Jodi dabbed at the lip gloss she’d just applied in her car mirror. The parking lot for the Big Sur Inn was nearly full, but she spotted the truck Ty drove right away.

“What the hell are you thinking?” she muttered to herself, wiping the lip gloss off entirely. “This isn’t a date. Get a grip.”

But try as she might, she couldn’t stop the extra little beat her heart gave when she thought about her afternoon with Ty and Katie. It had felt like she was part of a family, and she’d never once felt that before. It was intoxicating, and she’d come home to her little bungalow only to discover she didn’t want it to end. Didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to see them again—both of them.

It was bad. And she was in deep trouble. She knew this, and yet she’d agreed to meet Ty here without a moment’s hesitation. At a bar no less. On a Saturday night.

She counted to three before climbing out of the Honda and walking to the deck entrance. The hotel had a restaurant inside with a bar, but when locals said to meet at the Big Sur Inn bar, they meant the outdoor part, on a large deck that extended out over the sand and hosted a perfect view of Big Sur’s famous Bixby Bridge around the curve of the coastline to the north.

She walked onto the deck, her cotton-knit sundress clinging to her legs in the light breeze. The sun had set, and the bar was lit by candles on all the tables and white light strands that crisscrossed overhead. Tan skin, sun-bleached hair, and beach casual seemed the order of the day, and Jodi felt awkward for just a moment with so many beautiful people. But then her gaze landed on the most beautiful one in the whole place, and the breath stopped in her chest, lungs in mid-expansion.

Ty was the darkest of the Jenkins brothers, his hair like thick, rich chocolate. His eyes were the same shade. His skin was sun-kissed year-round, and his frame was broad-shouldered and the kind of muscular that only came from hard work, not fancy gym equipment. But it was his smile that took what were even and highly appealing features and turned them into something truly dazzling. When he turned that smile on someone, it was like sitting by a warm fire on a cold day. Suddenly, everything was good, warm, and safe.

She watched him chatting to the bartender. He donned a pair of worn jeans and a thin Henley. The fabric clung to the muscles in his arms and shoulders, giving a hint of the firm curves that lay underneath. Jodi shook herself to get her head on straight. Cannot go there, she thought fiercely. Will not go there.

She walked toward the bar where he sat on a stool. The bartender noticed her first, his eyes giving her a lazy appraisal as he grinned at her. Ty noticed the other man’s gaze and turned to see what had grabbed his attention. When he saw Jodi, that smile took over his face, and Jodi’s traitorous heart gave a hard knock against the cage of her ribs. The bartender leaned forward and said something quietly to Ty, but by the time Jodi reached them, Ty had slid off his barstool and was reaching out a hand to touch her elbow.

“Let’s get a table,” he said, gesturing with his free hand. She smiled and nodded as he guided her to a table alongside the railing of the deck.

He pulled out her chair for her, and Jodi struggled to keep from giving a little squeal like a teenager. Manners were something she hadn’t seen in a man in such a very long time.

After he’d seated himself, Ty gave her a quieter version of his trademark smile. “I asked Greg to send a waitress over, so we’ll get you a drink soon.”

“Thanks,” she said, suddenly shy now that it was the two of them and no Katie.

Ty leaned with his forearms on the table, watching her with an indecipherable expression in his eyes. “I was glad you texted.”

“Oh?”

“I think I need to debrief after today or something, and it feels like you’re the only one to do it with.”

She nodded. Yes. This. This was why she’d contacted him. She wanted to analyze every bit of it, comb through the threads of emotions and conversation that had occurred. She needed to know what Ty thought, needed to hear if all the things she’d been feeling were normal.

“Yes,” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “I feel the same way. It’s why I texted. Well, partly.”

“And the other part?” He raised an eyebrow and leaned back, crossing his arms.

“I wondered if it would be okay for me to bring Katie a little gift tomorrow night. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to buy her affection, and I wasn’t sure if it was too early—”

“What’s the gift?” he asked, brow furrowing.

She reached into her purse, extracted the small velvet bag, and held it out to him.

Ty slowly opened it and poured out the little silver charm bracelet into the palm of his hand.

“It was mine growing up,” she said softly. “Each of the charms is something that was important to me as a kid.” She reached over and carefully touched each silver charm. “There’s the little book because I loved to read. The ballet shoes because I always wished I could be a dancer. The volleyball from when I played varsity in high school. There’s the caduceus emblem they gave me when I graduated from nursing school.” She paused, fingering the charm on the end of the chain. “And the baby rattle I got after Katie was born.”

She heard Ty’s intake of breath and tried to draw her hand away, but his fingers closed over hers, the bracelet between them.

“Did you ever stop thinking about her?” he asked, his voice rough and deep.

She shook her head. “No. My therapist said I never had the separation that’s healthy for a parent who’s given a child up for adoption. I wasn’t relieved the way a lot of people are. I questioned every single day whether I’d done the right thing. I doubted so much, and so often.” She looked into his tender gaze. “I think I knew before I even did it I was making a mistake, but I couldn’t figure out how I’d ever be a mother. I’ve never been so scared in my whole life. Even the idea of her rejecting me now isn’t as terrifying, because at least I can envision that. I couldn’t envision being a mother. Not once.”

He rubbed a thumb over her knuckles, softly, slowly, before lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it once. “You want her to have the bracelet?”

She nodded, her throat swollen with emotion and her stomach filling with butterflies. “I want her to have some little bit of me, to know something about me, even if she decides she doesn’t want me in her life. At least she’ll have that. She can do whatever she wants with it, and maybe she’s too young, but it would make me feel like she’s had a peek at who her mother is.”

The server arrived to take their orders, but Ty’s gaze never left Jodi’s as he murmured, “Give us a few more minutes, will you?”

After the server walked away, Ty stood and pulled Jodi up with him, his eyes smoldering in the candlelight around them. He kept ahold of her hand and led her silently down the stairs and onto the sand, not stopping until they were in the dark of the beach, cold night air caressing their skin.

Finally, he stopped, her hand still in his, the bracelet between their palms, the cool metal and little edges pressing against her skin. He carefully smoothed a strand of hair off her face, and she felt everything inside her give way, melting, softening, turning to liquid.

“She’s not going to decide she doesn’t want you,” he said. “I didn’t want to get your hopes up today. Every sensible thing in me says to be cautious. Cade is telling me to be wary, my gut tells me to watch and wait, any parenting book would want me to take a deep breath, a long walk, and probably a cold shower.” He chuckled, and Jodi felt something in her core clench with want. “But I’m having a hard time listening to that advice.”

She gazed at him, into those eyes that made her want to dive in, swim in his warmth, soak up his strength.

“Who would have guessed that I’d still find you so fucking irresistible after all these years,” he murmured.

She swallowed. “We shouldn’t,” she answered, even though every fiber of her was arguing that they absolutely should.

“I never do anything that doesn’t put Katie first. I haven’t been in a relationship since you. She’s never met another woman as my girlfriend.”

Her heart hurt with the joy it felt at those words.

“You’ve been an amazing father,” she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. “She’s so perfect.”

“She had some good DNA to help.”

Jodi felt a flush crawl up her cheeks. She wasn’t too sure she could claim any credit for the little angel she’d given birth to. Even her DNA wasn’t the best. Katie might look like her, but her confidence, her spunk, and her joyful nature were all courtesy of Ty.

“So what’s best for her now?” Jodi asked, her entire body swaying toward his in the dark. “You always do what’s best for her. What is that now?”

He sighed. “To take all of this slow. To let you and her get to know each other with as little interference from me as possible. To keep my guard up in case you decide you want something I’m not willing to give.”

“You mean like custody?”

He nodded solemnly, his eyes beseeching her for an assurance she was only too happy to give.

“I won’t do that to you,” she declared. “Or to her. You’re her parent, the one who’s been here since the start. I would never try to take her away. I swear.

“Part of me believes that, but another part can’t. The part that’s protected her all these years, the part that’s felt like she was somehow more vulnerable because she didn’t have a mother. That part can’t let up. Not for a minute.”

“I understand,” she responded, all her hopes dissolving like the little grains of sand beneath her feet.

“And a third part of me doesn’t give a damn,” he growled. “Because it just wants this.” The charm bracelet fell to the sand as his hands cradled her face, and he brought his lips to hers, at first in a tentative brush, then more firmly, his tongue sliding along the seam of her mouth as she opened to him on a moan. His breath quickened, and she felt her pulse thrum in short, fast beats. Her chest expanded until she feared it might explode.

He brought an arm around her waist, pulling her hard against him. And he was hard—every inch of him, hard-muscled chest, hard hips, hard cock pressing to her pelvis, causing her to gasp in want.

His lips roamed over her cheeks, jaw, and neck, as she clutched at the front of his shirt, her back arching, pressing her closer, ever closer.

“We shouldn’t,” he rasped, his hand skating over the tip of her breast, causing shocks and tingles to shoot from her nipple straight to her core.

“I know,” she gasped.

“This isn’t the best thing for Katie,” he continued, his mouth finding hers again in a searing promise that sent her into a haze of lust and chaotic need.

Then it was all hands and lips and hot words in the cool night. His palm found its way under her hem; her fingers found their way under his zipper. They kissed, and kissed, and kissed, until Jodi knew her lips would be swollen and her face stubble burned. But still they didn’t stop, even knowing it was wrong, that they were risking Katie’s happiness, that everything about their lives was completely up in the air, they kept going.

Until Ty slid two fingers inside her, and Jodi’s entire universe shifted. Because in all the years and out of all the men, she’d never felt like this before—not even with him.

“Oh,” she cried out softly as he stroked into her and back out again.

“Jesus, you’re wet,” he groaned. “So hot, so beautiful.”

“That’s good,” she chanted as her hips thrust in time with his hand. “Really good.”

Their position didn’t give them much range of motion, but Ty bent her back over his arm, dipping her slightly toward the sand. With his other hand, he pumped in and out of her mercilessly as she worked to keep from screaming in ecstasy. The need built in her, like water on the verge of boiling, at the very edge of exploding. Then he grazed her tight, hard nipple with his teeth, through the fabric of her dress, and fireworks were all she could see. The orgasm ripped through her, sharp, sudden, and long. So very long. She cried out, her voice washing away with the waves and the wind.

When the pulses finally subsided and she was able to catch her breath, Ty pulled her upright, his fingers slipping away as certain parts of her protested the loss.

“That may not have been in Katie’s best interests,” she said, still nearly breathless. “But it was definitely in mine.”

He chuckled, smoothing down her skirt and softly kissing her neck, tickling her and making her giggle.

“I try to have the woman’s best interests at heart,” he whispered in her ear.

“And who has yours?” she asked suddenly, realizing in a flash that all his years of sacrificing for Katie, of doing what he did without a wife or a partner, meant he was alone. No one was looking out for Ty.

He pulled back, looking at her with questions swirling in his eyes.

“Maybe it’s time someone put your interests first,” she murmured, dropping to her knees and tugging at his jeans that were already unbuttoned and unzipped.

“You don’t have to—”

“I want to,” she said clearly, looking up at him as she pulled his cock free from his boxer briefs. She breathed deeply of the scent of him—salty, earthy, so good. Then she held his shaft firmly in her hand and stroked her tongue from base to tip, eliciting a rough groan from deep in his throat. As she wrapped her lips around the width of him, and slowly, ever so slowly slid his cock into her mouth until it touched the back of her throat, his fingers found their way into her hair. He massaged her scalp, his breath becoming harsh and uneven, his hips thrusting ever so slightly in response to her suction.

Jodi was on her knees, and yet completely in control of the situation. She wrapped an arm around Ty’s slim hips and began to pump him in and out of her mouth, swirling his tip with her tongue, scraping gently with her teeth.

“Jesus,” he gasped as his hips jerked rhythmically. “That’s fucking amazing.”

She smiled, because it felt good to give him something, anything, after he’d given her everything she’d ever wanted today.

“God, Jodi, you need to stop—”

She shook her head and took him even deeper, and he groaned again but thrust harder, faster, his hands tightening in her hair, squeezing her skull with the perfect amount of pressure. Her core clenched, and she knew that if she touched herself, she’d explode again. But this wasn’t about her, it was about Ty, the man who’d taken the biggest mistake of her life—leaving her child—and turned it into something so perfect and beautiful, Jodi wasn’t sure Katie was really part of this world.

Then he gritted out a string of profanity, and she took him deep, swallowing around him as he came, taking everything he had and loving every second of it. Someone had to put Ty first. She thought maybe she wanted to be that someone.