Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“It’s sexy as fuck.”
“We probably shouldn’t have sex in my office in the middle of the day.”
I lick my lips. Yeah, I want her, more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.
“The first time I have you won’t be here, in the middle of the day. It’ll be somewhere soft and comfortable, where I can take my time, with the security of knowing that we won’t be interrupted for a very long time. I want you, London, but I’m a patient man.”
She blinks rapidly and lets out a gusty laugh.
“Well, damn, now I wish we were doing it here in the middle of the day.”
“You’re late,” Maddie accuses me as I walk through the front door of the house we grew up in. She’s sitting with Dylan, her husband, on stools at the kitchen island. Mom’s stirring something in a pot at the stove and beams at me as I walk over and kiss her cheek.
“I’m not too late for food,” I reply and lean over to sniff the pot. “Is that taco soup?”
“Yep.”
“It’s my favorite, and it’s not even my birthday.”
Mom chuckles and stirs the soup again. “I wanted to try something new, but your father told me that he’d like for his kids to want to come back again, so I stuck with the tried and true.”
“Where is Dad?”
“He’s out back with Josie and Brax,” Maddie says and pops a chip loaded down with salsa into her mouth.
“What are they doing?”
“No idea,” Maddie replies before carefully selecting another chip. “Go get them. I’m starving. I’m always starving these days.”
I head for the back door and find Dad with Josie and Brax on the back deck, drinks in hand, talking.
“It’s a little cold to be hanging out on the deck,” I inform them as I join them. “Shouldn’t you be doing this inside?”
“It’s not raining,” Dad points out and looks up at the sky.
“You have a point.” I sit across from them and accept a drink from my dad. “Maddie says we should go in because she’s hungry.”
“I’m hungry, too,” Josie says with a sigh. She looks nervous, but before I can ask her why, she hops up. “Okay, let’s go in.”
She takes her husband’s hand and pulls him to his feet, and they go in through the sliding glass door.
But Dad and I stay where we are.
“Tell me about London,” is all he says, but his eyes are watchful.
“You already know who she is.”
“I don’t think that means much,” he replies. “Tell me about who she is to you.”
“Right now, she’s someone I’d like to get to know better. I haven’t slept with her, and I really don’t know her that well, but I like her. I respect her. So, we’ll see where it goes.”
He nods and starts to stand. “Good enough.”
“She’s a mom.”
That has his eyes narrowing on me as he lets his butt fall back into the seat.
“She’s a single mom, and the dad’s out of the picture permanently. He’s deceased.” I swallow. And stare out at the backyard. “The kid’s name is Caleb, which feels…I don’t know…serendipitous, I guess. He’s about ten, cute as hell, and smart. And she’s an excellent mom.”
“Is this a problem for you?”
“No.” The answer is immediate, right from the gut. “It’s not a problem. It’s just different. I’ve never tried to date a mom before, and there is a whole different set of rules.”
“Yeah, there is.” He nods and leans forward, elbows on his knees. “You can’t just fuck around with a single mom, son.”
“I don’t plan to just fuck around with her at all, kid or not.”
“But you have to decide, before you take things any further, if you’re okay with it being a package deal.”
“I know that, Dad. She’s already told me that Caleb comes first, always, and damn if that didn’t make me like her more.”
“Because she reminds you of your mom.”
I snort at that. “I understand the sentiment, but I’ve never looked at Mom the way I do London.”
He just lifts an eyebrow, and I shrug my shoulders.
“Sure, there are similarities. I figured that if anyone had any advice for dating a single mom, it would be you.”
“Hell, I fell in love with your mom so fast and hard, and with those girls just as fast, that I don’t know if I have any advice on that. I didn’t have a choice. I knew I wanted them. I didn’t think I deserved them, but I wanted them.”
“I like her, Dad. And I like the kid.”
“Does it irritate you when he’s around?”
“Not at all. I had lunch with them on Saturday before we left for LA, and I had a great time.”
“Kids are hard, and they change the game. But they’re worth it.”
I nod, already feeling better.
“Your mother and I would like to meet them,” he adds.