Page 52 of Hard Hat Hottie

“For what?”

“This could’ve gone all sorts of sideways. I had no right to bring them over unannounced. You would’ve had every right to politely end the night after pizza and say goodbye.”

“I’m glad you brought them. But can I ask why you didn’t warn me?”

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, I twist to allow us to speak face to face. “Truth? I’ve made a habit of trying to keep my boys from anyone I date. Like I was vetting their character first or something. But the last guy… well, I dated him almost a year. And just when I thought we were serious enough to meet them, I discovered he thought I was trash.”

Harrison bolts up from where he’s been snuggled up beside me, with fury burning across his features.

“Don’t.” I hold up a hand. “Trust me. He’s not worth it. I’m glad I found out when I did. But when you were talking about your baggage and wanting to really get to know me earlier, I just yelled,Come on, boys, there’s been a change in plans.” I giggle. “If giving the last guy I dated the once-over for a year didn’t show his true colors, I figured this might.”

Harrison visibly relaxes, but still seems irritated.

“I’m sorry. It probably wasn’t the best approach.”

His free hand rubs my knee under the blanket. “I think the sneak attack worked just fine.” He gives me a playful nudge. “Besides, I had a great night. And I haven’t seen my mom that engaged in forever.”

“Aww. I’m glad. Well, I know the boys had—” my sentence stops short as I notice both boys are unconscious. “It’s like they’re in a pizza, pool, and popcorn coma.”

A chuckle rumbles beside me. Before I can wrap my thoughts around trying to wrangle these two into the car, a big hand grabs a fist full of my shirt and pulls me to him, his mouth slamming against mine. His warm, delicious tongue drags along the seam of my lips, begging for entrance, and I gladly invite him in.

Harrison’s free hand snakes through my hair, angling my head to deepen our kiss. Long, languid strokes of his tongue have me falling apart. But we can’t let this go on here.

Placing my hand on his chest, I push back far enough to whisper, “We can’t.”

He drops his forehead to mine. “I know. I’ve just been dying to kiss you all night.”

My cheeks are on fire. And it’s not just the lust he evokes in me. This man is tempting me to dive into this relationship headfirst. To stop sitting on the sidelines dreaming of a happily ever after. Not when I can live it. But is this smart? There’s still so much we don’t know about the other.

“Stay,” he breathes into my hair.

“What?”

“They’re comfortable like that for the night.” He nods toward the boys lying on blankets and pillows on the floor. “And these are comfortable too.” Harrison pats the undeniably comfy couches in his den. “I promise to keep my hands to myself. For tonight anyway.”

Taking in my sleeping children, joy fills my chest as I recall their laughter tonight. They’re good boys. Any man who wouldn’t want to be a part of their life isn’t someone I need in mine.

Harrison places a chaste kiss on my lips before standing to gather up the drinks. Watching him collect them to his chest with one hand, I straighten to help when I’m quickly interrupted. “No. I’ve got this. Just lie back and relax. Once I’m done, I’ll grab two pillows from my room and another blanket.”

“This one is big enough to share.”

“Baby, I can’t share that with you if I’m going to keep my hands to myself.” He winks. My eyes fall to the prominent bulge in his gray sweatpants, and I blush. “I swear you keep me like this. It’s going to cause permanent damage. You should be ashamed of yourself,” he whispers.

Snuggling back under the cover, watching the most handsome man I’ve ever seen clean up after my kids may be getting me equally hot and bothered. Perhaps it’s simply the first time I’ve witnessed a man doting on me and my boys. But I can already tell, it’s more. Baggage and all, Harrison is the whole package. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover if this doesn’t work out with him. Because I can’t imagine there’s a man alive that could top this.

I drift into consciousness to sounds clinking in the distance and the smell of fresh coffee. Am I dreaming? I attempt to lift one lid as someone’s foot grazes my ass. My eyes spring open, now wide awake as I look at the den to find all signs of last night’s movie party gone. And so are my boys.

Crap. Are they in the kitchen? They’re probably used to fending for themselves at Rob and Jimmy’s place.

I slowly shift my weight so as not to wake Harrison, who’s lying opposite me, his head resting on his pillow at the other end of the couch, his big foot gliding up and down my leg. I’d laugh if I didn’t need to make sure my kids weren’t about to burn down his rental.

Pushing myself up, I quickly try to tamp down my bedhead, thankful for the matching pillow from Harrison’s room. How didhe manage to get that under my head without waking me up? The boys weren’t the only ones out cold after last night’s fun.

“Morning,” a voice deep and full of gravel greets me.

“Morning. I didn’t want to wake you, but I need to figure out what happened to the boys.”

Harrison’s head flies toward the floor, bolting upright when he notices all evidence of their blankets and pillows has been erased. “What the? Wow, you must be like a drill sergeant at your house.”

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