Page 4 of Hades

Until the kids were in bed.

And my Jenny ended up right where she belonged—with her lush thighs straddling my head and her skirts hitched up around her waist, riding my face.

She claimed I was just giving her a much-needed orgasm or two after an exhausting day as a divorced mother, raising two kids, with no spare time to devote to her love life. She wanted to feel desired. She wanted to feel like a woman again, instead of just Mom.

I desperately latched onto that scrap of hope, eager to prove that we were still right for each other.

But Jenny seemed determined to find another man. She kept talking about it, making plans for when she remarried someone else.

And now, she was finally pulling the trigger, putting herself out there again.

“I’d better get going or I’ll be late.” Jenny smoothed her hands down her skirt and took a deep breath. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful,” I said without hesitation. “As always.”

Jenny’s cheeks went pink and she lowered her lashes, glancing away.

“You’re so pretty, Mama,” Mia said, smiling up at her mother with adoration.

“Thank you, baby,” Jenny replied softly, brushing Mia’s cheek.

“For what it’s worth…” I paused and swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. “Good luck tonight. And I hope…you enjoy yourself. You deserve that.”

A small smile curved Jenny’s lips and she touched my shoulder. Then I watched, with my heart plummeting into my stomach, as she walked out the door.

Mia slipped her small hand into mine, leaning against me. Casey squirmed in my grip until I lowered him to the ground, combing my fingers through his tousled knot of curls.

“All right, kiddos,” I said. “It’s just the three of us tonight. So, let’s take a vote. Who wants ice-cream for dinner?”

Mia and Casey’s hands shot into the air, standing on tiptoe with eagerness. Jenny would kill me if I didn’t make them eat something healthy.

But she wasn’t here.

Besides, I felt like drowning my sorrows, and I couldn’t do that with a plate of goddamn broccoli. Alcohol was off limits since I needed to stay sober while the kids were with me.

So, a pint of brownie fudge ripple would have to suffice.

Rummaging around in the freezer, I grabbed a container of ice-cream and handed out spoons to the kids. Mia and Casey trotted after me as we moved to the living room. I turned on the television to watch their favorite cartoons.

When I dropped onto the couch, Mia and Casey snuggled up on either side of me, and we dug into the ice-cream together.

Chapter two

Jenny

I took a deep breath to quell the butterflies whirling in my stomach. God, it’s been so long since I had first date jitters. I forgot how overwhelming it could be.

“Nervous?”

I glanced up at the man seated across from me at the table. Greyson Scott was nothing like my ex-husband—Harvard educated, financially affluent, and the founder of his own law firm in Aurora, Colorado. He knew how to dress well, too, with a snug-fitting black turtleneck, pressed slacks, and sleek wire-rimmed glasses that made him look like he was ready for a GQ fashion model photoshoot.

He was miles and miles out of my league. I cleared my throat, reaching for my glass of red wine in the hopes it would loosen me up.

“I’m a bit rusty, remember?”

Greyson hummed and nodded.

“Right. Two kids and an ex-husband have kept you busy.”