Page 30 of Masked Love

My husband came out of the water with a laughing Ethan on his back, making my heart beat too fast at the site. I quickly set the kids down and rushed to get my phone, taking several pictures of them. It was rare to see Ethan smile, and I wasn’t going to miss a second of it.

Xander and I worried that having a new baby would disrupt the balance of our family now that we had the kids in a structured and stable environment, but I was confident they would adapt.

He set Ethan down, and they both sat in the sand. I watched my stunning husband grab Delaney and plop her onto his lap, smiling and tickling her.

God, how was him being a father so extra hot?

“Who wants to build sandcastles?” he asked the kids.

Delaney climbed off him and jumped up and down, clapping her hands, and Micah mimicked her. Ethan’s nearly black hair dripped with salt water as he pretended he didn’t care, shrugging his shoulders because teens didn’t play in the sand. But the sparkle in his coffee-brown eyes and his trying not to smile told a different story.

He was so much more relaxed and having fun. I loved this for him, especially since he’d never been to the beach before.

“Guess what?” Xander asked.

“What?” we all asked, though I already knew what was coming.

“Have you heard of a professional sandcastle builder?”

Delaney gasped as if it was the most shocking thing ever, and Ethan scoffed. “There’s no such thing.”

“Oh, but there is. In fact, he should be here in…” Xander looked back in the distance at a young man headed our way. “... five, four, three, two… Hello,” he said to our teacher for the day as soon as he approached us.

The kid couldn’t have been older than eighteen and looked like a surfer with wild, bleach-blond hair.

“Hey, I’m Kody.”

As they got started, Kody pulled out all these cool supplies and quickly had the kids engrossed in building a proper sandcastle.

I sat a distance away, taking a thousand pictures of them so we didn’t miss a moment.

“This was a good idea you had,” Xander said, kissing my neck, sending waves of goosebumps across my skin.

“I have those now and then.”

He chuckled and nipped my neck. “Guess what?”

I turned to face him, smiling behind his sunglasses. “What?”

“Frannie is going to watch the kids tonight while we sneak out and have some fun.” Xander leaned closer to my ear and whispered, “I miss that ass of yours.”

I shuddered, missing his hand marking my ass. It had been entirely too long. Naughty Greyson and Bossy Xander had to be put aside for a while. We weren’t exactly the quietest.”

“Is that so?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“Then I guess I better get ready to do something to upset you. I’m going to need some heavy punishment.”

“Oh, baby, I’ve been counting all your bad deeds for the past two years. You’ve accumulated quite a bit. You won’t be able to walk for a week.”

“Promises, promises.”

He glanced at the kids quickly before pressing his lips to my neck and nipping it. “Behave.”

“Never.”

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