Naked Love

by Jones, Lisa Renee

  His mom, Dani, came up then and hugged each of them close. “There’s my babies.” He leaned down so she could kiss his cheek, and she patted his face. “Your beard is getting so long. I’m always afraid it’s going to scratch me when I kiss your cheek, but it’s so soft.” She patted him again before glaring at his sisters, who rolled their eyes at him.

  “He has a beard care routine,” Sienna said with a grin. “All the lumbersexuals do.”

  “What’s a lumbersex?” Daisy asked, and Mace glared at his sister, who had the grace to wince.

  Mace reached down and picked up Daisy, setting her on his hip. She was almost too big to do this now, but he’d take her wanting him to hold her as long as he could.

  “It’s lumbersexual, and that’s a made-up word from people who don’t understand beards.” He shot a look at his other sister when she went to say something, probably countering his point with real facts, but he wasn’t in the mood.

  Daisy put her tiny hands on his face and gave him a solemn look that went straight to his heart. “I love your beard, Daddy. So if you don’t want to be a lumbersex, don’t be.”

  This time, neither Sienna nor Violet could keep their laughter at bay, and both of his parents joined in. He gave them all a mock scowl before blowing a raspberry on Daisy’s neck. His little girl squealed before wiggling out of his arms.

  “Don’t use that word, okay, Daisy-cakes? It’s a grown-up word.”

  “Okay. Like shit and damn, right? Mommy said those are bad words, but Aunt Adrienne said that once I’m the biggest girl, I can use them if they help my meaning. Or something like that.”

  “Daisy,” he said sharply, and she looked down at her feet.

  “Sorry.”

  He was going to have to strangle his best friend. And bite her. Yeah, biting would be good. And then he promptly shoved those thoughts from his mind since he didn’t want to have a hard-on in front of his entire family.

  “When you’re a grown-up like me, you can use those words. How’s that?”

  She nodded, and Mace pointedly ignored the curious looks his sisters gave him at the mention of Adrienne. Neither of them had ever believed that he and Addi hadn’t slept together before now, and since he was actually semi-seeing her currently, he knew he had to walk a fine line to keep that secret at bay.

  “And now that that’s taken care of,” his mother cut in, “let’s finish taking off our coats and go into the living room. I made those mushrooms you all like.”

  Daisy bounced on the balls of her feet, and Mace bent down to take off her little hat, scarf, and jacket. She’d been standing in the foyer with her outdoor stuff on for far too long as it was, and he didn’t want her to get overheated. A cold front had rolled in overnight, and he had a feeling the winter was going to be a long one. His sisters took off their jackets, and he did the same, hanging his on the rack that had been on the same wall ever since he was a little kid and had his mother taking off his jacket for him. He loved the fact that no matter what changed in his life, this house and his parents were a constant. The idea that his parents were getting up there in years since they’d waited a bit to have him, and even longer to have Sienna and Violet, was always in the back of his mind, but he did his best to ignore it. He wanted this time with his family, and he would be forever grateful that they were able to spend as much time as they did with Daisy.

  Now, if only Sienna and Violet would settle down and have kids, then maybe his parents would get off his back about him being a single father. Of course, the idea of either of his perfect sisters finding a man for themselves made his big-brother radar ping, but he knew it was ridiculous. He wanted them to be happy, but he’d definitely play the overprotective brother when it was needed. That was what he was there for.

  “The mushrooms with the cheese?” Sienna asked. “Those are my favorites.” She reached out, and Daisy grasped her hand before the two of them skipped into the living room behind his parents.

  Mace just shook his head, a smile playing on his face.

  “I thought Sienna was the cool and composed one,” Violet said, openly laughing. “Look at her skip in those shoes.”

  Mace had noticed the stilettos and couldn’t help but look down at Violet’s similar footwear. “You can’t skip in yours?”

  She elbowed him in the stomach, and he winced.

  “You’re getting violent in your advanced years, Violent Violet.”

  “You’re an idiot, and sometimes, it’s really hard to see why I love you. As for skipping? I value my ankles enough not to try it. Sienna is a braver soul than I am. Though, really, I think I would pay money to see you skip in heels like she just did.”

  “I don’t think they make heels big enough for my feet.”

  “Drag Queens can find them, I’m sure you can, too. Now, let’s get in there before we miss out on all the mushrooms and find Daisy hoarding them all. That little girl is a riot.”

  He smiled widely. “Yeah, she is. Reminds me of you as a kid, actually.”

  Violet smiled sweetly. “That’s the best thing you could have said. And that also means she will be a total terror when she’s a teenager. I cannot wait to see that.”

  “You’re mean. And because you said that, your kid will end up being three-times as bad as you were.”

  She shuddered. “Okay, that was just cruel.”

  He kissed the top of her head then took a seat by Sienna since Daisy was kneeling in front of her, studying the mushrooms with a look of deep concentration on her face. She tapped her little lips like she’d been doing more often than not lately—a habit he had a feeling she’d picked up from Adrienne—before pointing to one.

  “I think that one is for Aunt Sienna. And this one is for Aunt Violet. And this one, for Grandpa. Then this one…Grandma. And one for me, too.”

  He leaned down, brushing her hair from her face. “And what about me? Don’t I get one?”

  She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Of course, Daddy.” She turned back and pointed to the largest mushroom in the dish. “This one’s for you. Aunt Adrienne said you were a growing boy and that’s why you always eat the rest of her food so she doesn’t have to finish it.”

  Once again, he ignored the laughs and knowing looks from his family as each of them reached for the mushroom Daisy had assigned to them.

  “Thank you, Daisy-cakes, this one’s perfect.” He took a bite of his and blessed the gods for his mother’s ability to cook. If he didn’t work out as much as he did, these monthly dinners would easily make him gain twenty pounds if he weren’t careful.

  They finished their mushrooms before heading into the dining room for the rest of the meal, their topics of conversations going from work, to personal, to politics, to…everything. All of them did pretty well with being open about their lives—at least he thought so, but as he was hiding something pretty big, he really had no idea what the others hid. That thought made him pause and look at his sisters, who were very careful about what they told him about their personal lives. However, if he wanted to keep them out of his, he had to be the better man and keep his nose out of their business, as well—for now.

  When Daisy nodded off for an afternoon nap on the couch in the den, he tucked her in with the soft throw his mother had knitted and kissed the top of her head before going back into the living room where he figured his family would start to grill him.

  He hadn’t been wrong.

  “What are you going to do, Mace?” his mom asked, wringing her hands. “We can’t give her back to that woman.”

  He sighed, hating the way she called Jeaniene “that woman.”

  “I don’t know, Mom. Right now, legally, I have custody since she’s out of the country. However, my lawyer is making sure we get papers filed on our end to set that in stone. We want to make sure we have grounds to get full custody or even complete shared custody where we each get fifty percent when she gets back.”

  “You’d give her that much?” his mom asked with narrowed eyes.


  “She’s Daisy’s mom,” Sienna put in. “Yeah, she’s made horrid decisions when it comes to how she treats Mace’s relationship with Daisy, but in the end, she’s that little girl’s mother, and the courts will not only have something to say about that, but so will Daisy.”

  Mace nodded, his thoughts aligning with Sienna’s, but before he could say anything, Violet waded in.

  “So, what? She left Daisy here with no notice. She doesn’t deserve a single moment with that child.”

  Mace held up his hand because their voices were starting to rise and he didn’t want to wake his daughter. “First, we don’t know what will happen in the next few months or even years. We’ll get through it. But in the end, it’s not about what works perfectly for me, but what my daughter needs. And while the way everything happened was not in her best interests, Daisy still needs her mom. I’m not going to let her have full custody, though. No matter what happens, I’m going to fight to make sure I get more time in her life than I had before this.”

  The others started talking over each other as they voiced their opinions, but Mace just leaned back and met his father’s gaze. His dad had been silent through it all, but that was because the two of them had already talked in private numerous times about what would need to be done legally. Because, no matter how much any of them wanted to ensure that Daisy was all Mace’s, the courts were the ones who ruled, and Jeaniene’s family had money and friends in high places. Mace would fight, but in the end, he’d have to wait and see if he even had a chance to continue being the father he wanted—needed—to be.

  By the time they had finished dessert and Mace buckled a wide-awake Daisy into her car seat, he was emotionally and physically exhausted. He’d worked a half-shift that morning, and had brought Daisy into the shop where Shea had taken her for a girls’ morning. He knew he couldn’t do that often, though. Somehow, he was not only going to have to find a full-time babysitter or nanny, but he was also going to have to budget for one. He’d been paying child support up until now, and he was waiting for the final paperwork to come in to see what would happen on his ex’s end. Everything was so fucking backwards, it wasn’t even funny, but no matter what, he had to make sure that everything seemed normal to Daisy. That would always be the most important thing.

  “Can we watch a movie?”

  He looked down at Daisy and nodded. “Yeah, we have time before bed. Why don’t we both get in our jammies first though, and brush our teeth? That way, if we fall asleep, we don’t have to wake up to do it.”

  “Okay!” She skipped off to her bedroom to change, and he just shook his head. He’d give her thirty minutes of the movie—tops—before she passed out. She might have taken a nap and was currently hyper, but it wouldn’t last. She usually had an odd amount of high energy right before bed until she zoned out. It had taken him a while to get used to that.

  He went to put on his own sleep pants and shirt, though he didn’t usually sleep in either. However, he wasn’t about to walk around in his boxers with his daughter in the room. His routine had changed dramatically, and he was just going with the flow as much as possible.

  They both made it to the living room at the same time, and he tucked her to his side under a shared blanket as they went through their queue for a movie they were both interested in. In other words, he was going to have to sit through another viewing of the Disney movie with the princess with the long hair in the tower. Since he liked the hero, Flynn, and Adrienne liked him, as well, he didn’t mind this one as much as some of the others.

  Speaking of Adrienne, he’d missed a text from her asking how he was doing, so he quickly shot her a reply back as the movie started.

  Mace: Sorry I missed your text. Just got home from the parents’. We’re sitting down to watch your favorite movie.

  Addi: Kiss Flynn for me.

  “Is that Aunt Adrienne?” Daisy asked, looking down at his phone.

  He nodded. “Yep. She wants us to kiss Flynn for her.”

  Daisy made little kissing noises with her mouth before patting his phone. “Can she come and watch with us?”

  He shook his head. “Not tonight, honey. We’re already in our jammies.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Next time? I love Aunt Adrienne. She’s my favorite.”

  He sucked in a breath, worried that his little girl was starting to fall for his best friend much like he was. But the latter wasn’t something he would ever admit aloud, so the only thing he could do was lean down and kiss Daisy’s head.

  “Maybe.”

  “Okay, tell her I love her and good night, ‘kay?” She snuggled into his side, unaware that she was breaking his heart.

  Everything was already too complicated before this, but Adrienne had been a part of Daisy’s life since she was born—a fact that hadn’t been lost on or appreciated by Jeaniene. So even though he was going to have to tread far more carefully, he couldn’t rip Addi from Daisy’s life, no matter how much it might seem better to do so to avoid heartbreak in the end.

  Mace: Daisy says she wants you to watch it with us next time. And you’re her favorite.

  Mace: And she loves you.

  Addi: Tell her I love her too and next time I’m totally in to watch Flynn Ryder strut his very hot stuff.

  Mace: You’re weird.

  Addi: And that’s what you like most about me. Go cuddle your girl. I’ll see you tomorrow.

  Mace didn’t text back because the first thing that came to mind wasn’t something he could ever say to her, not when so many things were unsaid.

  He couldn’t fall for Addi, no matter how easy it might be. Because falling was the simple part. It was the landing and living with it that ended up tearing you to shreds.

  9

  No matter how many yoga stretches she did, Adrienne had a feeling her back would ache for weeks after she finished this particular tattoo. Her wrists hurt, and she even had pounding in her temples that didn’t seem to want to go away. If she put it all together, it might sound as if she were on the verge of a cold, but she knew that wasn’t it. She wasn’t getting sick, but she really needed to start sleeping through the night.

  Of course, that would probably be easier if she didn’t have vivid dreams about Mace and his mouth, his hands, his dick, and all of that other yummy stuff every night. Mace Knight was haunting her dreams, and worse, becoming a very real distraction at work. She hadn’t meant for it to happen; yet, somehow, she couldn’t stop looking at him when she wasn’t working on her tattoos, and her body always knew what part of the shop he was in. It was as if she had a secret antenna only tuned to him, and no matter what she did to ignore it, she could always feel him coming near her.

  They were both acting as if nothing had changed when others were around, though. They had always been close, and everyone knew they were best friends, but now, there was a sense of knowing when it came to Mace, and it was hard to put that aside and react like nothing had changed. Whenever they were alone, it was hard to keep her hands off him, but she needed to. They hadn’t even defined what they were to each other, even though they kept talking about it and circling around the issue. How could she stay focused on what she needed to do when he was right there in all his sexy glory, looking all broody and refined with the white in his hair spreading over the rest of his scalp. That was one sexy, mature-looking daddy of a man right there, and those thoughts just made her want to scream.

  Why couldn’t she just be normal?

  No, instead, she had to become this obsessed weirdo who couldn’t stop staring at her best friend. And what was worse, she had no idea if he felt the same way about her. And because she couldn’t help but focus on that and didn’t want to obsess even more, she pushed all those thoughts to the side and kept working. Being in this position alone where she felt as though she were spiraling down the immaturity hole of doom wasn’t somewhere she wanted to be.

  Ever.

  So she looked down at the ink she was working on, ignored her aches and pains, and became whom she
wanted to be.

  A fucking kickass tattoo artist.

  Damn it.

  Today, she had a very brave client who wanted a full ribcage tattoo that went all around her back to the other side of her body. While Adrienne had ink on her ribcage that sloped under her breasts, hers didn’t reach around her back to become part of one large piece. Hers was mostly smaller pieces put together with the shading of Mace’s and Shep’s art over time. She still had a lot of open skin for a tattoo artist, but she was picky when it came to what would be on her body for the rest of her life, and only trusted her brother and Mace to get it right. She didn’t want tattoos just for the sake of having them, and she knew the old saying of never trusting a tattoo artist with no tattoos wasn’t always correct. She had her ink, but most was under her clothes. At least for now.

  But for this particular client, her entire back and sides would be covered by the time Adrienne was done. It would take at least four sessions, five if either of them got too tired or the skin didn’t react well during a sitting, and she was honestly freaking excited about it—even if her body hated her at the moment. After this one, she might have to take a nice lower back or upper arm tattoo just to stretch out her sore muscles. God knew the desire for those particular tattoos was in abundance, and she actually loved doing them. Her job was to put her art on someone else’s body, permanently. They trusted her with their bodies and something they would wear for the rest of their lives, and that wasn’t something she took lightly. Hence why she had three of her favorite and most talented artists working at her shop. Shep, Ryan, and Mace were beyond gifted, and she was blessed to work with them—though, at some point, she’d like to hire another woman when she was able to afford a fifth artist because the testosterone was a little thick.