by Tawna Fenske
Henry was still clutching the ball as he slept in the backseat on the way home. Ty glanced at the boy with his freckle-dusted nose and little glasses askew on his face, and for the first time in his life, he wondered what it would feel like to be a dad.
“Here we are!” Miriam announced from the front seat. “Rise and shine, little buddy. Time to do some camping.”
Henry roused, confused for a moment until his gaze landed on Ty. “Hey,” he said. “Thank you for the fun time.”
“You’re very welcome,” Ty said. “I liked hanging out with you.”
It was totally true, and that surprised the crap out of him.
Ellie doled out hugs and reminded Henry to be on his best behavior with his aunt and uncle. The boy assured her he would.
“I make extra sure I put up the seat when I pee and put down the seat so other people can poop,” Henry announced.
“Good man,” Ty told him. “You’re well on your way to becoming a well-mannered gentleman.”
“A well-mannered gentleman who still needs to learn when it’s appropriate to talk about poop and pee,” Ellie said with a sternness Ty recognized as a cover for amusement.
“Maybe he’ll become a urologist,” Jason pointed out. “Or a proctologist. Then he can talk about poop and pee all he wants.”
“I’m going to be Batman when I grow up,” Henry insisted.
“Or that,” Ty said. “It’s good to have career goals.”
Ellie kissed her son once more, then stepped back with her hand on the door. “You’ll call if you need anything?” she asked her brother.
“Relax, El,” Jason said. “We’re pitching a tent in the yard, not backpacking into the Three Sisters Wilderness to go snow camping.”
“Don’t think he hasn’t suggested the latter,” Miriam muttered. “I’ll make sure they’re properly roped-up if they decide to practice climbing techniques on the roof.”
“That’s reassuring,” Ellie said as she closed the car door then waved as they drove away. She turned and gave Ty a sheepish smile. “On a scale of one to ten, how neurotic is it that I fret about him when he’s sleeping a block away from home?”
“I think it’s in my best interest not to answer,” he said, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair back under her baseball cap. A warm, clover-scented breeze tugged it loose again, making him smile. “I also think it’s sweet,” he added. “The way you are with Henry. The way you are with your brother and Miriam.”
She grinned, her blue eyes shimmering the way they always seemed to when she talked about family. “They’re the best. They’ll be great parents.”
“Seems like they’ve had a lot of practice with Henry.”
Ty had watched in awe all evening, amazed by how everyone seemed to magically know the right way to handle the kid.
Everyone but him, that is.
“Anyway, thanks so much for inviting us.” Ellie touched his arm, sending a current of energy along the surface of his flesh. “Everyone had a great time.”
Ty nodded, shifting his keys from one hand to the other. The air was still warm, though the sun was already halfway gone. Crickets had started to chirp, and he wondered whether he should kiss her or not. He urgently wanted to, but what was the etiquette here? How did a friends-with-benefits arrangement work with a single mom? He didn’t want to presume anything.
He was still debating when Ellie solved the problem for him. “Would you like to come in for a drink?”
He’d never wanted anything more, but he held back a little. What was it about Ellie that left him so undone? That made him question whether he could pull off a no-strings-attached arrangement? Nothing like that had never happened before, not once in his entire life.
She’s inviting you in for a glass of water, not a marriage proposal, he reminded himself. Get a grip, Hendrix.
Still, he hesitated. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Positive.” She grinned, and Ty’s pulse kicked up. “Come on.”
She led the way into her house, and Ty followed her into the kitchen. She pulled open the fridge and frowned. “Okay, here’s where I confess that inviting you in for a drink was just a ruse,” she said. “All I have is milk, grape juice, and water.”
He smiled and stepped up beside her, closing the distance between them. “It’s fine, El. I didn’t come in for your grape juice.”
Ellie smiled and turned to face him, mischief sparking in her blue eyes. “What did you come in for?”
He didn’t answer. Not with words, anyway. Cupping her face in one hand, he drew her mouth to his and kissed her hard and deep. She melted a little against him, her whole body soft and familiar. As he stroked her bare arm, he wondered if the same zaps of emotion were pulsing through her body. Was he the only idiot whose heart kept trying to dive headfirst into the swimming pool with no lifeguard after they’d already declared the water off-limits?
He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes, struggling to keep himself under control. “I’ve been wanting to do that all evening,” he said.
Ellie slid her palms up his chest, thrilling him with the warmth of her touch. “Me, too.” She grinned wider. “Want to know what else I’ve been wanting to do all night?”
Ty’s pulse started to gallop. His mouth was too dry to form words, so he just nodded. “Yeah.”
“Come on.” She grabbed his hand and towed him down the hall toward the bedroom. Closing the door behind them, she flipped the lock and gave him a sheepish look. “Just in case.”
He smiled, grateful for the knowledge that the duplex next door was vacant and that he and Ellie had the house to themselves for the whole night.
Ty stepped forward and reached for her again, drawing her against him with deliberate gentleness. “Can we go slow this time?”
She nodded, eyes flashing in the light from her bedside lamp. “That sounds heavenly.”
Heaven. That’s exactly what this was like, holding her in his arms again. “I want this to last,” he murmured.
There was something deeper in those words, in the emotion behind them. He started to explain, but the warmth her eyes told him he didn’t need to. Was she feeling this, too?
She tilted her head back, and Ty kissed her deeply, taking his time, memorizing the sweetness of her mouth, the curve of her cheek under his palm, the softness of her breasts pressed against his chest. He moved them both toward the bed, not breaking the kiss as he walked her backward until she bumped the edge of the mattress. She was still wearing her baseball cap, and he pulled it off and tossed it aside.
“May I?” he asked as the started to tug the elastic from her ponytail.
She nodded and smiled up at him. “I love when you do that,” she murmured. “Put your hands in my hair.”
Ty loved it, too. The soft threads slid through his fingers like liquid silk, and he breathed in the orangey scent of her shampoo. He kissed her again, deeper this time, then drew back to meet her eyes.
“Lie back,” he murmured.
Ellie didn’t argue. Just boosted herself onto the edge of the bed with a smile. She hesitated there, angling up to kiss him again. Ty eased her back, using the weight of his body to press her down against the coverlet. She went willingly, bare legs curved over the edge of the bed as she smiled up at him.
“Take off your shirt,” she whispered. “I want to look at you.”
He sat up and grabbed the hem of his T-shirt. Self-consciousness flickered through him as her gaze moved over his tattoo. But she didn’t linger there. She took in the whole of him—chest, abs, shoulders—then came back up to his face. When she smiled, something stirred in the center of his chest.
“You are a very well-made specimen, Mr. Henrdix,” she said.
He laughed. It would have sounded dorky coming from anyone else, but those words from Ellie were fucking adorable. And hot. But also adorable.
“I want to taste you, Ellie.”
Her response was a low moan that made his lips pulse as he kissed his way
along her throat and down, over her sternum, her belly—
“Ty.” She clutched his shoulders as he slid lower, unbuttoning her thin cotton sundress as he kissed a trail down the middle of her body. By the time he reached the edge of her panties, she was breathless and squirming, with Ty kneeling on the floor in front of her.
Ellie reached down and raked her fingers through his hair, urging him on.
“Please,” she gasped.
The need was in her eyes as much as her words. He got the message loud and clear. Nudging her legs apart, he kissed one hipbone then the other, pausing to plant a line of kisses down one bare thigh. Her panties were pink and lacy, and part of him wanted to just rip them off.
But he took his time, brushing his lips over the soft slope of one bare knee before working his way to the other, then back up. He scooped his hands under her, cupping her gently with his palms. Ellie moaned as his chin grazed the lace-covered heat at her center.
“Ty,” she gasped. “I want you so much.”
“I can tell.”
God, that sounded cocky, but it was true. She was damp with need, the same need that throbbed through him. But he wanted to pleasure her first.
Hooking his thumbs under the edge of her panties, he hesitated a moment. Ellie lifted her hips, and Ty dragged the lace down her thighs, baring her completely.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. “So goddamn beautiful.”
A muffled laugh was her response, but her fingers in his hair were a sort of plea. He leaned closer, letting his breath graze her. Then his tongue, softly at first as he probed her center. The instant he touched her clit, she cried out. Her hips rose off the bed, an invitation for Ty to bury his face completely. He was gentle to start, then more exuberant as he began to devour her. She tasted so fucking good, and he gripped her hips to hold her steady as she bucked against him.
“Oh, God!” she cried. “Don’t stop.”
He wouldn’t dream of it. And he couldn’t get enough of her, sucking and licking savoring her softness against his mouth.
“God, Ellie,” he groaned against her. “You taste so good.”
She laughed, then gasped as he stroked the length of her with his tongue. “Ty,” she gasped. “I’ve never felt anything like—”
A pleasured gasp took the place of words, and Ty wondered what she’d been about to say. But he knew. Somehow, he knew because the same damn words were vibrating through his brain.
I’ve never felt anything like this.
But it wasn’t just the pleasure.
He grazed her with the tip of his tongue again, and she tensed in his palms. She was getting close. He could tell. Her breath quickened, and she arched up tight against his mouth. “Ty,” she gasped. “I’m so close.”
“Let go, baby.”
She gave a low moan and fisted her hands in the duvet, her whole body arching up to meet him. He slid one finger inside her, rewarded by the tight clench of her around him. She grabbed the pillow next to her head and pulled it to her face, smothering her cries of pleasure.
He didn’t stop until she went still, until he was sure she’d wrung every last drop of pleasure from the orgasm. At last, Ty slid to one side and planted a kiss on her hipbone. Ellie pushed the pillow off her face, then sat up on her elbows and looked at him.
“Holy shit,” she said. “That was like something out of a book.”
He laughed and rubbed his chin against his bare shoulder. He still tasted her and wondered if there was some way to keep that with him forever. “I don’t know what kind of books you read, but I need to download some.”
She laughed and shook her head, her wide blue eyes and disheveled hair making her look a little wild. “You have no idea how good that felt.”
Ty grinned. “I might have some idea.”
She smiled as Ty stood up and eased onto the bed, curling his body around her. He was still wearing his jeans, but her skin was smooth against his bare chest. He held her like that until her breathing slowed. Until her heartbeat returned to normal beneath his palm. He would have held her forever, honestly, if her stomach hadn’t growled.
“God, that’s embarrassing.” She giggled and skimmed a hand over her bare belly. “Sorry. I gave half my corndog to Henry after he dropped his, so I guess I’m still hungry.”
“You didn’t get another one?”
She shook her head, blond hair fanning out on the bedspread behind her. “I was too busy cheering for the game.”
“Wait here.”
He didn’t give her a chance to protest. Just jumped off the bed and headed for the kitchen, grateful he was already familiar with the space. Her skillets hung on a rack above the stove, and he stuck one on the burner and cranked the heat before turning to pillage her fridge.
Ten minutes later, he carried the plate into the bedroom. Ellie was sitting up, the silky pink robe tucked around her, and she peered at him with curiosity. “What on earth—”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I saw eggs and parmesan when you had the fridge open earlier.” He dragged a heavy bolster pillow to the center of the bed and set the plate on it, then handed her a fork. “My grandmother used to make this for me.”
“What is it?” She took a bite before he responded, then closed her eyes in the same blissed-out expression she’d worn just twenty minutes ago. Ty tried not to feel jealous of eggs.
“Oh my God, this is amazing.”
He grinned. “It’s super simple. My grandma had this big cast iron skillet. She’d throw down a layer of the cheese, and then just as it started getting crispy, she’d break an egg on it and let that cook.”
“This is like crack on a plate.” She took another bite and sighed with pleasure. “I wish I’d known about this when I was pregnant with Henry. All I wanted was eggs and cheese, but I never had anything like this.”
Those words should have freaked him out. So should the fact that he was sharing intimate memories of his grandmother. But none of that seemed strange. His pulse was thrumming along like normal, and it was the most natural thing in the world to sit here half-naked on Ellie’s bed watching her eat a plate of eggs he’d made for her.
A lock of hair fell across her forehead, and Ty reached up to tuck it behind her ear.
God, she’s beautiful.
He didn’t say the words out loud, but she smiled at him as though he had. The loveliness of her expression made his heart split wide open.
When she finished eating, she set the plate aside and grinned at him. “Thank you so much, Ty. For the snack, for—um, for everything else.” Her cheeks pinkened a little, and she gave him a shy smile. “I loved that.”
The words snagged on a corner of his brain, confusing him for a second. It wasn’t for a few more breaths that he realized what she’d said.
I loved that.
At first, he’d thought she’d said you.
And for the briefest moment, he didn’t hate the idea.
Chapter Eleven
Monday morning, Ty was putting the finishing touches on a new video when his Spidey senses tingled. He was wearing headphones, so it wasn’t footsteps that alerted him to Ellie’s presence.
It was something about Ellie. Like he’d felt her somehow, which was dumb.
“Ellie,” he said, annoyed by the happy note in his voice. “Thanks for coming.”
She smiled and strode into the office, flushed and lovely in a pair of bike shorts with a helmet tucked under one arm. “Sorry I’m late.” She moved around the edge of his desk to sit down in the chair he’d pulled up close beside him. “Mondays are the only time I can sneak in a bike ride before I pick Henry up at school.”
“Not a problem. I think it’s great you’re able to find time for stuff like that.”
She looked at him a little oddly, and Ty wanted to grimace at the absurdity of his words. It was just that Ellie didn’t fit the mold of what he’d always thought a single mom would be. Sure, she was doting and kind and the best mother he’d ever seen in action.
But she was also independent and smart and so damn sexy he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Knock it off, Hendrix. You’re ogling a woman with helmet-hair and a sweaty T-shirt.
“You’re so beautiful,” he blurted.
Ellie laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’ve now seen me in a soggy dress and sweaty workout gear. The fact that you can say that with a straight face means you’re either nuts or the world’s best liar.”
Ty grinned, not bothering to correct her. She had to know how stunning she was, right?
“So.” Ellie propped her bike helmet on the desk and smiled at him. “You wanted to see me about the kombucha videos?” Her smile wavered a little. “Wait, don’t tell me they hated them.”
“On the contrary.” He turned and grabbed a basket off the far edge of his desk and pulled it toward him. He plucked out two fancy wineglasses and a brown bottle filled with murky liquid. “Everyone at Mama Jama’s Kombucha totally loved the video. They especially loved your voiceover work. Said you were the perfect sound for the brand.”
“Oh.” She smiled and swiped a strand of damp hair off one cheek. “That’s wonderful.”
“They sent us this gift basket as a thank you,” he said. “It’s a bunch of new flavors they’re testing out. I thought you might like to make a date of it.”
Ellie grinned and grabbed the neckline of her shirt, fluttering it back and forth to get some air. “If I’d known this was a date, I would have washed the mud off my legs first.”
Ty glanced down at her legs and shook his head. “You’re perfect.”
He meant it, too. He loved that she wasn’t afraid to get dirty, in all senses of the word. Figuring he should stop gaping at her legs, he turned and popped the top on the first bottle, then poured some into each long-stemmed glass.
Handing one to Ellie, he pulled the second glass toward him. Then he tore open the accompanying package of crackers, frowning at the label that touted them as gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, and dairy-free.
“Holy spunk-trumpet,” he muttered. “What’s even in these things?”