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For Grady’s sake, I would adhere to Lauren’s wishes.
Getting her into bed had been the deceptively easy part, I realized. Hiding the fact that I wanted to keep her there was going to be the hardest thing I’d ever done.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Lauren
“MAMA, YOU’RE HUMMING,” Grady remarked as I rummaged around the kitchen, looking for something to make for breakfast. I whirled around, a guilty smile forming as I tried to tamp it down. “I bet you had a good sleep. Nico’s bed is really comfy.”
“Yes, it was very nice,” I agreed, unable to keep the blush from heating my cheeks. Thank God, Grady was too young to catch those subtle cues, but I needed to cool it with the humming. Every muscle in my body was deliciously sore, reminding me of the workout Nico had given me, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I’d managed a quick shower before Grady woke up, needing the private time to put my head on straight, but I was still turned around and twisted up inside in the most wonderful way.
As if hearing my internal dialogue, Nico appeared, adorably rumpled from sleep and sexy as ever. Did the man ever have an off day? Didn’t seem fair to the rest of the mere mortals in the world.
To Nico, I said, “Good morning,” and returned to seeking out cereal or something, but in truth, I was trying not to appear as if anything had changed between us.
But something had changed.
I couldn’t deny it. My body was in tune with his in a way that I’d never imagined possible.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d enjoyed good sex before, but what’d happened between Nico and I had been beyond good—it’d been...life-altering.
So, pretending it hadn’t happened...well, that was easier said than done, but I had to find a way because I wasn’t about to let Grady think that Nico was going to be a permanent part of our life.
He squinted against the morning sunlight and rasped, “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
“Breakfast cereal?”
“I don’t eat cereal.”
“That would explain why I can’t find any. No worries, I’ll just make toast with peanut butter for Grady, then.”
“Do you like that?” Nico asked Grady before reaching for the coffeepot to start brewing.
“It’s okay,” Grady admitted. “I like pancakes better.”
Nico looked to me with a grin. “Then he should have pancakes.”
I graced Nico with an indulgent look but said, “We don’t have time to make pancakes. Grady has school this morning.”
Grady immediately started protesting, “But Nico said we were going sailing today!”
“Well, Nico probably didn’t realize that you had school. You can go sailing another time,” I said, but I hated the crestfallen expression on my little son’s face. How could spending the morning learning the ABCs possibly compare with the open ocean, especially given Grady was already way ahead of his classmates and was most times bored in class. But I had to adhere to structure, so I held the course. “Come on, let’s get dressed while your bread is toasting. We have to leave a little earlier to make it on time.”
Apparently, Nico was also destroyed by Grady’s sad expression and said, “How about a compromise? We sail after school? We can still get in a few hours of quality time on the ocean in the afternoon.”
Grady brightened with hope. “Really?”
“Of course. To be honest, I’m usually never awake this early so I often sail in the afternoon.”
“Do you have your own sailboat?” Grady asked, his eyes shining.
“I do and it’s been too long since I’ve taken her out. She deserves a little time away from the dock. So here’s the deal, you go to school, your mom and I will do a little work, and then afterward, we’ll pick you up and hit the water. Deal?”
“That’s a deal and a half!” Grady hit an exuberant high five with Nico, and my heart stuttered. I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with how easily Nico had my kid wrapped so tightly around his finger, but I loved seeing Grady so happy. To be honest, most days Grady was such a serious soul, it felt good to see him act his age.
Grady scrambled to the bedroom to dress, and I turned to Nico to whisper, “Careful making promises to a six-year-old. They have a memory like an elephant and they will not let you forget.”
But instead of heeding my warning, Nico said, “Good. We all need an accountability partner from time to time,” and I was both awed and fearful of what was happening.
“We are truly going to work, right?” I asked him before Grady returned.
“Sure,” he answered, but the glint in his eye made me shiver. “But I didn’t say how I was going to work you.”
My breath hitched in my throat. I should’ve shut him down, reminded him that I was here to do a job and that had to be the priority, but my body was still tingling with the aftereffects of what he’d done to me, and I wanted more.
Heaven help me, I wanted more.
I swallowed and dragged my gaze away from the hunger in his, nearly jumping when the toast popped from the toaster. Nico chuckled, knowing where my head was at, but he did me the courtesy of remaining silent as he poured two cups of coffee and slid mine over to me wordlessly. I spread a generous helping of peanut butter on the toast and grabbed a short glass of milk before I could risk meeting Nico’s gaze again.
“Thank you,” I murmured, lifting the coffee mug, my thoughts stubbornly returning to the memory of last night. Grady returned, looking like a million bucks, if a million bucks wore its shirt inside out and both shoes on the wrong feet. “Baby.” I chuckled, going to help him straighten himself out. “One of these days you’re going to have to learn your right from your left shoe.”
“But they look the same to me,” Grady complained with a frown.
Nico chuckled and grabbed a permanent marker from a drawer. “C’mere, little man,” he said, helping Grady onto the counter. Then he drew an R and an L on each respective shoe in an inconspicuous spot so it wasn’t completely obvious. “There. Now you can just look for the R and L. Easy-peasy.”
“Awesome! Mama never lets me draw on my shoes!”
I laughed, sobering slightly to say, “And I still don’t, but we can let this one slide. Okay, now you have zero excuses. Eat your toast. We need to leave in about five minutes, and you still need to brush your teeth and wash the sleep from your eyes.”
“Aw, Mama, you’re always trying to make me fancy. I’m not trying to find a girlfriend yet, you know.”
Nico guffawed at that and I chuckled, too. “Well, maybe I just don’t want your poor teacher to catch a whiff of your dragon breath and faint.”
Grady giggled but said, “Mrs. Tipper is the one with dragon breath. I think she brushes her teeth with dirt.”
“Grady Erickson Hughes, you take that back,” I admonished. “We don’t talk about our teachers like that. Or anyone for that matter.”
“Okay, Mama,” Grady said but grinned when Nico gave him a conspiratorial wink. Good Lord, Nico was like a kid himself. Grady finished and headed for the bathroom, giving me a minute to scold Nico, but Nico had other plans.
“You—”
His mouth sealed against mine for a stolen kiss, and my knees threatened to buckle. Everything we’d done together last night came roaring back in full detail, and it took everything I had not to moan like a porn star on cue.
But before I embarrassed myself, Nico released me and I spun out of his arms just in time for Grady to appear, face scrubbed, teeth brushed and ready to slay the dragons of kindergarten.
I may always question my judgment when it came to dating Houston, but we’d made a beautiful child together, and for that, I couldn’t spare a moment of regret.
“Let’s do this,” I said, reaching for his hand.
“The car is downstairs waiting,” Nico said, sinking into the sofa with his coffee in hand, a delicious grin on his sexy mug. “I can’t wait to get to work when you return.”
And by work I was fairly certain he meant something else entirely.
Funny thing, I was totally okay with that.
For now.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Nico
MY BODY VIBRATED with anxious energy as I jumped into the shower, dressed and awaited Lauren’s return. Last night had been an anomaly, and I was eager to see if it’d simply been the thrill of victory or something else entirely that caused me to react like an alien had taken over my brain.
I wasn’t a cuddler by nature. I preferred my space. In fact, I was always the one biting my tongue in half after a hookup so I didn’t ruin my chances of seeing the woman again by saying something rude such as, “That was great. The car is waiting downstairs to take you home.”
