He drags his tongue up over my throat and back to my lips, making me shiver.

“Are you cold?” he asks, pulling the blanket up.

I shake my head. “No . . . not at all. You’re just making me all shivery again. The way you kiss . . . Lukas, I have no words.”

He sucks in a breath and touches my cheek. “Can you stay with me tonight? Do you have to go home?”

Oh, God. I don’t want to leave the cozy warmth of his arms, or break the closeness that is growing between us. I’m afraid it will stop and never come back again. I don’t want this moment to end. Ever. Tommy is with Paul, but Macy is home alone, and I told her I would be home. Yes, I could call her and tell her I won’t be coming home tonight, but what will she think? She knows I had a date with someone new tonight. How will that make me look as a mother if I don’t come home? I don’t want my kids thinking both their parents have just started hooking up with random people. And if I did stay . . . am I ready for this to go further?

No. I’m not. Not yet.

“I can’t,” I finally say. “I’m sorry. Macy is alone, and I told her I’d be home. I know she’s almost eighteen, but I’ve never stayed away from home over night before, and she knows I had a date tonight and I don’t-”

“Shhh . . .” He touches my lips with his finger and smiles at me. “I understand, Ivy. I know there’s a lot of new going on here for you. And your kids.”

“I’m sorry . . .” I feel like the immature one here, having to run home all the time, shying away from sex.

“Don’t be sorry. I can be patient.” He takes a deep breath and exhales. “Will you keep seeing me?”

“Yes, I want to see you again.”

A big smile lights up his face, and it’s contagious. “You’re really cute when you smile,” I tell him, tracing my finger over the tattoo on his chest.

“You’re pretty cute yourself. So . . . can we go steady? Is that the term you use?”

I smack his arm and gape at him. “Lukas! I’m not from the fifties! Jesus!”

Laughing, he hugs me closer to him, his big arms circling me. “Well, how the fuck do I know how to say this right?”

“Well, what are you trying to say exactly?”

“I’m trying to say I want you to be my girlfriend, and I think I’m failing miserably.”

My heart soars from cuteness overload. How could I say no to such sexy adorableness? It would be seriously impossible.

I reach up and push his hair out of his eyes. “You’re not failing at all, Lukas. I don’t think you could fail at anything.”

“So, is that a yes?”

With a big smile and my heart beating faster, I lean forward and kiss his lips. “It’s a yes.”

LUKAS

MY FIRST DATE WITH IVY COULD not have been more perfect. Dinner came out great, she looked beautiful, Ray kept his beak shut, and kissing her under that blanket—with the stars above us—was simply exquisite. I didn’t want the night to ever end. If I close my eyes, I can still taste her on my lips and feel her soft skin pressed against mine.

That was over a week ago, and I haven’t seen her since.

I practically begged to see her for Christmas, but family obligations kept her from me, which I totally respect and understand. But I wish I was part of her family and not an outsider. Maybe someday that’ll happen.

A couple hundred text messages and a few phone calls later, I’m on my way to pick her up to take her to see the band play tonight. I feel weird when I pull into her driveway, sorta wishing I let her come to my place like she wanted to, but I insisted on picking her up here. It feels fucked up, though, ringing the doorbell of the house she lived in with her husband. After a few seconds, she opens the door and comes out on the front steps but doesn’t invite me inside, which probably would have been really uncomfortable. Instead, she throws her arms around my neck, clinging to me.

“I really missed you,” she murmurs. Fuck, I’m not with her for five seconds, and she’s already got my brain going gushy.

I hug her close to me and lift her off her feet, making her laugh and hang on to me tighter. “I missed you, too. I was starting to think you were gonna friend-zone me.” I set her down on her feet and study her face, afraid to see some kind of change in her, but I don’t. Her eyes are still sparkling at me, just like they were when we said good-bye over a week ago.

“No, Lukas, I’m not friend-zoning you, silly. I’m sorry I couldn’t see you for Christmas. I wanted to, really, but I just needed to focus on the kids and keep their routine normal.”

I take her hands in mine. “I understand. You’re a great mom, and I love that about you.”

We walk to my car, and I open the passenger side door for her, then go around and get in behind the wheel. Leaning across the console, I turn her face to mine and kiss her lips, and she makes a little startled sound, fueling me to want more of her. I pull her over to me until she’s half lying on my chest, her body stretched across the console, and kiss her deeper, my tongue searching out hers.

She pulls away. “This car is really small,” she jokes. “Not really conducive to making out in the front seat.”

“I don’t care. I’m dying to kiss you.” I cup the back of her neck and pull her back to my lips, wishing we didn’t have to go to the club so I could just take her home with me. Right now, I’d love nothing more than to stretch her out on my bed and explore every inch of her until she’s crazy stupid for me.

“I’ve been thinking about your kisses a lot,” she says, her voice small and sweet. She may be older than me, but truthfully, she’s so tiny, cute and shy that she seems younger than she is. I don’t think she sees that in herself, but I do.

“Oh yeah? What have you been thinking?” I lick her bottom lip and let my hand slide over her jeans to rest on her ass.

“How good you make me feel.” Even in the dimness of the car, I can still see her aqua eyes shining at me, and the glint of her lips, moist from my kiss.

“I want to make you feel things you’ve never felt before, Ivy.”

She closes her eyes, as if she’s taking my words into her to keep, then slowly opens her eyes again. “You already have,” she whispers, then presses her lips to my cheek.

Sighing, I help her back over to the passenger seat. “We should go, or we’ll be late,” I say. “Although, I kinda just want to stay here and be alone with you.”

“I do too, but I really want to see the band. I’ve been looking forward to this since you told me about them. We can be alone after. Macy is staying at a friend’s house tonight.” She smiles shyly over at me, and I think I know what she’s hinting at. What she doesn’t know is that, in a little while, she’s gonna see me on stage with the band, and I hope to hell it doesn’t change her mind about me.

The club is crowded, and there’s a line at the door, so I text Vandal to meet us at the back door to let us in.

“Well, well, well . . . you found someone I haven’t had the pleasure of,” he says, checking out Ivy, his eyes roaming all over her. I know he’s doing it just to get me riled up, but I ignore his stupid shit because I’m in too good of a mood tonight to let him ruin it.

“Ivy, this is my brother, Vandal. Van, this is Ivy.”

Ivy looks petrified of him, which is a typical reaction for most women. First, they look scared, but then they become oddly attracted to him. I’ve watched it happen more times than I can count. Vandal is a big guy at six-foot four, with a muscular build like a wrestler. He has long black hair that’s almost to his friggen’ ass, dark skin, and lots of tats. We do look alike in some ways, but he’s bigger than I am and always has a menacing look on his face.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she says politely. I put my arm around her, and she presses her body into mine, fitting against me like she was made from a part of me.

Vandal actually smiles at her, something he doesn’t do often. “The pleasure’s mine, sweetheart. Hope you enjoy the show.”

I pull her away from him before he blurts out anything annoying or inappropriate, and lead her down the hall to the door that will take us into the club.

“Wow, he’s a big guy,” Ivy says when we’re away from him. “He looks like an Indian.”

“Yeah . . . we have different mothers.”

“You mentioned a niece . . . Is she his?”

Nodding, I find our reserved table by the stage. “Yeah, Katie is his. He’s a good dad. I’ll give him that. Her mother’s a crazy bitch, though.” I help her get her coat off, and hang it over the back of her chair before we sit together. “Katie’s just a little younger than your son. Maybe next time I babysit her, we could let them meet?”

I know she’s nervous about me meeting her kids, but if we’re going to continue dating, she’s going to have to let them meet me and get to know me at some point. I don’t want to be treated like a dirty secret. She doesn’t know me well enough yet to understand how important it is for me to be part of a family . . . and to have my own family. If her kids end up hating me, I’m not sure how I’m gonna deal with that.

“Okay,” she promises. “That would be fun. Macy is really good with kids. She will probably love your niece.”

I lean into her neck and kiss her ear. “You look gorgeous tonight.” She’s got on a black lacy jacket over a red silk top, skinny jeans, and black leather boots. Her hair is straightened tonight, different from her usual loose waves, and it looks even longer, almost reaching her waist. I’d love to draw her naked, with just her hair flowing over her body, and frame it for my bedroom. I file that wish away with the rest of the things I want to do with her.

She beams at my compliment. “You’re lookin’ good, too . . . I have to tell you, the converse sneakers kinda really get to me,” she admits, her lips curving into a sensual smile.