Lori tried not to go about the rest of her day thinking about Sever.

About how hot he’d looked when he’d strode down the drive to protect her and Taylor. About the way he’d looked like a Viking warrior as he’d lifted another man off the ground.

About the way he’d called Jud ‘Dud’. She snorted and drew Taylor’s attention from his workbook.

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, pointing back at the problem he was working on. She was trying to help him with some work so he’d be ready for school in the fall. She knew he’d missed some with everything that had happened.

She thought about what Sever had said about Taylor missing his dad even though he barely knew him. Perhaps she should be a little more sensitive to that.

“Taylor,” she said hesitantly.

He looked up at her, eyes frank in that way children have. He cocked his head, looking so like his dad that for a moment she caught her breath in shock.

Damn, she missed Matt sometimes.

“If you ever want to talk about your father, I’m here for you, you know,” she said softly.

Taylor set down his pencil and looked up at her. “Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess sometimes I assume you don’t want to talk about it, but if you need to…”

“I don’t,” he said. “He always left me.” Taylor shook his head. “I don’t wanna think about it.”

“He loved you,” she said.

Taylor gave her a glare. “How do you know that?”

“Because he left you with me.”

“Did he love you?” Taylor asked.

She bit her lip, almost painfully. “I think so. I loved him.”

“Like you love Sever?” Taylor asked.

“I don’t love Sever,” she said.

“You like him,” Taylor said. “You keep hugging him. I think he should stay here.”

She swallowed. She and Sever hadn’t talked about it. Sever seemed in no hurry to leave, and he hadn’t said anything about a timeline, but he also hadn’t said he planned to stay here and make things official.

And male escorts didn’t just decide to move in and set up house with you out of nowhere.

Still, as much as she knew it sounded like a fairy tale, there was something in Sever’s eyes, something in his touch when he kissed her, that made it easy to think there was more to this than some fling of convenience.

“You’re getting that mushy look again,” Taylor said, grimacing.

“I know,” she said.

“Did you give that look to my dad?” Taylor asked, sitting up and setting his pencil down. “Did you know my mom?”

“Your dad and I were friends,” she said. “Close friends. And no, I didn’t know your mom. I know she gave you to your dad, and I know she didn’t want to be involved…” She trailed off as Taylor’s head hung.

She reached out and tipped up his chin. “But hey, her loss, because you are awesome. I’m glad you got to come be with me.”

“When I came to visit you, I bet you never thought I would stay,” he said.

“I was always happy to see you,” she said. Even if it had always been a little odd to see the son of her best friend and one-time boyfriend on her porch.

“Do you wish we didn’t come here?” he asked, blue eyes deep and vulnerable.

She scooted closer and put an arm around him. “Of course not. My life is so much better with you.”

He sighed and leaned against her, his small body limp. “Do you think Sever will stay, though?”

“Not forever,” she said. “I mean, he has his own home. His job—”

“What is his job?” Taylor asked. “Superhero?”

“I thought we talked about this,” she said. “He’s not a superhero.”

“He threw a guy into a truck!” Taylor said, throwing up his hands. “Come on!”

“Hey, maybe that’s just what a guy that big and strong can do.”

“How did you know Sever?” Taylor asked.

A lump formed uncomfortably in her throat. She’d never wanted to lie to Taylor, and the more details he wanted, the guiltier she felt.

Still, the last thing she wanted to tell him was that the guy he was bonding with was just a worker for hire, not someone with an actual friendship with her or stake in them.

And besides, Sever was her friend now, as he’d said, so it wasn’t a lie anymore.

But maybe that was just something he said to clients.

Did he kiss other clients as he had her?

She blushed furiously as she looked away. “I met him online,” she said truthfully.

“You did? How?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, giving Taylor a pat on the arm. “You like him, right? And he’s taking good care of us. Don’t worry about the rest.” She stood. “I think I’m gonna take a little nap if that’s okay with you. Unless you need me.”

Taylor shook his head, placing his pencil between his teeth. “I think I got it.”

“Okay,” she said, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.

As she stood there, thoughts racing about everything she’d discussed with Taylor, she couldn’t help thinking of Sever.

He was out working on the fence since he’d said the gate needed repair, and she’d been grateful for the help and the small break from his overwhelmingly sexy presence.

It would be good to get a nap; she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, thanks to him.

And if she got her way, she probably wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight either.

* * *

As Sever repaired bits of metal on the fence with the little bit of dragon power he still had despite being restrained, he was all too aware of a scent on the wind.

John and ‘Dud’ had left, but Sever could still sense the scent of their motor oil, their presence, them.

He wanted to get up and go, sneak into the woods along that winding, dusty road, and see if he could learn more about the men who were harassing his mate.

But he couldn’t do it in the daylight.

He took a deep breath and nodded in satisfaction. He would still be able to track them tonight. Probably, Lori knew where they lived, but if he asked her, she would just tell him not to go over there.

She didn’t want trouble.

He supposed he should be a little more careful, since she and Taylor were starting to get ideas, what with him throwing a guy into a truck door and putting out a fire with his own body.

He pulled a nail out from a small bucket he’d brought out with him and was just about to hammer it in when he heard a voice from behind him, in the direction of the house.

“Whatcha doing?” Taylor asked, walking forward, hands in his pockets.

With his hair back and his puffed-up stance, Sever had to grin at how much the kid was trying to look like him.

Sever whacked the nail in with a hammer and grinned at Taylor. “Fixing the fence.” He looked at the puny hammer with a sigh, longing for the time when he could get Lori to take his ring off so he could get his real hammer back.

“Can I help?” Taylor asked.

Sever was about to shake his head but saw the hope in Taylor’s eyes and didn’t want to disappoint him. “Okay. Here, you can hit the nail, and I’ll hold it.”

He placed the next nail and motioned for Taylor to join him. He stepped up on the bottom rail of the fence so he could see the nail, raised the hammer, and brought it down squarely on Sever’s thumb.

There was only a vague feeling of pain, but from the startled look on Taylor’s face, Sever realized there should be more of it.

“Oh, ow, that really hurts,” Sever tried to say, belatedly.

But Taylor took a step back, glaring. “I knew it,” he said. “You are a superhero.”

“I’m not,” Sever said. At least that was one lie he didn’t have to tell him.

“My dad couldn’t do those things. And he definitely would have yelled if hit by a hammer.”

“How do you know?” Sever asked, placing another nail and gesturing for Taylor to hit it.

Taylor hesitated. “But I missed.”

“You won’t this time,” Sever said reassuringly.

Taylor lined up his shot carefully and brought the hammer down squarely, connecting it with the nail with a little klink. “I did it!”

“Nice,” Sever said, putting up a fist for Taylor to bump. Taylor did, then he stepped down and folded his arms, glaring at Sever.

Sever set aside the bucket of nails. They were done for now. He walked around the back of his truck and set the tailgate down. Then he jumped up to sit on it and patted the spot next to him for Taylor to join him.

The boy was surprisingly agile and did so on the first try.

Sever sat back and just enjoyed the breeze for a moment. He knew Lori was inside taking a well-deserved nap, and it was nice to have a peaceful moment for all of them.

“When are you going to leave?” Taylor asked.

Sever looked down at him. “Not anytime soon, why?”

“I hate when people leave,” Taylor said. “People always leave.”

“Lori hasn’t,” Sever said.

“She hasn’t adopted me either,” Taylor said, putting his chin in his hands.

“It takes time,” Sever said. “It’s complicated.”

“She’s not even my family,” Taylor said. “None of them wanted me.”

“Hey, it’s like Lori said. You get to choose your family. Your dad chose Lori for you. If nothing else, I give him credit for that. She’s an amazing woman.”

“Then why don’t you stay with her?”

“Maybe I will,” Sever said quietly. I for sure will.

“I hate maybes,” Taylor said. “They scare me.”

“Me, too,” Sever said, putting an arm around Taylor to give him a quick hug of comfort. He pulled back, not knowing what was really appropriate.

“I’ve been in a lot of maybe homes,” he said. “I want this to be forever.”

“I think it will,” Sever said. “Lori isn’t ever letting you go.”

“But she can’t handle things alone here,” Taylor said. “If you leave, we’re screwed.”

“There’s no way I’m leaving when you two aren’t safe, Taylor. At least believe me on that,” Sever said. He couldn’t really tell him more than that, because if he made lots of weird promises, Taylor would surely tell Lori, who would wonder if Sever was crazy for being so set on things this early on.

“Fine,” Taylor said, slipping off the tailgate with a frown on his face. “I get it. No promises.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking toward the house. “No one ever promises anything anyways. It’s all the same.”

Sever’s heart ached as he watched the boy walk away. At one point, he’d been like him. No real home. No real family. But Taylor had a chance at one, even if he just didn’t know it yet.

Sever knew what it felt like to feel unwanted. Though he’d been friends with the Titanium dragon, and practically raised as part of his family, he’d never felt he’d belonged. And when Dante came through town and recognized him as a noble dragon and recruited him, he hadn’t really felt a part of that world either.

Sure, he had friends, people who cared about him, but he was always on the outside.

Never had a real family.

Until now.

As Taylor disappeared inside the house, he silently asked the boy to just wait a little while longer.

Hopefully by then, Sever would find a way to work everything out.