I’d had a feeling it was coming, so I blew out a breath and agreed to call her when we got home.

Hyde took his sweet time getting ready for his bath and then fought me like he usually did when I tried to put him to bed. I didn’t mind him crawling in with me after he woke up in the middle of the night, but I always insisted he start the night out in his own bed. I turned the night-light on, curled up with him, and read him a bedtime story. His eyes drifted shut and he was nearly asleep when he mumbled, “You promised to call Sayer.”

“I will.” And I would, after he was asleep, so he didn’t see me pacing around the house like a nervous wreck.

I peeled out of my clothes and plopped down on the bed before bringing her name up in my contacts. I hit the send button and held my breath until her sleepy voice came across the line. I hadn’t even looked at the clock, but when I did it was only a little bit past ten.

“Did I wake you up?”

She let out a strangled-sounding laugh. “Uh, no. I haven’t been sleeping very well. Is everything all right?”

I wondered if she wasn’t sleeping because I wasn’t there next to her. I really hoped that was the case. My dick went hard at just the sound of her voice. I shouldn’t be the only one suffering because we weren’t together.

“Everything is fine. I was actually calling for a favor. My mom can’t watch Hyde tomorrow and my sister is out of town. He’s really sensitive about who he’s left with during the day when I go to work and when I asked him who he wanted to spend the day with he said you.”

“Me?” She sounded shocked.

“Yeah, you. He likes you and he misses seeing you.” He wasn’t the only one under this roof that felt that way.

“Um, sure. Bring him over. I have a little bit of work to do from home tomorrow, but I can tackle it before you get here.”

“Nice. He’ll be stoked.”

“Oh . . . yeah, well, I will be, too. I’ve missed seeing him.”

I missed that “oh.” I missed kissing it and sucking it in. I missed it wrapped around my dick as her mouth moved on me. I missed her screaming it in surprise every time I made her come for the second time. I missed the soft shock on her face when she said “oh” after every time she surprised herself.

“Yeah, oh. You can see him . . . and me . . . anytime you want to, Say. You just have to make that choice. I’ll see you in the morning and have a good night.”

She made a strangled sound in her throat and I could clearly see her putting her hand up to the base of her neck like she did when she was trying to work out how she felt about something. “You have a good night too, Zeb.”

I hung up the phone and tossed it on the empty side of the bed . . . the side of the bed she should be on.

CHAPTER 17

Sayer

I had a motion I was supposed to be working on before Zeb showed up with Hyde, but obviously I couldn’t concentrate to save my life. Instead of screwing up my entire case, I decided I would try and make pancakes for breakfast. I figured all little kids liked pancakes for breakfast, so I threw on a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater and ran to the store so I could buy the mix. While I was there I also grabbed some fruit and some snacks. My cupboard was most definitely not kid-friendly, in fact, it wasn’t very adult-friendly either. I was running behind by the time I checked out and tossed everything into the car, so I was scrambling around the kitchen and staring at the clock on the stove instead of paying attention to what I was supposed to be doing with the pancakes.

It was premade mix, so it should have been impossible to mess up. Impossible for anyone but me. A plume of smoke wafted up from the top of the stove and had me coughing and frantically dumping the entire pan, blackened batter and all, into the sink and running water over it in the hopes that the smoke detectors in the house wouldn’t go off. I burned my fingertips and I was pretty sure I had batter in my hair. I was throwing every dirty word I had in my vocabulary at the mess when a shrill sound echoed through the house.

At first I thought I wasn’t fast enough with the disaster on the stove and the detectors were going off anyway, but then there was a pause before the noise started up again and I realized it was someone ringing the doorbell. I rushed out of the kitchen so fast I tripped over my own feet and landed on my hands and knees with a soft “oomph.” I was freaking out on the inside and outside, but I needed to get my act together or the bell was going to wake up Poppy and Zeb was going to see what a wreck I was and not trust me with Hyde.

I pulled open the door just as Hyde was standing on his tiptoes to reach for the bell again. He fell back down on his feet and grinned up at me. God, he looked so much like the unreadable man standing behind him. I wondered if it was rude to stare at him all day long while I mourned the time we had spent apart.

“Hey.”

“What’s on your face?” Hyde pointed at his own cheek and I used the back of my hand to rub at the sticky batter that was stuck there.

I sighed and ushered them both into the house. “I tried to make pancakes for breakfast. It didn’t go so well.”

Hyde’s grin got even bigger and Zeb lifted an eyebrow at me. “Why were you trying to make pancakes?”

I shrugged and tried to keep my eyes from hungrily eating him up. He was so close, but the distance between us gaped wide and vast. “I thought Hyde might like them for breakfast. I figured they would be easy enough. I was wrong.”

He shook his dark head and a reluctant smile pulled out his mouth. It made his beard twitch and his green eyes shine.

“You can pass the bar exam in not one but two states but not figure out how to make pancakes?”

I bristled a little and crossed my arms over my chest. “If I want pancakes I usually just go somewhere and have someone make them for me.”

He chuckled at me and reached out to tug Hyde’s gloves, coat, and hat off. “The little man isn’t too fussy when it comes to breakfast, but if he tells you all I feed him is pizza, he’s lying.” Hyde made a face as Zeb reached out to ruffle his hair. “You’re doing us a solid by hanging out with him all day, isn’t that right, buddy?”

Hyde nodded vigorously and walked over to take my hand. I looked down at him and couldn’t help but smile at that adorable face.

“If you want pancakes, Sayer, I’ll help make them. I’m a good helper, aren’t I, Zeb?”