Three Years Ago

“Do you ever sleep?” Sadie yawned as she opened the door of her apartment.

Fuck me. My jaw dropped when I drank in her entire body at once. She wore a pair of shorts and a tank top. Her sleepy eyes made me harder, and fuck! That mouth was created to be kissed—by me. If only … but I’m not going to act. Nope, I made a promise.

“A few hours a night.” I handed her the chai tea I brought her.

“Tea?” she frowned at it. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to.”

“Well, you said yesterday that this is your favorite drink.” I entered without being invited. “What’s your poison?”

“Poison?”

“Favorite breakfast food,” I responded, going to the kitchen. “Eggs, omelet, frittata, pancakes—”

“Either, all… I don’t know.” She followed me into the kitchen and whispered. “Why are you here?”

“Why are we whispering?”

“Maybe I have a night visitor who’s still in bed.” She smirked, walking to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of orange juice. “Or just because I don’t want to fully wake up so I can go back to bed once you disappear. Waking up at six in the morning on a Sunday is a crime.”

“Crime?” I looked around her cupboards and found the all-purpose flour, a waffle maker, and almost all the ingredients to prepare waffles from scratch. I checked her refrigerator and pulled out the milk I bought yesterday. “Do you have any whipped cream?”

“I’m allergic to dairy,” she reminded me.

“Right.” I put the milk back and grabbed the rice milk. “At least you have berries.”

“You’re making breakfast and then leaving, right?”

“No. On a day like today, staying at home would be the crime. That’s why we’re spending the day at an awesome event.” I squatted, searching for a bowl. “Do you cook?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“You don’t have pots, or… where are the bowls?”

She grinned and went to the coat closet. “Not everything fits in this small kitchen.”

“A whisk and measuring cup?” I scratched my head wondering if I should go to the bathroom or her studio.

“My bathroom?” She laughed, but she pulled open a long drawer where most of the spatulas, wooden spoons and utensils were stored. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Your face was priceless.”

“Vanilla?”

“Are you asking if I like it or if I own it?” She smirked and gave me a side glance. “Or if I like only vanilla sex? Because I like it with a little cinnamon, you know, spiced with kink.”

My pulse spiked. Fuck, I wanted to drag her to her room. No, take her here in the kitchen. Lift her petite body and place her on top of the counter. I’d pull her little shorts down and eat her pussy for breakfast. Afterward, I’d feed her my cock while she made herself come with her fingers.

“But you shouldn’t ask me that. Friends don’t discuss sex.” Her eyes sparkled with lust.

God help me, this friendship was going to be the death of me.

“They don’t?” I swallowed hard.

“Nope, Mr. Hades. It blurs the lines.”

Baby, I would erase them if that meant you’d let me touch you just once. One time would annihilate the craving for that fucking luscious body.

“Now that we’ve established a new rule keep your eyes to yourself and explain what this amazing event is that you’ll be going to while I stay home sleeping for a few more hours.”

“Friend, would you mind getting dressed?” I requested. “We are going to a canine foster/adoption event. I promised to be there as a sponsor.”

“We get to see puppies?” Her eyes brightened.

“All kinds of dogs.”

She narrowed her gaze. “You play dirty, Mr. Hades.”

“You have no idea, Miss Loza-Bell.”

“Just Bell,” she corrected me. “Mom insisted on hyphenating my last name, but it’s a pain. And while growing up, I liked Sadie Bell a lot more. It sounded like Tinkerbell. Though, now that Disney came up with more fairies I prefer to be Rosetta or Iridessa, garden, and light fairy respectively.”

My jaw dropped because she knew her fairies well. I did because of Hannah. “How do you know all about them?”

“It’s part of my job.”

“You’re fucking adorable, do you know that?”

“No, it’s really part of what I do. When kids come over to the flower shop, it’s my duty to entertain them sometimes.” She winked at me. “That convinces the parents to buy them books or whatever I talk about. Also, they come back because I made them feel like family. It’s part of my service. If you plan on having a kid’s party, you don’t think flowers. But I have everything to cater it. Balloons, decorations, numbers to rent bounce houses, tables, you name it. I can plan and deliver. Therefore, you’ll hire me instead of some creepy clown.”

I made a mental note to hire her for the next party I had to organize. This year it was Alicia’s turn to organize Hannah’s ninth birthday, but maybe next year Sadie could help me.

“Go change,” I insisted. “We have many, many things to do.”

“Make a note that I’m changing because I was promised waffles, puppies, and lunch.”

“Lunch?”

She nodded, leaving her scent lingering after her departure.

“So…you’re the spokesperson?”

“Something like that,” I answered. “I’m donating my time to the cause.”

“Well, there’s a good crowd, and every time you say, ‘I like this dog,’ someone adopts it.” She pet a Labradoodle that had been following us around. He’s in love with her. But she couldn’t adopt him because he’s too big for her apartment.

“You should get him,” I insisted.

“Me?” She shook her head. “Nope, but I’ll find him a home. Why don’t you take off your shirt, so we can attract a bigger audience?”

“There are children around.”

“The kids won’t notice. But they will.” She pointed at a group of women that had been watching us from afar.

“No. They told me to keep it kid friendly, remember?”

“I can make balloon animals while you try to find forever homes for your canine friends… while showing your abs. See? Kid friendly.”

“You know how to make balloon animals?”

“No, but I’m sure that I can learn after I watch a YouTube video—or five.”

“What if we give the wrong dog to the wrong person?”

She slumped her shoulders. “Fine. I just want to find a home for all of them.” She pulled out the sunblock, squirted some on my hand, and then applied more to her own arms and legs.

“You should take him.”

“He’s too big for my apartment.” She squatted and rubbed his ears. “But you’re such an adorable guy. I should find you a place. Hmm, you know what? I think I know where he should go.”

She pulled out her phone. “Hey, are you guys busy?” She nodded, made some sounds. “Well, I have a friend who wants to meet you. No, not that kind. What’s in it for you?”

Sadie looked around the area, and her eyes found mine. “I’ll introduce you to Kaden Hades, but only if you bring your children and meet my other friend. Sounds like a plan. I’ll text you the address.”

“Who was that?”

“My assistant manager, she’s been talking about adopting a dog for the past couple of months. But her husband is allergic to them. However,” She pointed at the puppy. “This boy is hypoallergenic. And doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Wait, don’t you have children?”

“I’m not adopting a dog,” I stopped her because I could see where her mind was headed.

“But you’d make your kids happy.”

“The last pet I bought them died accidentally while they were visiting their mother,” I explained. “My ex is a bitch. The kind that would boil a bunny if she wanted to get rid of a pet.”

“She boiled a bunny?”

“No, but she let the hamsters escape and then called the exterminator and said she had a mouse infestation.”

“Alicia and Ella could be twins,” she chortled. “No, but seriously, that’s what she did?”

“Yes, she called it an accident. The girls were broken hearted, and I gave up buying them pets.”

“I’m assuming you have more horror stories?”

“Your assumption would be correct; there are too many to remember.”

“Why did you marry her?” Her eyebrows furrowed as she wrinkled her nose.

“I knocked her up.”

“Not the best reason to offer forever, Mr. Hades.”

“I learned my lesson. I won’t marry anyone just because there’s a kid. In fact, I’m debating having a vasectomy.”

A girl around Hannah’s age and a younger boy charged toward where we were standing. “Aunt Sadie!”

They hugged her tight, almost pushing her down to the ground, but I caught her just in time. I loved the kids. They gave me an excuse to hold her again.

The couple approached, and the woman with light brown hair and pink sunglasses gawked at Sadie. “Sunday morning and you’re out of the house?”

“All in the name of these puppies,” Sadie responded, and thankfully, she hadn’t pushed me away, yet.

“Raven,” she pushed up her sunglasses. “My ex-husband, Benny, and your new children.”

“Seriously, Raven?” Sadie protested. “His name is William, we call him Bill, not Benny. And I found the perfect dog for you.”

“Don’t take her too seriously,” her husband told me, laughing at his wife. “She’s harmless—most of the time.”

“I can hear you.” His wife bent to pet the dog that her kids were already hugging.

“I take it you’re the famous Kaden Hades,” he extended his hand. “William James, everyone calls me Bill. That’s my wife Raven, my daughter Leah, and my son Lucas.”

“No relation to Star Wars,” Raven informed me. “We’re regular citizens who have never watched sci-fi movies.”

But I laughed when I noticed their matching Star Wars t-shirts.

“Hey, I’m going to look around while you set this guy up with his new family. Is that okay?” I saluted them.

“Yes, I’m wonderful.” Sadie waved me away. “Actually, I can drive back with them.”

“Oh no, we’re having lunch together, and then we’re going home for a movie marathon.”

“We’ll make sure she sticks around until you come back.” Raven stood straightening herself. “Find her a puppy, or a hypoallergenic cat though.”

“Hypoallergenic cat?”

“She’s allergic to cats, but she adores them.”

“Good to know. I think we’re going to be good friends, Raven.” Bill cleared his throat and stared at me. “And you too, Bill, of course.”

“Are you allergic to dogs?”

“No, just cats and bunnies. Wool.” She fake-sneezed. “Maybe you.”

“There’s medicine for that,” I reached out for her hand and kissed it.

“What did we say about kissing friends?”

“You have too many rules,” I complained. “Are you ready for dessert?”

“Not yet. I feel like I just ate two minutes ago.” She patted her stomach. “You had a successful day.”

“I just showed my face.”

“No. You talked to a lot of families, worked your way around, and survived Raven.”

“What’s her story?”

“Bored housewife,” she responded. “Thank God, because the first three months she worked for free. Her husband is a computer geek. She used to work on Wall Street. When they moved here, she had a baby and decided to focus on motherhood. But she’s an overachiever, and once the little ones were in school full time, she found me.”

“They seemed cool.”

“They are great, except when I find them fucking around my store.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep, and she wasn’t serious about leaving her husband. Though, she does have a little crush on you. Like every living woman in the world.”

“Except you.”

“Except me.” She grinned. “So how are your girls?”

“Hannah is doing well, but Tess was busy doing homework.” I pushed away my phone since I just called to check on them. “That, or she’s at some party on a school night, and Alicia knows I’m not going to be happy.”

“You’re the bad cop in the relationship? That’s unfortunate. You should work together. Not against each other.”

“There’s no relationship.”

“The first step to healing as a family is accepting your reality. She’s not your wife, but you’ll always have a relationship with her because of the girls. Like it or not, you need to learn how to deal with her and vice versa. Become partners. Just because you don’t love each other anymore doesn’t mean you don’t both love your girls. For their sake, you have to find some middle ground and co-parent. You can’t be enemies trying to persuade the girls to take sides.”

“Honestly, I wish I could take them away from her. But I have to work to support them. Music is my only source of income. If I could take them with me on the road, I would, but they have to go to school and have a normal life.”

“Why don’t you talk to her? See what you two can work out. Family therapy might be helpful.”

“She’s going to think that I want us to get back together.”

“And that’s not happening?”

“I can’t stand her. She’s uncaring, selfish, demanding, and greedy. But I’m just as bad as her.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You are a good father and an incredible human being. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Sadie surprised me every second with her light humor, her banter, and her sincere advice. She made me feel worthy of more. And as much as I was attracted to her, I didn’t want to lose what we were building. In fact, all I wanted was to spend every single moment with her.