My control is dwindling. Fast.

Every moment I spend with Christine only proves what I want.

Every time I see her with my boys, spending time with them, giving the attention they so desperately need, deserve… I feel like my heart is about to explode from my chest.

Not to mention how much control I had to practice when she was lying next to me in her coral-colored swimsuit. It wasn’t a tiny bikini, but it was almost sexier. That little sliver of skin between her top and bottoms seemed to call to my fingertips.

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve had to clench my fist to stop myself from taking her into my arms and just kissing the ever-loving shit out of her.

She’s just… everything that I never knew I wanted. Needed.

Christine is happiness and sunshine and rainbows.

According to Carly, she’s a unicorn.

Whatever the hell that means.

“Are you about to lock that down or what?” Carly asks me while I’m trying to work with the stone that will be set around the new fireplace James installed at Balance.

“Lock what down?” I play dumb.

I know exactly what — or who — she’s referring to. I’m not an idiot. She’s not as outwardly nosey as Lauren and Tess are, or hell, even as bad as Josh and Barrett, but she’s still pushy. In her typical sweet way.

James snickers next to me and glances over at his wife, who’s swinging her legs from her perch on the table near us.

“You gotta do better at your subtlety, beautiful.”

To Carly’s credit, she simply shrugs and smiles. Doesn’t even try to deny a thing.

“May as well answer. If she’s not the one asking, you know who’s coming next in the interrogation.”

“Why do you all have to know everything?”

“It’s y’all, not you all, you Neanderthal,” James chides.

“Not if you’re from the upper half of the US, it’s not. If you say y’all and you’re not southern, it’s just a charade.”

“What?”

James looks at me like I’ve just grown a second head.

“Never mind,” I murmur and continue to place stones in the pattern I’m creating on the floor before putting it up against the wall.

“So. Are you?” Carly asks again, not letting up on her line of questioning.

I sigh and sit back, figuring I might as well face this head on.

Apparently, my defeat is obvious, and she launches in.

“She’s happy.”

Single nod.

“She is,” I agree.

Her head turns to the side.

“She was before but…”

“Now she’s happier,” I tell her, knowing it’s fact.

She graces me with a small smile.

“Correct.”

Her lips purse tightly and she points to me.

“You’re the reason for that.”

Now it’s my turn to smile, only it’s not small.

I shrug. “I’d like to think so.”

“You’re happy, too.”

“I am.”

“She’s the reason for that.”

I can’t argue with that.

“She absolutely is.”

She narrows her eyes and attempts to look threatening. It would probably work on someone who wasn’t so inherently nice.

“You’re not going to screw it up?” she asks, far more like a statement than a question, however.

“Man, I sure as hell hope not.”

“She’s a unicorn.”

My eyebrows kiss my hairline.

I guffaw. “Pardon?”

“She’s happy and sunshine and rainbows and she’s just… unique. There’s very few like her around. She’s a unicorn.”

“Um. Okay?”

“No. You’re not understanding me.”

“Carly, with all due respect. I do understand you. What you’re saying are things I already knew about her. Do you think I’d be spending time with her if I didn’t?”

“Well, I don’t know you very well, so I can’t really say.”

“Babe,” James interrupts.

Carly’s eyes shift to James and then back to me.

“I trust you. But from someone who hid a major part of her past from everyone around her for a long time, I recognize the signs. She’s happy. But at one time, she wasn’t. And it’s more than Todd’s passing. But I won’t pressure or push because like I said, I know about as much as anyone how important keeping your past private is. That being said, I have a feeling you already knew that, too.”

I don’t confirm or deny that, but I also don’t break eye contact with her, either.

“She’s a unicorn,” she repeats.

“I agree.”

And I wasn’t lying.

Last night, Bri and Grady got to the cabin, and I thought maybe the boys would quickly ditch the idea of finishing the lasagna with Christine in Grady’s presence, but that was far from the case.

They were right there next to her while she showed them how to layer the noodles and cheese mixture and sauce they made with her that morning.

Their chests swelled with pride and they practically preened under the praise that Grady showed them for how good it tasted, watching him take a third helping, and for him letting them know how awesome it was for them to help.

Then we spent the last few hours of daylight walking off our pasta coma through the wooded area behind the cabin before sitting around the bon fire late into the night.

Christine laughed at their jokes and attempts at campfire stories. Showed them that using a peanut butter cup instead of chocolate bar when making S’mores takes it to a whole new level. Listened when they opened up about how they didn’t really miss their mom, and the guilt that went along with those feelings. Gratefully accepted the sweatshirt that Aidan pulled right off his back when she shivered in the slowly dropping temperatures. Slipped it over her head and smiled her thanks, even commented on how fast he’s growing, her being able to fit into his clothes and them being too big for her.

He’s always been warm blooded, so it wasn’t a surprise that he could handle the cooler temperature in just a t-shirt.

I gotta admit, a big part of me was jealous.

I love the relationship they’re building, but I wouldn’t have been sad about keeping her warm.

Especially when Grady and Bri were huddled next to each other, a blanket wrapped around their shoulders, heads dipped close together.

Ridiculous how jealous I was of teenagers in that moment.

I had briefly wondered if Christine’s demeanor would change once Bri was with us.

Make her more comfortable.

But that wasn’t the case.

She was exactly the same person around her family as… us.

The only downside of the time was when reality hit me that Bri would be sleeping with her mom.

Not that anything would have happened between us if she wasn’t there.

It hadn’t the other nights that she and I spent alone in our beds, me tossing and turning, knowing that she was just a bathroom door away from me.

But something about the possibility of more was enough to satisfy me.

Tomorrow we go back home.

Meaning that the rest of the day today is quite literally the last day that we will get to enjoy at the cabin before Heather…

I can’t even finish the thought, so I shake my head and bound down the stairs to where I hear all the kids talking. Christine’s in the shower — a million points to me for not barging in on her while she’s in there, considering my current self-control issues — so now is the perfect time to make our plans.

“Okay. She’s in the shower, so hurry.”

“What? What’s going on?” Grady asks from his place on the couch, stretched out and relaxed, Bri sitting between his legs as his long arms stretch in front of her. Xbox controller in his hand as he plays a game, Aidan watching while Reece plays, too.

“Dad has this plan,” Aidan says rolling his eyes.

“Hey! She’s going to love it!”

“What’s the plan?”

“He’s asking your mom on a date.”

“Aren’t they dating now?” Grady looks around the cabin confused.

Bri rolls her eyes. “They’re like where we were” —she points to him then back at herself— “about six months ago.”

“Ahh. Gotcha,” Grady says, grinning and nodding his head.

“Can we please get back to the plan?”

“Oh, right. Of course.”

The boys and I explain to Bri and Grady our plan and ask for their help. Tell them that they have to pretend to need me so I’m not around while the boys let Christine know they need help with something else.

The five of us are sitting in a circle, huddling close together, when Christine comes into the room. Then we fail miserably at trying not to look guilty.

We all stand up, busying ourselves, bumping into each other and mumbling nonsense.

She isn’t convinced.

And why would she be?

We aren’t doing a very good job of convincing her.

“What’s going on?” she asks us, a teasing smile to her lips.

“Why would you think anything’s going on?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Not very trusting of us, huh?”

She raises an eyebrow.

“I’ll let it go. This time.” She winks and turns to go into the kitchen.

I motion to the boys and they quick snap to attention, standing up abruptly. “Wait!” Reece shouts at the same time Aidan yells, “Don’t go yet!”

She looks at them with a soft smile. “Yes?”

“Um, we need your help. You know how you taught us to cook yesterday?”

“Yes,” she says, drawing out the word.

“Well, um, we want to know how to make dessert, too. Like, a cake or something? ‘Cause, you know, I think it’s important.”

“To make a full meal, right?” Aidan adds to Reece’s explanation.

“Yeah,” he nods and swallows hard.

No Oscars will be won by these two any time soon.

But Christine isn’t paying attention to their poor acting skills.

“You want me to help you bake a cake?” her voice is shaky and eyes glossy. She reaches for my hand and squeezes and it hits me then. That what we’re building is more than just about Christine and me.

* * *

“When the timer goes off then we’ll pull it out of the oven and put it on the cooling rack here. We need to let it cool before we put the frosting on, otherwise it will basically melt.”

The boys look at each other, then down at their phones for the time.

“Oh. Will it take long?”

I look at the timer on the oven. “There’s only six minutes left of baking time, but then it usually takes a little while to cool.”

“What if we put it in the fridge?”

“Um, well, we can, but it really only takes around fifteen minutes for it to cool. Are you in that big of a hurry to try it?”

“Something like that,” Reece mumbles, and Aidan jabs him in the stomach.

“Not really. You made us put sour cream in the cake. It’s probably gonna turn out gross.”

“Yes. My goal is to spend time baking something disgusting with you guys.”

They pace around the kitchen while constantly checking their phones for the time. When the oven timer goes off, they rush to the oven. Reece hands Aidan the oven mitts to remove the cake.

“First, you have to check to make sure it’s done.”

“It might not be done yet?” Reece cries out.

“Possibly. Stick a toothpick into the center, and if it comes out clean, it’s ready.”

They both pull a face that has me chuckling.

“Why wouldn’t it be clean?”

“If it’s not done, the center will be gooey, the batter still runny. It would stick to the toothpick.”

“Oookaay.”

“Just do it, already.”

They both reach for a toothpick out of the plastic container I have in my hand and poke it into the center of the chocolate cake.

When they come out clean, the boys fist bump.

“Okay, so like fifteen more minutes before we can frost it?” Aidan says, way too loudly.

“I’m standing right here, kiddo. What’s wrong with you two?”

They’ve been acting shifty since we started mixing the batter for the cake. At first, I thought it was because they’d changed their minds, deciding it would have been more fun to be hanging out with Grady, who left with Andy and Bri shortly before we started making the cake. Grady said he needed Andy’s help with something.

I never asked what that was, and he never explained further.

Aidan blushes, and Reece mumbles, “We’ll be right back.” Then he takes him by the arm and pulls him into the living room.

I hear loud whispering then, “Just try and act cool for once.”

“Shut up!”

“Boys?”

“Yeah?” At the same time.

More shuffling and an “oomph,” from one of them.

What in the heck is going on?

I round the corner, crossing my arms when I see them facing off.

“Everything all right in here?”

“Fine. Just… is the cake cooled yet? We really want to frost it.”

“It’s only been a few minutes, but I suppose you can try, if you want.”

“Yeah. Can we do it alone?”

“Awesome idea, Reece! Yeah, can we, Christine?”

Now they’re suddenly getting along again?

Reece shoots daggers at Aidan while trying to slyly shake his head.

But I’m on to them.

Something is up, and I have a feeling it involves the mysterious disappearance of the other three.

“You don’t want my help?” I ask, hurt in my voice.

I can act, too.

“It’s not that… we just want to maybe, um, surprise you?”

“I love surprises!”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Do you want me to help you make the frosting?”

“Nope! We got it all figured out!” Aidan says excitedly, showing me his phone, a recipe pulled up.

“Okay, then.”

I make my way up the stairs but not before I hear Reece hit Aidan again then whisper shout, “You’re such a horrible actor. You know she’s totally on to us. You basically blew it.”

“Shut up, Reece! I did not! She might suspect something but she has no clue…”

I plug my ears and keep walking.

If this group of clowns wanted whatever this cake business is to be a surprise, I’m not going to take that away from them.

I take the time to clean up a little bit and change my clothes.

When I make my way back down the stairs, I try to create as much noise as possible so they know I’m coming.

“Is it safe to come in now?”

“Just a second!”

I wait a few more minutes, then…

They appear in front of me.

Wide smiles and bouncing on their toes.

“We’re ready.”

“I see that,” I laugh.

“Can you like… close your eyes or something?”

“For real?”

“Yeah.” Aidan nods his head and licks his lips.

Reece smiles so wide his dimple pops.

I do as told then hold out my hands; they each take one and lead me into what I assume is the kitchen.

I feel a soft breeze as a hand moves up and down in front of me and swallow my laughter.

“Okay, open.”

Standing in front of me are two very excited boys, holding the prettiest ugly cake I’ve ever seen in my life.

Chocolate frosting with yellow gel pen writing spells out, “Will you date our dad?”

I gasp after reading it over twice.

Then I look up to see Andy standing before me, a large bouquet of… wooden spoons tied together with a bright red bow.

A giggle bursts out of me.

“You mentioned a few weeks ago that all your wooden spoons were splitting and you needed new ones. So, I made Bri go with me to pick them out. There’s three spatulas in here, too. All different colors. And” —he reaches behind Grady’s back and produces a small bag from Grady’s hands— “chocolate covered espresso beans!”

“Oh, my gosh.”

“Surprise?”

“You’re too much.” I shake my head as I admire the wooden spoons. It might seem weird to most, but I’ll take something from the heart over a bouquet of roses any day. It proves he listened to something I mentioned off-handedly.

“Mom! Pay attention!” Bri giggles.

“Christine. You have to answer the question!”

“Oh! Right.”

“Will you? Date our dad?”

“Hmm. I might have to thi…” Before I can finish answering the question, Andy’s standing in front of me, wooden spoons shoved into Bri’s hands, as his fingers grip my hips.

“You have to what?”

Eyes smiling.

Bright white teeth biting his lower lip.

Oh, who am I kidding?

“Think about it?”

“And just how long do you need to… think about it?”

I tap my chin and pretend to mull it over.

He leans down, his face barely a breath away from mine.

The cinnamon scent of his gum tickles my nose as he exhales.

Inhale through my nose.

His teeth graze his bottom lip again.

It’s one of the most erotic visions, and I wonder if he does it on purpose. If he knows how freakin’ sexy it is.

I look up into his eyes then lick my lips. His eyes follow the movement.

My breath comes heavier…

“Take me fishing, boys?” I hear my daughter ask, her voice high, even for her.

It should snap us back to reality, but instead we stand still like we’re doing that mannequin challenge thing that was popular for a little while.

The backdoor slams behind me, and within seconds his lips are on mine.

My arms wrap around his neck, fingers thread through his soft hair that’s getting longer. I love it. I’ve never been a fan of long hair on men, but on Andy it’s just so damn gorgeous that I know I’ll never let him cut his hair again.

My lips part and his tongue slides in, not tentatively but not forcefully either. Just the right amount of pressure.

He tugs on my hair, causing my head to turn just the way he wants it, and I moan. Deep and guttural.

He responds with a groan of his own, pushing his body against mine, causing me to dip backwards slightly as he walks us to the counter, pressing me against it.

His hand snakes down my back to cup my butt.

Those white teeth that I’ve become obsessed with give his own lip a break to nip at mine, and it sends a shock directly where I want him.

It’s been so long since I’ve felt the touch of a man, and until I met Andy, I hadn’t really missed it.

Sure, there were times I craved something because I’m a red-blooded human being, but I never really felt that desire. Then Andy and I grew closer, and suddenly my body felt alive, and fully awake after being stuck in idle.

There’s been a stirring inside me for months now, but with his hands on my body, his mouth on my skin, and his strong frame crowding me against the corner of the countertop, that stirring quickly turns into a full-fledged riot, a battle of wills happening within me.

But there’s not a single ounce of me that can find it in me to care whether it’s right or wrong.

Whether it matters that he’s technically still married to another woman.

Or the fact that our children are right outside and more than likely know exactly what’s taking place right now.

All I can think of is how amazing he makes me feel.

How he makes me feel beautiful.

Wanted.

Loved.

His tongue.

It’s possibly made of magic.

Tasting.

Tangling.

Giving.

Taking.

Loving.

I grip the back of his neck.

The hem of his shirt.

His hands trail up my side.

Underside of my breast.

Thumb grazes up the center of my neck.

Hand wraps around, long fingers threading into my hair.

Forearm tucks under my butt and effortlessly lifts me.

My leg wraps around his waist, my shoulders hunch as I press myself closer to him, if it were possible.

He leans back just slightly, mouth still touching mine.

“Fuck, Christine. Knew you’d feel good.”

I should respond.

If I had the ability to speak.

He just kissed it out of me.

“Yes,” I whisper.

Those damn white teeth drag across his bottom lip before a slow smile takes over his gorgeous face.

“Knew I’d talk you into it.”