Cora finished her second class of the day at Mountain Top Fitness. Each of them had had roughly fifteen attendees, which pleased her. She’d made enough today to pay her electric bill. It was the small victories that she counted, when she could get them. And paying a bill, knowing that she was supporting herself and her son without having to lean on someone else, made her feel empowered.

Cora liked the set up at Mountain Top Fitness. The layout, the staff—she could see herself making it work here. At least until Matt walked into the studio, shutting the door behind him.

“You were late on your first day,” Matt said.

“I know, sorry, my sitter backed out on me at the last minute.” Guilt was eating her alive that she’d been late—on her first day, no less. It didn’t make her look good or bode well for her future here.

“If the schedule is too much for you, let me know and we can figure something out. Perhaps re-arrange it,” Matt said with his hands on his lean hips.

“Matt, I’ll figure it out. It may just mean I need to make sure Spencer is my on-call back up babysitter. Since the daycare isn’t open on the weekends, that makes it difficult but not impossible. I’m sorry that my sitter canceled last minute. I’m still new to town and don’t know that many people. Especially not many I know enough to trust with my son,” she explained as she stored her mat in her gym bag.

“I do understand. It’s good that you were able to get Spencer to watch your boy. We’ll just have to play it by ear.”

“It’s only the weekends that may be an issue. And Spencer isn’t watching him today, Garrett is,” she said.

“Garrett Brooks is watching Milo? Really?” Matt’s face broke out in a huge smile.

“Why? Is there something wrong with Garrett?”

Matt shook his head, chuckling. “No, not like you’re meaning. It’s just… picturing Garrett babysitting is rather priceless.”

Oh, well, was that all? “Way to inspire confidence, Matt.”

“I’m sure your kid is fine. And we’ll figure something out for the weekends. Why don’t you get on out of here and go relieve Garrett of his babysitting duties.” He chortled.

“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said, grabbing her gym bag, and left.

Garrett’s willingness to watch Milo, that he had stepped up and come through for her, altered Cora’s perception of him. She had firmly believed that first night that he wanted nothing more than a simple lay, yet he was proving her wrong. And his actions made her want more of him. He was proud and stubborn but was proving to be warm and generous, and the way he made love to her—even the mere memory of it caused a low burn to ignite in her belly. The handsome charmer was an enigma and she wanted to peel back all his layers.

Plus he made her feel attractive and wanted, the single mom who was frazzled and overworked. Could there be more to this than just a simple one-night stand? He was proving that there was nothing simple about him. Could she be a full-blown submissive? He was a Dom, after all. A Dom who loved restraining a submissive. Thinking back on that first night with him, she knew it had been the most erotic night of her life. She craved another taste of his wicked lovemaking.

Cora pulled her minivan into the driveway and parked. She did love her little condo with the backdrop of the Teton mountains in all their glory. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed this place. Moving to Seattle had been such a culture shock to her at first. Then again, it’s never easy to start at a new school in your freshman year of high school.

With her gym bag in hand, she headed up the short concrete walkway, and used her key to get inside. Opening the front door, she didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until she let it out in a rush. Milo and Elmo were on her couch, cuddled up against the big sexy Garrett in his jeans and long-sleeved Henley. His hat rested on the coffee table and his arm was around her son.

And then Garrett looked at her, with his potently intense gaze that she felt clear down to her core. Her heart dropped into her toes because she knew in that instant that she could fall for him. And it terrified her, how swiftly he was coming to matter, because she knew it would crush her if he didn’t return her affections.

“Hey, how was work?” Garrett asked. It was homey and, she realized, the first time anyone had asked her that question since Jeff died. That thought didn’t make her as sad as it once had. She had loved Jeff with her whole heart, and if he had lived, she was certain they would have gone the distance. But life had other plans for her.

“Fine. Interesting being the new person,” she said, setting her gym bag on the kitchen table hopefully up high enough for Elmo not to get into. She didn’t want to lose her yoga mat in addition to her shoes.

Garrett’s brow furrowed as he stared at her. “Why don’t I buy that? What aren’t you saying?”

“Perceptive. No, with everything this morning, I was late to the first class and you know what a task master Matt tends to be at the bar. Well, triple that at his gym. He wasn’t happy even when I explained what happened. So, I may need to hire your babysitting services in the future since it looks like everything is fine here.”

Garrett laughed, scratching his head and giving her a sheepish glance. “Yeah, about that, there’s still a bit of pink on his face. It should come out since it was a washable marker, and I’ll be sending someone to clean your carpets since the newest addition decided to go right on the carpet.”

“Welcome to my world. At least Milo didn’t put anything up his nose or his bottom,” she said drolly, and felt the tension drain from her shoulders.

“Excuse me?” Garrett’s gaze widened in shock.

She chortled. “Oh yeah, he’s stuck noodles, gummy bears, an M&M, all right up his nose. And he’s stuck crayons in his butt more than once.”

“Now you’re pulling my leg,” Garrett said.

“Not even a little bit.” She chuckled.

Garrett carefully shifted her sleeping son so that he was lying down on the couch and then stood up. The intent in his gaze as he approached made her shiver. Grasping her hand, he tugged her past the kitchen into the hall, just out of sight of the couch. Then he backed her up against the wall and kissed her. He didn’t even give her time to think before he was kissing her brainless. She moaned in the back of her throat. God, the man could kiss.

He imprisoned her arms up against the wall, pressing his body flush against hers so that she could feel every solid inch. He plundered. He ravaged. And she returned his passionate, carnal kiss. Every ounce of need and desire she had for him clawed its way to the surface. It was a melding; their lips and bodies fused together. She wanted to sink into him and stay. She wanted to lean on him, his strength, his fortitude, and give him her troubles. As independent as she had always been, she was beyond tired. Cora didn’t remember a time when she wasn’t exhausted and near the end of her badly fraying rope. The way Garrett had come through for her today made her trust him to be there when she needed him. And she showed him with her kiss how much it meant to her.

But then her thoughts evaporated as his tongue glided and thrust seductively in her mouth, curling around her tongue, teasing her with his touch. His short beard brushed her lips, causing tingles of pleasure to arc from her mouth down to her core.

When his mouth left hers, she whimpered. But her whimper turned into a throaty moan as he trailed his greedy lips over her chin and along her neck. The man had one hell of a talented mouth. He placed nibbling bites against her flesh, then laved his bites with his tongue. The sharp bite of pain mixed with heady pleasure made her head spin. She wanted this man with a desire that overrode everything else.

“Have dinner with me tonight,” he murmured against her skin. The vibrations of his voice, with his sexy deep bedroom tone, caused her core to tighten.

She wanted what he was offering her. A chance to go out on a date with him and see if there was more to whatever was going on between them than hot hands and burning desire. “Garrett, I can’t. My son—”

“Both of you. I want both of you to have dinner with me tonight.” He nibbled on that one spot on her neck just beneath her left ear, his beard scraping her skin, adding to the pleasure, and she realized she was a goner where he was concerned. He was making room in his life for her son. Out of the handful of men she’d dated since Jeff’s death, not one had offered to make room for her kid. It made Garrett special.

“Why are you doing this? What’s in it for you?” she asked, trying to maintain some sense of self-preservation.

Garrett lifted his head, his big hands cupping her face, keeping her gaze trained on his. And what she saw was his need—for her.

“Well, there is you, Cora. I want you, and not just for the night. Say yes,” he said.

She gripped the front of his shirt and, instead of pushing him away, which would have been the smart thing to do, she pulled his mouth back down to hers as her answer. She wanted him too. He was wild and tempted her more than any man had since her husband. Garrett growled into her mouth as he kissed her again. Only this time, it was a possession. He was showing her, backing up his words with action.

Cora moaned. His wicked mouth made her want to do anything he suggested. She felt time stand still as his lips moved over hers. Any resistance she had melted away with every deft, sure stroke of his tongue. He ate at her mouth, sucking her bottom lip into his, nibbling at her top lip, and driving her out of her ever-loving mind. If her son weren’t so close by, she’d give in to her desire to climb him like a tree and have a repeat performance of the other night.

When his mouth moved back to her neck, she gasped. “All right. You win. Milo and I will have dinner with you.”

“Good. I knew you’d see things my way.” He nipped at that spot on her neck again and she felt it throughout her entire body.

“I have a few errands I have to run, but I’ll be back around five to pick you guys up,” Garrett said, releasing her hands, trailing his palms along her sides. His touch left trails of liquid fire in their wake.

“We’ll be ready,” she said, staring at his mouth. Her own felt swollen and barren without his lips against hers. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him to forget about his errands and join her in her bedroom.

“Mama,” Milo said with a bit of a cry. Waking up alone on the couch likely had him a little scared.

“I’m right here, baby,” she said, slipping out from Garrett’s arms and pasting a happy smile on her face. Garrett followed her back into the living room. His energy infused the room and clogged the breath in her lungs.

Needing something solid to anchor herself against the way Garrett made her feel, she scooped Milo up into her arms. Her little boy cuddled against her with his arms around her neck and his head resting on her shoulder. She looked up at Garrett and wanted to step into him, let his arms surround them both and be their shelter. Garrett made her want to lean, to hand him her problems and let him deal with them, even though that went against her normal instincts to plod her own course. It made Cora wonder if that really was her normal or if it was because she’d had to be strong and independent because there’d been no choice for her otherwise.

But it was Garrett’s solid strength, underneath his domineering ways and arrogance, that let her know he would shoulder her burdens if she asked it of him. A wealth of understanding passed between them with a simple glance. Cora was softening toward him and it was more than just in the physical sense. She blinked back the sudden sheen of moisture in her eyes and looked at her son. She had to, or Garrett would see how much he affected her.

“See you in a bit. I had fun today, squirt,” Garrett said, mussing her son’s hair.

At that, Milo giggled and said, “Play more.”

“We will tonight, I promise,” Garrett said and put his hat on.

“Yay!” Milo said, clapping his tiny hands.

Garrett smiled at Milo, then lifted his gaze to Cora’s. Her knees trembled at the blazing fire in their cobalt depths.