Page 36 of His Wild Attraction

Was it wrong that I loved how openly affectionate he was with Sammy?

Andres didn’t shy from hugs or sticky kisses. Sammy was still young enough to enjoy being petted and praised. And Andres indulged him with genuine affection.

He never had anything like that from Gary. I was worried he would be afraid, living with a man after months of it being just us. But he wasn’t.

Maybe it was because Sammy and Andres had formed a bond over the past few months. We’d seen him at every Sourdough Saturday and at other times when we visited Meredith or one of the other women.

Andres was good to my son. And that made me like him a little more than I should.

Sammy deserved to be happy and safe. I just needed to remind myself that was the reason for our marriage.

We got married to protect Sammy from Gary. Not because we were in love or anything.

Why did that make my heart hurt?

“He must have conked out right away, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. Poor little guy was all tuckered out. I mean, after all this excitement, who wouldn’t be?” I shrugged.

“What do you mean? The party?”

“Well, Sammy just got a new stepdad and a new grandmother. He was thrilled when she asked him to call her Nana,” I told Andres, waiting for him to gift me with one of his rare smiles.

He did, and I almost swooned at his feet.

I had to admit I’d been nervous about meeting her, but Andres’ mom was fantastic. A sweet, wonderful woman who obviously loved her son.

“Oh, that reminds me, the car is here to take my mother back to her place in Hoboken. But I know she’d like to say goodbye to you, if you don’t mind.”

“Um, sure,” I agreed, closing my eyes for a second when I felt his hand on the small of my back.

Andres had been touching me all night.

Not blatantly. Not in any way that would make anyone notice.

But I noticed.

It was like every brush of his fingers across my body was him marking me in some way, branding me as his. I nodded my head, allowing him to gently guide me to the front door where his mother, who insisted I call her Nancy, was waiting.

“There she is. My beautiful new daughter! Now, I know you’re both leaving for this one night honeymoon of yours, and you have loads to do to get settled in, but I want you to come visit soon with my baby boy,” Nancy said.

“Mom, I’m thirty-seven,” Andres teased his mother.

“Not you! I meant my little Sammy. Anyway, I just wanted to say, Ellie, I am so happy my Andres found such a special woman to share his life with. He works so hard?—”

“Mom,” Andres moaned.

“Okay, okay. Congratulations again, my darlings,” she said, squeezing both of our hands and tugging us forward for cheek kisses.

“Thank you. It was so nice to meet you,” I replied, a little embarrassed.

“I’ll walk you out, Mom. Be right back.”

Andres’ hand contracted on my back as he stepped away from me to walk his mother to the car. I bit my lip and watched him.

“That’s a good man right there, taking care of his mom like that,” Meredith whispered from right beside me, and I jumped.

“Christ, Meredith! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

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