Sloan leaned against the counter and let out a deep breath. When she woke up that morning and looked back on the texts they’d shared the night before, she wasn’t entirely sure just how much of an ass she’d made of herself. Rafe seemed to be on the same wavelength. They’d only been apart a few hours, but they’d missed each other. That was cool. Made the butterflies in her stomach do a little dance.

She’d felt a little less silly when the girls had asked when Rafe was coming back a few dozen times throughout the day. They’d wanted him to come to the salon with them. It was Addison’s idea to order him some dinner to go.

“Rafe eats a lot. Even if he has dinner with his family, he’ll be hungry again when he gets back to our house,” she’d announced as they looked over their menus. They were clearly growing closer to him. Sloan should have expected they would want to know more about him, think about him as more of a permanent part of their lives, but she definitely wasn’t expecting them to ask her anything that would make her almost choke on her tongue.

Rafe, Mr. Calm’n’Cool, on the other hand, leaned against the counter beside her, his muscled arms crossed over his broad chest like he wasn’t the least bit shocked. “Do you want to hear my armchair child psychologist’s opinion?”

“Yeah. Actually, I do.”

“I’m pretty sure this has more to do with them liking me than them wanting us to be together.”

“Really?” She felt her eyebrow go up.

“Yeah. I didn’t meet Tess, but something tells me that if she was the type of person to walk out on them in the middle of the day, they might not have bonded with her that well.”

“Yeah, I guess. Tess was responsible-ish, but she wasn’t as warm as you are with them,” Sloan admitted. Rafe and Tess definitely had different approaches.

“I think they see us all together and think family unit,” he said. “I’m not downplaying it. It’s not nothing. They are thinking about the adults in their life, but it’s not something to panic about.”

“Well, look at you Sherlocking this whole situation.”

He shrugged. “When I’m right, I’m right.”

“Yeah, I think you may be onto something, but holy crap. I almost had a stroke.”

“Avery’s middle name should be ‘Keeping You on Your Fucking Toes’.”

Sloan laughed and dreaded having to talk to Avery about her own personal drama one day. She could already feel herself greying from the stress. “Well, at least we distracted them with the Truth of A Hundred and Thirty-Four steps.”

“About that,” he said. Sloan picked the wrong moment to look up at Rafe’s gorgeous face. The tip of his tongue slowly crept out and wet his full bottom lip.

“Yeah, about that.”

“I’ve been told that I need to make my intentions with you clear,” he said.

Sloan’s stomach twisted. If Xeni got a hold of his number… “By who?”

“Joe Whitcomb and his wife, Monica.”

“You talked to your parents about us?”

“They forced my hand a little. Monica tried to set me up with two different women at breakfast.”

“Uh—”

“I’m not seeing anyone else and I don’t want to, but you said there was something we had to do before we could even talk about this?”

“Yeah…” Sloan watched as Rafe turned and stepped into her personal space. She took an automatic step back just so she could see his face, and another as he stepped closer. He followed her, edging her further and further back until she was halfway down the hall to his bedroom.

“I can wait until next weekend, but I really don’t want to,” he said.

“Neither do I.”

“I think we got lucky last week, with that forty uninterrupted minutes. Who knows how long we have now.”

“You’re right. Knowing Avery, she’ll be up in the next five minutes asking if she can drive the car to school tomorrow.”

“We should really take advantage of every moment we have,” Rafe said, eyeing her up and down.

“We really should. Where are you taking me?”

“I’m not taking you anywhere. I’m going to my room for a second. I left some things in there. You’re more than welcome to come with me. Help me find them.”

“Well, if you need help, then the polite thing for me to do would be to help you.”

“I’d appreciate the help, Dr. Copeland.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that,” she said as he slowly backed her into his dark room. “When we finally get the house to ourselves, I might have to give you a full physical examination.”

Rafe turned on the light and locked the door. The kids were good about knocking on closed doors, but a lock would buy them a few extra seconds for her to hide under his bed or in the bathroom. He moved closer again, backing Sloan up against the bed. They weren’t touching, but she could feel the heat coming off his body. Or maybe it was heat of her own.

“When we finally have the house to ourselves,” he said, the sex in his voice hitting her right between the legs, “I’m going to lay you out on that kitchen counter and eat your pussy for breakfast.”

“I like—” her voice caught in her throat when he bent down and pulled her yoga pants and her underwear down to the middle of her thighs.

“These are some tight-ass pants.”

“You don’t like them?” She’d heard that some guys thought leggings weren’t suitable for everyday wear, but fuck that. They were comfortable and cute. It took her a second to realize he wasn’t complaining though.

“They’ve been driving me fucking nuts.” He leaned down again, scooping her up like she weighed nothing. Before she knew what was happening, he rolled her on her side, facing the window. She heard a light thud, but by the time she realized it was the sound of Rafe’s knees hitting the carpeted floor, he’d spread her thighs apart as far they would go while they were still trapped by her elastic waistbands.

He was eating her out from behind. She wasn’t sure he could reach her clit with his tongue from this position, but he could definitely reach her dripping wet opening. There was no teasing. He went at her like a man thirsty and starved. His whole mouth was trying to cover her exposed skin.

It had been so long, the sensation of his lips and his mustache and his beard pressed up against her, pushing, trying to burrow deeper, felt foreign, but so, so welcome. Still, it took her a few more moments to relax, get out of her head and just enjoy the way his tongue was now moving inside her cunt. Burying her face on the duvet cover that now smelled like him, she used the soft cotton to drown out her moans.

Rafe’s hand smoothed over her ass, gently squeezing, kneading her skin. It was too much. She started squirming, her hips pumping back and forth. Her body was trying to ride his tongue and give her clit the pressure it needed to make her come. She was so close and then Rafe was gone. No lips, no hands, leaving her cold.

“Rafe,” she groaned. “What are you—” she looked over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of something she was sure would be burned into her memory for a long time. Rafe with his shirt tucked under his chin. His jeans open, revealing a geometric pattern tattooed down his side and his large, thick cock, swollen nearly purple at the head as he started to roll the condom on.

“Don’t move, Doctor. I’ll be with you in just a minute,” he said with a wink and Sloan almost died. She flopped down on the covers, trying to fight off the frustration coming directly from her aching pussy and the building anticipation from knowing he’d be back inside her at any moment.

“Do you know how good you taste?” he asked as the bed dipped behind her. She could only answer with an incoherent whimper. He wasted no time pushing inside of her. He didn’t rush, but he really wasn’t playing around. When they had hours to play, he’d tease her, grind into her nice and slow. She was sure of it, but tonight was not that night. She was ready, so wet that the way he stretched her only eased the ache and amped it up in the best possible way.

He pumped into her, deep and hard. It was good, even better when his hand left where it was holding her steady, just above her knee, and traveled up under her shirt. He leaned over her and she did her best to meet him partway, leaning up on her elbow. His lips brushed against hers. She could taste herself, smell her juices that had just coated his facial hair. It spurred her on and she pushed back against him even harder as her hips moved back and forth against the sheets. His fingers, still searching, pushed her bra up and out of the way. She couldn’t wait to see what it felt like to have his tongue swirling over her nipples, but for now his fingers gently pinching and caressing were more than enough.

He broke their kiss. The look on his face cleared and he seemed determined to focus on the only thing that mattered. Making her come. Soon, the thick in and out of his cock was more than enough to send her over the edge. She pushed back on him, hard, clenching around his length, riding out an orgasm that didn’t want to let her go. She had no idea how long the shudders of lightning shot through her, but at some point she felt him tense up, and soaked up the ridiculously sexy sound of his moans as he jerked inside of her, filling the condom.

It was a little while longer before she could see and hear properly, but that didn’t stop her from letting him kiss her again as they both came down.

They fixed their clothes and opened the door, but neither of them seemed in a rush to get back to their Sunday night responsibilities. They sat beside each other on the foot of Rafe’s bed, kind of shoulder to shoulder, he was so damn tall. He nudged his foot, still sporting its clean white sock, against hers.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“Oh no. I think I remember you saying something about declaring your intentions. You go first.”

“Alright. Well, I’m into you. A lot. I’d like to be with you, for real. Try out for the role of being your man.”

A new rush of heat spread over Sloan’s face as she processed what he’d just said. She thought about everything Xeni had said. She tried to think back to how she’d pictured starting a new relationship and realized she hadn’t given much thought to starting something new with anyone after Drew. Her focus had been work and the girls, and getting the hell away from Seattle. None of that had changed, but now there was this new person in her life. She just had to decide if she wanted to make real room for him.

“What do we do about the professional aspect of this?” she asked.

“I don’t see why we can’t leave it how it is for now. Under regular circumstances, we’d have to tell our superiors, but our superiors have to be up for school in nine hours.”

“It’s that easy, huh?”

“Unless you’re not okay with it, which I totally get. Rejection isn’t fun, but I can handle it.”

“No. I am...I am okay with it,” she admitted. Every reason she could think of not to do this just didn’t apply. They were two consenting adults who wanted to give it a go. Every complication she could think of had to do with the girls and those would come up with any person she tried to date. She nudged his shoulder. “So you wanna be my boyfriend?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Okay. I know how this might sound, but can we keep this under wraps until I’m ready to tell the girls? If we decide it’s not working, I don’t want to them to think they are losing more than a nanny—if you decide to move on.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“Good. Are you okay with quickies and panicked fucking except for one weekend a month?”

The deep snort Rafe let out jostled the bed. “I think I can manage it.”

“Okay, then we’re on the same page. Oh and you should still take your weekends. I know this is muddy waters and all, but you still get breaks from us.”

“Who said I was giving you my weekends?” he said, deadpan.

“Oh, it’s like that?”

“I’m kidding. I will take my weekends. I’ve reached that age where I finally appreciate my parents and Hope’s off to college next year. I want to get as much time with her and Gracie as possible.”

“See, I love that you love your family.”

“They’re pretty alright.”

“I’m sorry about earlier, when the girls brought up your mom, and for bringing her up now. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“They mentioned that you told them she’d passed away.”

“When I was thirteen,” was all he said. Sloan reached over and squeezed his hand, letting him know that he could talk about it as much or as little as he wanted, but he didn’t continue. He just squeezed her hand back.

“Listen, I’ll be up for at least another hour. You may have fucked me boneless, but my babies have their first day of school tomorrow and I know I’m more nervous than they are. You want to hang out with me while I anxiously recheck their backpacks and rearrange the whole kitchen?”

“Count me in.” Rafe stood and gestured for her to lead the way.

Sloan leaned down and looked at them both one more time. She knew she was being overdramatic, but she wanted to press this moment into her memory. She couldn’t believe her girls were old enough to start school. Rafe had let her ramble like a maniac until she had to force herself to call it at night. She slept terribly and woke up with more than enough time to get the girls ready for their day. They were all business, going through their list of what they needed for the day together. Sloan had to head off Avery’s attempt to bring the tablet with them. Eventually, after she took seven hundred pictures on the front steps, it was time for them to go.

“Okay, my love bugs. It is time for school. Are. You. Ready?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Addison said with a bright smile. Avery looked at her, her brow drawn in.

“I was born ready, mama.”

“Yeah you were.”

“I have a little something for you both.” Sloan looked at Rafe as he squatted down to their level. He still towered over them by a good foot, but it worked. He opened his palm and revealed two plastic starfish, one pink and one purple.

“I had some time to think and I discovered another animal that makes the cut for all-time fave.”

“You can’t have more than one favorite.” Avery said, cocking her head to the side.

“Says who? You two are both my favorite,” Rafe replied as he handed the Avery the pink starfish. Addison snatched the purple one, turning it over in her small fingers.

“We can keep these?” she asked. “We can take them to school?”

“Yep. Think of it as your good luck charm. I feel like you can’t go wrong with a starfish in your pocket.”

“What do you say, girls?”

“Thank you,” they responded in tandem. Sloan swallowed to keep herself from bursting into tears. “Let’s go!” The four of them piled into the Tahoe and they were off.

Sloan could only describe the scene at Whippoorwill as adorable chaos. Rafe helped her unload the girls and volunteered to stay with the car while she got them to their classroom. She spotted Mrs. Brown with ease, in the middle of the kindergarten hallway. She was occupied with a screaming little boy who did not want to leave his mother’s side. Sloan glanced down at both girls, but they were in their own world. Calm and focused. Sloan wished she could the same for herself. She was so close to losing it. Her saving grace was standing right across the hall. She made eye contact with Xeni and felt like she could breathe again.

“It’s the fabulous Copeland girls!” Xeni cheered. The girls made a beeline for her.

“Hi Miss Xeni,” Avery said. “Look at my starfish.”

“That is so pretty.”

“I got one too,” Addison said. “They’re good luck charms from Rafe.”

“Oh, I’m always on board for a good good luck charm. How are you holding up, mom?” she asked with a wink.

“I’m gonna cry. Is that normal?”

Xeni held out her hand and slipped her a small pack of tissues. “Absolutely. You guys should go find your cubbies! I’ll see you at recess,” she said to the girls. Sloan walked them across the hall and greeted Mrs. Brown. Sloan bent down and hugged and kissed them both.

“Rafe will be here to pick you up and I’ll be home in plenty of time to put you to bed.”

“Okay,” they both said, Avery with a little more confidence. Her heart nearly split in two when Addison reached over and grabbed her sister’s hand.

“Your cubbies are right next to each other. Come on, I’ll show you,” Mrs. Brown said. Sloan stood in the door and watched as their teacher showed them where they would be keeping their things. After Mrs. Brown directed them to a round table where two other kids were already seated, Sloan knew she had to go.

Xeni was busy talking to another set of parents, but she caught Sloan’s eye and gave her a little wave before Sloan headed back out to the car. As soon as Rafe pulled into traffic, he reached over with his free hand and intertwined their fingers. Sloan stayed silent as they took the short trip over to the Medical Center campus. She didn’t mean to close Rafe out, but she thought if she said anything she’d burst into tears. When they arrived, Rafe put the Tahoe in park and turned to her.

“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up?”

“Yeah. You’ll have to pack up the girls and bring them with you. It’s more energy than it’s worth. I can get a Lyft.”

“They’re gonna be okay.”

“I know. I just wasn’t prepared to feel—I don’t know. This shit is intense,” she said with a shaky laugh. “I feel like I abandoned them to the world. What if there’s a biter in their class? Biters are the worst.”

“There’s definitely a biter in the bunch. There always is, but you think Avery is going to take any shit from a biter?”

“No,” Sloan laughed.

“They’re ready and you got them there.”

“I guess I did. The starfish were a nice touch.”

“Tiny pieces of plastic don’t compare to the rigors of childbirth and six years of rearing, but I’m sure I’ll be mentioned in an acceptance speech at some point. And don’t worry, I bought like forty of those things. It’s okay if they lose them.”

“Good call. I have a consult in half an hour and I have some paperwork to follow up with. I should head inside.”

“Can I kiss you or will that get the hospital rumor mill started?” Rafe asked as he continued to stroke his fingers over the back of her hand. Sloan leaned over the center console and pressed her lips to his to answer his question. She kept it nice and PG. Still, a certain kind of heat started spreading through her chest. She was a complete wreck inside, but for the first time in a long time she felt like she wasn’t alone. When she pulled back, Rafe reached up and brushed his thumb over her cheek.

“I keep my personal life out of the hospital and I’ve gotten pretty good at keeping people out of my business. If anyone asks, I’ll deflect like a champ.”

“Oh, well that answers that. Text me if you change your mind about the ride.”

“I will.”

Sloan hopped out of the car, feeling a little boost from the kiss they had shared, but as soon as she sat down in her office she was struggling to pull it together all over again. She pulled out her phone and brought up her family text chain. It had been a little quiet the last few days. Everyone was busy. She sent a half dozen of the pictures she’d taken.

Before anyone could respond, she called her mom.

“Hold on one moment. My daughter’s on the phone. Hello, sweetheart.”

“Hey, mom.” Sloan couldn’t keep her voice from trembling. “Where are you?”

“I’m at Shaw’s, grabbing some fruit for Winston.” The thought of her sixteen-month-old nephew made her tear up even more. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t talk long, but I just dropped the girls off at school and I wanted to tell you I get it now.”

“Oh, you remember how I cried your first day of school and you told me to be cool? You had it under control?”

Sloan laughed as tears started running down her face. She’d given birth to double the payback for all the days she’d given her mom a hard time. “I vaguely remember that, but that’s not what I meant. I get why you stuck with me until I got all the way through. I wanted to stay with them too.”

“What’s the phrase the kids say? You’ve leveled up in motherhood.”

“Yeah, it feels sort of like that.”

“It’s part of the journey, baby girl.”

“I know. I should go, but I just wanted to slip you a well-earned I told you so.”

Her mother let out a snort of laughter. “Well, I appreciate that.”

After they said their goodbyes, Sloan ended the call. When she clicked back out to the home screen, her dad and brother had replied to her texts.

Sloan slipped her phone in her pocket before she wiped her cheeks. She had patients to see.