“You’re crazy,” I told Zeke when he stopped at my shop the next day.

To buy lingerie. For me.

“Why? Husbands should buy their wives lingerie all the time, but if you don’t like that answer, then think of it as me fulfilling my second date promise.” Zeke stood tall, one arm draped over a mannequin wearing nothing but a small scrap of lacy blue negligee.

“You can’t be serious!” Why was he pressing this so much? I knew he didn’t want to be married, and certainly not to me.

“Of course, I am. You heard how thrilled Max was about us being married, and I thought about what you said all night. He shouldn’t have to endure the gossip, which is exactly what’ll happen if we say this was just one big mistake.”

Damn. “You have given this some thought.”

He flashed a gorgeous, panty dropping smile that heated up my whole body like a wildfire was ravaging through me.

“I have, and I admit it does work to my favor because I want us to be together. And,” he leaned forward and brushed a kiss against my jaw, “I promise to put no one before you. Not ever. What do you say?”

I had my doubts about this plan, because I could see at least fifty different ways it could totally backfire on both of us. Mostly, me though. It was totally reckless to publicly date a ladies’ man like Zeke, and doubly so to be married to him, however accidentally it happened.

“I don’t know, Zeke.” That was an honest answer. I didn’t know how I would be able to spend time with him without falling for him, because last time we tangled I’d nearly fallen completely.

“What’s wrong? Tell me so we can talk about it. Please, just give me a chance.”

So I did. “People think we’re married, which means we’re going to have to spend a lot of time together.”

“Days, and nights…” he added with a flirtatious wink.

“Exactly, how will it look if you sneak off to your place every night? There are too many details we haven’t anticipated.” I knew I was starting to panic, but I never wanted Max to be the subject of small town gossip. “Maybe we should just forget about it?”

“Maybe you should stop finding reasons why this can’t work. I’ll move in with you while we figure this out. I’ve just been living above the bar for months now anyway.”

I frowned, that was news to me. “You have, why?”

“Because I wanted to cut down on expenses during the expansion, and rent on a big ass house I didn’t really need was the perfect place to cut.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but for me, it was another alarm bell clanging loudly that this was a bad idea. Zeke seemed like a happy-go-lucky, laidback kind of guy, but he was deeper than he appeared, which appealed to me in a big way. “Now, ring me up wife!”

A shiver slid down my body at his use of that endearment, even though I knew logically that it meant nothing. I couldn’t let it mean anything, it was a title and nothing more.

“This isn’t a game you know.”

His expression turned serious, and he pulled me into his arms, walking us both to the register where he put two sets of lingerie on the counter.

“I know it’s not. I want you and I’ve made no secret of it. I don’t see what the problem is, unless you’re afraid you won’t be able to resist this? Because I’m kind of hoping you can’t.” Zeke buried his face in my neck and inhaled deeply. “You like me too, Maddie, I know you do. Give me a chance to prove to you that I learned my lesson while we keep the little man protected. Punish me if you must, but do it while you get to know me better.”

“Stop being so dang reasonable!” He laughed, and though I tried to hang onto my unwarranted frustration, I failed miserably. “Fine, you win.” He pumped his fist in triumph, but I held up a hand to stop his premature celebration. “But if this stops working at anytime, for either of us, we end it before anyone gets hurt.”

“Deal,” he took my hand, grinning as he brought it to his lips and pulled me close. “I think we should seal this marriage with a kiss. And let’s make it a good one.” His lips were on mine before he even finished speaking, teasing me lightly with playful little nips that woke my body right up.

“Tease,” I accused with a grin just seconds before nibbling his bottom lip. Zeke rewarded me with a satisfying groan that made me wish we were anywhere but inside my shop. Someplace with a bed, or at least a sturdy wall or couch.

Then Zeke turned the fire up to inferno level, cupping my face and angling my head so he could kiss me exactly how he wanted. Slow and sensual, teasing and torturing, before his tongue slid deep and he took ownership of the kiss, of my mouth. Hell, at the moment his mouth was controlling my whole body and I never wanted it to end. Immediately my mind reminded me that I could have this all the time, for the foreseeable future anyway.

He groaned again when I let the back of one hand graze against the hard bulge in his jeans and deepened the kiss, pulling his body harder against mine and it was a mighty fine body. Hard and lean, I just wanted to let my hands roam all over his body the way I used to do.

“Maddie…” he tore his lips from mine and left a trail of wet heat from my mouth to my jaw, to my ear and down my neck.

“Yes?” My voice was low and breathy, thick with arousal and I was about five seconds from shutting down the shop and begging Zeke to take me in the break room. Or the fitting room. “Yes,” I moaned again when my body began to vibrate with need, but my pocket started vibrating too, and I was ripped from the sensual fog of Zeke and back to the real world. “I have to get that.”

“Me too,” he said with a smile as we both pulled our phones out and answered simultaneously. “What’s up Nash?”

That’s all I heard before I turned to my own call. “Yeah?”

“Mads, the baby is finally coming!” She was panting fast which meant she’d probably been in labor for awhile.

“That’s great! What do you need?”

“Norah. She’s at camp today…oh, shii-iit!”

“I’ll get her when I collect Max, and she can stay with me after we visit later.” Aunt Mae had been by my side, helping escort Max into the world so I knew how much it helped to have a support system. “Anything else?”

“Yeah,” she panted again. “Nash and I aren’t at home so we’re headed straight to the hospital.”

“Say no more. I’ll take care of it.”

“But Maddie,” she screamed through another contraction, and I could hear Nash telling her to breathe. “I didn’t pack a bag.”

Of course she didn’t. “Don’t worry about it. Just breathe deeply and keep calm, you’re about to meet your baby!” It was an exciting time for Vivi and Nash, and I would do what I could to relieve her stress.

“You’re the best.”

“Don’t you forget it.”

She laughed, but it was breathy from the effort it took to fight those contractions. “I won’t, because you’re going to tell me how you and Zeke ended up married. Ow!” And then the call was disconnected. I looked at the phone and then over at Zeke who stood stock still, frozen in shock.

“Everything will be fine, Zeke. You need to pick up Max and Norah from camp. I’ll call to let the co-ordinators know that you’re the one coming for the kids today, although I’m guessing they already know our situation.”

“What are you going to do?” He looked worried.

“I have to go pack a bag for Vivi and take it up to the hospital. You can bring the kids up there, and we’ll figure the rest out later.”

He blinked out of his haze. “You know, you’re even hotter when you’re bossy .” He kissed my cheek sweetly and started for the door. “See you soon, wife.”

I rolled my eyes. “Call if you have any problems, oh and you can tell the kids that Vivi is having the baby.”

“Yes dear.” With another wink, he hurried outside where the sunshine bathed him in a golden light that made him look even more appealing than he usually did.

Damn him.