“Me too.” Her reply was soft, but urgent in tone.
As her eyes ate up every inch of me, I felt myself morphing from nice guy to caveman. I wanted that look to be for me, and only me.
“How will this work?” she asked.
In my mind, we’d all move in together, and I’d provide for the family we were meant to be. The family my dad almost denied me. But I didn’t say any of that.
Instead, I said, “Don’t worry about that. It will.”
Without any more words or plans, we kissed, our tongues exploring each other’s mouths, my palm running the length of her back.
Bexley stalled the kiss. “It’s okay if you have to leave and head home to the kids.”
“No, Denise is there. I told her I’d be home in the morning.”
Tilting her head back, Bexley said, “So, that’s the way it is? You were that cocky?”
“Maybe,” I said on a wink, then murmured in her ear, “Aston Prescott.”
“Stop,” she said, pretending to protest with a smile on her face.
“You know you like it. It turns you on,” I said softly, my lips tickling along her earlobe.
“It does.” She ran her hands down my arms, staring at me.
“Can we go to bed?” I asked, more than hopeful.
Bexley nodded and took my hand, her glass of wine forgotten on the counter. I turned off the light and followed her.
Inside her bedroom, she held up a hand. “Let me check on everyone first.”
By the time she was back, I was naked and in her bed.
“Everyone is out,” she said, pulling her shirt over her head, revealing a lacy black bra.
“Come here. Let me do that,” I demanded, my gaze never leaving hers.
She obeyed, and straddled me on the bed, putting a little pressure just where she needed it.
“Oh God.” She moaned and her head fell back, allowing me access to the front clasp of her bra.
Once I quickly unfastened it, the straps fell down her arms, her breasts coming loose of the cups. I leaned forward, taking one nipple in my mouth, the other between my index finger and thumb. She continued to moan, her hair spilling down her back, the prettiest sight I’d ever seen.
“Let’s get you out of those clothes,” I said, pulling free of the covers and shoving down her shorts.
She rolled to the side, landing with her head on the pillow, and I tugged her panties and socks the rest of the way off, settling right where I’d dreamed of being, my mouth at her core. I felt the heat coming through her panties, and decided to get rid of them too.
“Just relax,” I told her, and she listened a second time, her head pressing back into the pillow.
My tongue ran its way over her heat, up and down, finally finding the place where she was most sensitive. I took my time, gentle licks and nips, driving her wild, until she begged, “Please.” Only then did I pick up speed and give her the release she wanted. I dragged out every moan, savoring each taste and sound, until Bexley was wrung out underneath me.
After climbing my way back up her body, I fused my mouth to hers. She’d never minded tasting herself on me, and it was good to see things hadn’t changed.
“Want you inside me,” she said, “but I also want you in my mouth.”
“We have plenty of time to fool around later. Right now, I want to be deep inside you.”
When I started to get up, she asked, “Where are you going?”
“Condom.”
She shook her head. “We don’t need it.”
“Is that so? This coming from the woman who works at the health clinic?”
“Stop, get over here,” she said. “I’m clean, on the pill.”
“It’s been a while for me . . .”
“That’s good enough for me,” she said, and I didn’t wait.
With one push, I was inside her, and this time it was me doing the moaning.
“Feels so fucking good,” I whispered, my lips ghosting across her cheek.
Catching her hands in mine, I raised them above her head and drove into her. With her eyes open, she took me in, watched me pump in and out of her.
“Faster,” she demanded, and I obeyed. “I want to feel you let go. Please, Aston.”
She didn’t need to ask again. I did as I was told, climaxing just as Bexley went off for a second time.
Coming down from what felt like a major high, I rolled to the side. “I should get something to help you clean up, but I think I’m dead,” I murmured. “You know, I’m a lot older than when we met.”
Bexley laughed. “Wait here. I’ll use the bathroom and take care of all that. Rest up for round two.”
She slipped out of bed, and I snatched her wrist. “Hurry back. I like how you’re thinking.”
Her giggle was the best thing I’d heard all day.
Bexley
“This is fun. Thanks, Bexley,” Little A said to me over a bright red snow cone.
We’d gone to a craft fair in the desert, and now we were sitting having a snack. Originally, the boys had fought me on it because they’d wanted to go to the arcade, but we all needed some outdoor time, and Piper had recently gotten into making papier mâché. Soccer had ended for the season, and she was in full-on craft mode.
“You’re welcome,” I told him, tapping his red nose. “You look like Rudolph. By the way, you know you can call me Bex like your dad does. Or B, if you want.”
“What about Mom? I don’t have one anymore, you know?”
It had been six weeks since Aston had wormed his way back into my life. Since then, we’d been spending most of our free time together, sharing dinners and outings with the kids, and going on dates. But for the most part, we stayed the night in our separate houses.
Occasionally, Aston spent the night at my place, leaving Denise with the kids. Of course, Cass had thrown a major fit when she found out that Aston and I were dating again, and landed in some chic rehab center for two weeks. Once she was out and clean, she decided that being a part of the kids’ lives—and subsequently Aston’s—was too much for her to handle.
I couldn’t even begin to unpack my feelings when it came to that woman.
“That’s up to you, buddy,” I told Little A.
The sweet-talker he was, he took my hand in his. “Well, I asked Dad. I don’t want Tyler to be mad, because you’re his mom. But I think Dad is going to marry you, and then you’d be my mom too. Since my own mom doesn’t want to be mine anymore.”
“Aston . . .” My big guy growled at his son by his full name while still listening with one ear to Piper go on and on about papier mâché.
“It’s okay. He can tell me and ask me anything he wants,” I said, rushing to Little A’s defense, scowling at Aston for getting mad at his Mini-Me for being honest.
“I know that,” Aston said, side-eyeing me. “I meant what else he was going on about. Getting—”
I shushed him. “It’s fine. Kids have overactive imaginations. Piper, did you sell Little Aston on a fairy tale?” I joked, because the reality of it all was frightening. I’d wanted to spend the rest of my life with Aston Prescott since I was eighteen years old.
“Mom, stop. Really—”
I took a look around, realizing all eyes were on me.
“Yeah,” Mara said. “We had a meeting last week when you were in the shower, and we decided you should get married.”
“What?”
“After you quit your job you don’t need,” she added.
“Mar,” Aston quickly said. “Remember, that was between us?”
“Why would you have a meeting?” I asked. “And I do need my job. I like it.”
“Okay, gang,” Aston said with a sigh. “Looks like we’re going to do this at the fair, rather than over a steak dinner the way I’d hoped.”
This got a major eye roll from me.
Aston sat next to Piper, his elbows on his knees, and those gorgeous blue eyes focused solely on me. “Bex, tonight I was going to have everyone cl
ean up, and we were going to go out to dinner. There would have been candles, champagne, and sparkling cider. I was going to get down on one knee and ask you to marry me in front of all the kids, since they’re all part of this now. Mike and Milly were going to join us for dessert.”
“What?” I asked, running through the whole scenario in my head, especially the part about Mike and Milly.
Aston stood and came close, his unruly hair falling in his face. “I called Milly. Told her she needed to make amends, apologize for her actions, her secrets. Mike told me all about your words with her. They’re getting help and working things out,” he said as if he could read my mind.
“But what? You were going to ask me to marry you?”
“Yeah, of course. I love you. Didn’t you think that would happen?” Just like his son, he took my hand in his. “Aston Prescott, and I’d like you to be my wife.”
“So you want me to quit my job?”
This got me a big chuckle. “No, because I love you and so do my kids—all of our kids. And I want to make up for all the years we should have been together.”
I nodded.
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
My heart in my throat, I nodded. “Yes, it’s a yes.”
“Can we still go to dinner?” Tyler asked while the girls were jumping around and Little A clung to my waist.
“Of course,” Aston said, grinning. “We need to celebrate and also talk to your mom about hiring her for our new business venture.”
“We’re opening hotels!” Tyler jumped up and down this time. “A big hotel with a pool and a game room. We may live there sometimes like the kids do on TV!”
For a second, I closed my eyes, cooling my temper. I was getting married to the man of my dreams, despite the fact he did crazy shit like this. Aston would have to learn to not throw his money around, get the kids all excited about grandiose ideas.
“It’s a good thing, Bex. We’re going to take Federal and do something bigger, change shit up. Do our own thing, create our own legacy—for our kids. They can have it one day, no matter who they fall in love with. And I need you with me.”
“Tyler, we’ll discuss it later, okay?” I said to my son, blowing him a kiss.
“Gross.” He ducked, pretending to avoid my affection.
Coming close, Aston ran his palm down my cheek. “Bex, let this go. I want this for us. For them.”
“I’m a social worker, Aston. I can’t work with you.”
“Babe, you can. Plus, I need someone in charge of human resources, and who better than you? You believe in me, right?”
“Later.” Totally overwhelmed, I decided to defer that conversation. “Did we just get engaged? At the fair? With all these people and our kids around?”
“We did. But just to be clear, I have a ring back at my house. Our house, I should say.”
“Mom, guess what? Dad said we’re going to move in this week,” Piper said, joining the conversation.
“I must have taken a really long shower. This sounds like it was a really involved convo,” I said to my kids, one eyebrow arched.
“We asked,” Tyler said. “Don’t be mad at Aston.”
Aston gave me his version of puppy-dog eyes. “Look, I have the room. Eventually, I’d like to get a bigger place, but I was thinking that this works for now. For all of us. We’re not going to be apart.”
“What else were you thinking about? I’m afraid to ask.”
“We could sell your place and put the money in a college fund for Tyler and Piper. You won’t need the money to live on now, and this will be good for them. I assume you got it in the divorce.”
I dropped my head on Aston’s shoulder. “Oh God, let’s go to our celebratory dinner first. My head feels like it’s going to explode from how much you thought this through.”
Mara ran in place, glowing with excitement. “Wait until you see the ring, Bexley! I love it! Dad let me try it on. It’s soooo sparkly. Can I call you Mom like Little A does? Can I?”
I felt my heart grow larger, so big it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. “Sure, Mar. Anything you want. If it makes you happy, then you can do it. You know why? I love your daddy and you and Little A.”
“And Piper and Tyler,” she said, nodding.
“Of course.” A bittersweet shiver ran through me. I wouldn’t want my kids choosing a new mom, but I wasn’t Cass. That much was clear.
Aston pulled me into his side and kissed the top of my head. “Come on, gang. Let’s go home and change.”
The kids bopped excitedly in front of us as we left the fair. Mara held Piper’s hand, and the boys were busy trying to trip each other.
“Getting married,” Aston said close to my ear. “Can you believe it?”
“You think this is smart? It’s been quick, you know?”
Aston stopped in his tracks. Turning me to face him, he tucked his index finger under my chin. “I’m sure. I’ve been waiting too long for this.”
Then he kissed me in broad daylight, for the world to see. The richie and the girl from the other side of town were finally getting their happily-ever-after. It was a sweet, chaste kiss with the kids impatiently waiting nearby.
“I forgot to mention,” Aston said, breaking free from my lips. “Movers are coming in the morning to pack up your stuff.”
“Oh my God, Aston. You don’t give a person a chance, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Come on.”
Two nights later, I climbed into Aston’s ginormous bed, which he’d told me was new since he divorced Cass. In fact, all the furniture was new.
“Thanks, the kids loved that,” Aston said to me, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“It was pizza dough. Seriously, no big deal.”
“Well, they’ve never done that before. We’ve never done it.”
“I think you’re going to need to adjust your life a bit. We can’t be fancy all the time. Plus, Denise doesn’t have to work twenty-four/seven. She needs a vacation.”
Gathering me in his arms, Aston settled me on my side, turning to face me. His palm ran over my cheek, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Whatever you want. But that job, it’s not safe, and I need you with me on this project. Please?”
“Aston, I’ve been at the job a long time. They depend on me. I’m good at helping those women.”
“Give them notice. Help train the next person.”
Tilting my head to look at him, I spoke quietly. “Look at Milly. She gave up everything about herself to be some new person, and she wasn’t exactly happy. I don’t want to be that person. I’m not a society lady.”
This got me a laugh from Aston. “I’m not asking you to plan parties. I need your expertise, your good judgment when it comes to hiring people. I don’t want you to be anyone else.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Good. Now let’s think about something else.”
His hand traveled down my side and into my pajama bottoms—we had four kids, there wasn’t any racy lingerie. His finger quickly found my heat and slipped inside, bringing me to the brink at lightning speed. When I was close, he put pressure where I needed it, and over the edge I went.
“Shh,” he warned me and then shoved my pants all the way down.
Yanking the shirt over his head, he turned to glance at the door, making sure it was closed, and then he was inside me. Slowly stroking inside me, he pulled off my tank top and took my nipple in his mouth. My head tipped back, and he picked up speed.
“Aston,” I said softly, his name a whispered plea.
“I got you,” he said, and rode me faster.
Our bodies moved in sync, looking for release until we were both covered in a fine sheen of sweat and panting. After we finished together, Aston told me he loved me, and then hurried off to get a washcloth. By the time he returned, and I was cleaned up, there was a knock on our door.
“Come in,” Aston called out, making sure I was covered.
Little A peeked in. “Dad,
can I sleep in Tyler’s room?”
“Sure, but don’t stay up all night. Hear me?”
“Yes. G’night,” he said, and went running off.
Aston chuckled. “We’re going to have to get those two bunk beds.”
“But we don’t need to get anything else.”
“Shh.”
He silenced me with a kiss, which only lasted until Piper burst into our room crying, showing us pictures on her phone of a sleepover she wasn’t invited to.
“This is a great life,” Aston said to me.
I nodded over a teary-eyed Piper and went back to consoling my daughter.
Aston
Three years later
It was late. The sun had set long ago, but I didn’t feel like going inside. Not yet.
Mainly because the house was a fucking zoo, not that I minded it. Actually, I loved it, and was learning not to try to control the chaos. It was so different from the way I was raised, yet so much better.
Tonight was supposed to be different, though. Tonight had been meant for Bexley and me, but our night would have to wait. No big deal. I’d already waited a lifetime to get her back. I could wait a day or two for a special date night.
When I’d had enough of the hysteria inside earlier and went to step outside on the expansive wrap-around deck, Mara stayed inside, determined to feed baby, Olivia, and Bailey, the beagle, a mashed-up banana.
Yep, Bexley and I couldn’t help it . . . we had a baby, pretty much right away. Apparently, we were fertile. We also got a puppy for the kids when we moved. We were gluttons for chaos.
As I’d slipped out through the back door, I noticed there was more banana on the dog’s back, on the floor, and on the wall than in Olivia’s belly, but I let it be. The housekeeper would clean it up in the morning, and I’d be damned if Bexley didn’t leave it for someone else to do. She would argue, and I would shut her up in my own way.
Little A and Tyler were battling it out on the PlayStation, screaming and yelling at each other over whose football team was better.
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