Page 46 of Somebody To Love

“Me too.”

He rose from the bed, but her gaze didn’t rise any further than the appendage that held her rapt attention. She swallowed, the logical part of her brain telling her the more intercourse they had, the better chance of impregnation. The horny part of her screamed do him!

Since all parts were in agreement…“We should do our part to conserve water.”

He grinned, stalking toward her, and scooping her up into his arms. She was beginning to see the appeal of mornings.

CHAPTER 19

BJ stretched his arms high above his head, grimacing when he heard a loud cracking sound accompany the ping of pain in his lower back. After a hard day like today, his body liked to remind him no matter what people said, thirty-four was not the new twenty-four, according to physical stamina. Ten years ago, he could have handled a full-steam day like today and had plenty of oomph left over. Now, it was barely past six, and exhaustion dragged him down.

Of course, that could have something to do with the massive amounts of vigor he’d spent last night and this morning. He couldn’t stop the grin from tugging at his lips. Yeah, his activities with Penny might have contributed to his exhaustion, but damn, it had been worth it. Who knew his shy, nerdy best friend turned into a sex kitten when the lights went out and the clothes came off?

He sure as hell didn’t.

“Ugh!” Cassie complained as she entered the room. “Next time Del gets married and takes off for a week on his honeymoon, can we make sure it’s not during the launch of a new business venture? That he started, I might add.”

He chuckled as she came to sit at the table he’d just finished putting into place. Today they’d cleaned the place top to bottom. Including moving all the tables and chairs to deep clean and polish the floors.

“Next time? You think he’ll ditch Cassie and find another wife?”

“He better not, or I’ll beat his ass.”

He’d laugh, but he wasn’t entirely sure his sister was joking. Charlie had a hot temper that could get her into trouble. Like the time in middle school when Billy Owens went around snapping all the girl’s bras. When the little asshole got to Charlie, she’d turned and given the kid her best right hook. She’d gotten suspended for a day for fighting, but Billy had a black eye for a week.

Their mother had sided with her daughter, saying Billy had been in the wrong for inappropriately touching the girls. Their father had been overseas at the time, but he’d taught his children to stand up for themselves and never accept the actions of a bully. He’d also sided with his daughter. The school had given Billy detention. A slap on the wrist for the little shit’s actions. But it didn’t matter, after spending a week being teased for getting punched by “a girl” the kid never messed with Charlie again.

He suspected it had more to do with the fear of retaliation from his sister than the humiliation of getting taken down by a girl.

Remembering the event made him think of Penny. No way would a child of hers ever be a bully. But if they were super smart like their mother, they could be on the receiving end. His gut twisted. He’d always hated the bullies that picked on other kids. A sharp pain hit his chest to think that Penny’s child—his child—might be harassed just for who they are.

But it wouldn’t be his fight to undertake. They weren’t together. Not in any traditional sense. She’d be the mom and he…he would be there, but not…there. He wouldn’t be an everyday presence in the kid’s life, but he’d be helping, trying to be a good role model. Uncle BJ. Just because he wouldn’t be the kid’s dad didn’t mean he couldn’t help them out with anything that came up in their life. He and Ace had helped their mom with Charlie and Del whenever their dad had gone off on tour. He knew how to be a good influence even if he didn’t wield parental responsibility.

“I don’t see why they had to get married right before the restaurant opening when we have so much work to do.”

He shook himself out of his thoughts, focusing on his sister. Exhaustion of the day catching up with him, he took a seat at the table with her. “He did it because it was a great opportunity to test out the effectiveness of the restaurant. A dry run to work out the kinks. We still have a few weeks before we open, and we don’t have a ton of stuff to do. It just seems that way to you because you’re not used to manual labor. You sit behind a desk all day crunching numbers. You’ve gone soft, Charlie.”

Pale blue eyes narrowed as they glared at him, promising his immediate demise.

“Soft?”

He shrugged. “I call ‘em like I see ‘em.” He was playing with fire, but he couldn’t resist teasing his kid sister. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d really kill him.

Probably.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

“Listen here, Jackassson. I am going to kick your fuc—”

“Hey guys, the place looks great.”

Hallelujah! Saved by the best friend. Charlie couldn’t kill him in front of Penny. Everyone knew the sweet woman fainted at the sight of blood, and even his sister wasn’t that heartless.

“Penny! Great to see you. Come have a seat.”

As she sat down, he heard his sister mutter under her breath.

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