My hand reaches for the worn-out button on my alarm clock, patting it a few times until the annoying beep ceases. Whoever created this jarring sound is made of evil. The noise is meant to rouse me from my sleep; instead, it shocks my heart into a faster rhythm and scares the ever-loving crap out of me each time. Even when I’m already awake.

Liam adjusts behind me, showing me that even after all these years, he’s still eager for me. His lips are on my bare shoulder while his fingers dig into the curvature of my hip, pulling me to an angle that is easily accessible for him. There has never been any doubt in my mind, Liam and I were made for each other. One simple touch, a lingering kiss, or a lustful look from him and I’m ready.

I roll over and face him, letting my fingers trace the tattoo of my nickname, and then onto Noah and Betty Paige’s names. The three loves of his life permanently etched over his heart.

“Are you sure you want to leave me?” he asks as he moves over to my pillow.

“It’s only for a week,” I remind him. I play with his five o’clock shadow. He never balked when I told him that Katelyn, Jenna, and I would take a wives’ week in the Bahamas, at least not until last night. He seems to forget that he leaves me often, and each time is worse than the earlier tour. I love having him home, waking up next to him every morning, and falling asleep nestled in his arms. When he’s on tour, I feel lost and alone. I must find things to occupy my time so I’m not constantly texting or calling him, or counting down the days until Paige and I are with him. The cycle of longing starts over again once I leave him.

I thought that my feelings would level off over the years, but that has never been the case. Each day, I find I love him more.

“I know I’m gone a lot, but the thought of you leaving me… it’s killing me, Josie.”

My hand moves from his cheek and into his hair, using the motion to pull him closer until his lips touch mine. My skin pebbles instantly as his hand moves under the comforter and pulls my leg over this hip.

“Can I make love to you?” he breaks away from our kiss long enough to ask me the silliest question ever.

“You never have to ask me. I’m yours, always.”

He pushes my hair behind my ear and leans forward, brushing his lips against mine. “You’re forever my girl, Jojo.”

He bites down on my shoulder as he enters me with slow and steady thrusts, never taking his eyes off mine, even as mine threaten to close, I find myself needing to see him and fight to keep them open.

His lips hover over mine, breathing the same air as me. I moan and he captures my lips, swallowing each sound until he pulls away. “Shh,” he says, reminding me our daughter is down the hall.

I do my best to keep quiet, but it’s near impossible with him. He knows this and by the smirk spreading across his lips, he’s enjoying the torment. I could take revenge and climb on top of him, but I’m enjoying this position. It’s bringing us closer and seems more intimate even though I can’t touch him like I want.

Liam moves his hips faster, hitting my spot perfectly. I’m forced to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my sounds at a minimum, but the torture is too much to bear.

“Scream into the pillow,” he says, before he flips me onto my stomach and pins my legs together by his. “So fucking tight,” I hear him say as he enters me from behind. From this angle, it only takes a few thrusts until I’m falling over the edge and calling out his name. Everything from me is muffled into the pillow, but he’s sure to moan into my ear. It turns me on even more, knowing that I make him feel this way, that I’m the one who makes him lose control. I spent far too long in the beginning of our marriage wondering if I was enough for him. Each time he tried to show me or I would finally accept I am everything he wants, something would happen and I’d be back at zero, trying to piece everything together.

Liam grunts out his orgasm and falls on top of me, breathing heavily. He stays there for a few seconds before rolling over.

“Stay home,” he says, rising onto his elbow. He peppers my back with kisses and small nips that he replaces by his tongue to take the sting away. “We can send Paige to your parents and fuck all week long.”

“Don’t you have songs to write? Music to produce?”

“Nah,” he says, shaking his head.

I laugh, knowing full well that they’re behind schedule and was meant to deliver new music to the label last month. Liam, being the primary songwriter, has writer’s block and everything he’s tried to clear his mind, hasn’t worked.

“Besides, we’re flying to see Noah on Sunday,” I point out.

He shrugs, but I know damn well he would not miss Noah’s game. When Liam is home, his children, regardless of their age, are his priority. He doesn’t miss anything that Betty Paige has going on or any of Noah’s games, flying to wherever he’s playing.

“You talk a big game, Mr. Page, but I see right through you.”

His hand smacks my ass, causing me to yelp. “You know how I get when you call me Page.”

“I know and I love it, but I really do need to get dressed.”

“I don’t like you flying by yourself.”

I don’t like it either, but it made more sense for Katelyn and Jenna to fly on the band’s private jet than it did for me to use it alone, and the thought of either of us flying to each other didn’t seem like a good use of our time.

“I’ll be fine. I’m in first class, drinking my way to the Bahamas, chatting with whoever is sitting next to me.”

Liam groans. He’s already told me not to talk to any men—he doesn’t trust them.

“You’re killing me, woman.”

“You love me,” I remind him.

He rests his head on my pillow and pushes my hair away from my face. “I love you more than words can express, Josie. You’re my life. You, Noah, and Betty Paige… I am nothing without you.”

“Liam…” When he says things like this, my heart soars with so much love. For every day that we’ve been together, the days we weren’t still weigh heavily on my mind. They were more present when Paige was an infant. I could see it in his eyes when he’d talk to Noah. Liam missed everything. Thinking back, I wish I had just told him in the message that I was pregnant, but I wanted him to call me back. I wanted him to tell me why he left me. “I love you,” I say, kissing him. “You’re my life and the best damn father to our children.”

“Mom? Dad?” Betty Paige’s voice at the door has us scrambling to cover up. We are long past the time when she used to crawl into bed with us and we were forced to sleep in clothes. There was a time when I would wear a nightgown to bed, only to have it on the floor within seconds. After a while, I gave up until Paige started coming into our bedroom in the middle of the night. Liam grumbled a lot back in those days.

Liam sits up and puts a pillow over his crotch. I laugh and quickly slip my bathrobe on before crawling back into bed.

“Come in, Paige,” Liam says, his voice is a bit gruff as if he wants her to believe we were sleeping. I stifle a laugh, which earns me the classic side eye.

Betty Paige enters, dressed and ready for school. I glance at the clock and realize that it’s later than I had thought. “I was just wondering if you were coming downstairs this year or do I have to make my own breakfast?”

“You’re old enough to make your own breakfast, Paige,” I say, slightly irritated.

She shrugs. “But Daddy is home.”

Yes, he is, and that means when he’s home, he treats her like a baby, waiting on her hand and foot. It bothers me, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. He thinks he must be like this because he missed chunks of time with her while he was on tour.

I shake my head and get out of bed, heading straight for the shower. He can deal with her and the attitude that comes with her.

Standing under the hot spray, I try to recall what Noah was like at this age. The gap between a pre-teen to teen was filled with sports and two fathers that never let him act like a brat. Even with Liam back, Nick was never far away, and was always present in Noah’s life. If he couldn’t talk to Liam about something, he went to Nick. I know that hurt Liam, but he never let Noah onto the fact.

Still, Betty Paige pushes the envelope because Liam lets her. She’s not like this when he’s not home. She’s independent and eager to help around the house. But when her father is home… Lord help any man she decides to date, especially if it’s Mack Ashford, Nick and Aubrey’s son. I have a feeling if their shy flirting turns into something serious, Liam will have a heart attack.

When I get out of the shower, music wafts through the speakers in our house and the smell of French toast fills the air. I use these last few minutes to finish packing. I won’t need much—bathing suits, cover-ups, and a few dresses. The girls and I don’t plan to do much except lie by the pool and relax.

“Smells good,” I say as I enter the kitchen. Liam gives me a quick kiss and goes back to tending to the skillet.

“Paige wanted French toast.”

I nod, and keep my comments to myself. There is no use fighting with him about her, especially when I’m about to leave. The phone breaks me from my thoughts and I rush to answer it without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mom.”

“Noah, hi.” I glance quickly at the time on the microwave and realize it’s very early in Portland, where he lives. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I have practice in a bit, but I wanted to call and tell you to have a good time. You deserve this vacation. You all do, actually.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry I’m going to miss your game, but Dad and Paige will be there.”

“I don’t want to go,” Paige yells out. She hates football, or more so she hates that her brother’s games take up her weekends right now. Not that she has a social life or anything.

“Don’t listen to her. She’s moody this morning.”

“It’s fine. Are you all packed?”

I laugh at his question. “Listen to you, acting like a parent. Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Hell, no. No kids for me, Mom.”

My heart breaks a little. Not that I want to rush him into anything, even though I’d love having a baby around the house again, but he needs to be with someone that deserves his love. His current girlfriend, while she’s beautiful, I’m not a big fan. I do my best to hide my feelings when she’s around.

We talk for a few more minutes until it’s time for Paige to go to school. Liam hands me a paper bag with my name written on the front.

“What’s this?”

“Breakfast for your flight. If you’re ready to leave me for a week, we ought to get you to the airport. Unless you plan to stay?” he asks, waggling his eyebrows.

“You wish!”

He does wish and by the look on his face, he’s crushed that he’s not enough to keep me home. He is, but I don’t want to let the girls down.