Oh, God.

Oh, holy God, he was kissing me.

Sean was kissing me.

Sean Molina, the man I was completely insane for and wanted more than I could remember wanting anything in all my twenty-three years of life, had his tongue inside my mouth.

I was going to lose my ever-loving mind.

Scratch that. Nope. I lost it.

I lost it right then and there.

That was the only explanation for the way I was reacting to this kiss.

“Yes,” I moaned while simultaneously climbing up his body and tearing at what we were both wearing. My one hand shoved up his shirt, touching his stomach, his chest, and my other hand worked at the button on my jeans while I hitched my legs around him.

I was crazy. I was trying to strip us right there in the middle of his yard so we could get skin to skin in front of his entire neighborhood.

And I didn’t care one bit who saw us or if we both got arrested for indecent exposure.

With his hands full of my ass, Sean backed us up while kissing me with such hunger, I would’ve thought he’d never kissed a woman before if I didn’t know any better.

He was sloppy and rushed and sucked so hard on my lips, it hurt.

It was the best, the best, kiss of my life and would forever hold that title. I just knew it.

“Fuck!” His one hand braced us on the side of the house when he nearly stumbled up the porch steps.

I didn’t care if we fell. I kept kissing him everywhere.

His mouth. His cheeks. His neck. Kept gasping. Kept moaning. Kept touching him. Gripping and clawing at his muscles. I moved my hands over his back and dipped them beneath the shirt of his I couldn’t get off. I grasped at his body like I was starved for it, because I was.

“Hurry,” I begged. “Oh, God, please hurry. I need you to touch me.”

“Keep sayin’ that,” he muttered.

“Touch me. I need it. I want this so bad, Sean.”

So bad—he had no idea.

Sean got us up onto the porch and kicked the door open. We barely made it inside before he was on his back and I was on top of him.

That was when we went from crazy to fucking nuts.

“Shit!” I reached over to push the door closed so no one could watch Sean suck my breast into his mouth. “Oh, fuck…fuck!” Holy Lord, that sensation. His mouth. My body. I was going to explode. “Sean! Sean, Sean, Sean.” I weaved my fingers through his hair and held him to me as he lapped my other breast and tongued my nipple.

My shirt wasn’t even over my head yet. It was stuck around my neck. And my bra was still latched but shoved down to my waist.

“A year,” he mumbled into my skin. “A fuckin’ year, I wanted this.” He kissed up to my neck and licked there.

Oh, God. The girls had been right. They were right!

I shoved my hands between us and fumbled with his belt, getting it loose, then I tried unbuttoning his jeans while Sean grabbed at the pair I was wearing. He attempted getting them over my hips but couldn’t with the way I was kneeling.

“Wait. You do you, I’ll do me,” I told him, flopping back so my ass landed between his legs.

I pulled off my sneakers and ripped off my shirt and bra, then, leaning back, I wiggled out of my pants and panties and tossed them aside as Sean peeled off his shirt, tugged off his boots, and got one leg out of his jeans. He wasn’t wearing anything under them.

I barely got a glance at his cock before we were both lunging at each other, kissing, moaning, grasping at every part of the other person we could touch.

This was madness. This was sex without thought, without pause, without question. Letting desire drive and leaving reason and all sense behind. Fuck stopping to think. Fuck wondering, Should we? Could we? What if we did? We were just feeling. Feeling and letting it all happen.

It was the most beautiful, chaotic thing I’d ever experienced.

I pulled off his jeans so they weren’t stuck around his ankle, then I crawled closer. His hands moved under my thighs and my arms around his back, flew to his shoulders and braced when he slid, hard and heavy between my legs.

Sean’s hands shook on my body.

His gaze was wild, beautiful, and terrified.

“Take me,” I whispered, staring deep into his eyes and speaking inside his mouth. “Please, Sean, take me.”

He fingers tensed. His body grew taut and still.

“Please,” I begged.

I sank down as he pumped up his hips, filling me in one hard thrust.

“Ah!” Neck arching, I cried out.

A strangled groan tore out of Sean’s throat. His breath came out in hot pants on my neck, and his fingers on my skin dug in, then his hands slid to my hips as he stretched out beneath me.

Head lifting, he stared between us.

My body was ready—I was so wet, I could feel it sticking to my thighs—but the fact that I’d gone nearly two years without sex wasn’t lost on me in that moment. Sean was so full inside me, and it could’ve, might’ve hurt if I didn’t want this as much as I did. If I didn’t want to move as much I wanted to move. If I hadn’t thought about this moment, obsessed over it, wanting wanting wanting it to happen so badly and never thinking it would.

I didn’t feel pain. I felt him—his fingers digging into my hips and his legs beneath my own, the sweat on his skin as I stroked my hands up his body. His heartbeat under my palm.

I felt him, and I wanted more.

When I shifted my hips forward, he groaned, and God, that sound, so deep and tortured, it broke out bumps of pleasure along my skin.

Throwing my head back, I moved on top of Sean while he held me and watched me and said words like “fuck” and “please” and “Shayla, God, Shayla.” I sped up when he grabbed my breast. I slowed down when his noises grew indecent, because I didn’t want this to end, ever. I wanted this man inside me and touching me and begging me to fuck him until I stopped breathing.

“Yes, yes,” I cried.

Sean shot up, slid his hand through my hair, and kissed me hard, drawing my tongue inside his mouth. He sucked on my lip. He bit it. He groaned against my cheek and then his voice was in my ear.

“A fuckin’ year,” he growled. “Wanted you. Needed you.”

Oh, God.

I whimpered, head hitting his shoulder, and held onto his neck. I felt his grip on my hip move and tighten.

He took over.

Sean grinded me down. Harder than I’d been doing. Faster than I could go on my own. He built it in me until I gasped and dug my fingers into his skin, and then he flipped me so my back was on the cold wood.

He crawled between my legs, slid his hands against my own, interlocking our fingers above me, and holy shit, we were holding hands for the first time and it was everything I dreamed it would be. Then he pushed inside again, driving deep.

“Sean!” I cried out, my body squeezing around him. I shuddered in pleasure. “Oh, God, don’t stop, don’t stop.”

Sean released my hands to lean back and watch me come, his hair falling out of the tie at the base of his skull, his lips parted, his eyes moving all over my face. He stared at me in wonder. He stared at me how I knew I stared at him, not just now but all the time. Then he buried his face in my neck and fucked me against the floor, pumping faster, harder. He grunted into my skin and kept his hand beneath my head so he wouldn’t hurt me. He fucked like a man who’d been waiting his entire life to do it. It was frenzied and nearly violent. Then he sat back, grabbed my hips, and yanked me toward him so he sank deep.

Thrusting in quick jerks, Sean stared at my body, staying quiet except for those sexy, impatient noises he’d make while looking between my clit and my breasts. He grew close—the muscles in his arms and abs flexing. His breaths became ragged.

“Sean.”

He watched my mouth when I told him, “Come inside me.”

His eyes flashed.

I bit my lip and moaned, reaching out so I could touch him. I held his hands on my body. I never wanted them to move.

He jerked wildly now, his fingers digging into my hips and his nostrils flaring as his orgasm took hold.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “Ah, fuck fuck! Shayla…Shayla.”

I watched him bare his teeth and the cords in his neck bulge as he finished deep inside me. His body sagged, then he shifted back to pull out his dick. He pushed his hair out of his face and looked down between us. He was panting.

I pushed up to my elbows and stared, getting a good look at Sean for the first time.

His cock was long, thick, wet from us both, and uncut. I watched him with fascination. I knew nothing about uncircumcised penises, but I suddenly wanted to become an expert on the subject. The urge to touch him there and explore him was overwhelming. He was sexy as fuck.

But first…

I sat up and shifted to my knees in front of Sean, taking his face in my hands and forcing him to look at me.

“Talk to me,” I said, feeling the severity of this moment at the same time as reality hit hard.

Sean and I just had sex.

Without a condom.

And he came inside me.

Which I totally told him to do.

Sean caught his breath, stared deep into my eyes, and shook his head, sharp and quick. Then just as my heart began to sink and worry filled me, he slid his arms between us, held my face, and kissed me.

Slow.

Soft.

Sweet.

Oh, God. This kiss might’ve trumped the one outside.

Or at least tied it. His lips owned me.

I made little noises of pleasure against his mouth. I held on to his forearms for dear life. I feared I would float away.

Sean kissed me like that for minutes. It was beautiful and everything I’d been hoping for since I started dreaming about kissing him. Then he kissed my cheeks and my forehead. He pressed his lips all over my face, to my closed eyes and the tip of my nose.

I smiled against the tickle of his beard and giggled when he rubbed it into my face.

Then he pulled me against his chest and kissed my hair.

“Sean?” I whispered.

I had so much to say. So much we probably needed to talk about. I also wanted to remain silent and still and simply listen to Sean breathe.

“Think your car’s still runnin’,” he mumbled.

My eyes shot wide. Okay, plan C then.

Cursing, I got to my feet and started grabbing up my clothes, telling him while I hastily dressed, “Oh, my God. And the door’s still open. Shit! That’s basically an invite.”

Sean chuckled, and because he only had jeans to pull on for him to be decent, he stepped out to take care of my car before I even had my shirt on.

Once covered, I walked out and stood on the porch, watching him.

After fetching the can of hair spray I’d dropped and forgotten, Sean pulled my car into the driveway instead of leaving it in the street, then he locked it up and walked across the grass barefoot. When he reached the porch steps, I was laughing.

“Oops,” I mumbled behind my fingers.

Oh, well. This neighborhood was safe enough.

Smiling, Sean handed me the keys and climbed the steps. Then he put his hand on my hip and backed me inside the house, closing the door behind us without looking. He stopped us just inside the living room and stared at me.

And since he wasn’t smiling anymore, I wasn’t either.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I finished in you,” he said.

Oh, right. That.

“You did.” I placed my hands flat on his chest. “I told you to.”

“Why?”

My fingertips pressed in.

Because I’ve wanted this for so long.

Because you’re amazing and this, us together, is amazing, and because I knew that would be amazing too.

Because I’m in love with you and have been since last summer.

I had options, all ready to leave my tongue. It was simple: I just needed to pick one.

“Because you deserved it,” I said.

Sean’s brow rose.

My God, how stupid did I sound right now? Like Sean had won a prize or something?

Great job on all the fucking, now finish inside me because you’ve sure earned this pussy!

Ugh!

“Um.” I shifted on my feet as nerves prickled low in my belly and the urge to run and hide grew overwhelming. Explain yourself, Shay! “You know, aside from there not being any risk of getting me pregnant since I’m on the pill, I just meant, like, you deserved it based on how good you are…as a person. Not at sex. But, well, that too. You were awesome at that. So, so great. Amazing. All the stars.”

Sean’s mouth twitched.

I could feel heat rising in my cheeks. I wanted to dig myself a hole right there beneath his house and never climb out of it.

“I just mean, you’re good enough for sex.”

Sean cocked his head.

No. God, fix it!

“All sex. Sex in its completion.”

His brow furrowed.

I began speaking at a much faster pace.

“You’re good enough for someone who doesn’t need to be paid. Someone you can share sex with and have it be meaningful, you know? Special sex. You’re good enough for special sex, Sean!”

He stared at me.

Sweet Jesus, I sounded like an idiot.

Dropping my head to his chest, I groaned. “Am I making sense at all? I feel like I should just stop talking.”

His body shook against mine with a chuckle, then, feeling his hands in my hair, I glanced up.

His lips were curling ever so slightly.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” I questioned hesitantly.

His eyes got soft and a little sad. “I’m good enough for you,” he said, voice quiet.

“Yes.” I pressed closer. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. That’s what I’ve been saying all along.” He tried looking down and away, but I wouldn’t let him. I held his face. “You deserve love and kindness because you put out those things, Sean. You deserve to feel wanted. I want you. I want you so much. Let yourself feel that.”

He sucked in a breath.

“Okay?” I asked.

He stared at me for a moment, then letting his eyes slip closed, he pressed his forehead against mine, breathing slowly and evenly, and I nearly asked again—I was ready to repeat my entire speech—but Sean’s head gave a slight jerk against mine.

Knowing that was his way of saying yes, I clung to him.

Finally.

“Do me a favor?” he asked.

“Anything,” I rushed out.

God, I meant that too. I’d do anything for Sean. I wouldn’t even question it.

Sean leaned back to look at me. “Don’t stop talkin’,” he said. “I like hearin’ you, Shayla. I always did. I gotta keep hearin’ you.”

The air went out of my lungs.

Holy fuck. That might’ve been the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me. Lord knows, I was a talker. I knew I was. I also knew it annoyed a lot of people. They told me.

And now I knew it did not annoy Sean.

Hot damn.

I grinned at him, stepping closer and curling my hands around his ribs. “Would you like me to tell you specifically what all I found to be amazing about our sex? I could go on for hours.”

This was not an exaggeration.

His dick alone was deserving of mad props.

Sean bent and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Tell me whatever you want. Just do it while I make us some dinner. I’m fuckin’ starved.”

My brows shot up as he pulled away. “Dinner? Ooh, am I getting my chips?” I asked excitedly, bouncing on my toes.

Sean smiled over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen.

Fuck. Yes.

I was getting my chips.

After cleaning up in the bathroom and setting our shoes against the wall so they weren’t in the middle of the floor anymore, I walked over to one of the bar stools at the counter overlooking the kitchen and sat down, watching Sean in his element.

He grabbed two skillets out of a cabinet—a cast-iron one and another that was much deeper than the skillets I had at my place—then he went to the refrigerator and pulled out potatoes, some meat wrapped in butcher’s paper, two sticks of butter, and some garlic. He poured oil into the deep skillet and got that heating up, along with the cast-iron, then he got to work on the potatoes.

And he did all this wearing nothing but those jeans.

It hit me then, while I was admiring Sean’s body, that he did not have any clue how I felt about the way he looked, and that bothered me.

“You’re really hot,” I said.

Sean paused his work on the potatoes and looked up at me. His mouth twitched.

“And sexy,” I continued. “I haven’t been this attracted to someone my entire life, I don’t think. I like everything about you.”

Sean stared at me, mouth no longer twitching, but there was an intensity in his eyes now I really liked seeing on him, enough that I opened my mouth to list each and every single quality about Sean’s appearance so I could keep seeing it, but then he set down the knife he was holding, stepped over to the sink so he was standing directly in front of me, and leaned forward while grabbing hold of my neck. He pulled me gently, meeting me halfway across the counter, and pressed his mouth firm against mine.

It was a short kiss, but damn, was it hot.

He pushed his tongue inside my mouth. He sucked on my lips. He growled like he wanted to fuck me.

Then Sean leaned away but kept his hand on my neck, our faces close. He stared into my eyes.

“Everything,” he said in that deep, gravelly voice. “I feel that too.”

Holy crap. Sean liked everything about me. Everything.

“Awesome,” I whispered.

He chuckled. “Even that—you bein’ funny is sexy,” he informed me, releasing my neck and moving back over to the cutting board.

“That’s good, since I’m hilarious at least five days a week,” I told him.

Sean picked up the knife, doing this grinning, then he got back to work while I traced my fingertips around my mouth, still feeling him there.

I watched him start on the chips.

I stared at Sean’s hand and his fingers curled under as he chopped at rapid speed. Perfectly uniform thin slices of potato toppled over onto the cutting board.

I’d bet the hair on my head each of those slices measured the exact same size.

Val had said Sean had always been a good cook, and I’d watched Sean plenty of times before do his thing at Whitecaps. I knew he had mad skill, but remembering those first couple days after he got hired, something didn’t make sense.

“Whitecaps wasn’t your first job as a cook, right?” I asked, chin resting on my hand as I studied him. “You’ve been a cook for a while?”

Sean kept his focus as he answered. “Working cook, no. I did shit on my own ’cause no one was around to do it for me. Had a handful of jobs before Nate gave me a break, but nothing I kept longer than a couple weeks. I fucked around a lot back then.”

“But you’ve had your skills for a while…”

Sean jerked his shoulder. “Guess so.”

“So how come you cut yourself so much when you first started at Whitecaps?”

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking as he prepared the next potato. “I don’t know. Nerves, I guess.”

“Why were you so nervous?”

“Needed the job,” he stated plainly, but his voice sounded tighter. “I was tryin’ to be someone for my girls. They deserved it. I couldn’t mess up again.”

My stomach instantly knotted up.

I sat up taller and watched Sean grab a large bowl out of a cabinet and dump the potato slices in.

“But…the girls at work, we all call you Stitch,” I said.

He smirked and began seasoning the potatoes.

I didn’t understand his reaction. He should’ve been angry about that.

“Why do you let us?” I asked. “We were poking a little fun, and you were scared you’d mess up and ruin your chances of seeing your girls again. My God, Sean. Why didn’t you tell us not to call you that? Why don’t you?”

I hated how thoughtless I’d been. I should’ve realized how nervous he was back then. I should’ve picked up on that.

For fuck’s sake, I stared at him enough. Why didn’t I see it?

“Nobody is calling you that again. I’ll make sure of it,” I promised.

After dinner, I was making some calls.

Sean shook up the potatoes so they were evenly coated, then he sat the bowl down and looked up at me. “You asked,” he said. “Anyone else, I might’ve said somethin’. It was you so I didn’t.”

I blinked at him.

“You didn’t mind it because it was me asking?”

He jerked his chin.

Whoa.

“Do you like it?”

“Don’t hate it,” he answered.

“If you don’t like it, Sean, we can stop…”

“Did I say I don’t like it?”

“No, but not hating it isn’t really liking something,” I argued. “I feel bad.”

He flattened his hands on the counter and leaned closer. “Don’t,” he ordered, holding my eyes and I swore, it was as if he was begging me not to say anything to anyone. “If I didn’t want them callin’ me that, I’d say somethin’. Same goes for anything else they do. I don’t mind it.”

I thought about how often the girls bothered Sean at work while he was cooking, how Tori called him sweetie sometimes, how Syd always smiled at him and tried getting Sean to engage. And last, I thought about all those hugs he’d received the other night, plus the kiss on the cheek, and how he didn’t do a damn thing to stop them, when he could’ve.

Sean didn’t mind any of that. And I thought maybe that was because he was getting attention in the form of kindness from a bunch of women who could give it good, when he’d gone most of his life without it. In a way, even the nickname was done with affection. There wasn’t any malice intended. Yes, we’d been teasing him a little, but it was all out of love. It was just another way of us welcoming Sean into our work family and letting him know he belonged there.

I changed my mind. I would not be making any calls later.

“Okay,” I told him, smiling and going back to resting my chin on my hand. “We’ll keep calling you Stitch. I won’t say anything. You may resume the important work you’re doing.”

He chuckled, then reached for the meat he’d set out. “You like steak?”

“Nope. I love it.”

Sean unwrapped the two thick cuts and seasoned them up good, then he seared them in the cast-iron with some butter and garlic.

“So, that guy you were talking to outside, who was he?”

“ Logan,” Sean answered, watching the steaks closely. “We go way back. I met him when I was sixteen. He used to own a Laundromat I stole clothes from. Caught me one day doin’ it and could’ve turned me in. He didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Probably felt sorry for me. I was living on the streets then.”

“You stole clothes from Laundromats?”

Sean jerked his chin, explaining, “Easier than taking them from a store. You gotta worry about those bullshit security tags.”

Huh. Well, that was one way to beat the system.

Sean caught up some of the butter-garlic mixture and spooned it over top of the steaks.

“And the two weeks comment?” I inquired.

“I got my trailer when I was eighteen, but I couldn’t afford to keep it anywhere. Rent is no fuckin’ joke. Logan let me keep it on his property and didn’t charge me. He’s got land. I just had to help him tend to it. That was the trade-off.”

I smiled.

I immediately liked Logan and set a mental reminder to send him an apology for my behavior ASAP. My stationery would work just fine for that.

“When I got locked up this last time, he kept my trailer there, which was a good fuckin’ thing too, since I didn’t have anywhere to go when I got out. But now he’s gotta sell his land ’cause he needs the money. I got two weeks to find a place for my trailer, and I don’t know where the fuck I’m gonna keep it. I don’t got enough room here. Plus, the fuckin’ HOA wouldn’t let me keep it in my yard. I can’t afford rent. Not with payin’ on the house.” Sean shook his head and cursed. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do.”

“Can’t you just sell it?”

“Fuck, no. I need that trailer.”

“Why?”

“It’s my backup. I need a backup.”

“For what?”

“For when I fuck up.”

I stared at Sean. “But…you’re not going to fuck up,” I told him.

He laughed, but it wasn’t a happy one. “I will. I fuck up everything eventually.”

Pain circled my heart. How could he think that?

“Sean.” I waited for him to look up at me before I continued. “You will not fuck up,” I insisted. “Those girls are too important to you. And you’ve worked so hard to get them back…you won’t mess this up. I know you won’t.”

Sean was watching me with such intent, I momentarily worried about the steaks.

“Sell the trailer. You don’t need it anymore,” I said, and then with emphasis, I added, “You got this.”

I was referring to his beautiful life with his girls, and also, the steaks.

I didn’t know why I’d been so worried. He could probably cook with his eyes closed.

Sean took in a deep breath before resuming his concentration. He didn’t argue with me about it anymore. I took that as a good sign—he was hearing me. He’d at least consider selling the trailer.

When the steaks were nearly finished, Sean dropped the potato slices into the oil and fried them up. Within ten minutes or so, I was taste testing one and giving my approval.

“Holy crap, that’s good,” I mumbled around my bite, moaning and sucking seasoning off my fingertips. “I could eat my weight in these.”

Sean smiled and handed me another, which I gobbled up.

After loading up our plates and grabbing drinks, we took our seats at the kitchen table.

Some people liked to sit and enjoy food together while staying silent. I have never been one of those people. You could ask my brothers.

“So, tell me how you met Val.”

Sean paused in his eating and looked up from his plate. “You serious?”

“Yes.” I giggled at his expression—a fifty-fifty mix of confusion and interest. “I’m curious.”

I was. I wanted to know how long they’d been together and at what point in Sean’s life she’d entered it. And I wanted this information coming from Sean. I could’ve asked Val, but I didn’t.

Sean eyed me a moment longer. Then he sat back, took a swig of his Coke, and revealed, “I stole her wallet.”

My mouth dropped open. “You did not.”

“Yeah, I did.” He chuckled. “Ask her. She’ll confirm it.”

“That’s crazy! What happened? Did you give it back?”

“After she followed me to the bridge I was living under, yeah. I thought I got away with it at first.”

Holy crap. “How old were you?” I asked.

“Eighteen.”

“And how long had you been living under that bridge?”

“Don’t know. A couple months, maybe. I moved around a lot. I had to.”

I tried to push away thoughts I didn’t want filling my head right now, but I couldn’t. I hated thinking about Sean living on the street. It killed me knowing he was all alone. But what other option did he have?

“When did you move out of your house?” I asked, cutting off another bite of steak and popping it into my mouth. It was juicy and seasoned to perfection. I’d never had a steak this good before.

>Sean did the same, except his bite was twice the size of mine.

“Fifteen. I went back when it got so cold I couldn’t stand it. Then I couldn’t stand being there, so I’d leave again.” He popped a chip in his mouth and chewed it. “Went back for the last time when I was eighteen.”

“That’s when you got your trailer.”

“Yeah.”

“Val told me she’s never been in it.”

Sean shook his head while grabbing his Coke. “I wouldn’t let her. She was too good for it.”

I smiled while he took a drink. Maybe it was strange, but I loved that he said that.

I thought about Sean at fifteen, living on the streets. I tried to picture it. Then I imagined Sean going back to that house one last time and showing off the man he’d become, against all odds. I wondered what that horrible woman thought of him.

“Have you spoken to her at all since the last time you went back?” I asked.

“Who?”

“That woman—your mom—although I don’t like calling her that. She wasn’t one.” Bitch wasn’t anything. And if I ever saw her, I’d be sure to tell her that. Using my fist.

Sean eyed me. He was so deadly serious, I lowered the chip I’d been holding and set it back on the plate.

“You okay?” I asked.

Sean looked down while cutting off another bite of steak. He ate it, then followed it up with a chip and another drink of his Coke.

“Sean?”

His eyes came up. “Told you there’d be shit I didn’t talk to you about,” he said, voice a low rumble. “This is one of those things. Pick another topic.”

I shifted in my seat.

Crap. I was terrible about letting things go and not pushing for information. It was a major flaw of mine I lived with.

“Uh…”

No. No, I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t push Sean. It didn’t matter how badly I wanted to know every little detail about him and hated being told I wouldn’t get all those details.

“Pick another topic,” he repeated, slower and in a harsher tone.

“You’re a good man,” I blurted out.

It was the first thought that entered my head. It was sometimes the only thought that filled it.

Hearing me, Sean’s expression softened.

“You deserve an amazing life,” I continued, my voice gentled. “I feel like everyone sees that but you. Your girls don’t hate you for what you did, Sean. They love you. Don’t you see how loved you are?”

He slumped back in his chair, pushed his hair back, which was completely out of the tie now, and rubbed at his face, giving me full view of his chest and the ink that covered it.

I searched for the words I knew were there. It didn’t take me long to find them.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, getting to my feet and padding across the room in a hurry. I threw the door open and darted outside.

Still barefoot, I jogged across the grass and unlocked my car.

With my lower half hanging out the door, I rummaged around the glove compartment for the black Sharpie I knew was in there. When I closed my hand around it, I smiled.

“Yes,” I whispered.

Then I grabbed my purse out of the back and returned to the house in the same hurry I’d left it, bursting through the door.

“Come with me,” I instructed, meeting Sean’s eyes before I dropped my purse on the couch and turned for the hallway.

“Why?”

I gazed back at him over my shoulder. I didn’t answer.

Seeing the seriousness in my eyes, Sean pushed his chair back and stood. That was a smart move on his part. I was geared up and ready to drag his body, dead weight and all, if he hadn’t gotten up.

I stepped inside his bedroom and waited at the foot of the bed, then, when he entered, I pointed at the mattress with the marker and ordered, “Please sit.”

Sean brought his arms across his chest and stared at me. “This important?”

“Yes.”

“Important enough we’re lettin’ the rest of our food get cold?”

I nodded firmly. “It is. And that’s saying a lot, since that is the best steak I’ve ever eaten, and you already know how I feel about those chips. I should’ve done this already.”

“Steak reheated is shit,” he informed me.

“Not if you sear it,” I shot back, watching his head tilt in appreciation and the corner of his mouth lift.

I knew a thing or two about cooking meat.

“This is urgent, Sean, and I’d rather do it in here. I have a feeling this will lead to something I’d very much like to experience in this bed, considering how many times I’ve thought about it.”

His brows ticked up. “You talkin’ about fuckin’ or somethin’ else?”

I shivered. Lord, his candor was hot as hell. It made my bones turn to jelly.

“Honestly? I’m talking about fucking and the things that typically lead up to fucking we have yet to dabble in.”

“Dabble in?”

“Practice. Familiarize ourselves with…”

A slow, sexy smile took shape across his mouth. I shivered again.

“Okay, please sit down before I jump you and bypass the vital thing that needs to happen. I’ll be pissed if I don’t do this now.”

“I don’t know…I’m kinda wantin’ to stall a little.”

My lips parted. Oh, my God, was he…

“Are you flirting with me?”

“I’m fuckin’ trying to.”

My heart fluttered.

Holy shit.

I dropped my head back and groaned. “Sean, please come over here and sit down!” I begged, squirming where I stood. “You’re killing me.”

He really was. Sean flirting was now my kryptonite, right behind Sean shirtless, Sean smiling, Sean doing anything in my general vicinity.

He was grinning still when I lowered my head and looked at him, and he kept that grin walking to the bed and taking a seat.

“I had no idea you had such mad flirting skills,” I said, motioning for him to scoot back so he was leaning against the headboard. I straddled his lap.

“Mm.” He caught my hips and held me there. “They ain’t that good if you had to ask if I was doin’ it.”

“I was just surprised. You haven’t flirted with me yet,” I told him.

>“No?”

My brow furrowed, and I leaned back. “Have you?”

Sean’s mouth decided to blow my mind with this part smirk, part mischievous grin thing I had yet to experience.

It was pure magic, let me tell you.

“Stop it. I need focus,” I scolded, feeling his body quake beneath me with a soundless chuckle. Then I shifted back a little to allow me some space to write. Looking at his chest, I uncapped the marker.

“What are you doin’?” he asked.

I didn’t speak yet.

I leaned in and carefully pressed the blunt tip to his skin where there wasn’t any ink, and wrote my first word in a slant up his right pec.

Beautiful.

“I have to apologize for something,” I said as I continued writing words on Sean’s skin. I dragged the tip up the side of his neck and in scripted print wrote Deserving. “I lied to you the other night when I slept over. I wasn’t crying because I’d been throwing up. I wasn’t even throwing up at all.”

“What?”

I met his eyes and nodded, then I wrote the word Important curling over his left shoulder. “I was looking at your tattoos while you slept because I hadn’t really gotten a chance to study them yet, and I saw those words, Sean. This one,” I stopped writing, and with my other hand I rubbed my thumb over the word Nothing.

His grip on my body changed. It became severe. It nearly hurt.

“And this one,” I touched the word Loser, then our gazes met.

There was fear in his eyes. And they were suddenly wet with tears. My heart sank.

I sat the marker down and cupped his face. “Sean, why? Why do you have those words on you? Did she put them there?”

He tried looking down and away, he tried to hide his tears from me, but I wouldn’t let him.

“Sweetie, it’s okay,” I said. I could feel my own eyes watering now. “You can tell me anything. It won’t change how I feel. I promise.” I kept my one hand on his cheek and touched his chest with the other. “You are not these words, Sean. You aren’t, and not just to me. You matter to so many.”

“What are you writing on me?” he whispered. His eyes jumped between mine in panic.

“I’m writing what’s true.”

His chest shuddered, and he subtly shook his head.

I let go of him to pick up the marker again, and when I did, Sean wiped his forearm across his eyes and cursed.

I wanted to find that woman and slowly kill her. I’d drag it out for days. She would have an entirely new definition of pain when I was finished.

Just as I was lowering the marker to his skin again, Sean caught my wrist and stopped me.

We looked at each other. He was breathing raggedly out of his mouth, and his eyes were red.

I almost tugged my arm back to toss the marker. I almost began to sob—I shouldn’t have done this. Sean crying was the saddest thing I’d ever seen and probably would ever see, and I was to blame for it. His grief was unbearable.

But then I felt my arm moving closer to his body as he slowly pulled, and when the marked touched his skin, he trembled.

“I don’t have to,” I whispered. “I’ll stop.”

“No,” he rasped. He dropped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. His hands were no longer on my body. They were curled into fists on the bed. “Fuck, just do it…hurry,” he begged. “Hurry before I can’t.”

My breath caught.

Not days. Years—I’d make sure she suffered forever.

I blinked tears from my eyes and carefully wrote Worthy on his rib. I moved to his bicep and penned his value there, the other side of his neck, on his hand where Space was inked. I wrote the word Loved over top of it in heavy outline so it covered.

I had to be slow because Sean trembled, and I worried my hand would slip and the words would be too messy to read, and I couldn’t have that. Even though I wanted to rush and finish so he’d relax and let me hold him, I couldn’t.

I took my time, and it killed me.

“Okay,” I rushed out when I’d covered everything and painted his skin with words good enough to touch it. I capped the marker and tossed it on the bed.

Sean opened his eyes. His chest shook as he breathed.

“Do you want to see it?” I asked softly.

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t move. I wondered if he even could.

“You don’t have to get up. I can show you,” I told him, swinging my leg over and sliding off the bed. I darted into the living room and pulled a compact out of my purse, then I rushed back to the bedroom and climbed on top of him again. “Here. See?” I opened the compact.

Sean lowered his eyes to the mirror when I angled it at his body.

When he read the word Beautiful, his gaze shot to mine.

I smiled. “You are. Not just on the outside, Sean. You have the most beautiful heart. Despite everything.” I moved the mirror lower, over the word Worthy.

Sean’s hands flew to my hips and squeezed.

“It’s okay,” I soothed, because I interpreted his embrace as that reactional battle he was ready to put up at any moment. Sean was gearing to contest me. I just knew he was.

But then he sat forward and dropped his head to my chest. His body sagged.

“She didn’t write them,” he mumbled.

I stroked my fingers through his hair. “Who did then?”

“Me.”

I tensed. “What?”

Oh, my God, no. No. No. No.

“I’d write them all the time when I lived with her. I got good at it. Standing in front of a mirror, I could see what I was doing. It was easy.”

“And you got them tattooed on you?”

He nodded. “When I was sixteen. Found a guy who didn’t give a fuck about me bein’ underage. He liked cash. I had some.” His shoulder jerked. “Words have been there ever since.”

I hadn’t even considered the possibility of Sean doing this to himself, but it made sense. That woman broke him. She poisoned his mind. She might not have been the person who put those words all over Sean’s skin, but she’d been holding the pen.

“Do you think they still belong there?” I asked.

Sean paused, then peered up at me when I leaned back to see him. “Don’t know,” he answered.

My heart stopped and startled to a pace again.

“Before…yeah, I did,” he continued. “Met Val. Started thinking different. She was good to me. Good for me. I didn’t deserve her.”

“Yes you did,” I cut in.

Sean’s eyes lowered to a spot on my neck. “I was in the dark all the time, then she followed me in and got me out. I had her light. Had it tenfold when I was given my girls. I still fucked up, but I had them so it didn’t matter. I slowly got a lot of those words covered but not all ’cause I couldn’t. I’d still hear that bitch telling me I was nothin’. I heard it all the time. Then I fucked up all that good I had and lost it. Went back to knowin’ I ain’t ever gonna deserve another decent thing again, ’til you were in my ear and filling my head with shit.” He looked up at me. “I still hear her telling me I’m nothin’, but I hear you, and you’re fuckin’ loud. I don’t know what I deserve anymore. I got my girls. I keep catchin’ breaks. I don’t fuckin’ get it. I just know I don’t wanna be nothin’.” Tears filled his eyes again. “I’m so fuckin’ sick of bein’ nothin’, Shayla.”

“You’re not nothing,” I said, pulling him into a hug. His tears wet my chest. “You’re not nothing, Sean. Not even close.”

“Don’t quit talkin’ to me,” he begged.

“I won’t. Ever.”

“I want you fillin’ my head. I want it so fuckin’ bad.”

God, his pain—it became my own—I felt it. And I knew I’d feel it for as long as he did.

“You’ll never feel alone again. I promise,” I whispered.

His whole body shook.

Sean clung to me while I stroked his back and pressed kisses to his neck and shoulder. I spoke soothing words against his skin and into his ear.

I’d never been held so tight.

Eventually, we slid down and lay side by side on his pillow, watching each other.

Sean’s eyes stayed red, but his tears were gone now. I studied his face while he seemed to study every inch of me. He stared like he couldn’t believe I was real and here, beside him. We touched and we kissed like we’d done after sex. I asked him to tell me more about his girls, and he lit up. We talked for hours. The steaks and chips went forgotten.

After I showed him the other words I’d written, we dozed off, and I woke with his hands lightly stroking me.

I expected another repeat of chaos and hard kisses after the flirting, and because we’d come together so savagely before, but his touch was feather soft on my breasts and the flare of my hips. Even when Sean nuzzled his mouth between my legs and I bowed off the bed, he was gentle with his tongue.

But I couldn’t be tender or quiet. I couldn’t contain the cry that tore out of my throat when I came with my hands in his hair and my heels digging into his back. And when I crawled over his legs and explored him with my mouth and hands with determination to spend hours touching Sean until I knew his body better than he did, I took my time.

I stretched every second.

When I tasted cum, Sean gave up his restraint and pumped into my mouth. We both moaned when he coated the back of my throat. I swallowed and lapped at his cock, then I gazed up at him and smiled.

He looked delirious with pleasure, and nowhere near his fill.

Our noises filled the house after that.

Sweating, breathless, we panted beside each other on Sean’s bare mattress. The fabric itched my back. I had no idea where the sheet had gone.

I became irritated with myself. If anyone deserved proper bedding, it was Sean.

“Get dressed,” I told him, sitting up and searching the floor for my clothes.

“Why?”

“We’re going to Target.” I looked back at him.

He was pushed up on his elbows, brow furrowed, his cock softening on his thigh. He looked edible as fuck.

Putting on clothes was a challenge, but I managed.

Sean held onto that perplexed expression until I made a beeline for the home section at Target with my cart and stocked up on bedding supplies for his and the girls’ bedrooms.

Later that night, we made love on satin sheets.

Sean was amazing on a floor and a bare mattress. But on high-quality fabric, he was magical.

“Fi! Straighten your legs, baby! Why are you standing like a flamingo?”

I giggled as Val struggled to get Fiona into her tights.

The girls’ recital was tonight, and they’d shown up at my apartment roughly thirty minutes ago to get ready.

I’d already fixed Fiona’s hair into a bun with braided sections, making her look like a Disney princess. Now I was working on Caroline, who was so excited she was barely keeping still.

“When are you putting the pink in my hair?” she asked me for the twentieth time since she sat down.

“Soon.”

She threw her arms in the air in celebration, and I noticed the same thread bracelets on her wrist like Sean wore, only Caroline’s were all pink.

I smiled at her in the mirror.

“These are too tight, Momma!” Fiona cried.

“The joys of being a woman, baby. Get used to it.” Val blew out a breath. “There. Okay, one thing down.”

I moved around to the side of the chair and looked over at Fiona.

She only had her tights on so far, so she didn’t have anything covering her stomach.

I noticed a long scar running down the center of her abdomen, about three inches long, but before I could study it any more than a glance, Caroline was bouncing in the salon chair again and whipping her head around.

“You’re not excited one bit about tonight, are you?” I teased as I gathered up the strands again I’d been braiding that had pulled out of my fingers the second she started quaking about.

“Yes, I am!” she shrieked. “I’m so excited!”

“Oh, okay. I wasn’t sure. You’re just so calm.”

“You should’ve seen her earlier,” Val said. “She kept taking my keys and going out to sit in the car.”

I eyed Caroline in the mirror. She started giggling.

“Is it time for the pink now?” she shrieked.

“Almost.” I wrapped the braid around her bun and secured it with a few bobby pins. Then I told Caroline to cover her face so I could set the bun with some hair spray. When I was finished, I capped the bottle and spun her around so when she stopped, she was facing the mirror again. “Ready?” I asked.

She nodded quickly and covered her mouth with her hands.

“Me too!” Fiona yelled. “Mommy, hurry up!”

“I still need to zip you up. Hold still.”

I shook up the can of pink hair color and gestured at Caroline’s hair. “How about we do some on this side, and a little bit over here, around the bun.”

“Can’t I get my whole head?” she asked.

“Caroline,” Val warned.

The little girl sulked and sank in the chair.

I bent down and whispered, “Maybe we throw in some glitter too. What do you say?”

She perked right up hearing that.

Both girls got dolled up with bubblegum streaks of shimmer in their pretty blonde hair. They couldn’t stop looking at themselves in the mirror when I was finished, and they kept fighting over the chair.

“Okay, time to go!” Val exclaimed, purse dangling from one elbow and bag of clothes hanging from the other. Her eyes cut to me, and for a moment, she seemed startled. “Oh, my God, I almost forgot. I have an extra ticket tonight. Would you like to go to the recital?”

“Really?” Wow. That was unexpected. I paused mid-OCD-organization of my hair clip drawer and smiled at her. “Sure. I’d love to go.”

And only ninety percent of that reason had to do with Sean being there tonight. I also really wanted to watch the girls. They were so excited about their recital. It was infectious.

“Awesome!” Val dug the ticket out of her purse and handed it to me, then she pulled me into a quick hug and thanked me again for helping her out. “All right, girls, let’s go. Did you thank Shay?”

“They did,” I said.

“Thanks, Shay!” both girls hollered as they chased each other around the salon room in their tutus, squealing and giggling.

My ears were ringing when I walked them to the door.

After a quick shower since I’d worked a shift at Whitecaps today, I fixed my hair in loose waves and dressed in leggings and a flannel tunic. I applied a powder foundation and kept the focus on my eyes with a winged liner and the mascara I had that made my lashes look too thick to be real. Then I shot out a quick text, letting Sean know I’d see him tonight at the recital before I left my apartment. His text back to me came as I was backing out.

Glad you’re going.

I smiled the entire drive there.

Val had saved four seats in the auditorium, which didn’t make sense to me until her sister showed up five minutes after I’d arrived.

Apparently hood rats went to recitals. Go figure.

“Shay, this is my sister, Bridgett,” Val introduced. “Bridgett, this is Shay. She’s the girl who’s been doing my hair. She works with Sean too.”

Bridgett claimed the seat next to Val at the end of the row and leaned forward, waving and smiling at me like the giant ho-bag she was.

It was possible I was still holding a minor grudge about the other night.

“Hey, girl,” I whispered, waving back and grinning like we were besties.

I wasn’t just good at being fake nice. I was great at it. Years of experience waiting tables and dealing with rude clients helped me perfect that painted-on smile and pleasant demeanor. It was a talent, really.

And I had to play it up. I wouldn’t cause a scene at the recital.

People filed into the auditorium and took their seats, chatting with one another. The room was packed. Val had mentioned something about the entire company dancing tonight, and to be prepared for this to last a couple hours.

That didn’t bother me. I was just excited to watch the girls. They were the youngest class performing tonight.

“Where is he?” Val sat forward and whipped her head around to look toward the auditorium doors. “It’s going to start soon.”

I glanced at the empty seat between us, then I reached down and slipped my phone out of my bag. I checked the time.

Sean had one minute to get here.

“Traffic was crappy,” Bridgett said. “I’m sure he’s on his way.”

Whoa. Did she just stick up for Sean? I was not expecting that.

I sat forward and gestured across the aisle, getting Bridgett’s attention.

“I don’t know if Val mentioned it, but if you’re looking for a new stylist, your first haircut with me is free. And I’ll give you a discount on color.”

Funny how quickly you could have a change of heart about a person. I wasn’t expecting those words to fly out of my mouth, ever, but anyone who looked out for Sean was good enough to sit in my salon chair.

“She’s the best,” Val chimed in, reaching across the seat and squeezing my arm.

I gave her a warm smile.

“Wow. That’s awesome, thanks!” Bridgett grinned at me. She looked young. I’d guess her age to be around twenty, tops. “I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

“Looking forward to it.”

That wasn’t me being fake nice either. I meant it. I was genuinely anticipating adding Bridgett as a client.

Strippers needed good hair care too.

The lights dimmed, and the room hushed to a silence.

“Shoot,” Val whispered.

I watched her mess with her phone and wondered if she was sending Sean a text. I almost sent one myself, but figured he’d probably be coming on his bike and wouldn’t hear the alert.

I said a silent prayer everything was okay and he’d get here soon.

A spotlight turned on and focused on the stage, then a woman walked out and stood in front of the curtain holding a microphone. She welcomed everyone and spoke about the company for a minute, then she asked the audience to stay in their seats while recording so they wouldn’t distract the dancers.

When she moved off the stage, the curtain lifted, and I smiled as Caroline and Fiona’s class walked out, holding hands. They were all so little and sweet-looking, all big smiles and eyes full of excitement. They stood in a line that stretched across the stage.

Val sat forward and waved, and when the girls spotted us they stood on their toes and waved back, then I watched them search around where we were sitting, frown, and slump back onto their heels.

They were looking for Sean.

I turned in my seat and squinted in the dark, hoping to see him enter, but he didn’t. I was sad for the girls and for him. I knew how badly he wanted to be here.

Where was he?

The music started—a slower piano number—and I spun around and pulled up the video mode on my phone. At least he’d be able to watch it later.

I smiled videoing the girls—they looked seriously freaking adorable in their little tutus as they danced around, twirling and pointing their toes in front of them—and they stood out too, considering the pink in their hair and the way the spotlight hit them.

Val leaned over the seat and whispered what a good idea that was. I couldn’t have agreed more.

The girls were focused and in sync with the rest of their class. They didn’t miss a beat. Then Caroline stepped forward and pointed toward the back of the auditorium, jumping up and down and yelling, “Daddy! Daddy!” in the middle of the number.

Everyone turned in their seats.

“Oh, thank God,” Val exclaimed, taking the words right out of my mouth.

Sean stalked down the aisle with his attention focused solely on his girls. His steps were heavy and purposeful.

Hair down and tucked behind his ears, he was dressed in jeans and a tight dark T-shirt that was showing off his chest in a crazy good way, even in the dim lighting. He grinned at the stage as he moved toward it.

“Daddy! Watch!” Fiona yelled.

Everyone started laughing quietly as Caroline and Fiona dashed to the front of the stage and kept up with the routine, dancing right in front of Sean, who hadn’t even glanced at the seat Val had saved for him. He was too busy focusing on them.

Sean stood directly in front of that stage, arms crossed over his chest, grinning, looking proud while he watched his girls dance, smile, and wave at him between steps—they were too excited to simply go through the routine.

It wasn’t just sweet. It was a beautiful moment I knew they’d all remember forever.

And because it was both of those things, nobody seemed to mind, and I swore, most of the women in the audience were too busy watching Sean rather than their own child if they were up there. I really couldn’t blame them. Did I mention the tight shirt? Well, his jeans were a little tight too, right around his ass, so just add that to the mix.

The number ended, and the girls, along with the rest of the class behind them, all curtsied, then Caroline and Fiona both gave Sean a big hug and a kiss before running off stage.

“Sean!” Val whispered, waving and getting his attention when he finally turned and glanced around at the seats.

He squeezed down the aisle and sat down between Val and me. He smiled at me and winked.

I smiled at him, and added Sean winking to the kryptonite list. Holy wow.

The show went on, and the next number the girls performed was a tap dance to the tune of “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” I’m positive it was adorable, though I wasn’t watching them at all.

I was watching Sean.

“There was a pile-up on Route Seven. Tractor-trailer overturned. That’s why I was late.”

The show had finished, and once Val had grabbed the girls from backstage, Sean gave his explanation so everyone, including the girls, could know he’d wanted to be here on time and would’ve been, had circumstances allowed.

“See? I told you,” Bridgett said, looking at Val.

“Well, we’re just happy you made it. Right, girls?”

“Right!” Caroline shrieked, while Fiona stayed on task and kept playing with the ends of Sean’s hair.

She’d claimed his arms the moment she came running out into the auditorium.

“Daddy, can we have a sleepover tonight?” Caroline asked.

Sean’s face tightened like he was uncertain about that idea, but before he could say anything, Val chimed in.

“Oh, um…I’m not sure about that, baby.” Val bit her lip and looked to Bridgett, who merely shrugged in response.

Sean wasn’t the only one unsure. It seemed everyone was. Well, everyone except me.

“Please,” Caroline begged.

“Yeah, Daddy, please? Please with a cherry on top?” Fiona pleaded.

“I think that’s a great idea.”

All heads turned to me after I spoke.

“You do?” Val questioned.

“Absolutely.” I grinned at Sean, who was looking shocked as shit and a bit terrified, which I found to be completely adorable and totally unnecessary—he’d be just fine—then I gave that grin to Val. “I bet they’d have a blast,” I told her.

Her brows lifted, then she seemed to warm up to the idea, and slowly nodded her head. “Yeah. Yeah, I bet they would.”

“Plus, a little birdie told me someone has new princess bedding…” I added in a singsong voice.

Caroline stared at me like she’d just tried swallowing a watermelon.

“Princess bedding? Daddy, is it mine? Is it!” she shrieked, tugging on his shirt. “I’m gonna die if it’s mine!”

Val, Bridgett, and I all started laughing.

Sean rubbed at his mouth, thinking. He still seemed hesitant, until Fiona grabbed his face with both her little hands and forced him to look at her. She pressed closer until their foreheads touched.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, baby girl.”

Okay, Sean saying “baby girl” was now at the top of my kryptonite list. My GOD. Could he say that to me? Would that be a weird thing to request? Probably. I didn’t care.

Fiona stayed serious when she spoke. “We really want to spend the night. Really bad. This is a big deal.”

Bridgett and Val both made an “aw” sound. I was smiling behind my fingertips.

Sean’s eyes were filling with emotion. I knew there was no way he’d say no to this now, and I was right.

“If it’s a big deal, then you got it,” he told her.

Fiona threw her arms around his neck and hugged him while Caroline jumped around in a circle, chanting, “Yes, yes, yes!”

“We’ll need to get your sleepover bags packed,” Val directed at the girls, then she looked at Sean. “I can drop them off. Shouldn’t be more than an hour.”

“Works for me,” he said.

“Wow. I’m going to have a free Saturday night.” Val pulled her hair over one shoulder and fidgeted with it. She laughed a little. “I haven’t had one of those in forever.”

“Let’s go out!” Bridgett suggested, grabbing Val’s hand so she quit twirling and twisting strands.

“That sounds like fun,” I said, encouraging her. “Everyone needs a girls’ night.”

Bridgett pointed at me. “Yes, sister! You get it!”

“Shay, you should come with us,” Val proposed, smiling, looking eager for me to join in.

“Oh, uh.” I looked to Sean and saw him watching me with interest.

I had planned on spending time with him after the recital, and going by the way Sean was looking at me, he’d been banking on that too, but hey, I could still do that. It would just be later than I’d originally hoped for. This would allow Sean and his girls some alone time, and that could never be a bad thing.

Decision made, I smiled at Val and nodded firmly, telling her, “I’m in.”

Val hugged me. Bridgett gave me a high-five. Caroline was still jumping around and chanting.

Sean stared at me like I’d just agreed to commit a double murder or something, until I winked at him.

Then I knew he had his own list going inside his head of things I did that drove him absolutely wild, based on the way his eyes heated and his body grew taut.

I had plans on exploring that list thoroughly very, very soon.

But first, girls’ night with Sean’s ex and her stripper sister.

You couldn’t make this shit up.