she asked after a slight pause as a shiver tore through her body when he kissed her again.

“Grab the headboard,” he said, as he lowered himself so that he was lying between her legs.

“W-why?’ she managed to get out even as the next kiss had her reaching back and grabbing hold of the headboard with both hands.

“Because I’m done talking,” he said conversationally as he hooked his fingers in her panties and pulled them off.

“Umm, shouldn’t we discuss this?” she asked with something close to panic as he tossed her panties over his shoulder.

“No,” he said with a simple shake of his head as he leaned down and-

“Oh, god!” she gasped, barely able to stop herself from screaming when he licked her from core to clit.

“It’s a gift, Kasey,” he said, sliding his tongue inside her as he reached down and nearly made her whimper when she heard the unmistakable sound of a zipper being pulled down.

“But-”

“You’re really not going to let me do something nice for you, hmm?” he asked, pressing a kiss against her slit in the way that she really liked before moving over her and in the process, giving her a view of that very large erection sticking out the front of his pants and making it very hard to remember what they were talking about.

“Don’t you like your gift, sweetheart?” he asked in a seductive whisper as he shifted over so that he could lean down and kiss her neck in a way that really wasn’t fair.

“Reese,” she said his name on a moan as she struggled to focus only to gasp when he lowered himself between her legs so that the tip of his cock was brushing against her slit.

“Tell me you like your gift, sweetheart,” he said, enticing her with another brush of his cock against her.

“I-”

“I worked very hard to make it for you, sweetheart,” he said, kissing his way to her mouth as her hands tightened around the headboard.

“I know you did, which is why-” she started to say only to have her words cut off with a kiss.

Chuckling, he pulled back as he shifted his weight onto one arm so that he was looking at her as he reached down and wrapped his hand around his cock. “You’re stubborn, sweetheart,” he said, as he used his cock to trace her slit, teasing her.

“You knew this going in,” she said, panting as she used her hold on the headboard so that she could roll her hips against him.

“I did,” he agreed as he leaned down to kiss her, “but you forgot one thing.”

“And what’s that?” she asked on a groan when she felt the tip of his cock come to rest where she needed him most.

“I’m just as stubborn,” he said, as he pushed forward and slid inside her with a growl that tore a gasp from her.

Licking her lips, her head dropped back on a gasp as he wrapped one arm around her and grabbed hold of the headboard with the other as he shifted his hips so that the next time that he pushed inside her the move jolted her off the bed and the sounds of her handcuffs clinking together echoed through the room, making it the most erotic sound that she’d ever heard. Eyes locking with hers, he slowly thrust inside her as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered as he released his hold on the headboard and sat back up as he wrapped his arms around her. The move forced her to lower her trembling arms so that they were around his shoulders.

As he shifted her, the handcuffs released another small clicking noise, making her lick her lips and wonder what it would be like to handcuff him to the bed. It was definitely something that she was willing to look into, she decided on a moan as he leaned back in and kissed her.

“Hold on, sweetheart,” he said, as he sat back on his heels and shifted his arm lower so that his hand was grabbing her bottom and-

Caused her breath to hitch as he used the hold to move her on him. “I’m never going to get enough of you,” he swore as he tightened his hold on her so that when he thrust up inside her, he was able to pull her down to meet each thrust and hitting her deeper than she’d ever felt him before.

Threading her fingers through his hair, she kissed him as she tried to hold on, praying that the orgasm that already had her breaths coming quicker and her body trembling would wait so that she could draw out this one perfect moment with him when he was hers and nothing else mattered. Trying to make this last, she held onto him, kissing him as she tried to hold back, god knows that she tried, but she couldn’t. As her orgasm slammed into her, the need to tell him just how much she loved him was overwhelming.

She opened her mouth to scream it, but instead she somehow found herself screaming his name and telling herself that it was too soon.

Chapter 46

Two Amazing Weeks Later

“What time is it?” Reese asked, as he rubbed his hand down his face, careful not to disturb her.

“Four in the morning,” she said, using him as a pillow as she continued to absently trace circles on his stomach while she watched Harry Potter.

“What are you doing?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her with a pointed look at the shirt that she’d helped herself to. It just happened to be his last shirt, which meant that he was going to have to “borrow” one of the many shirts that she’d stolen from him so that he had something to wear on the drive home today.

She didn’t want him to go, but she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

“Wondering why I never received my Hogwarts letter,” she said with a heartfelt sigh that had his lips twitching.

“Are you okay?” he asked, gently caressing her arm as he held her.

“I should be asking you that,” she said, shifting so that she was looking at him.

“I’m fine,” he said softly, reaching up and running his fingers through her short hair. “Besides, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Promise?”

“I promise,” he swore as she snuggled closer, laying her head on his chest as she tried to enjoy the last few hours they had together before he had to go.

Technically, he should have left last night and he probably would have if Mikey hadn’t fallen asleep early. He’d wanted a chance to say goodbye to her, but he wasn’t willing to wake her up and upset her. She tried not to think about what time it was or the fact that he was going to be leaving in a few hours.

Right now he was here and nothing else mattered. She was just going to enjoy their time together and most likely take advantage of his incredible body one last time before he had to leave. She was going to enjoy being in his arms, touching him, and all the things that she’d never shared with a man before.

Intimacy.

Even with Michael she’d never had this type of affection where everything felt right with one simple touch. She’d never felt like everything in her world was perfect, felt safe, cared for, and cherished from just a simple touch, she thought as she turned her head and pressed a kiss against his chest. The soft groan that he released as he tightened his hold on her had her pressing another kiss against his chest, unable to help herself, and smiling when he released another groan.

She pressed another kiss against his chest, realizing the other important thing that had been missing all those years ago.

Fun.

This was definitely fun, she thought with a smile as she pressed another kiss against his chest while she ran her hand over his stomach, loving the way that his breath caught so she did it again. When he moved his hand from her back to her breast and gave it a small squeeze with another one of those groans, she lost that smile and released one of her own.

She pressed one last kiss against his chest before she laid her head back on his shoulder and focused on running her hand over his stomach as he gave her breast another light squeeze. Licking her lips and shifting, she watched her hand move over him, listening to his soft moans as her gaze moved to the large bulge pressing against his boxers in an attempt to break free.

Her hand continued to caress his stomach, once, twice, as she stared down at the bulge until she wasn’t able to help herself and she slid her hand down the front of his boxer’s.

“Oh, fuck,” Reese moaned as she slid her hand over him.

She ran her hand over him, caressing him through the soft cotton material with a shuddering breath. When he pressed a kiss against the top of her head with a groan, she licked her lips and continued to rub him a little more firmly, loving the way that he felt against her hand.

After another minute, she realized that she wanted more. She fumbled with the single button keeping his boxers closed and when she finally had it open, she slid her hand inside and wrapped her hand around him. Licking her lips, she pulled him free and leaned forward, taking the large tip into her mouth with a moan, because this was definitely better than anything she’d experienced before.

*-*-*-*

Oh, fuck…

Licking his lips, he watched as Kasey took the tip of his cock in her mouth and moaned. She moved her mouth over him slowly, taking her time as he fought for control. When she shifted so that she was kneeling on the bed with the tip of his cock in her mouth, he’d had enough and reached for her only to have his hand gently slapped away while she moaned around him.

Christ, she was killing him, he thought, licking his lips as he watched her lips slowly move down his cock, her teeth teasing the sensitive spot as her tongue glided along the underside. Moaning, he shifted, careful not to pull his cock away from her so that he could grab her by the hips and move her closer.

When he had her where he wanted her, he pushed her shirt up and over her ass so that he had better access to the soft pink panties that she’d put on after their shower. He’d prefer to have her sleeping naked in his arms, but with Mikey in the house they were careful. This thing between them was still new and although Mikey knew that they were dating, they still kept their hands to themselves when she was around.

But, the moment she was out of the room…

He couldn’t get enough of her.

He’d spent every day with them. When he hadn’t been working on the bathroom that they were still haggling over, he was helping Kasey cook dinner, tossing the ball around with Mikey, taking her swimming, they watched movies, walked along the beach with Mikey until it was time for her to go to bed and as soon as they were sure that she was asleep, he was touching her. They’d make love all night sometimes, always making sure that he was in his own bed in the morning so that he could be there just in case Mikey decided to come knocking on his door first thing in the morning, begging him to play catch with her so that she could practice her fast ball before she had to go to camp, which she did pretty much every morning.

Leaning up, he pressed a kiss against the bottom of one cotton-encased cheek while he slowly pulled off her panties. As he pushed them down, he pressed a kiss against her bare cheek, smiling when she moaned. Helping her wiggle out of her panties, he kissed her other cheek before sliding one finger deep inside her to find her wet, hot, and tight.

Imagining just how good she was going to feel around him, he laid back and ran his fingers through her hair, loving the way the short silky locks felt running through his fingers as he continued to work his other hand between her legs. Unable to help himself, he allowed his eyes to drift shut only to open them again a minute later when he felt her shift away from him.

He watched as she climbed on top of him and sat back, tearing a hiss from him when he felt the soft curve of her ass press against his thighs while her slit nestled his cock just right. Groaning, he licked his lips as he cupped her hip and enjoyed the feel of wet pussy sliding against him. He was definitely going to miss waking up every morning to this, he mused, deciding that he was going to haul ass down here every Thursday night after his shift so that he could wake up like this on every one of his days off.

Keeping her eyes locked with his, she reached down, grabbed the hem of the tee shirt that she’d stolen from him and after a slight hesitation, she pulled it off and tossed it aside, tearing another groan from him, because he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

He took in her tear shaped breasts, the small hard nipples that had his cock bouncing in anticipation, the soft curve of her stomach and the dark hair between her thighs and the plump lips spread over his cock and nearly lost it right then. He reached up to cup one of her beautiful breasts in his hand, but found himself cupping the back of her neck instead and hauling her down for a kiss, telling himself that this was going to have to be enough.

For now.

Chapter 47

September

“Are you insane?” Sara demanded, as she was forced to jump out of the way.

“Yes!” Kasey snapped, gesturing with the hot casserole pan for her best friend, who she loved more than anything, to get the hell out of the way before she was forced to take matters into her own hands and slap her silly until she moved.

“Told you so,” Mikey said with a shrug as she continued to roll her baseball between her hands as she kept an eye on the front door.

“Shouldn’t she be in bed?” Sara asked, gesturing towards Mikey who was still sitting on the kitchen floor where she’d been since she came home from school five hours ago.

“Probably,” she agreed, placing the casserole on the kitchen island so that she could rush back to the stove and add the dumpling batter to the pot of beef stew.

“Why are you making so much food?” Sara asked, pulling her phone out to check her email while Kasey rushed back to the double ovens and pulled out the mile high apple pie that she’d decided to make to help pass the time.

She set the apple pie down between the meatloaf and the mashed potatoes and grumbled, “I have no freaking idea.”

“She’s nervous,” the little traitor rolling the ball between her hands said.

“I can see that,” Sara murmured as she put her phone away.

“Don’t,” Kasey said in a preemptive strike, because she was honestly too damn nervous and tired to come up with anything better.

She hadn’t slept well in two weeks, not since she woke up to find Reese, along with one of the shirts that she’d rightfully claimed as her own, gone. Since then, she’d worked hard returning to the way things had been before she’d decided to single-handedly remove her kitchen sink. She got up in the morning, telling herself that she didn’t miss sleeping in his arms, took a shower, got ready, made too much food for breakfast, dragged Mikey to school before returning home and keeping herself busy.

It had actually been a pretty productive two weeks. She’d managed to clean the house from top to bottom, went through all of Mikey’s old clothes, rearranged the kitchen half a dozen times until she had everything the way that she wanted it, played with a few recipes to add to her website, completed ten cooking requests, gave five cooking lessons, catered two baby showers, a bridal shower and an office luncheon, gave her website a makeover, finished her latest cookbook, and when all that was said and done, she’d managed to binge on The Game of Thrones.

That is, when she wasn’t looking at her phone to see if Reese had texted her or called her, because apparently, she was that pathetic now. She couldn’t fall asleep anymore unless she was wearing one of his shirts and even then, she didn’t sleep well. Most nights she stayed awake, working until she was too tired to do anything more than to curl up on her couch and stare at the television.

She missed him.

The phone calls, texts, and nightly FaceTimes helped, but they didn’t make up for the fact that he wasn’t here. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d been able to come back last week like he’d promised, but he’d been forced to stay to take training that he’d missed while he’d been on paid leave.

She’d been disappointed, but she’d understood. He had a life that he needed to get back to and so did she. She had Mikey, her website, Sara, the PTA, and the hundreds of things that had kept her busy before she’d met Reese, but none of those things kept her from missing Reese.

And the sex.

God, had she missed the sex, she thought, biting back a groan as she checked to make sure that they had plenty of French vanilla ice cream to go along with the pies that she’d made. It was either that or check the clock for the hundredth time.

“He’s not coming,” Mikey said with a heavy sigh.

“He’s coming,” she said, deciding that she should make some coffee cake for breakfast tomorrow.

“But, what if he doesn’t?” Mikey asked, shifting so that she was facing the kitchen instead of the front door.

“Then he doesn’t show,” she said with a shrug and a smile even though the idea of Reese not coming made her sick to her stomach, but she couldn’t let Mikey know that.

As she grabbed a pound of butter out the fridge and placed it on the kitchen island she couldn’t help but wonder if she should have kept her relationship with Reese, whatever it was, from Mikey until she had an idea of where this was going. She’d never actually given it much thought before him, because she’d honestly never expected to find herself in this situation.

“Sweetheart, if he doesn’t come-”

“He’s not coming?” Mikey cried, cutting her off before she could finish her thought.

“That’s not what I-”

But, before she could finish, Mikey was up and running and she was left standing there, shaking her head and at least thankful that Reese had the foresight to put a lock on the attic ladder so that Mikey couldn’t lock herself away in the attic anymore. Which begged the question, where was she planning on hiding now?

*-*-*-*

“Mikey!”

“No, I’m not coming down!”

“Yeah, you will if you don’t want me to come up there and drag you down!” the woman that he’d missed yelled up at the little girl that was currently perched on the roof that needed to be replaced before it started leaking.

That was something that was going to have to wait, he decided as he dragged himself out of his truck and headed towards the pissed off woman that he couldn’t wait to pull into his arms. But, that was going to have to wait until after he got Mikey off the roof before she gave him a fucking heart attack.

“You’re afraid of heights!” Mikey reminded her mother, who was still glaring at the ladder that he was going to have to put out of Mikey’s reach after this.

“Which means that if I have to go up there to get you that you will definitely regret it!” Kasey yelled, moving to grab hold of the ladder to go after her daughter, but he was honestly too fucking tired to play any games tonight.

“You’re in the way,” he said, moving her out of the way so that he could climb up the ladder and grab the little girl that he was going to throttle if she kept scaring them like this.

“Reese?” Mikey said, sounding unsure as she got her first glimpse of him in his uniform. When she saw the expression on his face, her expression changed to panic as she muttered, “Uh oh,” and quickly shifted so that she was sliding back down the roof that he’d better not catch her on again, onto the ladder and-

“Stay off the roof,” he said evenly as he wrapped his arm around her and carried her down the rest of the way.

Before she could argue, he was setting her down on her feet and giving her a look that had her shooting him a sheepish smile before turning around, racing back inside, and hopefully getting ready for bed so that he could call it a fucking night.

“You’re late,” the small woman that he’d missed informed him with a sniffle as she marched past him and went inside, leaving him standing there, smiling, because she was a brutal little thing.

Returning to his truck, he grabbed his bag filled with brand new shirts for the devious woman to steal and went inside, walking past Sara, who shot him a wink, Mikey who was now racing to get ready for bed most likely so that Kasey, who was pulling something out of the oven, didn’t throttle her, and headed towards her bedroom.

As soon as he was inside, he tossed his bag aside, stripped down to his boxers, fell face first onto the bed, determined to catch up on all the sleep he’d lost over the past two weeks before he tried to figure out what he was going to do about this situation, because there was no way in hell that he was going to survive spending another night without her.

Chapter 48

“Move over,” she said, not really caring that she was whining, because she was too damn tired to care.

“No!” the cranky ten-year-old that clearly didn’t understand what it meant to give birth without an epidural said, because if she did, she would move her little butt over so that Kasey could lay down before she dropped dead from exhaustion.

“I will spank you!” Kasey snapped, which earned a snort of amusement from the little bed hog.

“Mikey,” she warned.

“What’s wrong with your bed?” the little bully demanded.

“There’s a large cop sprawled out across it,” she said, giving Mikey another nudge only to have the small child sprawl out across the bed even more, effectively blocking her.

“So? Push him over,” Mikey grumbled.

“He weighs a ton,” she muttered pathetically as she considered crashing on the couch, but she was too tired to wrestle with all the crap that Mikey had left on it.

That left her with very few choices at the moment. She could continue trying to shove her ten-year-old daughter over, grab a sleeping bag and go sleep in Eric’s old room, or…

She was going to have to go to her room, shove the large man over, and hopefully by the time that she woke up tomorrow morning she wouldn’t be this nervous. As soon as she saw him, she should have tackled him to the ground and kissed him the way she’d dreamed of doing for the past two weeks. She should have been more than eager to climb into bed with him, shove him aside, stolen another one of his shirts and gone to sleep curled up next to him instead of trying to figure out why she was standing here.

This was Reese, she reminded herself.

She loved him and missed him and she was absolutely terrified to go into that room and discover that it had all been a dream.

“Mom!” the little traitor muttered pathetically as she grabbed her blanket and yanked it over her head to block out the bright hallway light that cut across the room.

“Fine,” she grumbled, vowing to remember this betrayal the next time the little bully needed her baseball uniform washed.

Sighing heavily, she walked out of the small bedroom, closed the door behind her, and headed towards her closed bedroom door, telling herself that it hadn’t been a dream and that the man currently hogging her bed was everything that she remembered. Licking her lips nervously, she opened the bedroom door and-

Frowned when she realized the bed was empty.

Deciding that he was either raiding the fridge or taking a shower, she dragged herself inside, helped herself to his bag where she knew a fresh batch of shirts would be waiting for her greedy little fingers, changed into one and climbed into bed, too exhausted to do anything more than curl up on her side and close her eyes.

When she felt the bed dip sometime later, she stilled, terrified that when he touched her that she would feel nothing more than when Eric hugged her only to sigh with relief when pleasure and warmth spread throughout her body as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him.

“I’ve missed you, sweetheart,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against the side of her neck.

“Really? Did you go somewhere?” she asked innocently, loving the sound of his deep chuckle as he pulled her more tightly against him.

“You didn’t miss me?” he asked, sounding amused even as he reached down and slowly pulled the hem of the large tee shirt that she wore up until her breasts were bared.

“There was just so much to do,” she said, sighing long and loud only to end with a moan when the devious man ran his palms over her nipples, causing them to harden almost painfully.

“I see,” he murmured, running his hand down her stomach and beneath her panties so that he was cupping her in his hand and making it difficult to focus.

“With Mikey starting school and work and…umm, things?” she finished lamely, trying to stay focused, but it was difficult to do that with a finger slowly teasing her slit.

“Things,” he repeated, kissing a path along her shoulder as she shifted her legs apart so that finger that was pushing between her slit could slide inside her.

When he did just that, she moaned his name and turned her head to kiss him. With a groan, he kissed her as he alternated between sliding his finger inside her and running it along her slit, teasing her clit and making her push back, desperate for what was pressed against her bottom.

“Then I guess I shouldn’t tell you just how much I missed you,” he said, smiling against her neck as he slid his finger inside her one last time before he shifted his attention to pushing her panties down.

“Probably not,” she said with a heartfelt sigh as she aided him in his cause.

“You’re right. It would be wrong to tell you how much I missed holding and kissing you, waking up to find you stealing one of my shirts,” he said with a pained laugh as he ran his hand over her thigh and raised her leg so that he could-

“Oh, god,” she gasped as she closed her eyes and lost herself in a moan as she felt him slide deep inside her, thick and impossibly hard.

“God, you feel so fucking good,” he groaned in her ear as he slid his hand back up to her breast.

“Did you think about doing this while you were gone?” she asked, deciding to torment him just a little.

“Every fucking minute of the day,” he said, as he slid inside her one last time before he pulled out. “Roll over onto your back, sweetheart.”

Licking her lips, she did as he asked and when he shifted over her, she reached for him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him closer, feeling whole for the first time in two weeks.

*-*-*-*

“Is this what you do all day?” he asked, chuckling as she started the next season of “Nurse Jackie,” before tossing the remote aside.

“Yup,” she said with absolutely no shame as she cuddled back up to his side on the couch and sighed with content.

“What time does Mikey get home from school?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her so that he could absently run his fingers up and down her arm.

“Not until four,” she said, placing her hand on his stomach so that she could absently trace the outline of his abs.

“And we’re going to binge watch old TV shows until then?” he asked, not really caring what they did as long he was able to hold her.

“Unless you have a better suggestion,” she said, as she drew a line down to the waistband of his boxers and back up again.

“Not a one,” he said, watching as that finger trailed back down his stomach and then back up again.

“Well, I could think of a few,” she mused as she slowly trailed that finger back down.

“Could you?”

“Mmmhmm,” she murmured with a nod as she continued tracing a line back and forth, teasing him until his cock pushed past the waistband of his boxers.

“And what would those things be?” he asked, ending with a hiss when she slid her hand over him.

“Well,” she murmured as she shifted so that she could run her tongue around the tip, making his cock jump in anticipation before the devious woman suggested, “we could always paint each other’s nails.”

“And do each other’s hair?” he added for her since she had her mouth full at the moment.

“Mmmhmmm,” she moaned in agreement around him.

“That sounds like a dream come true, sweetheart,” he said, as he ran his hand down her back and cupped that beautiful ass that he loved so much.

“Doesn’t it?” she asked, sounding amused as she released his cock with a slow lick that left him cursing.

“It does. It really does,” he readily agreed as she pulled his straining cock free and stroked him.

“Do you think we’ll have time to talk about boys and play Truth or Dare?” she asked before taking his cock back in her mouth.

“We’ll make time,” he said with a chuckle that ended on a groan as the devious woman teased his cock with her teeth before letting it slip free from her mouth so that she could sit up.

“Then I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon,” she readily agreed with a nod as she shimmied out of her panties and climbed onto his lap with a smile, giving him another reason to never want to let her go.

Chapter 49

October

“No,” she said, shaking her head, because there was no way that she was doing this. “No, sorry. Not happening.”

“It won’t be that bad,” Reese said with that charming smile that wasn’t going to work on her, not this time.

“No,” she said, shaking her head furiously as she backed away even as she kept an eye on the little girl determined to send her to her doom.

“Come on, mom! Just one throw,” Mikey said with a smile that matched Reese’s as she tossed the ball that she was determined to send hurling through the air at Kasey, into her worn glove.

“No,” she said firmly, making sure to keep an eye on them as she backed away, ready to turn and run screaming for help at a moment’s notice.

“It’s just one throw,” Reese, the charming bastard, said¸ as he gestured for her to hold her glove up.

“Yeah, no. I’m going to have to pass on this one,” she said, which pained her.

It really did.

She wanted to be there for her daughter and support her in everything that she did, but, well, she’d seen the damage that one of her throws could do and she really didn’t feel like experiencing it firsthand.

She was good.

“So, I’m just gonna head back inside now and make dinner while the two of you play?” she suggested, giving them her best smile as she slowly backed away, praying that Mikey didn’t aim that ball at her and let it fly.

“Baby, she’s not going to hurt you,” Reese promised.

“I won’t, mom. I swear. We’ve been working all summer and I’ve been practicing while Reese was gone,” Mikey said earnestly with a nod and if it hadn’t been for the devious glint in her eye, she might have believed her.

“I see,” she murmured, mostly for something to say as she searched the deserted beach for somewhere to hide, but alas, there was nowhere to run.

“Would it make you feel better if she threw the ball to me first?” Reese offered, holding up his glove and gesturing for Mikey to toss him the ball.

“No, not really. In fact,” she said, licking her lips as she shot a nervous glance towards Mikey, “I would probably start questioning your sanity if you did.”

With a muttered, “Big baby,” he once again gestured for Mikey to toss him the ball and with a smile, she did just that. Kasey on the other hand…

Dropped to the ground with a startled scream, curled up into the fetal position and closed her eyes and stayed there until Reese walked over and dragged her to her feet, ignoring her protests every inch of the way.

“Stop being such a baby and toss the ball with your kid,” he said with a chastising tsk as he pulled her back to the spot that he’d first instructed her to stand on, helped shove her hand back in the oversized baseball glove that he’d tossed her when he’d dragged her out here, and threw her a glare that told her exactly what was going to happen if she moved from that spot.

More than willing to deal with whatever he did, she shifted from the spot only to find herself back in Reese’s arms as he wrapped one arm around her and held her gloved hand up with the other, making sure that she couldn’t move.

It was then in that moment that she realized the truth…

The bastard was trying to kill her!

“Is this because I refused to let you have the last pancake?” she demanded, trying to break free, but the large bastard was stronger than her and kept her where she was.

“A little bit,” he admitted while he gently caressed her stomach through her shirt as he held her there as Mikey shook off her hand and eyed her.

“Seriously, Reese. I’m sorry. I swear to god that if you let me go right now that I’ll make another batch of pancakes,” she offered, licking her lips nervously as she watched Mikey, too terrified to take her eyes off her executioner.

“It will be okay, sweetheart,” he promised her.

“No, it really won’t,” she said, frantically shaking her head as she watched Mikey get into position and raise the ball, ready to strike.

“Just a light toss, Mikey,” Reese called out, which only made Kasey’s panic double, because Mikey didn’t know how to just “toss” a ball.

“Wait, Reese,” she said, licking her lips nervously. “We can talk about this.”

“It will all be over in a minute,” he promised her.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said, once again trying to escape.

“No trust,” he said with a tsk.

“I-I’ll cook whatever you want, do whatever you want, Reese, but please let me-What the hell?” she broke off with a gasp as the ball soared through the air and hit her glove with a soft whoosh.

There was no agonizing pain shooting up her arm and making her pray for a quick death to ease her suffering. Kasey looked from the ball that had hit her glove and bounced off to land on the soft beach sand to her daughter, standing there, smiling hugely as she pulled out a second ball.

“I can control my fast ball now, too! Wanna see?” Mikey asked with a huge smile and with that, Reese released her with a curse and Kasey managed to make a run for it, because if there was one thing that she definitely knew, it was that she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of Mikey’s fast balls.

*-*-*-*

“Bye, Reese!” Mikey said, giving him one last hug before tossing her baseball glove aside and running towards her room to pull on her uniform for the game that he was going to miss.

“Bye, sweetheart,” he murmured, watching her go.

“I’ve packed you something for the road,” Kasey said with a smile that looked a little forced as she handed him a large brown paper bag that weighed a ton.

“Thank you,” he said, placing the bag on the small table by the door so that he could pull her in his arms. “Did you steal my shirts?” he asked, leaning down and brushing his lips against hers.

“First thing I did when I came in,” she said, nodding solemnly as she wrapped her arms around him.

“And my boxers?” he asked, already noting that she liked to lounge around in them.

“I was nice enough to leave you a pair.”

“I see,” he murmured with a chuckle, making a mental note to pick up a few more packs on his way home.

“I washed your uniform for you,” she said with a little sigh as she pressed her forehead against his chest.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said, hating this.

“It was the least I could for stealing all your clothes and everything,” she said with a little shrug as they stood there, trying to figure out something to say that would make this okay.

Christ, he didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t have a choice. He had a three and half hour drive ahead of him and he had to be at work by five-tomorrow morning. He needed to leave now if he had any hope of getting some sleep tonight.

Not that he really expected to fall asleep tonight, not without her. He’d lay in bed, exhausted, but unable to stop thinking about her. He’d drag his ass to work, sit in his cruiser all day and keep thinking about her, counting down the hours until it was Thursday night and it was finally time to come home.

Chapter 50

November

“Why are you pouting?” Sara asked, shoving Kasey’s legs off the couch so that she could sit down, swipe her bottle of apple juice and give Kasey a pitying look.

“No reason,” she said, shoving another spoonful of cookie dough in her mouth and absolutely refusing to admit that she was sitting here, wearing Reese’s oversized shirt and boxers at two in the afternoon because Reese had been forced to cancel his visit.

Again.

No, she would happily keep the fact that she was pathetic to herself, she decided around another spoonful of dough. She would just lay here, watching whatever the hell it was that she was watching, getting fat and old, waiting for Mikey to get out of school at the end of each day so that she could at least beat her daughter at Monopoly and try to cheer her up, which wasn’t much, but it was really all she had at the moment.

“Reese had to cancel?” Sara asked, grabbing the mixing spoon and helping herself to a big spoonful of dough while Kasey had to resign herself to a small spoonful at a time.

“Yes,” she said with a shrug, telling herself that it shouldn’t matter, but it did.

She missed him so much.

“Training?”

“State of emergency,” she said, glancing at the window and noting that the snow was really starting to come down faster.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Sara said even as she finished off the rest of Kasey’s juice.

Kasey waved it off with a sigh. “It’s fine.”

“Really? Is that why you’re getting fat?” Sara asked, blinking as she stole the bowl.

“Yup,” she said, wishing that she had the energy to get off the couch, but she was honestly too tired to do much more than glare at the woman that had stolen her cookie dough.

“Your ass is looking especially large these days,” Sara pointed out with a smile.

“Bitch,” she said with a small smile as she shifted to get more comfortable.

“Still not sleeping?” Sara asked, as she set the bowl down on the coffee table and got up to get another drink.

Kasey took advantage of this opportune moment to stretch her legs as she curled up on her side so that’s she could stare numbly at the television, resigning herself to being a cliché.

“No,” she said, answering Sara’s question when she returned to the living room carrying two bottles of apple juice.

“Have you taken anything to help?” Sara asked, as she waited for Kasey to move her legs so that she could sit down.

“I’ve tried over-the-counter medication, tea, warm milk, reading Mikey’s history book, but nothing helps,” she said, reaching back and grabbing the quilt that she had hung over the back of the couch and pulled it over herself, resigning herself to laying there and waiting for Mikey to get home from school.

“Maybe you should read some of Eric’s tax returns,” Sara said, smiling as she returned her attention to the bowl of cookie dough.

“I would if he was talking to me,” she said, feeling sick to her stomach just thinking about him.

He hadn’t spoken more than a few words to her in months and those were only a quick greeting, a word about Mikey, and that one time that he’d told her that he was moving out. That was it. After more than ten years of friendship, he was gone without a word.

“What happened?” Sara asked, giving her leg a reassuring pat.

“No clue,” she said, really in no mood to deal with that today.

“Maybe you should ask him.”

“I don’t want to talk about Eric right now,” she said, sighing as she stared at the television, wondering why she was watching a show on pool maintenance.

“Then what shall we talk about?” Sara asked cheerfully as she snatched the television remote and changed the channel.

“Nothing,” she said, shrugging as she continued staring at the television.

“Understandable,” Sara said, unusually considerate, making Kasey frown as she snuck a peek at her best friend to find her watching television as she absently continued to eat more cookie dough, making Kasey wish that she’d made two bowls.

Actually, she kind of wished that she’d made brownie batter, she thought with a heartfelt sigh. She could whip some up in no time, but that required her getting off the couch and right now, she really wasn’t interested in getting off this couch.

“So, I was thinking,” Sara said, making her smile, because she knew that Sara couldn’t help herself, “if it’s a boy, we should name him Reese’s Pieces or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

“I hate you,” she said with a snort of amusement as she placed her hand over the soft swell of her belly, wondering when Reese was going to visit so that she could tell him that this thing between them was a hell of a lot more complicated now, because this was one thing that she absolutely refused to tell him over the phone.

*-*-*-*

“I fucking hate this job,” Reese said, shaking his head in disgust as he watched the suspect in the back of his cruiser vomit.

Everywhere.

This, of course, was after the little bastard had pissed himself on purpose. He really fucking hated his job more and more with each passing day. Before his life had gone to hell, he’d been able to tolerate it, finding things that he liked about his job, but now…

“I can see why,” Darrin said with a sympathetic wince as the little bastard pressed his face against the barrier separating the backseat from the front, opened his mouth and-

“Yeah, I really fucking hate this job,” he said, rubbing his hands roughly down his face.

“The paperwork alone on this one…” his brother said with a chuckle that had Reese shifting his glare to his brother. “And to think that I almost made this arrest.”

“You shoved me towards the bastard when he started stripping naked,” he bit out with one last glare before shifting his attention back to the bastard violating his cruiser.

“I did it out of the goodness of my heart,” Darrin said, shifting next to him as the bastard in the back of his cruiser-

“Oh, Christ,” Reese said when it became obvious what the bastard was doing, because there was no misinterpreting that look on his face.

“I don’t think an air freshener is going to help with that,” Darrin said, as Reese swore soundly, seriously wondering why he was here, freezing his ass off while some piece of shit took a dump in the back of his cruiser.

“I should have banged out,” he said, shaking his head and wishing that he’d called in sick so that he could have beat the storm and gone home to see Kasey and Mikey instead of doing this.

“You’re out of sick days,” his brother pointed out, which of course was the only reason that he was here.

He’d used up all of his sick days and vacation days at the start of all this bullshit to clean up the mess that Missy had left for him. As he stood there, watching the sick bastard bounce up and down in the back of his cruiser, he couldn’t help but wonder what the hell he was doing here.

Nodding, he found himself saying, “I think I’m done here,” which of course was the moment that the asshole in the back of his car decided to up his game and somehow managed to work his pants down and-

“Yeah, I’m definitely fucking done here.”

 Chapter 51

“Mom?”

“I’m fine, Mikey. Please go back to bed,” Kasey said, closing her eyes as she tried to breathe through the nausea. But, since that seemed to make it worse, she settled for curling up on her side and regretting her decision to wait until tomorrow to pick up the anti-nausea medication her doctor had called in for her.

“You said that an hour ago!”

“And yet, you’re still up,” she said, wincing when the effort caused her stomach to rebel.

“Probably cause you keep getting sick?” Mikey suggested as she tried to open the bathroom door, but it was still locked and it would remain that way until she was sure that she wasn’t going to start crying, because she honestly wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take.

During the day she was exhausted and could barely do much more than make sure that Mikey got up for school, pass out on the couch before eating everything in sight until Mikey came home and it was time for her to drag herself off the couch, make Mikey something decent for dinner, help her with her homework as she waited for the morning sickness that only plagued her at night to kick in to make her sleepless night even more special.

There was truly nothing like spending the night hugging the toilet to make her appreciate the little things in life, she thought miserably as she contemplated dragging herself into the large garden bathtub that Reese had installed for her when he’d remodeled the bathroom. Even though her back was pressed up against it, she decided that it was too far away.

“Can you open the door?”

“Can you go back to bed?” she countered.

“Probably not,” Mikey admitted, making her laugh weakly.

“Go to bed, Mikey. I’ll be fine.”

“That’s what you said last night,” Mikey pointed out, making her sigh, because it was only a matter of time before she was going to have to sit down and discuss a few things with her daughter.

For now she just wanted to wait for Reese, but since they were having the worst winter in ten years and it didn’t look like she was going to get a chance to see him before spring, she might have to rethink holding off on telling him. Granted, she’d had her chance to tell him a few weeks ago during his last visit, but with Mikey with them every waking minute and the fact that he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her when they were alone, she hadn’t really had much of a chance to tell him anything. As she lay there, curled up on her bathroom floor, sick to her stomach, she couldn’t help but laugh, because she’d once again screwed up her life.

Honestly, she should have learned her lesson when she found herself pregnant at fifteen, but here she was, three months pregnant with her second and third child, unmarried, dealing with morning sickness that left her begging for death every night, and she hadn’t even told the father that she loved him yet.

Yup, she was really doing a great job.

Now when she told Reese that she loved him, he was going to think that she was only doing it to get him to marry her and that was the last thing that she wanted. After what that bitch had put him through, there was no way that he wasn’t going to think that she was playing him, too. Whether she told him that she loved him or not, this probably wasn’t going to end well for her.

“Mom?”

“Go to bed. You have school in the morning,” she said, moving to lie down on her back until a fresh wave of nausea told her that wasn’t a very good idea.

“No, I don’t.”

Frowning, she returned to her side, pretty sure that it was Tuesday. “What do you mean you don’t have school tomorrow?” she asked, wondering if she should risk trying to roll over onto her stomach.

“There’s like two feet of snow outside. They canceled school hours ago,” Mikey said, trying the door again.

“When?” she asked, because she was pretty sure that she would have remembered that since it meant that she could stay curled up in her bed for most of the day tomorrow.

“Midnight,” her ten-year-old, who should have had her butt in bed at that hour, said.

“What time is it now?” she asked before adding, “And why are you still up?”

“It’s after two.”

“And you’re up, because…” she said, prompting her child to give her a good reason not to ground her little butt.

“Because you’re sick again,” Mikey said, trying the door, again.

Closing her eyes, she sighed heavily. “Go to bed. Everything’s fine.”

Or, at least it would be in a few hours when the morning sickness that should rightfully be dubbed “Evening Hell,” went away and in its place came the insatiable hunger that she couldn’t seem to satisfy no matter how much food she managed to consume. She couldn’t remember it ever being this bad with Mikey, but maybe that had something to do with the fact that she hadn’t been carrying twins then.

“Then you should have no problem with opening the door,” Mikey said stubbornly, earning a weak smile as Kasey decided to see if laying on her stomach so that the cool tile could help only to once again roll back onto her side as she tried to survive another wave of nausea.

“I’m not opening the door,” she said, deciding that it might be for the best if she tried to get in that tub after all.

“Then I’m not going to bed,” the little stubborn pain in the butt shot back.

“Mikey,” she said in warning as she moved to pull off her shirt, but quickly reconsidered it and decided to leave it on when she couldn’t get her trembling arms to cooperate.

“What’s going on, mom?” Mikey demanded, trying to sound firm, but that slight quiver in her voice told her exactly how scared she was and Kasey couldn’t have that.

“Hold on,” she said, slowly pushing up on trembling arms until she found herself sitting up, dizzy, and on the verge of collapsing.

“Okay,” Mikey said, as Kasey closed her eyes and slowly exhaled as she willed her head to stop spinning.

When a few minutes passed and the dizziness and nausea didn’t subside, she found herself falling back onto her side with a groan. She closed her eyes as her world spun out of control, barely aware of the click of the bathroom door opening or the strong arms wrapping around her, picking her up and-

Gasped when she found herself in the tub with ice-cold water hitting her from three different angles. Sputtering in outrage, she opened her eyes to find the traitorous bastard shaking his head with an annoying tsk.

“I leave you alone for one minute and look what happens,” Eric said with a sad shake of his head as he pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, weakly swatting his hand away.

“Mikey called me,” he said, adjusting the water temperature so that comforting wet heat was now permeating every inch of her body.

“Traitor,” she mumbled with a relieved sigh, thankful that her daughter was too damn stubborn to listen to her.

“She told me that you’ve been sick every night for the past three weeks,” he said, standing up to kick off his shoes and toss his wallet and keys on the counter before climbing into the tub with his clothes on and shifting her out of the way so that he could sit down and pull her into his arms.

“Give or take a week,” she mumbled as she curled into him, grabbed hold of his wet shirt and held on as the nausea continued to assault her.

“Aunt Sara’s on the way, too,” Mikey announced as she hurried into the bathroom and quickly joined them in the tub so that she was sitting by Eric’s side and holding her hand.

“This is a really big tub,” Eric noted as he leaned down so that he could make sure that she was okay.

“It’s an awesome tub,” she mumbled with a sniffle, surprised at how happy she was to see him even as she decided that she would throttle the bastard if he tried leaving again.

 “Reese let me help with the tiles,” Mikey bragged as she gave Kasey’s hand a squeeze.

“Whatever,” Eric said with a sniff that had her smiling.

“You could have helped too if you hadn’t thrown a hissy fit,” she pointed out, shifting to get comfortable and although she was happy that he was at least talking to her at the moment, she really wished that it was Reese holding her.

“I didn’t throw a hissy fit,” Eric argued with a heavy sigh.

“Then what would you call it?” she couldn’t help but ask as she lost herself to the hot water slowly making her world right again.

“Getting out of the way so that you had a chance,” Eric explained as he petted her on the head. “You’re welcome.”

“Getting out of the way for what?” Mikey asked, making her smile.

“To give her a chance to get over me,” he said with a heartfelt sigh and a reassuring squeeze. “It had to be done.”

Opening her eyes, she tilted her head back and out of the way of the hot water spraying down at them to look at him. Letting her bottom lip tremble just a little, she said, “You knew?”

Nodding solemnly, he said, “Yes.”

“You knew my secret shame?” she asked, adding a little more tremble to her lip and a sniffle.

“That you were madly in love with me? It was really hard to miss, Kasey,” he said with a smile as he tweaked her nose.

“Wait,” Mikey said with a frown, “I thought you were in love with Reese.”

“So did I,” came the rather angry growl, drawing their attention as one to the man standing in the doorway, looking incredibly pissed.

Before she could say anything, and she really wasn’t sure how to explain this one, Eric, the traitorous bastard beat her to it.

“Oh, thank god you’re here! She won’t leave me alone! I’ve never felt so used in my life!” he cried hysterically, which wouldn’t have been so bad if Mikey hadn’t felt the need to come to her defense.

“We’re helping mom with the morning sickness,” Mikey said, nodding solemnly and making Kasey close her eyes with a groan as she came to the realization that her daughter was a world-class eavesdropper and that there was definitely no way in hell that Reese was going to trust her now.

Chapter 52

“I’m going to bed now,” Mikey said, nodding as she shifted a worried glance towards her mother, who was still curled up in the tub, but at least she wasn’t in Eric’s arms anymore.

“Me, too,” Eric said, wiping his face with a towel.

“You’re leaving?” Mikey asked, blinking up at her uncle as she pulled the large towel around her shoulders.

“No,” he said with a snort of disgust. “Like I’m driving through that again.”

“Then where are you sleeping?” Mikey asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously on her uncle.

“Your room,” he said with a shrug, sounding bored as he walked past her and headed towards her bedroom with Mikey quickly following in his tracks and demanding that he sleep on the couch, but Eric ignored her.

Reese, however, ignored everyone but the small woman curled up in the bathtub, looking absolutely miserable as hot water continued to spray down on her. He continued to watch her for another moment before he turned around and left the bathroom so that he could toss his bag in her room before heading to the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” Sara asked several minutes later as she let herself into the house and toed off her snow-caked boots as she set the large grocery bags she was carrying aside.

“Sleepover in Mikey’s room,” he said, going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of apple juice and a can of ginger ale, not really sure which one Kasey wanted at the moment.

“Reese-”

Shaking his head, he stared at the refrigerator door. “Don’t.”

“Yeah, umm, I’m not letting you near her until I know that you’re not going to be a tool about this,” she warned him, which at any other time he would have appreciated.

“Just go to bed, Sara,” he said, in absolutely no fucking mood to deal with this tonight.

Not after the day he’d had and not after he’d driven here through a fucking blizzard to see Kasey only to find out…

“Is it true?” he asked, closing the refrigerator door to face the woman standing in front of the hallway with her arms folded over her chest as she tried to warn him off with a scowl that had him shaking his head in disgust.

“Is what true? That the love that we dare not speak its name has made you a daddy? Is that what you wanted to know?” she asked, blinking as he stepped in front of her.

“Yes,” he bit out.

“Oh,” she said, checking her manicure, “that’s really not my place to say.”

“Move,” he said, gesturing with the ginger ale for her to step aside.

“I really can’t do that,” she said with a shrug.

“You really can,” he said, shifting the soda to his other hand so that it was holding both beverages.

“No,” she said firmly, and as much as he appreciated her being here for Kasey, she was also pissing him off.

With a heavy sigh, he reached behind her, grabbed her by the coat, picked her up and moved her out of the way as he ignored her, “Hey!”

“Goodnight, Sara,” he said, pointedly as he headed back to the bathroom with absolutely no idea what he was going to say.

“Wait! You’re going to need this,” she said, rushing to join him so that she could shove the grocery bags that she’d brought with her into his arms.

“What’s all this?” he asked, frowning down at the bags filled with junk food.

“Her nausea medication and something to hold her over in the morning,” she said with a firm nod as she pushed past him and went into Mikey’s room.

“Bed’s mine,” she announced as she strolled into the room and closed the door behind her, blocking out the complaints of the room’s other two occupants.

He paused by the bathroom and wasn’t surprised to find Kasey gone. Nodding, he walked the rest of the way to the bedroom to find her curled up in the middle of the bed, naked, wet, and trembling.

“I don’t feel so good,” she mumbled, curling more tightly into herself as he stepped into the room and kicked the door shut behind him.

He didn’t say anything as he toed off his boots and kicked them aside on his way to the nightstand where he placed the bags down so that he could search for her medicine. Once he found the prescription, he checked the dosage, tipped two pills into his hand and moved to carefully kneel on the bed next to her.

“Open up, sweetheart,” he said, gently placing the pills in her mouth when she did.

Closing her eyes, she set her jaw firmly as she waited for the pills to dissolve. Needing to stay busy, he pulled his clothes off and tossed them aside until he was stripped down to his boxers. Once that was done, he grabbed a shirt out of his bag and helped her pull it on before he moved her so that he could tuck her in. When there was nothing else that he could do to buy himself a little more time, he turned the lights off, crawled into bed behind her and wrapped his arm around her.

Pressing his lips against the back of her neck, he closed his eyes and said, “I’m going to put in for a transfer.”

*-*-*-*

“Where?” Kasey asked, breathing through the last of the nausea.

“Here,” he said quietly as he carefully pulled her closer.

“Reese-” she started to say with a sigh only to be cut off with the sweetest answer, but it didn’t change the fact that she couldn’t let him do that.

“I hate being away from you and Mikey,” he said softly against the back of her neck.

“Don’t do that,” she said, wishing they could hold off on having this discussion until after the medication kicked in and the morning sickness had passed for the night. It would be even better if they waited until she could sit up without her head spinning and threatening to drop her on her ass.

“Why?” he asked, going still behind her.

“Can we talk about this later, Reese?” she asked, praying that he took pity on her and just let it go for now.

“I’m not leaving you again, Kasey,” he said firmly, making her smile despite the fact that her stomach was trying to rebel against the nausea medication.

“I’m not asking you to, Yummy.”

“Then what are you saying exactly?”

Sighing, she rolled over onto her back only to keep on going until she was curled up on her side and facing him when her stomach sent her a warning that she decided would be in her best interest to obey. Reaching up, she ran her fingers over his jaw, enjoying the way the light stubble felt against her skin and trying not to think about just how much she’d missed him.

“I don’t want you changing your life for us, Reese,” she said, setting her hand on his chest.

Chuckling he leaned in and kissed her. “You are my life.”

“Reese,” she said on a sigh, torn between smiling and seeing how quickly she could make it to the closet before the panic kicked in.

“What’s really going on, sweetheart?” he asked, giving her the distraction that she needed.

“I don’t think we’re going to be staying here for very much longer,” she admitted as she shifted her attention to the Celtic tattoo on his chest.

“Why?”

“It’s just time to move on,” she said with a shrug as she traced her finger along the outline of his tattoo.

“That and you hate it here,” he guessed correctly.

Nodding, she said, “And so does Mikey apparently.”

“What’s going on with Mikey?”

“Besides the fact that they informed her that she’d be sitting on a bench again next season?” she said with a sigh before adding, “Apparently she’s starting to reap the benefits of my reputation.”

“Meaning,” he said, sounding irrationally pissed and making her smile, because he was so damn protective of Mikey.

“They’re just making me realize that it’s time to leave,” she said, not really in the mood to discuss all the reasons that she hated living here. She wanted to get Mikey out of here and give her a chance to be a kid without having to deal with the bullshit that came from living in a small town. She also wanted a chance to go a day without being called a whore and with the babies on the way there was no chance of that happening anytime soon.

Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Then we’ll get you out of here.”

Sighing, she moved closer to him so that she could press her forehead against his chest and close her eyes. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask,” he said, as he absently ran his fingers up and down her back as he held her. For several long moments, no one said anything and just when she felt herself begin to drift off he said, “Maybe I could go work for my uncle doing construction.”

“Is that what you want?” she asked, biting her lip as she debated saying something, but…

It really wasn’t her place.

“The pay’s good and so are the benefits. It doesn’t hurt that I enjoy the work,” he said, pressing another kiss against the top of her head as he took her hand in his and held it.

He liked creating his own ideas, she silently amended, because it wasn’t her place.

Not. At. All.

She was just going to keep her mouth shut and support whatever decision he made, because once again, it wasn’t her place.

“I can work small jobs for the rest of the winter, help with the warehouse until spring hits and then I’ll get a place on one of his crews,” he said, as she bit her lip to keep her mouth shut.

“At least I won’t hate my job,” he said with a heavy sigh, not really sounding all that pleased, which she decided to take as his way of telling her that he would very much like her to tell him how much of an idiot that he was being, because that was definitely something that she could do.

Chapter 53

“I’m glad to see that you’re feeling better,” he said dryly against the pillow the crazed woman was currently trying to smother him with.

“No!” she snapped, making him once again sigh, wondering if she was going to start making sense or just keep saying-

“No!” she said, slapping him ineffectually with the pillow only to pause in her sad beating so that she could shift on top of him with a muttered curse and get more comfortable before returning to whatever it was that she was trying to do to him.

“Should you really be doing this in your condition?” he asked, keeping his hands on her hips to make sure that she didn’t fall on her beautiful ass, which she had an unfortunate history of doing.

“No!”

“Any chance we could get past this and get to the point of your violent attack?” he asked, gently plucking the pillow out of her hands and tossed it aside.

Narrowing her eyes on him, she pointed a stern finger at him and said, “No,” which had him rolling his eyes as he placed his hand back on her hip.

“Kasey,” he said, sighing heavily as he ran his hands over her hips.

“You are not going to work for your uncle doing construction,” she said sternly with a violent wave of that finger and a glare that was so damn adorable that he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“No? Then how do you suggest that I support you and the kids?” he asked, as he allowed himself for the first time since Mikey had unknowingly broken the news to him to drop his gaze to her stomach, which unfortunately at the moment was concealed by the large tee shirt she was wearing.

“I can take care of myself,” she said with a stubborn shake of her head that he ignored as he slid his hand beneath her shirt and after a slight hesitation, placed it on the swell of her stomach and found himself smiling.

“How far along are you?” he asked, wishing that he’d left the lights on so that he could get a better look.

“Three months,” she said, worrying her bottom lip and apparently giving up on her crazed lecture to wait nervously for his reaction.

Nodding, he couldn’t help but run his hand over her stomach, memorizing the shape as he tried to wrap his mind around this. They were having a baby, he realized, chuckling as he sat up so that he could wrap his arms around her.

“Why didn’t you tell me, sweetheart?” he asked, keeping his hand pressed against her stomach as he kissed her forehead.

“I wanted to tell you in person,” she said with a small shrug as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned into him.

“And I haven’t been back for a month,” he said, pressing another kiss against her forehead as another thought occurred to him, one that he told himself that he should ignore, but…

“Why didn’t you tell me the last time that I was here?” he asked, leaning back so that he could look in her beautiful blue eyes as he waited for an answer.

“Would you believe that I was looking for the perfect Hallmark card for just such an occasion?” she asked, looking hopeful.

“No,” he said, chuckling as he leaned in and kissed her, unable to help himself.

Her shoulders sagged with a muttered. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Well,” he said, reaching up with his free hand and ran his fingers through her hair, mussing the short damp locks, “having Mikey make the announcement after I walked in to find you curled up in Eric’s arms was definitely a way to do it.”

She closed her eyes on a wince. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Me, too,” he said with a chuckle as he kissed the tip of her nose. “Next time you have something to tell me, don’t do it in another man’s arms.”

“Well,” she said, opening her eyes and clearing her throat as she shifted on his lap, clearly trying to find the words to tell him something.

“Out with it, woman,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

“Twins,” she blurted out, clearly taking him at his word.

“What?” he asked, not sure that he’d heard her correctly.

“Twins. We’re having twins, because apparently if you’re a twin the chances of having twins is slightly higher,” she said with an accusing glare that had him biting back a smile that would probably get him slapped.

“I see,” he murmured.

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t know what sex they’re going to be,” she said with a hopeful smile that had him nodding, admittedly still focused on the twin announcement.

“I also didn’t tell Mikey. She must have overheard me talking to Sara, who only knew because she walked in on me changing a few weeks ago and figured it out. I wanted you to be the first one to know,” she said, reaching up to trace his jaw with her fingertips.

He should have been here sooner, he realized, slowly exhaling as he thought of all the ways he’d fucked this up.

He’d left her to go back to a job that he hated, which really made a lot of fucking sense. He’d left the woman that he loved for a job that he fucking hated so that he could crash on his cousins’ couch, because he was a fucking idiot.

“Yummy?”

Shaking his head, he said, “I’m just thinking.”

“Well, could you possibly do it without that scowl on your face, because it’s kind of terrifying,” she said, running her fingers through his hair.

“Sorry,” he said, realizing that he was going to have to marry her.

“Yeah, that glare isn’t any less frightening, Yummy,” she said, scrunching her face up adorably.

“Sorry,” he repeated absently as he thought about it and realized that he didn’t have to do anything.

They didn’t need to get married, but he wanted to.

For the past month he’d been toying the idea of asking her to marry him, but he hadn’t wanted to rush this. He needed to take his time with her, to do this right, which meant that he was going to have to ignore the impulse to throw her over his shoulder and take her to New Hampshire so that he could marry her before she had a chance to run away.

Patience.

He needed to tap into the one thing that he had an abundance of to stop himself from fucking this up, because something told him that it wouldn’t end well if he tried to drag her off for a typical Bradford wedding. He needed to take his time and do this right.

Baby steps, he told himself even as he imagined how good it would feel to know that she was his.

“Is there a reason for that predatory look on your face, Yummy?” she asked, shifting on his lap so that she could reach the bottle of cold apple juice that he’d brought her only to hand it over to him so that she could grab one of the bags of junk food.

With a satisfied sigh, she placed the bag between them and began rummaging through it while he sat there, holding her drink, and unable to help but smile as he watched her.

“If you don’t want to lose a hand, I’d take it off those Twinkies, Yummy,” she drawled with a look that had him quickly dropping the Twinkies and moving his hand away from that bag before the woman glaring at the misguided appendage could tear it off and shove it up his-

Holding up her juice in offering with the hopes that she wouldn’t follow through with that threat that her eyes clearly conveyed, he said, “So, you were saying?”

 Chapter 54

“Sweetheart?” Reese said, sounding amused for some reason.

She grumbled her answer as she shifted to get more comfortable, too exhausted to do anything more than that at the moment. It had been a long night and an even longer month since the last time she’d fallen asleep in his arms.

“I’m just going to lay down now while you choose your next argument,” he said after a moment, which of course she decided to answer with another groan as he did just that.

Thankfully, he knew well enough not to disturb her as he laid back, careful to keep his arms around her so that she didn’t roll off him. Once he was done, she grumbled a few more things that even she didn’t understand, released a small sigh and-

“Uh, sweetheart?”

“What?” she asked crabbily, wondering why he wasn’t letting her sleep.

“I believe you were in the middle of threatening to tear my balls off if I went to work for my uncle,” he reminded her, clearly sounding amused, which she did not appreciate.

Not. At. All.

So, she let him know it by-

“Ow! Did you just poke me?”

In answer, she poked him in the side again.

“You’re vicious,” he said, chuckling.

“You knew this going in,” she mumbled sleepily as she shifted on top of him only to decide that this new position didn’t properly accommodate the slight swell of her stomach.

“I did,” he murmured in agreement, helping her shift off of him so that she was lying by his side and using his shoulder as a pillow.

Closing her eyes, she mumbled, “You’re not going to work for your uncle doing construction,” hoping that would be the end of the argument.

Unfortunately for her, it seemed that he was in a chatty mood, which of course was going to end up getting him killed.

Unless he made her pancakes.

“I don’t have much of a choice, sweetheart,” he said, trying to appease her with a kiss. “It’s either stay at a job I hate or work for my uncle.”

“You really do,” she said sleepily.

“I really don’t. Not with two babies on the way,” he said with a heavy sigh as he wrapped his arms more tightly around her.

“We’re fine,” she said stubbornly, not really appreciating the insinuation that she couldn’t take care of her kids.

She’d done it before and she could do it again if she had to. This wasn’t about her or the babies. This was about him. She wanted to see him happy and working for his uncle wouldn’t do that unless he could do what he loved and she damn well knew that he wasn’t planning on asking his uncle to give him a job designing projects. He liked working with his hands and she knew that he would enjoy working for his uncle, but he wouldn’t love it.

He deserved to be happy.

“Look, it’s late and we’re both tired-”

“And hungry,” she added with a grumble, kind of wishing that it would be enough to get him to make her a batch of pancakes.

“-and hungry,” he amended with a chuckle before continuing. “We can talk about this tomorrow.”

“It is tomorrow,” she pointed out with an irritated sigh as she rolled over onto her side and faced away from him, wondering when he’d become such a chatterbox.

There was a heavy sigh and then, “Fine. Then we’ll talk about it later.”

“After you make me pancakes?” she asked, because she’d found that it was always best to clear up any misunderstandings early on.

“After I make you pancakes,” he added with a chuckle as he rolled over onto his side so that he could curl up behind her, wrap his arm around her, and-

“Yummy?”

“Hmm?” he asked sleepily as he pressed a kiss against her neck.

“It’s poking me,” she said, making sure to sound putout even as she gave her bottom a little wiggle simply because she could.

“He’s missed you,” he said innocently, giving her another kiss as she felt him pull the hem of her shirt up and over her bottom.

“What are you doing?” she asked, biting back a moan simply because it wouldn’t do to have him know just how much she’d missed him and that incredibly large appendage gently grinding against her bottom.

She had to keep him humble, she told herself with a smile and a small gasp when she felt him reach between them to free his erection. “Push back, sweetheart,” he said, already guiding her hip so that she could do just that.

“Again, with the bossiness, Yummy,” she said with a sad shake of her head even as she complied, pushing back only to gasp when he met her halfway.

“Never stopped,” he admitted with another kiss as his hand found her breast.

“And you probably never will,” she said, gasping as he stopped halfway inside of her only to pull back until just the tip of his cock that she would swear was bigger than she remembered was inside her.

“Never,” he promised her.

Sighing heavily, she said, “The things I put up with.”

“You love it,” he said, slowly pushing back inside her only to tease her again.

“Are you doing this to distract me?” she had to ask, groaning when he once again pulled back, leaving her desperate and on the verge of begging him to fuck her.

“Am I distracting you?” he asked, slowly pushing back in.

“You’re definitely making me want to kill you,” she admitted with a frustrated growl when he once again stopped halfway.

“I just thought that we should probably discuss a few things while we have a moment,” he said, sounding completely relaxed while she was on the verge of screaming in frustration.

“Yummy,” she bit out in warning as she tried to push back only to have him release her breast so that he could cup her hip and keep her from putting them both out of their misery.

“First,” he said, clearly intent on ignoring her and her needs now that she was wide awake, wet, and desperate for him, “tell me that you missed me.”

“You want me to lie, Yummy?” she asked, loving the way that he growled when she teased him.

“Yes,” he whispered, sliding his hand down her hip and over her thigh.

“Did you miss me?” she countered, taking advantage and pushed back until he was back inside her.

He pressed a kiss against her neck before he moved his mouth next to her ear. “Every fucking minute of every fucking day. I missed holding you, touching you, and fucking you. I thought about just how good it was going to feel when I touched you, how good your breasts felt in my hands, and about all the things that I wanted to do to you.”

“And what’s that?” she found herself asking as she rotated her hips and moaned as the move caused her to ride him.

“When I wasn’t thinking about just how fucking good it felt when you sucked my cock, I was thinking about fucking you, about how good you felt around me and wondering how it would feel the next time I bent you over the table and fucked you.”

Licking her lips, she nodded, “Okay, I might have missed you, too.”

Chapter 55

“Well?”

“Well, what?” he asked, pouring more batter on the hot griddle.

“Are you ready to tell me why you’re suddenly here?” Eric asked, helping himself to a sausage link.

“Are you going to tell me why you started acting like a little bitch and abandoned Kasey and Mikey?” he countered, checking on the hash browns that he was cooking for Kasey to go along with the pancakes and sausage that she’d demanded before she’d passed out.

“Is that for Kasey?” Eric asked, gesturing to the potatoes with a sausage link.

“Yes,” he said, shifting the plate of sausages away from the little bastard before he could eat them all.

“You might want to rethink the potatoes,” Eric said, popping the last bite into his mouth.

“Why’s that?” he asked, stirring the hash browns.

“Because when she was pregnant with Mikey potatoes made her sick,” Eric said with a shrug, making Reese pause mid-stir.

“Celery makes her sick this time,” Sara said around a yawn as she walked into the kitchen, stole a pancake and sat at the kitchen island. “She can eat potatoes this time.”

Shrugging, Eric grabbed a pancake and joined her, pausing long enough to send her a glare. Flipping the pancakes, Reese repeated his question, “Why did you ditch her?”

“Because he’s an idiot,” Sara said, putting her pancake on a plate and pouring an insane amount of syrup on it before swiping Eric’s fork.

“The sexual tension between us is stifling,” Eric said, throwing Sara a wink.

“I loathe you,” she said, as she reached over and stole his pancake with a glare that the seemingly happy man ignored with a smile.

“I was doing her a favor,” he said with a shrug as he got up and helped himself to more food.

“By ditching her?” Reese asked, as he shifted his attention to Sara to find her glaring at Eric’s back and muttering under her breath.

“Exactly,” Eric said, holding up his plate and gesturing for Reese to load him up.

Glaring down at the smaller man, he said, “And?”

“I wanted her to have a second chance and she wouldn’t have had that if I was around, reminding her of Michael,” he said with a shrug as he grabbed a sausage and took a bite. “She deserves to be happy for everything my brother put her through.”

“Eric,” Sara bit out in warning as the two of them shared a look.

Shaking his head in disgust, he grabbed another sausage and took a bite. “She’s been through hell and deserved to be happy and if that meant that I had to get lost for a bit then so be it,” he said with a shrug.

“And you couldn’t have told her that?” Reese asked, as his respect for the man rose.

Eric snorted at that. “She’s too damn stubborn to listen.”

“She really is,” Sara agreed with a nod.

“So, now that you’ve knocked up my best friend, what are you planning on doing about it?” Eric asked with a pointed look at Reese.

“I’m going to marry her,” he said with absolutely no hesitation.

“Have you asked her yet?” Sara asked, as he finished making a plate up for Kasey, who last time he’d checked was still passed out.

“Not yet.”

“What’s the hold up?” Eric asked, stealing another sausage link.

“She’s stubborn,” he said, making the other man chuckle.

“She’s not going to marry you if she thinks you’re only doing it to do the right thing,” Sara informed them as she pulled out her phone and checked her messages.

“She’s right. She won’t,” Eric agreed.

“That’s not the only reason,” he promised her.

“Then make sure that she knows that,” Sara said, looking bored as she continued to scroll through her phone.

“I will,” he promised, telling himself that he had this in hand when in reality, he was so out of his fucking league on this that it wasn’t even funny, but at the moment he was willing to bullshit himself if that’s what it took.

Deciding that it was probably for the best if he got out of there before they realized that he was full of shit, he grabbed a bottle of apple juice, two forks, and the plate loaded with food and headed back towards Kasey’s bedroom only to stop halfway there when he spotted Mikey sitting on her bed, looking absolutely lost. Hoping that she was hungry, he changed course and decided to spend time with his favorite little girl in the world.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, as he walked into the small bedroom, taking her shrug as an invitation.

“How’d you sleep last night?” he asked, handing her the bottle of juice and sat down next to her as he handed her a fork.

“Uncle Eric snores and Aunt Sara hogs the bed,” she said with a sigh as she helped herself to a sausage.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said with a wince of sympathy, remembering all-too-well what it was like as a kid being forced to share a bed with his brothers and cousins during one of their many family trips.

“It’s okay,” she mumbled with a shrug.

“Something on your mind, sweetheart?” he asked, taking his time to cut the pancakes into smaller bites to make it easier for her.

“Mom’s pregnant, right?” she asked, staring down at the plate as she reluctantly helped herself to a bite of pancake.

“Yes,” he said slowly, not sure if it was his place to answer her, but he wasn’t about to sit here and lie to her when she already knew the truth. He wouldn’t lie to her or hurt her in any way and he needed her to know that.

She nodded slowly as she stabbed another piece of pancake with her fork, making sure to double-dip it in syrup. “And the baby’s yours?” she asked after a slight hesitation.

“Yes,” he said, deciding to leave it up to Kasey to tell her about the twins.

Mikey nodded as she took a bite of food. As he joined her, he looked around the small bedroom, deciding that he was going to have to make sure that her next bedroom was a hell of a lot bigger and had plenty of shelves for all the baseballs and hats that she liked to collect.

“What happens to me?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking at the little girl, who was worrying her bottom lip and reminding him so much of her beautiful mother.

It made him wonder if their children were going to take after their mother. He sure as hell hoped so.

“Am I going to go live with Aunt Sara?” she asked, risking a glance to find him frowning.

“Why would you go live with your Aunt Sara?”

“Because,” she said, shrugging it off like it was nothing.

“Because, why?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted with a shrug as she took another bite.

“Is there something you want to ask me, sweetheart?” he asked, glancing back down at her to find her staring down at the plate of food and giving him another shrug. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re stubborn?” he asked, chuckling as he put his arm around her tiny shoulders.

“Is mom going to love the baby more than me?” she asked before shaking her head quickly and saying, “Forget it.”

When she moved to climb off the bed, he tightened his hold on her and pulled her back down next to him with a heavy sigh. “I see that we have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”

Shrugging, she went back to staring down at the food as she picked the fork back up and absently picked at her food as she shot glances up at the bedroom door every few seconds.

“You’re tempted to go hide out on the roof, aren’t you?” he asked, quickly figuring out that look.

“Yes, yes I am,” she admitted with a shrug.

“Well, I appreciate the fact that you haven’t done it yet.”

“You’re not afraid of heights like mom so I figured it would be pointless to run and hide now,” she admitted.

“True,” he murmured thoughtfully, deciding that locking up the ladders until Mikey was eighteen might be for the best.

“That’s what I figured,” she said with a dejected sigh that had his lips twitching before returning to the subject at hand.

“Your mom is not going to love the baby more than you, sweetheart. Trust me. You have a special place in your mother’s heart and no one can ever replace that,” he promised her.

“I guess,” she said with a shrug before adding, “At least the baby is going to have a dad so that’s cool.”

Smiling, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head, “And so will you.”

Returning his smile with a sly one, she looked up at him and asked, “Do you love me more than mom?”

He snorted at that. “Of course.”

“That’s what I thought,” she murmured as she shifted next to him so that she could dig back into her food.

“Would it make you feel any better if I told you that you mean the world to me?”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” she said with a pleased smile as she helped herself to the last sausage.

She was so much like her mother, he thought with a grin as he dug into the food, laughing when she shoved his fork out of the way with hers so that she could attack the hash browns. She was going to fit in so well with his family, he thought with a smile when she slyly stole the plate from him.

Chapter 56

There was something seriously wrong with her, she thought as she lay there, pretending to be asleep, which probably would have made more sense if someone else had actually been in the room. But, since it was just her laying there, panicking, it was actually pretty pathetic and at some point the realization would have her opening her eyes and shaking her head in disgust, but not just yet.

He wanted to marry her, she thought, biting back a groan, wishing that she’d never left the comfort of her bed to find out where her pancakes were. If she’d just stayed here, waiting to be served in the manner that she was determined to become accustomed to, she wouldn’t know that he’d planned on marrying her and…

Well, she didn’t know what else he had planned since she’d panicked the moment he’d made the announcement, which had sent her tiptoeing back to her room and climbing back into her bed, cringing every time a floorboard creaked or she breathed too loud, terrified that it would give her away.

Now as she lay there, she couldn’t help but notice that she’d been lying there for quite some time and she had yet to see those pancakes that he’d promised her. The service in this house really was horrible, she thought with a sigh as she turned over and-

“He’s gone,” Eric announced, making her scream somewhat hysterically when she realized that she was no longer alone even as she had to wonder how he’d managed to join her on the bed with a huge plate of food without her knowing.

Then again, he’d always been a sneaky little bastard, she thought as she remembered all those times that he’d snuck up on her when she was with Michael. He’d taken great joy out of scaring the crap out of her and did it every chance he got until one day she’d had enough and had ended up pining the little bastard to floor and shoving one of his dirty gym socks in his mouth.

With Michael’s help, of course.

“Who’s gone?” she asked, narrowing her eyes on the large stack of pancakes covered in butter and maple syrup, the fake stuff because she wasn’t really a big fan of real maple syrup.

“The man that you tried to replace me with,” he said with a sad shake of his head as he gestured for her to sit up with a sausage link before popping it in his mouth.

“Reese is gone?” she asked, sitting up and stealing the plate of food that was rightfully hers.

“Yup,” he said, as he stole a bite of hash brown.

“Where did he go?” she asked, picking up her fork and taking a big bite from one of the thick pancakes only to moan in ecstasy, because the man could cook. Reese that is, because she knew better than to think that Eric had anything to do with this.

Shrugging, Eric grabbed the remote and turned on the television. “He didn’t say.”

“When’s he coming back?” she asked, taking a bite of sausage that was cooked to perfection, once again noting that Reese was an amazing cook. He was also the only other person that she allowed in her kitchen.

“Ah, well that I do know,” Eric said, nodding as he flicked through the channels while she sat there, waiting for him to answer.

When it finally became obvious that he wasn’t going to answer, she dropped her fork on the plate, reached over with a sigh and flicked his ear.

“Ow! What the hell is wrong with you, woman?” he demanded with a glare as he reached up and rubbed his ear.

“When is he coming back?” she asked, fully prepared to do it again and they both knew it.

“In a couple of days,” he said, stealing another sausage with a pout that had her reaching up to do it again and since he’d abandoned her without a word for months, she did it.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?” he snapped, which of course made her flick him again, because he really should have known why she was flicking the crap out of him.

“You know why!” she snapped as she gave up flicking him and angrily popped a piece of potato in her mouth.

“It was for your own good,” he said, reaching for another sausage only to have his hand slapped away.

“You don’t deserve sausage,” she informed him, popping the sausage that he’d had his eyes on in her mouth out of spite.

“After everything I’ve done for you,” he said, shaking his head in disgust as he turned his attention back to the television.

“Like suddenly drop out of my life without a word?” she asked, dryly.

“Yes.”

“And I’m supposed to be grateful for that?” she asked, as she went to take another bite, but her stomach had turned with this conversation so she shoved the plate back in his hands, threw back the covers, and decided that she’d rather spend the day curled up on the couch.

“Kasey,” Eric said with a sigh as he followed her into the living room where Sara was lounging with her phone in her hand and a plate of food by her side. “You needed a chance and having me underfoot wasn’t going to do that. I know that you’re pissed, but I had to give you your space.”

“And that meant cutting me off?” she asked with a snort of disgust.

“Honestly?” he asked, as they headed towards the couch. “Yes, because I wasn’t willing to take the chance of you using me as an excuse. I knew it would be hard enough dating with Mikey and I didn’t want to make it any harder by being here and getting in the way or reminding you of Michael.”

“Eric, I-” she opened her mouth to argue only to have him cut her off with a shake of his head.

“Don’t, because we both know that I’m part of the reason that you’ve had such a tough time letting him go,” he said, making her bite her lip, because that was probably a little bit true. “I never meant to make things more difficult for you, Kasey. I just wanted to be here for you and Mikey.”

“You didn’t,” she promised him, because it wasn’t his fault that some days when she looked at him all she wanted to do was cry.

As much as she hated to admit it, having him around probably would have made things a little harder for her and she hated that, because when all was said and done, he was still her best friend, which meant that if he ever pulled this crap on her again that she was most likely going to kill him.

“I’m not going to leave you again,” he promised.

“Because I’d slap the shit out of you?” she asked, smiling when he shot her a wink.

“Exactly,” he said, throwing his arm around her and giving her a quick hug before gently pushing her away.

“What’s going on?” Sara asked absently as she moved her feet to make room for her.

“Where’s Mikey?” she asked, instead of answering her, because she wasn’t in the mood to rehash this conversation with her.

“She went back to bed. Something about being exhausted thanks to the bastard that had snored all night,” she said with a shrug.

“Good, then I guess we have a few minutes to talk,” Eric said, plopping down on the coffee table so that he was facing them.

“You’re probably right,” Sara said with a nod and a forlorn sigh as she tossed her phone aside and sat up so that she was facing her. “We need to talk, Kasey.”

“About?” she asked, glancing between the two of them and regretting her decision to leave her bed.

“You, Kasey. We want to talk about you,” Sara said with a reassuring smile as she reached over and took Kasey’s hand in hers with a gentle squeeze that she honestly found a hell of a lot creepier than her usual “car salesman” pitch.

“Before you fuck this up and end up old and alone,” Eric added solemnly as he reached over and took her other hand in his.

Blinking, she asked, “You want me to kill you, don’t you?”

Shaking his head, he said, “You really need to get over me and move on.”

“It’s for your own good,” Sara added with another gentle squeeze of her hand and making her roll her eyes even when she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Does this have something to do with Reese?” she asked, releasing their hands so that she could grab the blanket off the back of the couch and curl up, more than ready for a nap after last night.

“You mean the man that knocked you up? Yes, yes it does,” Eric said, gesturing for Sara to move over only to shake his head in disgust, reach over and shove her legs off the couch, and before she could retaliate, he was plopping himself down on the couch between them and forcing Kasey to share the blanket with him.

“I’m not going to screw this up,” she said, closing her eyes and settling in the corner of the couch.

“No, no of course you won’t,” Sara said in a tone that clearly stated that she didn’t believe her.

“So, the idea of marrying Reese and spending the rest of your life with him doesn’t terrify you?”

“No,” she answered, honestly, because the idea of spending the rest of her life with him didn’t scare her.

However, the idea of losing him was a different story altogether.

She just needed to figure out how much.

Chapter 57

“Your order will be out in a few minutes,” the waitress said with a smile before walking away and leaving her sitting across from the man that hadn’t said anything since he’d picked her up.

Since it had taken them two hours to get to this insanely expensive restaurant in this upscale Boston hotel that she’d never even heard of before, she was, in her opinion at least, understandably nervous. Then again, the fact that he’d disappeared for two days without a word only to send her a text this morning telling her that he was taking her to dinner and asking her to wear something nice could be contributing factors to the anxiety attack that she was currently pretending that she wasn’t having.

“You look beautiful,” he said with a devastating smile as he picked up her hand and brushed his lips against the back of her knuckles as she shot a nervous glance around them, taking in the candlelight, the soft romantic music playing in the background, the lit fireplace, and the fact that their table was located in back of the upscale, and incredibly romantic restaurant and felt her stomach drop.

“Thank you,” she murmured, taking a sip from her water glass as she took in the incredibly handsome man sitting across from her and realized that yes, yes there was ample reason for her to be panicking.

“Mikey’s with Sara?” he asked, as though he hadn’t arranged for her best friend to show up a few hours ago and drag Mikey off with a cryptic message that it would probably be in her best interest if she packed an overnight bag.

Clearing her throat, she nodded a, “Yes,” and took another sip, trying to buy herself a little more time so that she could firmly stay in denial for as long as humanly possible.

“Your wine, sir,” the waitress said with a smile as she set a silver bucket covered with a white cloth down by her table all while Reese watched her with that expression that she couldn’t quite decipher.

“Thank you,” he said, turning their hands over so that he could lace his fingers with hers as she worried her bottom lip, waiting for the moment when it would hit him that she couldn’t have wine, but instead he took her by surprise when the waitress removed the towel off the “wine,” and produced a bottle of chilled apple juice.

Noting the cryptic look that passed between Reese and the waitress was all she needed to remind herself that she’d left her nausea medication in her bag, the same bag that Reese had sent up to the room he’d reserved with the bellhop when he’d checked them in an hour ago. As he shifted his attention back to her, she opened her mouth to tell him that she needed to run upstairs and grab her pills when the food arrived.

The food that he’d apparently pre-ordered when he’d made this reservation, which of course translated into incredibly expensive, was placed in front of her and with a bit of flourish, the covers were removed and-

She was pleasantly surprised to find herself looking at a large piece of chocolate fudge cake until she looked up and found Reese watching her in a way that made her really wish she had her nausea pills. Thankful that the wait staff had made themselves scarce, she pulled her hand away from him, cleared her throat and-

“Reese? Oh, my god, Reese!” a blond bombshell gushed, smiling hugely as she hurried over to their table and leaned over to give Reese a great view of her medically enhanced rack as she gave him a hug. “Oh, my god! I’ve missed you so much!”

“Missy,” the Adonis that had followed her to the table said, shooting Kasey an apologetic smile as he reached for the blonde woman that had yet to release her hold on Reese, whom she liked to point out looked angrier than she’d ever seen him before.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this was the infamous Missy and that the man standing behind her, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here, was Roger. Although she felt morally obligated to make this woman cry, she also couldn’t help but wonder why they all just happened to be here tonight. Thankfully, Missy cleared that up for her before she could do something stupid like tell the man across from her that she loved him.

“Oh, my god! You’re proposing, again!” Missy said, clapping her hands excitedly before she reached for the fork on Kasey’s plate and-

“Don’t,” Reese bit out, but Missy simply ignored him and stabbed the fork in the cake and pulled it back with a beautiful emerald and diamond ring attached to it.

“Oh, my god! I’ve always loved this ring!” Missy said, as Kasey cocked a brow and took in the murderous glare he was sending Missy’s way.

“Missy, for Christ’s sakes,” Roger, and she was going to call him that until she found out otherwise, bit out.

“This is so sweet, Reese! I can’t believe you remembered!” Missy said and with that, Kasey was standing up with a murmured, “Excuse me,” so that she could reach into Reese’s coat, pluck the keycard for the hotel room that he’d rented for the night out of his pocket, and with a satisfied sigh, turn around and head towards the lobby, deciding that now was a good time to get those pills.

*-*-*-*

“Son of a bitch!” Reese snapped, shoving away from the table and headed after Kasey only to stop and turn around to grab the ring out of the wicked bitch of the east’s hand.

“Reese?” she said in that whinny voice that had always grated on his fucking nerves.

Sending her a glare that had her reluctantly moving out of his way, he went after Kasey only to realize that he wasn’t the only one. Shoving his fingers through his hair, he quickened his step to go after the bastard.

“Kasey!” he said, wincing when she turned around and-

“Oh, crap,” she managed to mutter when whatever she’d planned on saying to him was forgotten as she placed her hand over her stomach and was swept off her feet by the bastard that was going to lose his fucking hands for touching her.

“What room, pumpkin?” Roger asked with an easy smile as he stepped into the elevator with her before Reese had a chance to grab her.

“Hand her over,” he snapped, following them into the elevator.

“Hit the button,” Roger said, nodding towards the wall of buttons.

“I’m not fucking playing,” he bit out, moving to grab Kasey who was pale and looking absolutely miserable, and he knew that it was because he’d seriously just fucked this up.

“Hit the button,” Roger said a little more urgently even as he shifted so that he could do it himself all while he kept an eye on something over Reese’s shoulders.

Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder to find Missy, face bright red, the all-too-familiar murderous bitch expression plastered on her face that she got whenever something didn’t go her way, storming towards them, waving a white letter in her hand and snapping, “This better be a fucking joke!”

“Okay then, tenth floor it is,” Roger said, keeping his eyes locked on the crazed woman bearing down on them as he frantically hit the button to close the elevator doors.

“Roger, you better-” Missy screamed, only to get cut off by the elevator doors.

Once the doors closed and they were moving, Roger sighed long and loud with obvious relief. “Well, that went well,” he said cheerfully as he leaned down to get a better look at Kasey.

“Hand her over,” Reese said, already moving to grab Kasey when she-

“Did you just growl at me?” he demanded in disbelief.

“Yes!” she hissed only to end with a wince as she turned her head to bury her face against Roger’s chest.

“She’s a cute little thing,” Roger said cheerfully as he shifted her in his arms and let out another one of those sighs that had Reese’s hands clenching into fists.

“Drop her and-”

“You’ll kill me,” Roger finished for him with a nod of understanding. “I figured that one out on my own when I caught a glimpse of her belly.”

“Just so we have an understanding,” he said, reaching over and plucked the keycard out of Kasey’s hand and hit the button for the ninth floor, deciding that he’d let the bastard live long enough to get Kasey to their room.

After that…

He was going to wipe that grin off the bastard’s face.

Chapter 58

“Don’t,” Kasey gasped, close to begging the man that she couldn’t seem to let go of to stop moving.

“You’re really putting me in a tough spot, pumpkin,” Roger said with a heartfelt sigh as he shifted her in his arms and tried to hand her over to Reese only to have her gasp when the slight move had her stomach rolling and her hands clutching his shirt, uncaring that she’d long ago messed up the perfectly ironed shirt as she struggled to get through this.

“Please…stop,” she gasped, really wishing that Reese would give up glaring and trying to take her out of Roger’s arms and focus on finding her pills.

“Kasey,” Reese said, sounding absolutely pissed and at the moment, she really didn’t care.

“You heard the lady,” Roger said, carefully settling on the plush king sized bed while Reese was forced to stand there.

Still. Glaring.

“Reese, please,” she said, so close to crying.

“What does she have for medication?” Roger asked, releasing his hold on her legs now that he had her settled so that he could press the back of his hand against her forehead before shifting his attention and checking her pulse.

“Shit,” Reese bit out, thankfully giving up glaring so that he could find her pills.

“She’s not eating enough,” Roger announced as he finished his quick examination and making her frown.

But, before she could ask, Reese was taking pity on her and explaining, “He’s a pediatrician.”

“The best in the state,” Roger amended with an easy smile as he took the bottle from Reese and read the instructions. “Add a half tablet. I’ll write her a new prescription to cover the change.”

“Fine,” Reese said, taking the pill bottle from him and counted out the pills, breaking one in half so that when he was done, he was popping two and half pills into her mouth.

Closing her eyes, she waited for the pills to dissolve and do something about this damn nausea so that she had the energy to drag herself into the tub, order enough room service to choke a horse and try to decide what she was going to do about Reese. She still couldn’t believe that he’d brought her here with the intentions of proposing when this place clearly meant something to the bitch that had ruined his life.

Apparently she wasn’t the only one.

“What the hell were you thinking bringing her here?” Roger asked, wrapping his arms around her to hold her closer and she allowed it since it helped and only because it helped.

“I was thinking that she deserved to have one perfect night,” Reese bit out, making her shake her head in disgust.

“But, here? Are you fucking serious?”

“Why were you here?” Reese snapped back, making the man holding her chuckle for some odd reason.

“Because Missy has been obsessed with coming here since she heard about your father’s fucked-up proposal and I thought it would be the perfect place to serve her with annulment papers,” he said with relish as he gestured towards the minibar. “See if there’s any juice or ginger ale in there.”

Not looking particularly happy about leaving her side, Reese moved to go check while she slumped in Roger’s arms, admittedly having a hell of a time keeping up. “You annulled your marriage?” she mumbled, shifting to get more comfortable.

“Well, it wasn’t really so much as an annulment as it was a legal document from my lawyer informing her that since we never got a marriage license or registered the marriage that it wasn’t legal,” he announced with a shrug.

“Did you know it wasn’t legal?” she asked, glancing over to find Reese watching them with a frown.

“Of course I did, pumpkin,” he said as he took the small, overpriced can of apple juice from Reese and handed it to her.

“You’re not married?” Reese asked, making her stomach drop.

“No,” Roger said with a shrug like it didn’t matter when the expression on Reese’s face said it all.

“The lawsuit,” Reese bit out, looking angry.

“You got fucked over, Reese, and it was my fault so I settled. You would have never seen a penny from her and we both know it,” Roger said, gesturing for her to take a sip.

“I didn’t want your fucking money!”

“Too fucking bad,” Roger said, taking the can of juice out of her hands and handing it back over to Reese.

“Was this some sort of fucking game to you?” Reese demanded, snatching the can away from him and making her really wish they’d take this conversation somewhere else.

“A game? Are you fucking serious?” Roger snapped back, making her decide that if they weren’t going to leave then she was. “I saved you from making the biggest mistake of your life!”

Taking a deep breath, she shifted off his lap on trembling hands, moved to the edge of the bed and-

“We’re back to the manhandling again, Yummy? Really?” she couldn’t help but ask as Reese took this opportunity to snatch her away from his ex-best friend.

“Never stopped,” he reminded her even as he continued to glare at Roger, who was settling in to get more comfortable on the bed with a satisfied sigh.

When Reese opened his mouth again, most likely to tell Roger to go fuck himself, she slapped her hand over his mouth and said, “Bath, the hotel phone, and the room service menu,” because she was done.

Absolutely done.

*-*-*-*

“I like her,” the bastard lounging on his bed said with a smile as he grabbed the remote and turned the television on.

“Get out,” he said, not taking his eyes off the closed bedroom door as he continued to pace in front of it like a caged animal, seriously wondering how this had gone so bad so fucking fast.

One minute he’d been ready to tell her how much he loved her and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, raising their children together and the next…

“Do you think she’ll order any food for us?” the bastard that had fucked him over asked.

“Get. Out,” he said in absolutely no fucking mood to deal with this tonight.

“And risk running into Missy? Yeah, I think I’ll take my chances in here with you instead.”

“I wasn’t asking,” he pointed out, wondering if he should break that door down and-

“Why were you proposing?”

“Because I love her,” he snapped, shoving his jacket off and tossing it aside.

“Then why did you bring her here of all places?” Roger asked, reminding him that he knew him better than anyone else, which only made him hate him more.

“Because my father proposed to my mother here,” he snapped.

“And we both know how well that ended,” Roger said with a chuckle as he finished off Kasey’s juice.

“Shut up.”

“Hey, I’m only trying to help,” Roger said, already looking bored as he settled his attention back on the flat screen television with a sigh.

“Is that what you call what you did?” he snapped, glancing away from the bathroom door to glare at the bastard that should have had his fucking back.

“Yes,” Roger said with absolutely no hesitation, which was right around the time that Reese decided that he’d held back long enough.

Chapter 59

“Stop being such a fucking baby!” Roger snapped even as he dove over the bed and away from Reese.

“You’re fucking dead,” Reese said calmly as he rounded the bed to go after Roger, who was smart enough to stop wiping the blood off his lip and jumped back over the bed.

She stood there, watching the men fight over another woman on the night that Reese had apparently decided to propose to her and decided that she’d be spending the night alone, enjoying twenty-four hour room service when she finally got her hands on a phone that worked, while she waited for Eric to come pick her up in the morning.

With that in mind, she strolled over to the hotel door, opened it and said, “Out,” which of course, they both ignored since they were still busy fighting over the bitch that had fucked them both over in her opinion.

“Can’t we talk about this?” Roger asked, wiping at his bloody nose.

“No,” Reese said, changing directions to cut off his one-time friend, who’d made the mistake of allowing himself to be cornered.

“You can’t seriously be that pissed about Missy,” Roger said with a snort of disgust as he backed up.

“I’m not,” Reese said, moving towards the man resigned to having the rest of his face punched in. “I’m pissed because you wrecked tonight, asshole.”

“You’re not seriously blaming me for that fucked-up proposal, are you?” Roger asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I didn’t even get the chance to tell her that I loved her,” Reese bit out, sounding seriously pissed off as she closed the hotel door, definitely intrigued and curious to see where this was going.

“And that’s my fault, how?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Reese asked, advancing on him just as Roger decided to put a chair between the two of them.

“Well, if you’re going to beat the shit out of me for it then I’m thinking I deserve to know,” Roger pointed out as she fixed her towel so that it was wrapped more snuggly around her.

“I wanted to do this right. I wanted to make this night absolutely fucking perfect for her, and right when I was ready to tell her how much I loved her and tell her that she was marrying me, you show up,” Reese explained, grabbing the chair and tearing it away.

Roger snorted at that. “You should be thanking me.”

“For fucking this up?”

“No, for saving you. Bradfords don’t propose and we both know it. If she had said yes, then your marriage would have been doomed. I grew up hearing the same stories that you did and we both know I’m right,” Roger finished smugly, making Reese chuckle, somewhat terrifyingly.

“Do you seriously think that I was really going to take any chances of her saying no?”

“Well, you were asking.”

“I wasn’t going to ask, asshole. I was going to tell her, because there’s no fucking way that I’m going to let her get away,” he said, grabbing Roger by the shirt.

“Because she’s carrying your baby?” Roger asked with an oomph when Reese slammed him against the wall.

“Because I love her,” Reese snarled as he moved to slam Roger into the wall again, but she’d heard enough.

“In about thirty seconds, I’m dropping this towel, crawling into bed naked and giving you one chance to make this up to me,” she announced, biting back a smile when both men went still.

“One,” she said, deciding that perhaps he needed a little prompting.

“But-” Roger said, looking adorably lost as he sent a worried glance at the closed hotel door, clearly not looking forward to going out that door and facing Missy’s wrath.

“Two,” she said, walking towards the bed.

“Kasey?” Reese asked, throwing her a questioning look.

“Three,” she said, deciding that he needed a visual so she reached up and toyed the part of the towel keeping the rest in place.

“Shit!” Reese hissed, grabbing Roger away from the wall and shoving him towards the door.

“No, wait! We can talk about this!” Roger protested, stumbling his way towards the door.

“Four,” she said, running her fingers over the top of her towel.

“Get out,” Reese said, giving Roger another shove.

“But-”

Deciding that waiting until thirty was too generous, she reached up and-

“Shit!”

*-*-*-*

“You son of a bitch!” came the bitchy declaration as Reese shoved Roger out of the room and into the path of the bitch that had wasted enough of his time.

“Have fun” he said with a chuckle as he slammed the door shut in the bastard’s face.

With that done, he turned around and walked back into the room and nearly groaned when he spotted Kasey, naked, laying on her stomach, and waiting for him.

“So, I’ve decided to give you a chance to fix this,” she said, resting her chin on her folded arms as she watched him.

“And if I can’t?” he asked, as he reached for the buttons on his shirt and started to undo them.

“That’s not really a choice,” she said with a slight shrug.

“No,” he said, biting back a smile, “it’s not.”

“Then, I suggest that you start talking,” she said with a pointed look as he ran his gaze over her body, noting every delectable curve that he couldn’t wait to run his hands over.

“Where would you like me to start?” he asked, pulling his shirt off and tossing it aside.

“The ring,” she said, cocking her brow in question.

“You mean the one that Missy gushed over?” he asked with a wince as he reached for his pants.

“Yeah, that would be the one,” she said, watching his every move.

“It was my grandmother’s,” he said with a chuckle as he toed off his shoes.

“And she wanted it,” she guessed correctly.

“And she was never going to get it,” he promised her.

“Why?” she asked, looking curious.

“Because I didn’t love her,” he simply said, making her worry her bottom lip the way he loved.

“And you love me?” she asked, looking vulnerable and so fucking beautiful that he couldn’t imagine what he’d done to deserve her.

The answer was simple, he didn’t deserve her, but that wasn’t going to stop him from doing whatever it took to keep her.

“Yes, I love you more than anything,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulled out the ring that she wasn’t leaving this hotel room without.

“And Mikey?” she asked, biting her lip.

“Is my favorite thing about you.”

Chapter 60

“So, are you going to marry me?” Reese asked, as he sat on the bed and slid his ring on her finger, clearly not really all that concerned with her answer.

“I’m still thinking about it,” she said, biting back a smile as Reese leaned over and kissed her bare shoulder.

“You’re still thinking about it?” he asked, smiling against her shoulder.

“Mmhmm, I need to think about my options,” she said, nodding solemnly even though she’d decided that he was worth it.

Whatever happened, he was definitely worth it.

“I see,” he murmured before asking, “And is there anything that I could do to help my case?”

“Room service?” she suggested as she looked at the ring on her finger and tried not to smile.

“You’re feeling better?” he asked, kissing her shoulder again.

“Yes,” she said, deciding that it probably wouldn’t help if she told him that she was feeling a lot better than she had in days thanks to the adjustment to her nausea medication.

“Is there anything that you’re in the mood for?” he asked softly, kissing his way to her spine.

Biting back a groan, she said, “You.”

“You’ve already got me,” he said, pressing a kiss against her other shoulder.

Sighing heavily, she shook her head. “This interview really isn’t going well.”

“Damn,” he said, chuckling as he kissed his way back to her spine. “What else would you like to know?”

“Well, you still haven’t told me how we all ended up at the same hotel,” she said with a pointed look over her shoulder.

Sighing, he kissed her spine one last time before sitting up. “My father proposed to my mother here.”

“That doesn’t really explain why your ex-fiancé was here or how she knew that you were proposing with the cake,” she pointed out.

“My father, in his infinite wisdom, dragged my mother to this hotel, proposed with a piece of cake, and fucked it up in every way imaginable,” he said, chuckling as he placed his hand on her back and began to gently rub, which she allowed because she was in a generous mood.

“And…”

“And, my brothers told her about it mostly to fuck with her head, because they knew that I would never do it for her, which meant that she demanded it,” he murmured, running his hand down the middle of her back.

“Because…”

“Because this place is special,” he said absently as he ran his hand over her bottom, making her lips twitch.

This man had a serious obsession with her ass, she thought with a smile as she gave her bottom a little wiggle in demand for him to continue.

“And I am?” she asked, wondering about that.

“Yes,” he said, leaning down to kiss her shoulder as he gave her bottom a gentle squeeze that made it difficult to focus.

“Did you ever bring her here?”

“No, but knowing her, she’s probably been on Roger’s ass to do it,” he said, not really sounding all that concerned.

“And what are you going to do about Roger?” she asked, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to enjoy this.

“Nothing,” he said, kissing her shoulder. “Any more questions?”

“Yes,” she said with a sniff.

“Am I allowed to ask questions?” he asked, running his hand down her back.

“I believe this is my interview, Yummy,” she pointed out with a long-suffering sigh and another wiggle of her bottom to get the man to focus.

“My apologies,” he murmured with a kiss against her shoulder, somewhat appeasing her.

“What are you planning on doing about work?” she asked, hoping that he did the right thing so that she wasn’t forced to slap some sense into him.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said, pressing a kiss against her spine as his hand focused on her bottom.

“Do you like being a cop?” she asked, opening her eyes so that she could watch him.

For several minutes he didn’t say anything, he just sat there, watching his hand move over her body and when he finally answered, he surprised her. “I love working with my brother and helping people, but for the most part I hate it.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked, turning over onto her side so that she could reach up and trace his jaw.

“I know what I want to do, but I’m not qualified to do it,” he said, placing his hand on the swell of her belly.

“And that is…”

“I want to design renovations.”

“You don’t want to design houses?” she asked, for some reason really not surprised.

Shaking his head, he said, “I like fixing mistakes.”

“And my kitchen was a mistake?” she asked, laying her hand over his.

“Your kitchen was a nightmare,” he readily agreed, making her laugh.

“So, what’s stopping you from doing what you love?” she asked, wondering if this was finally the right time to show him the website that she’d been working on for him.

He shrugged. “I don’t have the experience or the training.”

“Would your uncle hire you to do it?” she asked, wondering if that was the best route for him to go.

It would give him job security, allow him to get some experience under his belt and allow him to do what he loved to do, which meant that she wouldn’t be forced to beat him with a pillow again.

“No, he has guys that do that,” he said with a shrug, making her fingers twitch with the need to grab a pillow.

“Have you asked?” she asked, running her fingers over the back of his hand and noting the way that his eyes hungrily took in her breasts and other places, which meant that he wasn’t a hundred percent focused and this was the best time to have this conversation.

“No,” he said, licking his lips as his eyes moved down her stomach and settled between her legs.

This was going to be so easy, she thought, almost feeling bad, but clearly, he needed her help.

“How about we make a deal?” she asked, shifting her legs slightly apart to give him a better view.

“What kind of deal?” he asked, sliding his hand up to cup her breast.

“You have to ask your Uncle,” she moaned, understandably having a difficult time focusing right now.

“He’ll say no,” Reese murmured, teasing her nipple.

“And if he doesn’t…”

“Then I guess I’ll be handing in my badge.”

Chapter 61

“Now, it’s my turn,” Reese said, leaning down to flick his tongue over her nipple.

“To service me?” she asked, blinking.

Chuckling, he leaned down and flicked his tongue over the other nipple. “To ask the questions,” he informed her as he ran his hand over her hip and down her leg.

“I wasn’t really done there, Yummy,” she said, turning over onto her back and reaching for him.

“What else did you want to know?” he asked, leaning down to kiss her as he slid his hand over her thigh and up her leg.

“You’re kind of putting me on the spot there, Yummy,” she admitted with a gasp when he slid his hand between her legs.

“That’s kind of the point, sweetheart,” he said, kissing her as he gently rubbed his hand between her legs.

Sighing, she said, “We really need to work on your interview skills, Yummy.”

“We really do,” he readily agreed as he slid a finger inside her to find her wet and more than ready for him, but he needed to clear up a few things before they concluded this interview. “You’re marrying me.”

“I am?” she asked, groaning.

“Mmhmm,” he murmured, kissing her as he slid his finger inside her again.

“I don’t remember saying yes, Yummy.”

“Because I didn’t ask,” he pointed out as his thumb joined his finger and he slowly teased her swollen clit, deciding that he needed the extra advantage.

“Isn’t it customary to ask?” she asked, smiling against his lips.

“Only morons ask,” he pointed out.

“I see,” she murmured on a gasp as he added a second finger.

“I’m not giving you a chance to say no,” he told her as he shifted over her and settled between her legs.

“And you thought I’d say no?” she asked, shifting her legs further apart for him.

“Wasn’t chancing it,” he said, reaching between them so that he could release himself.

“I-” she started to say, but he decided that it was probably for the best if they just got to the point now.

“So, you love me?” he asked, shifting so that the tip of his cock was teasing her slit.

“I’m not really sure that this is an appropriate line of questioning for an interview, Yummy,” she said, smiling while she ran her fingers through his hair as she rolled her hips, trying to turn the tables on him.

“That’s a damn shame,” he said, shaking his head sadly as he pulled his hips away, determined to tease the woman into admitting that she was madly in love with him and couldn’t live without him.

“And why’s that?” she asked on a gasp as he ground his cock against her, making sure that she knew just how much he wanted her.

“Because I’m afraid that I’ve taken a vow of celibacy,” he said, making her lips twitch.

“Really?”

“I’m afraid that I don’t have much of a choice,” he said, sighing heavily even as he continued to grind himself against her.

“That’s a shame,” she said, matching his sigh as she kissed her way along his jaw.

“It really is,” he readily agreed, biting back a groan as the vicious woman kissed and licked her way down his neck as her hands moved down his back, over his ass, and-

“Fuck,” he groaned when the devious woman gave his ass a squeeze that had his cock eagerly jumping to do her bidding.

“So, this decision to become celibate…”

“Is necessary,” he bit out, struggling to focus as she gave his ass another squeeze.

“Because?” she asked, sounding a little smug as she rolled her hips and forced his cock deeper between her slit.

“Because otherwise I’m afraid that you’d just keep on using me for my body,” he somehow managed to get out with a straight face.

“I see,” she murmured. “And marriage would help?”

“It couldn’t hurt,” he admitted with a shrug and a frustrated groan as she stopped kissing him so that she could lie back on the bed and let her legs drop back down away from him.

“Is this about respect?”

“Yes, yes I’m afraid it is,” he readily agreed as he settled more deeply between her legs, desperate for the contact.

“Are you afraid that I won’t respect you in the morning without a ring on my finger?” she asked,

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” he said, nodding as he gazed down at the beautiful woman that-

“Oh, fuck!”

-was evil.

Pure. Evil, he decided as she reached between them and wrapped her hand around the tip of his cock with a bored sigh.

“So, you know what I think, Yummy?” she asked, giving the tip a squeeze that had him clenching his jaw shut and trying to stay still.

He opened his mouth to answer only to moan when she shifted her hand on him so that she was caressing the tip. “I’m thinking that I really have no choice but to marry you,” she said, nodding gravely.

“You really don’t,” he said, nodding his agreement only to lick his lips with a curse when she stroked him.

“That’s what I thought,” she said with a defeated sigh. “We’re going to have to get married so that we can have an insane amount of sex.”

Lips twitching, he couldn’t help but agree. “I’m afraid you’re right.”

“I see,” she said, looking thoughtful as she continued to stroke him before she asked, “Will this marriage include early morning sex?”

Nodding, he said, “That really went without saying.”

“And shower sex?”

“Really? Do you really have to ask that?”

“I think it’s best if we clarify things from the beginning, don’t you?” she asked, blinking innocently up at him.

“Yes.”

“And you’ll build me a brand new kitchen?” she asked, pursing her lips up thoughtfully as she waited for an answer.

“I could probably do that,” he said, absently wondering how she felt about fixer-uppers, because he already had plans for them.

“And you’ll share your juice with me for the rest of our lives?”

“I don’t really think that I had much of a choice on that matter, did I?” he asked, making sure to sound putout only to groan when she shifted so that the tip of his cock was at her entrance and-

“You were saying?” she asked when she shifted until the tip was inside her so that every stroke, and god love her, she hadn’t stopped stroking him yet, had the tip moving inside her.

“I will happily share my juice with you,” he said, nodding as he leaned down to kiss her.

“Then I suppose I could marry you,” she said, sighing heavily and making him chuckle.

“And?” he prompted, brushing his lips against hers.

“And, I suppose that I might be in love with you,” she finally admitted as he pushed forward and slid home.

“You suppose?” he asked, smiling as he kissed her.

“Mmmhmm,” she murmured around a gasp as he ground himself inside her.

“Are you marrying me because you’re head over heels in love with me and you couldn’t imagine spending another day without me?” he asked, because the idea of going even one more day without her destroyed him.

“That really went without saying, Yummy.”

Chapter 62

Two Weeks Later…

“You’re wasting your time, ladies,” Reese said, pausing on the way to the moving truck so that he could lean down and kiss his beautiful wife.

“We had a deal, Yummy,” Kasey said, gesturing for him to get moving as she reached into the red cooler and grabbed another apple juice.

“He’s going to say no,” he reminded her as he hefted the large box in his arms.

Frowning, Sara looked at Kasey and asked, “Why is he here?”

Sighing heavily, Kasey shrugged. “He keeps following me everywhere.”

“I feel so bad for you,” Sara said with a pitying look as she checked her manicure.

“Me, too,” Kasey said, letting her shoulders sag in defeat and making his lips twitch.

“You’re so mean,” he said, chuckling as he stole another kiss.

“You knew this going in,” she pointed out with a smile.

“You really did,” Sara said, nodding in agreement as she helped herself to a Coke.

“It doesn’t get any better,” Zoe said with a heartfelt sigh as she helped herself to a whoopie pie.

“It really doesn’t,” Haley said with a nod.

“We can hear you,” Jason bit out from where he stood with Trevor, glaring at their wives.

Blinking, Zoe said, “And?”

“And we’re not moving another goddamn box until we get one of those whoopie pies,” Jason said, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well, I guess if you’re giving up…” Haley said, letting her voice trail off with a shrug and making his cousins eyes narrow suspiciously.

“You’re rating us again, aren’t you?” Jason demanded.

“We really never stopped,” Kasey said, as Zoe pointed out, “Yummy’s still in the lead.”

“What the hell?” Jason demanded in outrage.

“He’s the only one willing to work without a shirt,” Haley pointed out.

“It’s like forty degrees out here!” Jason snapped, and since he was in the lead he decided against mentioning that his wife had stolen his shirt again just so that she could ogle him and since he enjoyed her deviousness, he’d let her.

“Which is why he gets an extra ten points,” Zoe said, which earned more glares until his cousins finally stormed off back towards the house to grab more boxes.

Chuckling, he leaned down to kiss his wife one last time before he headed towards the large moving truck they’d rented for the move. Once he had the box loaded, he turned around and came face to face with the man that he’d been avoiding for the past two weeks.

“No,” Uncle Jared bit out with a glare.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” he said, biting back a sigh, because he knew this wasn’t going to happen.

“You have a good job, Reese.”

“I know,” he said, telling himself that he wasn’t disappointed.

He knew what his Uncle’s answer was going to be and it was fine. He had a good job, which in the last two weeks had been a hell of a lot better since he’d had Kasey and Mikey to come home to. They were staying with his parents while they were waiting to close on the old Jackson place and he wasn’t the only one that was thriving.

His parents were ecstatic to have Kasey and Mikey around. They were spoiling Mikey and, of course, his father was taking advantage of Mikey’s arm and the two of them had already been busted for smashing a window with a wild snowball pitch. They were now banned from throwing snowballs without adult supervision, which meant that his father snuck Mikey outside every chance he got.

His mother was loving having Kasey there. They cooked all day and his mom was loving helping with the cooking videos since Kasey needed an extra hand right now. At night, when the nausea hit, his mother sat with her, binge watching Netflix and keeping her company while she helped Mikey with her homework. It didn’t hurt that Mikey was loving her new school and that she’d already made quite a few friends, but her best friend seemed to be Sebastian, who was at the house every day waiting for her when she got home. 

In a few weeks, they’d be moving into their new house and Reese would start working on renovations and getting the house ready for the babies. It would give him something to do until spring hit and he could cash in his vacation and finish fixing up Kasey’s house so that they could put it on the market.

“Look, if you want to come work for me part-time then I’d be more than happy to have you, but I can’t sit back and let you quit your job, Reese. I just can’t,” his Uncle said, before adding, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said, shrugging it off. “I promised my wife that I’d ask.”

“I’m sorry, Re-”

“Uncle Jared?” Sara said, joining them with that creepy smile that gave him nightmares.

“Sara, it’s-”

“Why don’t we go talk inside, hmm?” she said, cutting him off and somehow managed to lead Uncle Jared, who was throwing him a questioning look over his shoulder, towards the house.

Knowing that it was pointless to tell Sara that she was wasting her time, he shoved the box the rest of the way into the truck and decided to go find his wife. He’d break the news to her. She’d be upset, but thanks to that amazing website that she’d created for him, he could probably catch a little work on the side.

When he spotted his cousins watching him with somewhat terrifying expressions on their faces, he couldn’t help but frown and wonder what they were up to. He moved to go find out when the front door suddenly flew open and his uncle, looking incredibly pissed, stepped outside, glanced around the yard until his eyes landed on him and when they did, Reese found himself taking a step back.

“You,” his uncle bit out accusingly.

But, before he could ask his uncle what was wrong, the spry bastard was coming after him. He would have managed to escape if it hadn’t been for the two bastards that had taken it upon themselves to grab him and hold him in place.

“You son of a bitch!” Uncle Jared snapped, storming towards him as Kasey and the rest of the ladies popped open fresh bottles of apple juice and settled in for the show.

“What the hell did I do?”

“Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it, Yummy?” Jason asked, releasing his hold so that he could shove him towards his father.

“You made that kitchen island?” his uncle demanded.

“He designed it, too,” Trevor said, throwing him under the bus as Sara walked past them, sighing with satisfaction as she said, “Told you so.”

“I-”

“And you held out on me?”

“I-”

“He designed the floor, too,” Jason added, smiling smugly.

“And did you check out those built-in shelves in the living room?” Trevor, the bastard that he was going to throttle with his bare hands, said.

“Let’s not forget about the bathroom,” Jason mentioned as he moved to stand behind his father’s back so that he could mouth, “Bitch,” at Reese without his father seeing.

“You designed all of it?” his Uncle demanded with a calculating gleam in his eye and before he could answer, Kasey was coming to stand by his side and Sara was stepping up to his other side.

“We’ll handle the negotiations from here, Yummy,” his wife said.

“I-”

“Shh, you’ve done enough,” Sara said, nudging him out of the way.

“But-”

“It’s really for the best, Yummy,” Kasey said, moving to step away when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him so that he could kiss the devious woman that drove him out of his fucking mind.

Epilogue

One Year Later…

“This isn’t really helpful,” Reese said, smiling down at his son, who was doing his best to drool all over his big sister’s baseball.

“Well, he seems happy,” Mikey said quietly as she shot a nervous glance towards the closed bathroom door where her mother had been hiding for the past hour.

“Yes, he does,” Reese said, smiling down at Nathaniel before glancing at his other son to make sure that Zachary was still sleeping.

“Is it always going to be like this, Dad?” Mikey asked, worrying her bottom lip.

“Only for the first six months,” he said, hoping that this pregnancy wasn’t going to be as rough as the last one.

“So, three more months,” Mikey said, squishing her face up as she reached down and tickled her brother’s foot.

“Maybe we should call Uncle Roger?” she suggested.

“Don’t call him that,” he said with a mock glare for his little girl even as he had to wonder how the bastard managed to wrap every woman around his little finger. Well, everyone but his sister, he thought with a smile, thinking about just how much he enjoyed watching as his sister eviscerated the bastard every chance she got.

“Might as well,” Mikey said with a shrug.

“Traitor,” he said, leaning over to give his son a kiss before getting up to go check on his wife.

“Can Sebastian come over?” Mikey asked, which meant that her best friend was already on his way.

“Sure. Just try to keep it down so that your mother can rest,” he said, leaning over to pick Nathaniel up so that he could put him in the playpen next to his brother’s before heading towards the bathroom.

He didn’t bother knocking. He simply walked inside the bathroom and-

“Twins,” she said with a whimper from where she lounged in the bathtub. “Really, Yummy?”

“Well, it is the fastest way to get those ten kids that we talked about,” he pointed out, chuckling when she shot him a murderous glare.

“Not funny, Yummy. Not funny,” she said, closing her eyes with a sigh.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” he asked, taking a knee by the side of the tub so that he could reach into the tub and place his hand on her belly.

“Better,” she said, placing her hand over his.

“Sara’s going to be home soon. She said she’d watch the boys so that we could have a night to ourselves,” he said, looking forward to spending the night making love to his wife.

That is once the nausea passed and she no longer wanted to go for his balls.

“I could really kill that bastard,” she said, shaking her head in disgust.

“I know, sweetheart,” he said, knowing that she probably would have done just that if he hadn’t managed to lock her in a closet when she’d found out that Sara had walked in on her husband fucking his secretary.

“As soon as I have the babies I’m going to do just that,” she promised with a nod, making him bite back a smile.

“I think Eric might beat you to it,” he said, trying not to think about their other roommate, still wondering how that happened.

“I’ve never seen him that angry before,” she said, shifting onto her side so that she was facing him.

“Thank you for being so sweet about them staying here,” she said with a wobbly smile that had him leaning in to kiss her.

“They’re your family, sweetheart. They’re always welcome here,” he said, deciding that it wouldn’t get him any extra points if he mentioned how close he was to killing the little bastard at work since she’d probably already figured that out.

He still wasn’t sure how he’d got stuck with Eric. One day he’d just showed up, claimed the bedroom on the first floor and started working for Uncle Jared as his right-hand man. Eric now ran the office, did payroll, and busted Reese’s ass over every project, demanding receipts, copies of his plans, and bugged the shit out of him to help with every project. If it wasn’t for the insane amount of money that his uncle threw at him to work for him and the benefits, he probably would have shoved the little bastard into a tub of concrete and left him to rot.

“I have to tell you something,” she said with a cryptic look that had his full attention.

“What?”

Worrying her bottom lip, she said, “I brought the boys to see Roger today.”

“Did he hit on you again?” he bit out, hating the fact that he was the kids’ pediatrician, but he couldn’t deny the fact that the bastard really was the best.

She waved it off with a, “Of course he did. I’m hot, but that’s not what I have to tell you.”

“Are the boys okay?” he asked, shifting his attention back to the closed door.

“Boys are fine,” she promised him.

“Then what do you have to tell me?” he asked, returning his attention back to find Kasey biting her lip.

“I may have done something bad.”

“How bad?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on the woman that loved to keep him on his toes.

“Well, after the boys’ appointment, I took them to the grocery store and I may have run across someone that you know, who may have pissed me off enough for me to make her cry,” she said, giving him a sheepish smile.

“Who?” he asked slowly, not sure that he really wanted to know.

“Missy,” she mumbled.

“I see.”

“I couldn’t help myself.”

“What did you do?” he asked, closing his eyes on a resigned sigh.

“Well, it really depends on who you ask,” she hedged.

“I’m asking you.”

“Besides making her cry?” she said, making his lips twitch.

“Yes.”

“Well, it happened so fast that I really couldn’t put my finger on any one thing.”

“Kasey,” he said, trying not to laugh.

“I can’t take all the blame since the boys were really the ones to break her spirit,” she said, nodding solemnly.

“They’re only six months old,” he pointed out.

“And apparently they can hold a grudge,” she said with an innocent expression that he wasn’t buying for a second.

“Apparently,” he murmured in agreement.

“And, I don’t think it really helped matters when Sara-”

“Wait, Sara was there?”

“We were supposed to have lunch together,” she said, averting her gaze.

“And you didn’t have lunch, did you?” he guessed.

“Well, after the incident we decided that it would probably be for the best if we came home after we finished shopping, which of course took longer since we had to go to a different grocery store.”

“And why did you have to switch grocery stores?” he asked when he knew better.

“We really couldn’t stay there once the screaming started, could we?”

“Umm, no?”

“Exactly,” she said, nodding in agreement as he sat there, really trying not to smile. “So, once we cleared things up with the police and-”

“The police were called?”

“From what I’m told it’s the normal procedure for this kind of thing.”

“Do I want to know?” he asked, rubbing his hands down his face to hide his smile.

“Probably not, but we did manage to keep Mikey from-”

“Mikey was there?” he asked, dropping his hands away from his face.

“She had an appointment after the boys.”

“And what did she do to involve the police?”

“Well, I really don’t think that she did anything, but Sebastian-”

“Sebastian was there, too?”

“Yeah, since I was picking Mikey up early from school he asked if he could come along to help with the boys,” she said with a shrug.

“And what did Sebastian do?”

“I’m not really sure,” she said, scrunching up her face adorably, “but whatever it was had Missy screaming hysterically.”

“You know what? I don’t think I want to know,” he said, chuckling as he leaned in and kissed her.

“It’s probably for the best, Yummy,” she agreed, smiling as she wrapped her arms around him. “It’s probably for the best.”

Irresistible

A Neighbor from Hell

(Aidan’s Story)

Chapter 1

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Melanie muttered pathetically as she shoved another delicious French fry in her mouth while she once again had to question the life choices she’d made that had brought her here.

“Really? I can’t imagine why,” Rebecca, her best friend since elementary school and ex-roommate, said innocently with an equally innocent expression as she sat across the booth from her, clearly enjoying herself. Melanie considered kicking her beneath the table, but right now that seemed like a lot of work so she settled for taking another bite out of her delicious French fry instead.

“I ran,” Melanie said in a daze, still trying to figure out how everything had gone so horribly wrong so quickly.

One minute the nurse had been calling her name and the next she was in her car, tearing out of the parking lot, and debating the pros and cons of moving to Switzerland.

“I believe waddled is a more fitting term,” Rebecca, always helpful, added as Melanie absently dipped her fry in ketchup and popped it in her mouth with a pathetic groan.

“I panicked,” she said, staring numbly down at the half-eaten burger on her plate.

“Yes, yes you did,” Rebecca said absently, and Melanie didn’t need to look up to know that her best friend was probably licking her lips as she watched her husband do something that caused his insanely large muscles to flex.

Her best friend had it bad for Lucifer and unfortunately, Melanie couldn’t say that she blamed her. Not that she wanted Lucifer for herself, because she definitely wasn’t into guys that loved to glare, but she couldn’t help but notice just how much Lucifer adored Rebecca. It was something that Melanie would probably never have, she thought, biting back a sigh as she placed a hand on her large belly.

“You can try again,” Rebecca pointed out.

“I know,” she mumbled, wondering how she was going to be able to go back to that office and face his staff after today.

She already knew that she wouldn’t be able to do it, which was probably for the best. Telling Aidan, the asshole that she’d had a one-night stand with that the Morning After Pill hadn’t worked after all wasn’t exactly something that she really wanted to do at his office.

Then again, it also wasn’t something that she wanted to do when she was six months pregnant, but she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. She’d wanted to tell him sooner, had actually planned on telling him sooner, but things changed when she’d almost lost the baby and the doctor was forced to put her on bed rest.

She’d never been sicker in her life than she had in the last four months. Every day had been pure hell as she’d tried to get through the day without ending up in the emergency room, terrified that she was going to lose her baby. It had been touch and go there for a while, but eventually they’d been able to get her nausea under control and she’d started putting on weight.

Five days ago her doctor had announced that her weight was good, her numbers had come up and that the baby, a very active little boy, was exactly where he should be and that it was now safe to leave the confines of her bed. It had honestly been the best news of her life even though it meant that it was time to face the music.

She had to tell Aidan Bradford, the man that had made it quite clear that he didn’t want children that he was about to have one. She’d waited until she knew that the baby was going to be okay before telling him, because she honestly couldn’t think of anything crueler than telling a man that he was going to be a father when there was no certainty that the baby was going to survive.

She wasn’t supposed to be telling him now, but she didn’t want to wait any longer. She didn’t want to be one of those women that tried to keep her child away from their father, which was the reason that she was ignoring her Doctor’s orders to hold off until after she had the baby. He was concerned about what the stress would do to her. She didn’t want to do anything to risk her baby, but she had to do the right thing.

She had to tell Aidan.

“I can go with you if you want,” Rebecca suggested, thankfully pulling Melanie away from the depressing thoughts that had plagued her for the last few months.

She shook her head and said, “It’s better if I tell him by myself,” even though it was tempting to bring Rebecca along as a buffer. Aidan liked Rebecca and probably wouldn’t start yelling if she was there, but he would still be angry and she wasn’t sure that she wanted Rebecca around when it happened.

“When?” Rebecca pressed, which was something that she’d been doing a lot this past week.

“I’m going to tell him,” she said with a miserable sigh as she popped another fry in her mouth.

“Better do it soon,” Rebecca said with a pointed look at the plate in front of Melanie, which just happened to be the third cheeseburger platter she’d ordered in the last hour and something that would give away the fact that she was carrying a Bradford, “before Lucifer figures it out.”

“He’s going to be mad,” she mumbled, trying not to think of all the times he’d taken care of her over the past few months, checking in on her all the time, bringing her food, sitting with her, and occasionally carrying her to the bathroom when she was too weak to do it herself so that she could hug the toilet for a few hours.

He had no idea that his brother was the father, because they hadn’t told him and when he found out that they’d kept him in the dark she was probably going to lose his friendship. This was really turning out to be the best day ever, she thought pathetically even as she had to wonder where her order of pancakes with extra butter, syrup and bacon was.

“No, he won’t,” Rebecca promised her with a shrug. “He’ll just decide that gives him even more rights to be the Godfather.”

That was true…

He did seem rather determined to be the baby’s godfather, she mused, glancing in his direction to find him sitting at the bar, glaring at a laptop and a stack of papers, which brought up a completely different subject.

“Aren’t you supposed to be writing a paper?” she asked, returning her attention back to Rebecca to find the other woman shrugging.

“I finished it, but he wasn’t happy with my choice of font and felt that my intro wasn’t exciting enough to capture the reader’s attention.”

Frowning, Melanie absently ate another fry as she glanced back at Lucifer, who was still glaring at the screen. “What was your paper on?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Time management,” Rebecca said with a shrug.

“I see,” Melanie murmured thoughtfully, wondering how Rebecca handled Lucifer’s OCD without killing him.

Then again, since she’d benefitted from his OCD over the past few months she wasn’t exactly in a position to talk. Thanks to Lucifer, everything in her house was now organized and she meant everything. From the frozen peas in her freezer to the extra pack of floss in her bathroom, everything was organized by expiration date, size, likelihood of use and, in the case of her kitchen, by flavor and texture.

She’d felt bad at first, but that quickly changed when she’d realized that he was actually enjoying himself. Whenever she tried to help him, he would glare at her, point towards her bedroom, and wait until she went back to bed before continuing with his hobby and if she didn’t move fast enough the bastard would call her mother. She still wasn’t sure how he’d gotten her mother’s number, but she suspected that Rebecca had something to do with it.

“How did you end up spending the night with Aidan?” Rebecca asked, and Melanie had to give her credit, because she’d held off asking that question for a lot longer than she’d expected.

With a shrug, she said, “A lot of tequila, some beer, and a few shots of unidentifiable alcohol.”

She decided not to mention that she could barely remember what happened when she’d left their apartment with Aidan after Lucifer threw them out. She remembered going to a bar, ordering a drink, the feel of Aidan’s hands on her as he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her, and flashes of what happened once they made it to the hotel.

That was it.

The only thing that she remembered with perfect clarity was what happened the next morning when she woke up to find Aidan sitting in the corner, glaring at her as he informed her that the condom had broken during the night. The conversation that followed was definitely something that she wasn’t likely to forget anytime soon.

There was really nothing like struggling with a hangover while the first guy she’d slept with in years made sure that she knew just how badly he didn’t want to have a kid before she flipped him off, mumbled something that she hoped pissed him off, grabbed her clothes and left, more than ready to forget him.

Unfortunately that’s not how things turned out.

“Fine. Don’t tell me,” Rebecca grumbled as she glanced at her husband and groaned pathetically, “He’s getting out the red pen.”

“Sounds like you’re going to have a fun night,” Melanie said absently, not really in the mood to torture her best friend tonight.

Rebecca shrugged. “He’s easily distracted.”

From the sounds that she heard whenever she walked past their apartment, Lucifer’s office, or the supply closet, she had to agree. As she sat there, absently nibbling on another fry, she couldn’t help but wonder if Rebecca would be willing to distract Lucifer after he found out about Aidan.

“Do you think Aidan knows?” Rebecca asked, making her stomach turn, because she honestly didn’t know.

“I left before he could see me and I doubt the nurse is going to make a big deal out of a patient ditching an appointment.”

She’d probably just mention it to the receptionist, who would make a note of it and send her a cancelation fee. They’d probably just tell Aidan that his eleven o’clock canceled and that would be the end of it.

At least she hoped it would.

Feeling exhausted from her first real trip out in months, she popped another fry in her mouth, tossed one at Rebecca who was back to ogling her husband, and made her way to the door in the back that lead upstairs to her apartment. Once she put her code in, the door unlocked with a loud click and she was making her way upstairs and praying that Mojo, the large mastiff with a slight weight problem and a love of naps that she’d adopted with Rebecca a few years ago, wasn’t waiting for her at the top of the stairs.

When she finally made it to the second floor, and she refused to think about how long it took her to walk up a flight of stairs, she opened the door, made sure that there weren’t any large puddles of dog drool waiting for her, and went into her apartment.

Her sad, lonely apartment…

Sighing, she tossed her bag aside, grabbed a small bottle of apple juice and walked towards her bedroom, forgoing her comfortable couch and settled for the bed that she was sick of looking at. It was only for a little while longer, she reminded herself, hating that she was going to have to move soon, but what choice did she have? Renovations were set to begin on the Fire & Brimstone soon, she had a baby on the way, she could barely make it up the two flights of stairs now and really wasn’t sure how she was going to manage it with a baby, but most importantly, she couldn’t afford the rent by herself anymore.

Grabbing her iPad, she sat on the bed, picked up where she left off with the two gallon sized bag of peanut butter M&Ms that she kept for nights like this, and settled in for another night of trying to find a first floor apartment with two bedrooms, a soaking tub, a gourmet kitchen, a huge backyard with a hot tub, and a landlord who was willing to rent it to her for a thousand dollars a month or less.

Preferably less, she mused with a handful of M&Ms and a wistful sigh

A lot less.

Coming in…

2017/2018

About the Author

Writer, Facebook stalker, mother of two and hot cocoa addict, R.L. Mathewson lives life to its fullest.

When she’s not chauffeuring her children to and from school or their various activities, she writes, edits, cooks, cleans and oh yeah, she even watches movies on Netflix.

It’s safe to say that she does it all…

Intrigued?

Of course you are.

If you would like to know more about this author, her latest books or information on the latest methods to stalk people on Facebook, visit her site:

www.Rlmathewson.com

Or you can email her directly at, Rlmathewson25@gmail.com