Page 55 of Return By Fire

Jennings and my boys are understandably busy with their own lives. Now that Dean’s caught on to what I’m trying to do—have one of them come down so I don’t have to be the one to spill the beans to Jennings—he takes a great deal of humor each time they can’t make it. In fact, he speculated to me in our hot tub the other night, “I wonder if they’ll make it for Kevin’s college graduation?”

“Ass,” I returned, splashing him.

His hands slid up my leg before cupping my testicles and rolling them. I moaned, uncaring of the volume—thus the reason we were in the hot tub. “Hmm. It might be my ass. Or it might be yours. It’s your turn to pick.”

Just thinking about the way he slid inside me from behind has me clenching and my dick getting hard. I squeeze Dean a bit tighter.

Much to my secret delight, Kara’s long-term relationship with a fellow teacher ended about six months ago. She might think she’s done well at hiding the reason from the men in her life, but even Kevin knows the truth. Apparently, the kids at school have their own gossip network that rivals the CIA. “He didn’t want a family. What the hell was he doing dating Mom then?”

“No idea, kid. But I will say this,” Dean informed him seriously when the three of us were talking over coffee at the local Starbucks.

“What’s that, Uncle Dean?”

“You can never say your mother has ever placed her own happiness above your own.”

Since then, Kevin has spent more time at home, more time doing things—just him and Kara. It was the impetus for Dean to suggest we take a long weekend trip to the Carolinas.

He slipped his arms around me and rubbed his naked body against mine. Nipping my ear, he murmured, “Just think. Nothing but us and the mountains.”

I turned in his arms and ran my hands up over his still impressive chest. “Clothing optional?”

He nipped at my lips. “With you, always.”

We leave after Kevin’s game tonight. Dean murmurs in my ear. “Think four nights away will be enough?”

Knowing the fire that’s burned between us since the day we met, I shake my head negatively. “I think it’s going to take eternity.”

He winks at me before focusing back on Kevin’s soccer game.

For the time being.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Present Day

It’s late afternoon. I just fielded a call from my husband who wanted to touch base. “I hope you’re having a blast with everyone.”

God, the sound of his voice gives me the shivers, completely different from the cool air swirling around us. I pray that never stops.

After checking in on Kevin, who is enjoying the time home with his younger sister and brother, I bring a bottle of wine and four glasses and a plate of bear claws outside with me. I’m not shocked in the slightest to find Maris wolf-whistling at a man with a terrific body as he runs down by the lakeshore. “Keeping it classy.”

Rainey has flopped back into Meadow’s lap. Pointing at Maris, she can’t quite catch her breath. “She’s been hootin’ and hollerin’ like a cheerleader since he came into sight.”

Meadow’s shaking as she suppresses her own giggles. “I keep trying to remind her sound echoes off the lake. I mean, what if Brendan Blake was staying at Nature’s Song this week?”

I smile to myself privately. What if?

My phone rings again with my husband’s distinctive ringtone. I press speaker before demanding, “Didn’t we just hang up?”

Without hesitation, he orders, “Bring everyone over.” I can hear the yearning in his voice. Knowing the distance created by time or air makes us equally ache for the other, causes a purr to erupt from my throat. My gaze drifts toward the lake—where the gorgeous man is obviously hamming it up for Maris’s benefit—toward the location of Nature’s Song. I taunt, “I thought you all needed space for manly rituals like hatchet throwing.”

It's that comment that draws Maris’s attention away from the lake and toward the food. “Christ. Are those huckleberry bear claws?”

Exasperated, I hold out the tray to her.

She snatches one before moaning, “We can go after I finish molesting the fingers of this bear claw. Christ, I need to bring a suitcase of these back to Juneau.”

I explode with laughter. “Now I know what to get you for Christmas.”

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