Gabe had almost convinced himself that this trouble-free life with Melanie was his new reality. He’d intentionally unplugged from the outside world. He hadn’t contacted Jacob or Adam again. He wasn’t sure how Owen and his brother were faring. He didn’t know if Kellen had made amends with his best friend—who he’d kissed on the mouth, for fuck’s sake. And he hadn’t given the prospect of fathering Lindsey’s baby much thought. He had been thinking about knocking up Melanie, however. The more time they spent together, the more he realized that he was ready to start a family—with her, not with some girl from a one-night orgy—and that the only element lacking in his life was a stable career. But he did have money saved up—enough to get him through several years of expenses.

So when he accepted the call from the DNA testing service, he expected bad news. Expected it because life had been going so right for him for the past several days. Different from his norm, yes. But right.

“Yes, this is Gabriel Banner,” he said to the woman on the phone.

He had a strange mind-disconnected-from-his-body feeling as he waited for her response. He clutched Melanie’s hand, squeezing it far harder than he intended. Christ, his heart was about to beat itself through his ribs.

“The results show conclusively that you are not the paternal father of the subject’s baby.”

“Not?” he asked breathlessly, wanting to make sure he’d heard correctly.

“Not,” she reiterated.

“Not,” he repeated. Gabe melted back into the porch swing with relief. “Do the results say who the father is?”

“I cannot provide that information to anyone but the mother and the biological father,” she said. “Do you have questions I can answer?”

Gabe shook his head, even though the woman couldn’t see the motion. “Thanks for calling. You have a great day now.” He hung up and drew Melanie into his arms.

“It’s not yours?” she asked, her voice breathless.

“It’s not mine.”

“Oh, thank God.” She twisted her body so she could cup his face between her hands and kiss him. “Not that you wouldn’t make a terrific father.” She kissed him again. “I just want you to make babies with me and no one else.” He kissed her. “I’m sorry if that’s selfish.”

“It’s not selfish. That’s the way it should be,” he said. “So let’s go make one right now.” Those were probably the most impulsive words to ever escape his lips.

“We do need more practice,” she said with a giggle.

“I’ve had enough practice,” he said. “I’m ready for the real deal.”

“What?” Her eyes searched his. “I thought you wanted to wait.”

“I don’t want to wait anymore.” He eased her away just far enough to see her face clearly. “Do you want to wait?”

She stared at him for a solid minute, her eyes still searching his. “No,” she finally said.

Did that mean no, she didn’t want a baby or no, she didn’t want to wait? “No?”

“I want your baby inside me as soon as possible,” she said, pushing away all vagueness.

He grinned and kissed her enthusiastically. Melanie Anderson wanted to be his wife and wanted to have his baby. Just a few weeks ago she’d been hesitant to give him a chance, and now they had a long and loving life before them. It was a good thing she’d given Sole Regret’s tattooed, Mohawked drummer a try, or he might have never found true happiness.

“I’ll have to stop taking my birth control,” she said, nibbling his lip. “You’re sure about this?”

“Yeah,” he said, his heart brimming with joy. “Are you?”

Her smile was so brilliant, it almost blinded him. “Absolutely.”

The front door opened, and Nikki came out onto the porch with Beau and Lady on her heels. She was carrying her laptop in one hand.

“Can I talk to you guys? It’s kind of important.”

“It can’t be more important than the news Gabe just got,” Melanie said.

Nikki brightened. “Is the band getting back together?”

Her eager gaze made Gabe feel more than a little guilty. He knew there were thousands of fans out there who, like Nikki, were waiting for news about the band making amends. Gabe hadn’t given up on the idea, but it was pretty much out of his hands. Adam and Jacob were the ones who’d have to fix this mess. He, Owen, and Kellen would just have to wait until they came around. They could encourage a reconciliation, but they couldn’t force one.

“No,” Melanie said. “No news on that front yet. But he’s not going to be a father.”

Gabe’s arms tightened around Melanie, and he squeezed her tightly. “Oh, yes, I am.”

“We’re going to try for a baby,” Melanie said, wrapping her arms around his and pressing them even closer to her belly, “but Lindsey’s baby isn’t his.”

“A baby! Really?” Nikki’s happiness for them was genuine. “That’s just . . .” She wiped at a tear with the back of her hand. “You’re going to be the best mom, Mel. The absolute best.”

Gabe wondered why he hadn’t recognized Nikki’s kindness from the start. Probably because it had been hard to see through the seductress mask she typically wore when she was around men. She didn’t wear it around him, though. Wasn’t he worth seducing? Naw, that couldn’t be it. She just trusted him as a friend. He was pretty sure that was actually a big deal for her.

“And you’re going to be the best auntie,” Melanie told Nikki.

Gabe tensed slightly, but then relaxed. His dogs adored Nikki, and he absolutely trusted their judgment. Nikki wouldn’t do anything to harm their child. She wouldn’t be a bad influence. She might even babysit so Gabe could work on making baby number two with Melanie. But he was getting far ahead of himself.

“So what did you want to talk to us about?” Gabe asked. He actually hoped it was the wedding. Their relationship was moving forward rocket fast, but that wedding could not happen fast enough. He wanted this woman in his arms to be Mrs. Gabriel Banner as soon as possible. Nothing would make him happier.

Nikki cringed. “Don’t be mad at me.”

Melanie stiffened and sat up straighter on Gabe’s lap. “Did you max out my credit card?”

Gabe didn’t want money to be any consideration when it came to his wedding to Melanie. “If it’s for the wedding—”

“It’s not that,” Nikki said. “I, uh, took a ride on the Sex Stallion on your date night last week.”

“You didn’t!” Melanie snarled.

“I know you told me not to, but something happened. I’m not sure how to tell you.”

Gabe’s eyes widened. “Did it hurt you?” Injuring someone was his greatest fear.

“Fuck no,” Nikki said. “Best seven orgasms of my life. I filmed all of them for some guy I’ve been messaging on a fetish dating site.”

“What?” Melanie sputtered.

“You have a fetish?” Gabe blurted. Not that he cared or wanted to know what it was. Okay, he couldn’t lie, he was curious. Last time he checked, he was a guy.

“He published my video on a porn site. Eight hundred thousand views in three days.”

Gabe’s jaw dropped. That must be some video.

“Oh no, Nikki,” Melanie said, scrambling off Gabe’s lap and wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “That’s terrible. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal. You can’t see my face. You can see everything else, but not my face.”

Was it hot out here or was it just his fiancée and her best friend talking about a video centered around riding his masterpiece?

“Did you think we’d be mad because I told you to stay off of my Stallion?”

“You wouldn’t have been able to resist it either, Mel.”

“That’s true.  So then why would you think we’d be mad at you?” Melanie asked, holding Nikki by both shoulders to try to capture her gaze. Nikki still had her laptop clutched to her belly. “That guy shouldn’t have posted that video without your permission.”

“Actually . . .” Nikki squirmed and wouldn’t meet Mel’s eyes. “I told him he could.”

”Then you must be worried because you’re not supposed to be having sex right now. I don’t think this actually counts, but if you need to talk to your therapist we’ll take you back to Kansas.”

Nikki shook her head. “The reason that video has so many views is not because of anything I did.” Nikki grinned deviously. “Well, okay, I do look pretty sexy riding that thing, and I’m an excellent vocalizer.”

Gabe suddenly needed a pillow. For his lap. And he needed to watch Melanie looking sexy riding the Sex Stallion and doing her own excellent vocalizing right now.

Melanie lifted her eyebrows and shook her head, waiting for Nikki to drop whatever bomb she was holding.

“Everyone wanted to know where to get one of those machines,” Nikki said. “I figured they were all talk. I told them it was a prototype and there was only one in existence. Still, thousands of women and men all vying for an opportunity to own one or at least ride one. And then I got the idea to crowdfund and earn enough money to put the Sex Stallion into production. I set the price to participate super-high—a thousand dollars just to get on the waiting list. Of course, that thousand would count as a down payment and they’d be guaranteed a unit as soon as they were produced. I wasn’t sure how much each machine would cost in the end. I estimated five thousand, and you will not believe how many people were willing to pay that.”

“What are you saying, Nikki?” Gabe said, his heart racing. Cold sweat trickled down the middle of his back.

Melanie turned to stare at him, her face ashen, her mouth open wide.

“We’ve made two million dollars in that past three days.”

“What?” Gabe bellowed.

“But now I sort of need you to make two thousand Stallions.” Nikki smiled hugely, as if she’d given him the best news of his life.

“It took me ten years to build that one and perfect it,” Gabe yelled.

Nikki flinched, but he couldn’t help the rage boiling inside him. Was she crazy? Two thousand units! He was good at math, so he knew that at five thousand apiece he would gross ten million dollars, but still. How in the hell was he supposed to build two thousand of the damned things?

“But it is perfect,” Nikki said. “It’s time to share it with the world.”

Melanie clutched her hands together. “Gabe, please tell me you filed a patent on it.”

“Years ago,” he said.

She released a long breath. “Good. Now, I know you don’t know much about my past careers, but I used to be the office manager for a small manufacturing plant. And I know how to run the business end of things.”

“And I can be the spokes—erm—the moan model,” Nikki said, thrusting her hand in the air like an eager elementary school student.

“She’s an excellent PR person, Gabe.”

“That’s what I went to college for,” Nikki said.

“We’d need a larger team, of course,” Melanie said. “Especially on the manufacturing end, and I don’t know many people in Texas, but—” Her eyebrows drew together. “Doesn’t Owen’s girlfriend run her own alternate energy business in Houston?”

Gabe just stared at her as if she had seventeen nipples.

“Gabe?” Melanie said when he didn’t respond.

“I guess,” he said. “But what does Caitlyn’s corporation have to do with sex toys?”

“Uh, everything,” Melanie said. “It’s not what you’re making or selling but the structure of how to produce and distribute that most businesses have in common. I’ll have to look into business laws in Texas. I’m sure they can’t be that much different from those in Kansas.”

“Isn’t Texas notoriously business friendly?” Nikki said. “I’m sure this will be a piece of cake for you.”

“You’re forgetting something,” Gabe said.

The pair of scheming women turned to look at him, questions in their eyes.

“It’s my invention. What if I don’t want to mass produce it? What if I want only Melanie to have one?”

Melanie laughed. “That’s silly.”

It didn’t seem silly to him. It seemed special. A unique one-of-a-kind gift for his one and only true love.

Nikki popped open her laptop and showed Melanie her crowdsource funding page.

“Holy shit! There’s a waiting list for the waiting list!” Melanie clapped her hands. “Baby,” she said, turning to gaze adoringly at Gabe. “I’m so proud of your filthy, inventive mind right now.”

Gabe had never seen her this excited about anything. Well, maybe when she was enjoying objects designed by his filthy, inventive mind. But definitely not about financial or business success.

“Gabe?” Nikki said, tilting her head to look at him. “Do you not want to give mind-blowing orgasms to all these people? They’re counting on your Sex Stallion to bring them joy.” She sat next to him on the porch swing and showed him the excited comments of people who’d slapped down a thousand dollars of their hard-earned money for a chance to be delighted by his invention.

After a few minutes of having his head filled with compliments about his brilliance, he closed his eyes, licked his lips, and swallowed his doubts. That future he’d been so uncertain about? This could be the answer. He’d never expected Nikki to be responsible for pushing him down a new path of success.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s do this.”