Page 77 of Love Song, Take Two

“Fiiiine, but only in the bedroom.”

He grinned, leaning in to brush his mouth against hers as he said, “Does that mean I can’t call you love bug in public?”

“Oh, you must. It’s growing on me, shockingly.”

He laughed against her mouth and Micah smiled before kissing him soundly, their arms winding around each other. The kiss seeped into every inch of her soul, it was in the way he held her—one hand cradling the back of her head, the other wrapped tightly around her waist. It was in the way his tongue swept into her mouth, searching, giving and taking. It was in all of their love for each other that lingered between them, the deep seated passion and hunger they’d held onto for sixteen years that had finally bubbled to the surface.

She had never put much stock into second chances.

Until Fletcher.

Fletcher

You’re too obsessed with me.

In the week leading up to Christmas, both Fletcher and Micah were busy. Between his Santa duties and the sudden influx of customers at Big Wave, he was swamped all the time. Micah was wrapping up sessions for the year and that meant she worked pretty tirelessly every day. But there were a few windows of freedom that would open up.

While Fletcher thought it would be filled with quickies and orgasms in his office, they actually spent most of that time talking. Sure, there was a lot of kissing and touching, cuddling even. And he fucking loved it. One afternoon, they inhaled street tacos while sitting on his tailgate; late one night, they stuffed their faces with burgers and fries by the beach; and after a particularly grueling day, they drank milkshakes and walked down the promenade hand-in-hand.

There had been one night when he got home after his Santa shift and found Micah waiting at his house. After a hot, knee-shaking kiss at the front door, they barely made it to his bedroom before clothes came off and she rode him until she’d had two orgasms. Then she sucked and swirled her tongue around him until he was a collapsed heap on the floor. Afterwards, they showered, cooked together and ate their meal standing at the kitchen counter.

Sex wasn’t their primary objective and Fletcher loved that. It had been a long time since he’d dated someone, but every minute spent with Micah was pretty fucking special.

While their original plans were to meet Erin the morning after the Loose Lasso night out, with Micah’s hangover firmly in place, they pushed it to another day. His girls were excited, even though he was nervous as fuck about having the three most important people in his life in the same space. But he knew that Micah and Erin would get along, and that Emery would be fascinated by yet another badass boss babe.

Sleepily stretched out in a large booth at Stardust Diner—Emery had mentioned her favorite all-day diner enough times that Fletcher didn’t even think twice while picking it as their breakfast spot—all four of them sipped on their hot beverages while waking up.

“We’re all definitely setting great first impressions this morning,” Micah said around a yawn that made Erin laugh. “Sorry, we’re so much better behaved than this on a regular day.”

Erin echoed Micah’s yawn and waved a hand. “I get it, trust me. It’s not even that early, but I feel like I’ve been running a marathon.”

“Quit it,” Fletcher mumbled, covering his mouth as he also let out a yawn. “It’s 11 a.m. and everyone’s been awake for hours.”

All three women glared at him before Emery turned to Erin with a slight frown. “So you and Fletch are best friends and nothing more?”

“Em.” Micah poked her daughter in the side and he caught Erin’s amused smile. She had sounded just as skeptical the first time he mentioned having a female friend.

“What? Making sure that this is not some kind of second family situation or whatever,” Emery said, frowning even deeper as she rubbed her side.

He didn’t know if he was amused or concerned that Emery thought there was something else going on. But he liked that she was protective of her mother and maybe a little bit of him? The variety of expressions around the table amused him and Fletcher used his coffee cup to hide his smile.

Erin finally straightened up beside him and leaned over the table with a smile. “A few years ago, Hank tried to set us up. It didn’t work out.”

“I was too grunge for the likes of Miss Polished here,” Fletcher offered with a chuckle.

Erin rolled her eyes and added, “Besides, we’re better off as friends.”

Emery looked between them, nibbling on her bottom lip and Fletcher gently tapped her foot with his. When the teenager looked at him, he smiled. “Just friends, kid.”

“And I’m pretty sure the reason we didn’t make sense is because he’s been in love with your mom all along.”

Micah cleared her throat and he watched as the blush spread over her cheeks. But she met his gaze and winked when he smirked. He had been in love with Micah for a long time, even when he wasn’t sure what the feelings were. Then again, Emery didn’t know the details of their history. Not that he wanted her to know about their epic one night stand or how for a split second he thought Emery was his kid.

“I mean, my mom’s pretty awesome,” Emery said, grinning at Micah before looking at him. “So you have great taste.”

“I have to agree,” he told her, clinking his mug against Emery’s filled with hot cocoa.

The rest of the breakfast went smoothly as Emery asked Erin a million questions about what it was like to be a lawyer and a partner at a big law firm. The whole time, Micah shifted between watching her daughter with love and adoration and shooting Fletcher grateful looks. He’d spent so many years wanting this, but never finding it. His ex-wife hadn’t been the kind of person he could have had a solid life with and they both knew it. And now that he was closing in on fifty, Fletcher definitely didn’t expect everything to look this good.

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