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“Yours?” One of her brows quirks up.

“Yeah, that was another thing I meant last night—I’m yours, and you’re mine. We always have been, and we always will be. We both know it’s true. There’s no one else out there for either of us.”

I lean forward and kiss her, and she lets out a breathy whimper. She grabs the back of my neck, digging her nails in possessively. When we break the kiss, her eyes search mine, and each second that goes by, I prepare myself to lose her again.

Her hand leaves my neck, and she drags the backs of her knuckles over my short stubble. She presses a quick kiss to my lips, and I nip at her bottom lip, trying to make the kiss last longer.

“Okay.” That single word snaps me out of the trance those whiskey eyes always seem to lure me into. It makes my entire brain malfunction, and I feel like a giddy kid again—like the day she told a teenage me: ‘Of course, I’m your girlfriend’—like it was ever really in question.

“Okay? Really?” I try not to sound too excited like that same teenager, but based on the giggle she lets out and how she covers her mouth with her hand, I know I failed.

She tries to hide her smile when she nods. “Yes. I’m willing to try, but you have to show me you’re not that same boy who’s not going to communicate and make decisions that impact both of us without talking first.” She taps a finger to my forehead, and I level a playful glare at her. “Seriously, if we’re going to do this, you cannot shut me out like you did last time.”

“Anything. I will do anything to show you that I’m going to do everything in my power to make this work. I fucked up before, and I will do everything in my control to never let that happen again. I need you in my life.”

“Good.” This time, her smile isn’t half-hearted. It’s a full-on grin, and I want to remember it forever. “But I have one other condition.”

“I said I’d do anything.”

“Let me see this week’s Sly more often. I like this side of you.” I hear the mischief in her tone. “Calling off work to party with me and my friends. Breaking your routine and doing something a little spur of the moment. Keep being a bad boy for me, okay? I like it.”

A low contemplative hum rumbles up my chest. My hand that was intertwined with hers has seemed to find its way under the covers to cup her ass. I give it a playful little slap and she gasps in surprise.

I take that chance to steal another kiss and grab her, pulling her down into the sheets with me. I use my considerable size advantage to hold her tight to me and roll us until she’s on top of me, looking down into my eyes with hunger and a fire that makes me feel like I’m the luckiest man in the world.

“I can do that, but you’re going to have to make up your mind on bad boy or Daddy for me.”

“I get that we said we would do whatever we’re calling this arrangement, but does that mean I actually have to go to one of your Monday family dinners at the diner?” Josie looks at me, chewing on her nails anxiously in the passenger seat. “That feels, you know, like a very formal dating kind of thing? This…” She gestures between the two of us, “I’m not sure if we’re at the labels stage yet.”

I look over at her as we pass the Welcome to Sterling Springs sign, and the garage comes into view a few blocks away. It’s barely been half a day since we both agreed to try and make this work, and this tentative solution is already eating at me.

I should do more.

I shouldn’t settle.

I already know that fleeting, stolen moments with her will only make Sterling Springs feel like a cage I need to escape. Maybe this is how she’s always felt.

“Sorry, Bunny. That was the deal I made with Dad to take off last minute. He was very adamant that you come to a family dinner ‘like old times’.”

She bites at her nails again, and I wish her lips were wrapped around something else. “Ah. So, you mean your mom was adamant, and Eddie was the messenger?”

“Basically.” I laugh, making the turn into the garage parking lot and click the opener for the overhead door. “Besides, you know it won’t be bad. You’ve basically been a Sterling for most of your life anyway, and the diner food is so much better than it used to be.”

“I know, right? How are they not busier? It’s empty every time I go in there.”

I’m about to say something about small towns being cliquey when the opening door reveals something that catches my eye immediately.

“I thought you sent the hood of your car off to get it fixed?”

“I did,” I say, throwing the van in park and hastily opening the door. “I guess they finished early and Dad picked it up for me.”

I practically run to her side of the van and open the door. “Come on, you’ve got to see this.” She takes my outstretched hand and hops out. When I sent the hood to the body shop, I wasn’t sure she’d be around to see it fixed.

“Geez, hold your horses. It’s not like I haven’t seen cars coming back from the body shop before. I think you forgot how much time I spent hanging out here.”

“I remember,” I grumble before leading her to the front of my car. “I know your legs are short, but walk faster.”

She laughs. “Are you really in a position to comment about my legs?”