Elise shut the dishwasher and was headed for the basement when the doorbell rang.

Jennifer jumped off her stool. “I’ll get it.”

“It’s for me,” Elise said.

But her niece ran for the front door anyway.

Elise came up behind Jennifer right as she opened the door to Heidi.

“Hi.”

“Hey, girl.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“No problem.”

“Wait for me,” Tera said, running up the walkway. “Sorry I’m late,” she said when she reached them.

“You’re fine. Everyone else got here about ten minutes ago. They just went downstairs a few minutes ago.” Elise waved them toward her. “Come in, come in.”

Jennifer shut the door behind her friends.

“Who’s this?” Heidi asked with a smile.

“My niece, Jennifer.”

Jennifer moved closer to Elise and leaned back against her.

Elise put her hands on her niece’s shoulders. “Jen, these are my friends Heidi and Tera.”

Jennifer waved. “Hi.”

“Hi, Jennifer,” Heidi and Tera both said with a smile.

“My aunt Elise has a secret boyfriend. His name is L—”

Elise slapped a hand over Jennifer’s mouth and chuckled uncomfortably. “Kids,” she said as a lame explanation.

“A secret boyfriend, eh?” Tera said, her eyes big and questioning.

“Ooh,” Heidi said, “do tell.”

Elise shook her head. Think, think, she commanded her brain. “Jennifer, can you go in the other room and finish your cereal?”

“But I’m done.”

“Then, go and put your bowl in the dishwasher.”

“I never get to hear the good stuff.” She kicked the floor and then went and did as Elise had asked her.

That’s because you can’t keep the good stuff a secret, kid.

She’d lasted all of two minutes before telling the first person she saw.

“So?” Tera asked, practically bouncing up and down.

“Yeah, don’t keep us waiting,” Heidi added.

She felt bad for bursting her friends’ bubbles, but it had to be done.

Elise lowered her voice. “Look, my sister and brother-in-law are going through a rough time. Jennifer thinks they’re going to get divorced. She saw me talking to Nate and then to Luke, and I think she got the wrong idea about one of them. I think she is looking for a healthy relationship to attach herself to right now.”

Tera and Heidi both went from excited to frowning.

“That’s so sad,” Heidi said.

“Poor thing,” Tera said.

“I know. It’s so sad for everyone all around. I think my sister is really trying, but I don’t know if my brother-in-law is anymore.” Elise brought her voice up to a normal level. “Anyway, why don’t you go downstairs? Thanks again for helping today.”

“You’re totally welcome,” Heidi said.

“I am more than happy to help. But you have to tell me who this Nate guy is,” Tera said.

Elise laughed. “He’s Luke’s friend.”

“Ooh, is he hot like Luke?” Tera asked.

“Yes.” And No. “He’s gorgeous.” But not as gorgeous as Luke. “The problem is, he knows it.” Although Luke does, too. “I think they might be two peas in a pod.” She headed for the stairs, waving her friends to follow. “Come on, you can come meet him.”

Several hours later, the group had moved in most of Elise’s furniture, and they had put a big dent in the pile of boxes. They’d actually had to leave some at her parents’ and go back to fill the U-Haul again.

When she’d moved out of her house in Denver, she remembered how much she’d gotten sick of packing the boxes by room and labeling them. Now, she was grateful because no one had to ask what went where.

Rachel, Tera, Heidi, and Kristen were upstairs, working on the bedrooms and the bathrooms, while the guys brought in more boxes. She was very lucky to have friends and family who weren’t just willing to move her furniture and boxes, but who were also willing to help her unpack.

Elise let them do their thing while she concentrated on bringing in other stuff from the truck. She trusted her friends to do a good job, and she didn’t want to sound like a dictator, directing them to do this and that and to put things here and there. She could always move things around later.

Currently, the guys were working on her bedframe, headboard, footboard, mattress, and box spring. She even heard them arguing about tools. Sean had run home and grabbed his toolbox, so they could put her bed back together. She’d kind of forgotten about that stuff. Her guy friends in Denver had helped her move out and never even mentioned tools. Sometimes, she was such a girl.

The next thing in the U-Haul was a big garbage sack full of her dirty clothes that she’d been putting off washing until she got to her new house. She lugged it inside and down to the laundry room in the lower level. She’d decided a week ago that it would be easier to move dirty clothes than clean ones.

The only downfall of her new home was that her washer and dryer were in the basement, fairly secluded and away from everything else. While she’d love a main-floor laundry room or even an upstairs one, it wasn’t a deal-breaker, and it was something she could easily live with. Plus, the upstairs bathroom had a laundry chute, which made getting clothes downstairs a whole lot easier.

After dropping off the soiled laundry, Elise went back upstairs to the main floor. She walked into the empty kitchen from the basement. Then, she headed back for the front door to go outside and grab something else from the moving truck when she ran into Luke. He and the other guys had taken their shirts off a long time ago. One of the bad things about moving in Minnesota in July was the humidity.

But he looked delicious.

Inspiration struck.

“Hey, Lise, we just—” Luke started.

Elise interrupted him by slipping her fingers into the waistband of his shorts. “I need you to come downstairs to look at my dryer,” she told him with a sly smile as she walked backward, pulling him along.

“Okay. How can I help?” he said, giving her his cocky smirk.

They were at the door of the downstairs now, but just in case someone could hear them, she said, “I’m worried my dryer vent is clogged with lint. I don’t think it’s working.” She looked up into his eyes. “I think you need to stick something in there and clean it out.”

Luke opened the door and pushed her through. “Well, we’d better go take care of that then.”

“Last one to the bottom has to make the other come first,” Elise said as she took off down the stairs.

Luke quickly shut the door behind them and rushed after her.

They reached the laundry room, and one of them—Elise wasn’t even sure which one—swung the door closed. They came together, kissing and touching. It was lips, tongues, fingers, and arms everywhere. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

Luke walked them back toward the dryer, and when they reached it, he turned her around and pushed her forward. He reached over her and turned the dryer on. “We’d better just see if this works first, shouldn’t we?” His voice was all business, but the next thing he did was yank her shorts and underwear down.

Elise squeaked at the cool basement air hitting her butt cheeks, but she quickly forgot it as Luke slipped two fingers inside her. “Oh, shit,” she moaned.

“Already wet for me,” he said as he removed his fingers. “God, I love your pussy,” were the next words he spoke right as he pushed himself inside her.

They’d stopped using condoms the night her father went to the hospital, and she loved that they could have sex anytime, anywhere without worrying about protection.

Elise leaned forward and stuck out her ass to get Luke inside her as deeply as possible. He grabbed on to her hips and began pumping into her, full force.

Luke could be a sweet and gentle lover at times, and he often had her take control. But she loved it when he took what he wanted from her. When he fucked her hard, fast, and dirty.

Whenever he did this, it wouldn’t take her long to come. Sometimes, that could be a bad thing because she wanted to extend their lovemaking. But, occasionally, like now, when they had a household full of people upstairs, it was amazing that Luke knew exactly what she needed.

Just to help her along and give that extra push, he glided his fingers between her legs and rubbed her clit one, two, three times before he pinched it between his finger and thumb.

Elise went off like a rocket, clutching on to the dryer for dear life, afraid her legs might give out underneath her. Apparently, she was rather vocal because Luke covered her mouth with his hand. She smelled her essence on his fingers, and it only kept her orgasm going, knowing he’d been touching her secret place mere moments ago.

Two thrusts later, and Luke was right behind her. His hand dropped from her mouth and slid around her waist. He held her close to him, biting down on her shoulder to keep himself quiet, as he poured himself inside her.

After several minutes later, when they both caught their breaths, Elise told him, “I think the dryer works.”

Luke buried his nose in her neck and laughed.