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By the time the afternoon shadows grew long, she'd helped spread pine straw, edged the natural area with bricks, and contributed a satisfying amount to the shaping up of the park. The activities station and fort were completed by Des and his contractors. The treated wood would be painted by a different group of volunteers and next week another set of contractors would come out to resurface the basketball court. Des thanked his buddies as they headed off for their vehicles. The kids were enjoying the unpainted equipment, so when Julie returned to her bench with a free bottle of cold water and a turkey sandwich the neighbors had brought out, Des joined her.
The lapsed time since Betty's departure had erased some of the lingering hurt their argument had caused her, but he had a guarded look, as if he anticipated her hashing it out. It made her feel a little more guarded herself. However, she pushed past the desire to withdraw, paste on a bright smile and make some excuse to head off. She'd told herself she wasn't going to measure Des any longer against her past relationships. She'd experienced the pain of emotionally unavailable men, but she reminded herself Des wasn't normally like that. She refused to shut down. Instead, she initiated conversation on neutral ground, trusting they'd figure out a way to address the other from there.
"Are you supposed to take your four kids home?" she asked.
"No, their parents are coming get them at six, so I'll hang here with them until then." He paused. "Do you have to go?"
There. He'd given her an out. She met his eyes. "Do you want me to go?"
"No," he said, so simple and straightforward it released the tension inside her. He curled his fingers around hers on her knee, tugging her hand over to his leg after he propped his ankle on the opposite thigh. Lifting her hand, he kissed her fingers. She closed her eyes, absorbing the clasp of his hand, the press of his lips.
"I was an asshole. I'm sorry, Julie. That's why I really don't want you to be a part of that. It's not my best side."
"And here I was, thinking a relationship was all about people being on their best behavior all the time."
His lips twisted wryly. "You should at least be able to demand that for the first several weeks."
"That's considerate," she said, with kindness. "But I need to say something to you, all right? Will you hear it?"
"Of course." But his eyes were wary, and she sensed that same tension in him. She put her other hand over their two clasped ones, back on his knee.
"It's okay to tell me things or not tell me things. I just want you to know you don't have to be in control all the time. I love the Dom stuff and, yes, I have a lot of sub in me, but that's not who I want to be 24/7. When it fits and it happens, it's lovely, over the top, out of this world. But I can be a partner, too."
"I know," he said after a long pause.
"Which part?"
"The over the top, out of this world thing."
She elbowed him, but the teasing helped. He slid an arm over the back of the bench and watched the kids a few minutes, not saying anything. Then he spoke. "I want you to meet someone. Okay?"
"Sure."
He whistled through his teeth, catching the attention of a pale boy with a shock of dark brown hair and striking golden-brown eyes. "Mylo, come here."
When the boy approached, he gave Julie a once-over that had her brows lifting. The kid was maybe twelve.
"Hey, don't be eyeballing my girl," Des admonished.
"Yo, you finally got yourself a hot and stacked lady, dawg. You're learning from my moves."
"And there are countless ones to learn," Des said dryly. "Tell Julie how you explain your pump to the ladies."
"Oh." Mylo lifted his T-shirt, showing her the pump holder on his belt and the injection site. The holder was black fabric with an embroidered set of fangs on it. "I do the Twilight soulful look on them, because I got the Edward hair, see?"
He ran his fingers through it artfully and took a seat next to Julie with a flourish. When he stretched his arm along the back of the bench, it was in front of Des's arm and close enough to press against her shoulder blades. His body canted forward while his eyes delved intently into hers. Julie shot an amused, faintly alarmed look at Des, and he gave her an encouraging wink.
"I tell them 'yeah, baby, this device, it supplies me with blood for sustenance. That way I can be close to you without the need to bite your very fine neck, except for the occasional kiss...with just a touch of my fangs.'"
"And that works?" Julie asked dubiously.
"I have a bunch of Facebook friends, all girls." Mylo straightened to fish out an honest-to-God business card. "You could be one of them. Visit my page, 'Edward Can't Touch This.'"
"Hey, Mylo, come here." The young girl with purple hair waved at him. "I need you to give me a boost on the bars. You're the tallest."
Mylo grinned. "See? Even to the young ones, I'm an addiction." He tossed Julie another outrageous ogle as he rose and made a noise that sounded like he'd tasted something delicious.
"You be good to her, Des-man, or I will."
