Page 14 of Hunter

“Adair Michael Ward, what have I told you about lying?”

“That liars get eaten by wolves.”

I saw Mallory’s tiny wince at an obvious misinterpretation ofThe Boy Who Cried Wolf,but she kept the stern mom stare until Adair caved.

“I was bored, Mommy, and I wanted to play.”

“I’ve told you enough times that you don’t go play on your own when Mommy’s sleeping. You wait or wake me up, okay?”

“Yes, Mommy.”

“Good boy.” She brushed a finger across his cheek. “Now, what do we do in the morning?”

Adair grinned, standing to press a kiss against her cheek. “Good morning, Mommy.”

“Good morning, Adair.” She kissed him back.

When I thought that was going to be the end of it, Adair leapt off the bed and came running in my direction. He was tall enough to grab one of my belt loops and tug. I looked up at Mallory who was watching Adair with surprise as I dropped down on my haunches until I was about his height.

Adair reached up on his tiptoes and pressed a wet kiss to my cheek. “Good morning, Hummer.”

I must have looked shocked because Mallory chuckled.

Then Adair ran back to his mother who scooped him up into her arms.

“Well done,” she said, ruffling his hair. “Now, go get your clothes. I know you’ve hidden them somewhere.”

Adair slid off the bed and onto his belly as he wiggled underneath the dresser.

Mallory got up and began to walk toward me, crossing her arms, which pushed her breasts out of the tiny tank she was wearing. She had long cotton pants that brushed against the floor, and the elastic on the waist was loose enough that they hung low on her hips, giving a nice peek at that softly curved belly dipping into the pair of white panties with a little pink bow.

“Sorry about that,” she said, eyes lowered.

I snapped my head up as if I hadn’t been wondering what was inside that innocent pair of panties as I met her gaze.

Her sleep-ruffled hair and crease marks down her arms were almost cute with her small, casual shrug. Her lips were round and soft in a small pout that begged to be kissed. Her teeth raked across them, and I would be damned if I didn’t recognize the warmth clawing its way down below my waist.

I locked my gaze with hers as she simply stared at me, eyes searching mine.

When I realized she was waiting for a response, my voice came out in a hoarse rumble. “No problem, darlin’.”

Her eyes widened at the pet name, and then narrowed as she propped her hands on her hips, ready to get all wildcat again.

Before she could, I stepped back toward the door, saying, “I’ll get some locks.” Then I closed the door in her face.

I heard her frustrated huff from the other side of the door as I made my way downstairs and out the front door, slamming it behind me. I wasted no time locking it, getting on my bike, and getting the hell away from that house before the ache between my legs started thinking.

* * *

“So, I heard you got knocked up,” Anna announced as she walked toward me, swaying her round ass in that tight pencil skirt. She dropped onto the couch, one long leg swung over the other one, a beer at her lips. She didn’t look at me, pretending to watch the game that I had been pretending to watch.

“You hear too much,” I commented, taking the beer out of her hand and downing the rest of it in one gulp.

“Obviously not enough if I’m finding out yesterday’s news this morning from Lamb.” She raised her hand for a prospect to place another beer into it. Putting it to her lips, she took a long gulp, sending me a wink.

“You’ve got them wrapped around your finger already,” I grumbled.

“I need to if I’m going to keep my reins on them if they patch in. How else am I supposed to keep you boys out of the slammer?”

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