Page 50 of Riding Danger

He looked at me, his lip wobbled and I could tell he was trying to be brave. I wanted to take him into my arms and make sure nothing bad happened to him. But he was with his mother. The safest place I knew.

Shiloh picked him up, and sat with him on the sofa. Even though he was tall for nine years, he was still a little boy in her arms. “It’s okay to be scared, sweetie. Wanna talk about it?”

“You and Dad were dead.” The tears started to fall down his cheeks. “I don’t know what happened but you were both very angry and then you were gone and someone said you were dead.”

I looked over at Harry as I sat next to Shiloh. “Did he hear what happened this evening?”

A long sigh told me Harry felt guilty as hell.

“I had my police scanner on. I always do when Shi is out in the field.”

“Dad, we’ve spoken about this.” Shiloh moved Ethan to me and stood. She looked up at Harry, not an ounce of fear as she confronted the six-foot-one former Marine. “That thing is illegal and we agreed you wouldn’t use it around the kids.”

“I know.” He had the decency to at least look remorseful. “I wasn’t thinking. And I thought since you were reassigned for a while, you wouldn’t be in any danger. I never expected your man to succumb to peer pressure. He picked a fight with the Rippers.” He turned to me. “I said watch them, not provoke them.”

“They started it.” Yeah, I was being defensive. And I wasn’t even sure if I was telling the truth, but those assholes had it coming. I tightened my arms around Ethan. “Sorry, kiddo. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Ethan nodded against my shoulder. “It's okay.” Then he leaned back and frowned at me. “Who won?”

“Who won what?” I narrowed my eyes. I knew what he wanted to know but something told me Shiloh wouldn’t like my answer.

“The fight. Did the good guys at least win.”

“The good guys?” Shiloh shrieked, and I was sure there was a vein popping at her temple. “They’re all lucky your aunt didn’t press charges.”

God, she was sexy when she was pissed.

“Mom.” Ethan sat back in my lap and faced his mother. He batted his eyes at her. “If I know Dad can defend himself, it might help me sleep at night.”

Oh, he was good. I could see Shiloh was caught between frustration and wanting to placate him.

It was obvious we needed me to be the voice of reason. I moved him off my lap so I could face him. My hands cupped his cheeks and I spoke directly to him. “What I did tonight was very wrong, and stupid. Violence and fighting are never the answer to anything.”

“Dad, I know that.” He rolled his eyes in a way that told me he was going to give me a hard time in the future. “But Uncle Charlie and Uncle Keith are always very mean to Aunt Maggie.”

I turned to Shi and Harry. “They say that shit in front of the kids?”

“I don’t know what was said tonight.” Shiloh folded her arms. “But yeah, they make a point of belittling her in front of those kids.”

Ethan moved his head to get back in my line of sight. “So, tell me how you did.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Your Uncle Jason broke one of their noses and both Uncle Theo and I got some knocks in. It's fair to say we more than defended ourselves.”

“Good. Aunt Maggie, is the kindest of my aunts. She needs people defending her.”

Shiloh moved next to him and rubbed his back as she smiled at him. “In this family, we will always defend one another.”

After that,the night went smoothly. Everyone was warm and comfy at home and in bed. There was no question where Shilohwould sleep. And waking up with her knowing my son was a few feet down the hall was equal parts heaven and hell.

Heaven because that was how I wanted to wake up for the rest of my life. Shiloh’s limbs tangled with mine, her hair caught in mouth. Hell, because waking up with an erection was not something my son needed to see. I had no doubt that conversation would come, but it was still a while away.

I also had to suppress a smirk as I watched Shiloh try to race through her morning routine from my house. The space was not entirely familiar to her and she struggled with my breakfast choices. In the end she ended up making pancakes for all of us. It helped that she had requested the day off to shoot the music video with me, giving her a little extra time.

By the time I was ready to leave with Ethan, she had just about made it to the shower. And less than thirty minutes later, I had picked up Maggie’s kids and dropped all three of them at school.

Of course, she was ready for me when I arrived back home. She was wearing another one of her floral sundresses with a slit that rested high on her thigh. This one was a pale pink with deep red cherries printed on it and thicker ties at her shoulders. The stringy straps of her white bikini top peaked through, making me hard instantly.

Actually, that was a lie. Me being in a permanent state of arousal had nothing to with the white bikini. Or anything else that Shiloh wore. It all had to do with her. She turned me on by merely existing. Kissing her, touching her, loving her…loving her?

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