“Once I’ve talked to him, you and I can sit down with James,” I murmured. “We’ll figure something out that works for us.”
He nodded and buried his face against my neck. “Something slow.”
Someone was stuck on that word.
“For the moment.” I stroked his back. “I don’t think you want a Daddy who’s all over the place and can’t commit.”
He sighed loudly. “Iguess… Can I text you whenever I want?”
“Absolutely. Day or night—and I’ll answer as soon as I can.” I combed my fingers through the hair along the back of his head and tugged him back just enough so I could look him in the eye. “I’ll say this right now. Out in Mclean and in our future texting adventures, you don’t have to tiptoe around anything or watch what you’re saying. It’s mostly when my kids are around that we’re mindful.”
He bit his lip and nodded a little. “Makes sense. I like that. But, uh, I still haven’t visited the house. House Mclean, I mean. I haven’t been out there.”
But he was going to eventually, wasn’t he? “Are you still saying that being part of a community isn’t for you?”
I’d been surprised the first time he’d told me he had no interest in joining a community. He was cut out to run wild with the other Mclean brats.
For some reason, Jordan turned shy on me. “No, I’ve changed my mind… But I’m careful also, ’cause it’s your community, and James and I don’t wanna step on any toes.”
That was sweet of him, but I wanted them both out there. “You’re more than welcome to come out there whenever. In fact, I’ll tell Nathan tomorrow that you’ll show up at some point—just so he’s not blindsided.”
He got a little smirky. “I did sign up for his bondage thing.”
Oh, that was right. Yeah. That was…something. “You also denied being a sneaky little thing.”
He snickered behind his hand.
Then he yawned, which was a good reminder. It was getting awfully late, and it’d do us good to process. I sure as hell needed it. I could already feel that my brain would be spinning the moment my head hit the pillow. What would I be ready for? What would I want from Jordan? And from James, for that matter. Good-morning texts? Sporadic flirting? How intimate could I get? Should we start off fairly nonsexual? In all honesty, I wasn’t sure I could fuck anyone without feeling like I was betraying Nathan. Even if we divorced, I’d be his husband. I’d told him when we got married that he was my world, and that was never changing.
Nathan Riley
Deep breaths.
I adjusted my glasses.
Was this turning into a big Sunday breakfast or something? Ash was only supposed to come over to pick up Micah and Lily. They had plans. They were gonna play board games over at Ash’s brother’s house or something. Of course, it was all part of Ash spending time with the children away from my house. Away from me.
But something was going on. I could smell the coffee brewing. Micah and Lily were up, and they were in a good mood. So was Ash. I heard him downstairs, slinging jokes with Lily and coaxing Micah to help him set the table. Ever the struggle with kids who didn’t like doing chores.
I bit at my cuticle and stood there on the landing, looking down the stairs, when Hallie appeared from her room. Perfect bed head, pink pajama bottoms and matching tee, and half disoriented. She inserted her retainer and squinted at me.
“What is going on? Why are you up here?”
Wasn’t that clear? I was hiding, of course. I’d been up here to collect laundry from Micah’s and Lily’s rooms when Ash had shown up, and now it was twenty minutes later. The youngest had sprinted downstairs the moment they’d woken up, unlike me.
I cleared my throat and found another random sock on the floor to throw into the basket. “Good morning, sweetheart. I’m just gathering the laundry. If you have anything in your room, please bring it down.”
She yawned. “Um, okay. But what’s happening? Are we all having breakfast together?” She peered down past the railing. “Dad’s not exactly using his indoor voice down there.”
Ash never did when he was in a good mood.
Why the fuck was he in a good mood?
“Hugging party!” Micah yelled.
“Fuck yeah!” Ash hollered back. “You too, princess!”
“Yay!”
