“Nope, he works Monday through Friday, then Saturday afternoon he plays softball with his friends, so he picks them up after that and then drops them back at the house Sunday after they have dinner.”

“Babe, you gotta know that’s fucked up, right? I get that he needs to work to provide for his girls, but he also needs to spend more than twenty-four hours a week with them.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you.” She loads up her burger while I do the same with mine. “It’s just how it is, and now that he’s dating someone, I doubt that’s going to change. I just hope it doesn’t get worse.”

“Worse than it is?”

She sets down the fry she’s holding and wipes her fingers on the napkin in her lap before taking a sip of her tea and clearing her throat. “My dad did the same thing when him and Mom got divorced. He married the woman he had been having an affair with, and then he stopped showing up to see me and Cece. Then eventually he forgot about us all together.”

Witnessing her pain, it takes everything in me not to pick up the table between us and toss it over the deck.

“Thankfully—” She lets out a breath. “—we got Chaz, who was willing to put in the work and earn our trust.” She smiles a sad smile. “I don’t know what my mom or my sister and I would have done without his strength during that time.”

“You don’t have any contact with your dad?” I question, already knowing the answer.

“None, and I don’t know my siblings either.”

“He had more kids?” My jaw clenches. I know it happens, but growing up like I did, seeing the love between my parents and other members of my family, divorce and secondary families are a foreign concept to me.

“Two boys. He always wanted boys, so I’m sure he’s happy.”

“It’s his loss, baby. You gotta know that. He’s missing out on knowing you, your sister, his grandkids.”

“I’m not sad.” She reaches out, grasping my hand. “I’ve had a lot of time to get over the anger I felt when it comes to him, and you’re right; it’s his loss, my gain. When he left, my mom became a better mom, and when she got with Chaz, Cece and I got a dad who wanted to be a father. It might have taken me some time to realize that, but I know that now, and I don’t take him for granted.”

“You love him.” It’s not a question. Her devotion to him is written all over her face.

“More than anything.” She picks up a fry and dips it in some ketchup on her plate before meeting my gaze once more. “I know you might disagree, but I’m praying my sister finds a Chaz for her and the girls.”

“I get why you want that for them, baby,” I tell her quietly, and I do, given her history and Mike’s lack of involvement in his kids’ lives. It’s understandable why she wants that for her sister and her nieces. It’s not about having a man around; it’s about having someone willing to step up to be what each of them needs. “Your sister will find someone, but I hope Mike pulls his head out of his ass and becomes the dad his girls need right now.”

“Me too,” she agrees then shakes her head. “Enough about that. Tell me about the house.”

“I’ll take you over there Sunday before we have lunch with your parents.” I grin when the look crosses her face that states she is clearly still nervous about that introduction. “We’ve had a full crew in there all week, so if things keep moving like they are now, we’ll be back where we were before the break-in in a couple weeks ago and should be on track to finish the build by our deadline.”

“I’m sure you and Bax are both relieved about that.”

“We are, but until we have a buyer, I don’t think we’ll relax. But I am thankful things are flowing in a direction that will lead us to putting a For Sale sign on the front lawn.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see it.” She smiles, dunking one of her fries into some ketchup before tossing it into her mouth, and I follow suit.

Once we finish eating, we clean up then take the girls for a short walk before putting in a movie. I wake up halfway through it, having passed out at some point, and find Mia asleep on my chest. Not wanting to wake her and comfortable where I am, I drag the blanket off the back of the couch, tossing it over us before flipping off the TV and falling back to sleep.

_______________

“I can’t be late to work,” Mia whispers against my mouth as I walk her backward from the bathroom toward the bed.

“You won’t be late,” I assure her, helping her out of my shirt she put on this morning before we ate breakfast.

“This has to be fast.”

“It will be fast.” I start to trail my mouth down her neck to her breast then smile as she turns so she can push me back onto the bed and climb up to straddle my hips. When her wet heat rubs against the head of my cock, I fight back a curse and wrap my hands around her waist. “We need a condom.”

“Right,” she agrees in a daze as I reach for the drawer where I dumped about eight dozen condoms last week. “I need—” Her teeth nip my neck then shoulder. “—to make an appointment to get on birth control.”

“Fuck.” My cock throbs at the idea of being in her without anything between us, but knowing that isn’t going to happen now, I focus on the task at hand and rip open the condom I’m holding and somehow manage to put it on. “Jesus, baby,” I hiss, capturing both her breasts in my hands as she slides down my length and begins to ride me, her head tilted forward, her eyes on mine.

“You feel so good. I missed this,” she rasps, riding me harder as her hips swirl in tight circles.

I want to take over. I want to fuck her until she screams. But seeing her like she is, I don’t. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than her working herself to release on my cock.

“I’m so close.” Her hips roll, and I drop my hands to her hips and tighten them in response, urging her on and holding her steady, building the release I know will come. I watch in fascination as her head falls back to her shoulders then groan when she falls forward to cover my mouth with hers. I take over the kiss, thrusting my tongue into her mouth, then roll her to her back and sink into her as my thumb finds her clit, swirling twice. I bite back a curse when she comes, her walls tightening, sending me over the edge. With three more thrusts, I plant myself deep inside her as her arms and legs wrap around me, holding me tight. I close my eyes then take the last bit of strength I have to roll to my back, bringing her with me.

“Call out of work and spend the day with me,” I say as my heartbeat begins to slow and my breathing begins to return to normal.

“I wish I could.” She tips her head back to meet my gaze. “If I didn’t have a scheduled meeting with Ken and Harry this afternoon, I would.”

“You have a meeting with Harry?”

She kisses my chest as I tuck some hair behind her ear. “He’s buying twelve trucks for his company, and Ken wants me there, because it’s going to be his biggest sale since opening the dealership.”

“That’s big for you, baby.”

“It is, but it isn’t.”

“What do you mean?”