My body was tingling deliciously after what we just did.

Who knew that sex was as great as they said it was?

The first time really hurt, but after I took a warm bath, and we tried again, I really got into it.

I was sore in places I didn’t even know could be sore, but in the best possible way. Emily was asleep in the next room.

So far, she seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Even more surprising was the fact that she stayed asleep despite all the noise we were making, and I’m sure we were loud. His bed was creaking under our weight, and my voice was hoarse after all the yelling.

I lifted my head up slightly to listen for Emily, then let my body fall back down onto the mattress, stretching my body leisurely as I took stock of everything. Clay told me that it was important to take it easy as he kissed my forehead and told me he was going out for a run.

How was it that I already missed his touch?

I blushed at some of the things we did and buried my face in the pillow as I let out a little giggle. I brought my fingers up to my lips and sighed at the memory of his mouth pressed against mine.

And to think I almost backed out.

I was glad I decided to go through with losing my virginity to Clay. It was one of the best decisions I’d ever made. He was the perfect choice.

He was gentle without treating me like I was fragile, and he kept it spicy enough that I wasn’t thinking about the pain, I was thoroughly intrigued. Also, ridiculously aroused.

It helped that he was also really into it.

The noises he was making, and the way he was looking at me, like he was about to devour me on the spot, did weird things to me. It made me want to stay locked like that forever. His arms around my waist, and my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat.

Unfortunately, reality kicked in, and he slowly removed his arm from behind me and excused himself. As soon as he left, I gingerly washed myself in the shower, taking care to run my fingers lightly over my tender spots.

My happiness dissipated as I went over the events of the day.

I wished that Clay and I hadn’t gotten together under these circumstances, but there was nothing I could do. It happened the way it did for a reason, and maybe we needed something this tragic to bring us closer together.

I had no idea what this meant for our future, or if we even had a future together, especially considering we didn’t talk about it. The only thing I knew for sure was that we had to be mature adults about this, and that we wouldn’t let it complicate our working relationship.

I could totally do it.

It shouldn’t be hard if we both agreed to it.

My lips turned down into a frown as I thought over what Clay said about Emily’s maternal grandparents. There had to be a reason why Annabelle chose Clay, a virtual stranger, over her own parents. Even if they could give Emily a better life than the one she had here, money and influence wasn’t everything.

What most kids really needed was love, affection and a stable home. I knew enough Windsors in my life to know that more often than not, their kids grew up to be love-depraved and depressed, throwing their money at any problem that came their way and snapping their fingers as if that would magically bring about solutions.

I lifted myself up off the bed and passed softly to the kitchen where the papers were strewn about. I picked them up and neatly categorized them, allowing my mind to digest all the facts that I knew so far.

I was going to find a way to keep Emily and Clay together.

I refused to believe that there was nothing I could do.

If we couldn’t prove that the Windsors were bad parents, and it would be nearly impossible to do so without the testimony of Annabelle, then maybe we needed to shift the focus to Clay.

Highlight his parenting skills in the hopes that it would outweigh the cards that were stacked against him. There were plenty of people around town who could testify to what a wonderful father he was.

But would it be enough in court?

Or would the judge dismiss their eyewitness accounts as sentimentality and nostalgia over their local sheriff. I desperately hoped I could give an account, but I knew they probably wouldn’t call on me because I would be too biased a witness.

I’d have to be batshit crazy to testify against my employer.

So, that left us with finding a loophole. It had to be a good one too, something they couldn’t toss out immediately. I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair and spread the papers out before me. I hopped onto the high chair and began to chew on my bottom lip in concertation.

I stood up suddenly as I realized I needed a pencil and a piece of paper. I rummaged around till I found one, then went back to my earlier position. I poured over the documents, writing down notes in the hopes that I would find something.

An hour later, my neck muscles were screaming from hunching over the papers, and I needed to check on Emily. I sighed as I stood up and began to work on the kinks in my neck, when my eyes fell on something.

I thought I may have finally found what I needed.

One of the major problems cited was the fact that Clay was unmarried. Most courthouses ruled in favor of the mother, and if there was a maternal figure in Emily’s life on Clay’s side, then they might be more lenient.

All I had to do was marry Clay.

It’s strange - I never pictured planning my wedding to a man who was about to lose custody of his daughter while standing in the middle of a kitchen. And in my twenties, no less.

Go figure.

Life had a strange sense of humor sometimes.

It was worth a shot, though.

I went to check on Emily, who was still sound asleep and needed no changing, which was good. I entered the living room and sat on the edge of the couch, nervously tapping my fingers against my thighs as I waited for Clay to come back from his run.

I really hoped he took this the right way because there was no other way that I could help. I sank back into the couch, picked up the remote, and aimlessly flipped through the channels, unable to focus as my eyes kept sliding towards the door.

Finally, the door clicked open, and Clay emerged drenched in sweat with his tank top clinging to his fit form. I swallowed and tried to keep my eyes on his face as he shut the door behind him.

“Hey, I was expecting you to still be in bed,” he said, surprise in his tone. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just checked on Emily, and she’s sleeping. I’m also fine, don’t worry,” I assured him as he bent down and placed a quick kiss on my lips.

I almost toppled over as my mouth broke out into a grin.

“Then why do you have that look on your face? I’m going to call it a teacher look. It’s that look when you’ve just discovered a solution to a problem, and your eyes go all comically wide,” he teased as he plopped down onto the couch next to me and gulped down some ice cold water.

I watched him chug it down. “It’s not a teacher look.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Okay, whatever you say.”

“Whatever. Anyway, I was thinking about your problem with the Windsors—” I began. Clay groaned as he placed both arms on either side of the couch.

“Lyla, do we have to talk about this now? Our morning was off to a rocky start but then it got better. Let’s not ruin that,” he pleaded.

“I’m not trying to ruin it,” I protested as I gestured towards the papers. “I was going through the papers and—”

“There you go. Bringing it up qualifies as ruining it, Lyla.” He rolled his eyes good naturedly as he brought me closer to his side and buried his face in my hair.

“Mmm, you smell good,” he commented.

I wrapped my arms around him instinctively, and my body fitted itself to his as if we were two pieces of a puzzle. “Thanks.”

He smelled good too. Even though sweat was glistening off his body, it was just the right amount to make my hormones sit up and pay attention.

He lowered his head, so it was right above my pulse point, and he began to run his tongue along my collarbone. I shuddered as I climbed onto his lap and threw my head back, forgetting for a moment what I was supposed to be talking to him about.

He ran his mouth over my shoulders, down my arms and back up leaving a trail of heat in his wake.

“Clay,” I murmured.

“Hmm?” he asked.

“You’re distracting me,” I complained as I tried to clear the haze in my head.

“See, you say that I am, but you’re responding,” he pointed out, cheekily. I slapped his arm away and gave him a pointed look. He withdrew his arms and held them up in surrender.

“Alright, alright. I’m listening,” he conceded as I climbed off him and stood up, trying to get my racing heart under control.

He brought the bottle up to his lips and watched me.

“Marry me.”

Water came spewing forth out of his nostrils and his mouth as he hacked and coughed. I moved towards him and began to pound on his back vigorously.

“I know I’m not that good in bed,” he said finally, his dark eyes alight with amusement.

“I do care about you, Clay, but it’s not like that. It’s about Emily.”

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Go on.”

“One of the main objections the Windsors have is that you are unmarried, so if we take away that point then the rest is subjective, right?”

Clay scratched the back of his neck. “I guess so.”

“Okay, so based on that, let’s assume that if you get married you look like a more competent parent which is stupid, but hey, I didn’t make the rules,” Lyla clarified.

“Okay?”

“What if we get married?”

Clay blinked. “You want to be my bride?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “In a sense, yes.”

“I mean, not that you wouldn’t make a good bride, Lyla. You’d make a great one, but I don’t want to drag you into this.”

“I love Emily too, Clay. Besides, I’m offering. We’ll get married, fight the Windsors in court, and when we win, and you have permanent custody of Emily, we’ll get a quiet divorce.”

Clay’s face grew more and more animated as I spoke, his eyes beginning to shine with hope.

“Do you really think this will work?”

“I mean, you’d have to discuss the legalities with your lawyer, but it gives you a better chance,” I said, with more confidence than I actually felt.

Clay leapt to his feet, swept me in his arms and kissed me soundly.

“It’s a fabulous idea!”