My two boys. They’re so close. They have been since Chase was a baby. I can’t help but wonder how this development with Angie will affect them. They’ve never spent more than a couple of hours apart.
If Nolan goes back to spending days at a time with Angie, how much will they mourn each other? Chase won’t understand it. And Nolan . . . I just can’t see him being okay with leaving his best friend like that. He adores his brother.
“Chasey, watch!” Nolan drops down to his knees in the sand and falls over, doing a belly flop on the miniature castle he just constructed. “I’m the new king! And I’m gonna build a bigger castle on these lands! With a moat!”
Chase toddles over to Nolan and collapses next to him, laughing and yelling his little, “Na Na”, trying his hardest to say his brother’s name.
“Chasey, say Nolan. Nolllan. Like this. Watch me. Nolllan.”
“Na Na.”
“Nolllannn.”
“Na.”
“Chasey! You’re killing me!”
I giggle, resting my chin on my fist, watching the two of them play and laugh together.
God, why did this have to happen now? I thought we had another year until I had to worry about Angie dividing our family.
I can’t deal with this. Nolan and Chase shouldn’t have to deal with this. She can’t just . . .
Heavy footsteps behind me draw my attention off of the boys and over my shoulder.
Ben descends the stairs, his head lifted as he looks out into the yard. The hint of a smile on his lips.
He loves seeing Nolan and Chase play together. I know he missed that a lot the past two months.
He claims the spot next to me on the step, leaning forward and resting his thick forearms on his knees, pressing the side of his body into mine.
“You were on the phone a while,” I say, my voice so quiet I barely hear it over the worrying thoughts corroding my mind. “Did she have a lot to say?”
“No.”
His brief and exceptionally vague response peaks my attention.
My eyes narrow in on the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he watches the boys. “What . . . Why do you look like that?”
He turns his head. “Like what?”
“Like you are hiding something from me.” I frown. My shoulders drop a little. “Ben, what’s going on?”
Christ, what now? And why would any part of this be amusing?
He grabs my hand and brings it to his mouth, kissing the back of it. “I’m taking Nolan over there tomorrow after I get off work. Their visit will be brief. Angie knows that. I don’t know if she had a lot to say or not. I said my piece and hung up.”
Confused, I stare at him. “Okay.”
He laughs a little. “I’m not fighting a grin ‘cause of that, Angel. Believe me. I don’t want to deal with this shit. I’d rather keep Nolan away from Angie, but I know this will keep things more amicable and in the end, it’ll only benefit us. I’m sorry. Don’t think I’m happy about anything involving her. I have other things on my mind I’m thinking about. Things involving you and me. I’m excited. I can’t help it.”
I blink.
He’s excited? Things involving him and me? What things? I want to be excited about something.
Leaning into his shoulder, I glare at him, pursing my lips and fighting my own smile. “Care to share, Officer?”
“That would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?”
“It’s a surprise?”
He grins. Those two massive dimples appear.
I exhale sharply.
Sheesh. How are dimples even sexy? They’re supposed to be cute. A quirky abnormality. But on Ben, they’re downright lethal. Dangerously alluring. I can barely think straight when he smiles at me like this.
And him smiling right now is the only response he’s giving up. He isn’t going to tell me anything about this surprise of his.
Well . . . two can play at this game.
Sitting up a little taller, I steal my hand back and turn my head, looking out into the yard. “I have a surprise too. A kinky surprise. It’s epic to the nth degree. Probably illegal.” I smirk when I feel his eyes on me. “Not telling you anything about it either.”
“When is this surprise going down?”
“Tomorrow.”
I pinch my eyes shut, clenching my teeth and growling, annoyed with myself for not holding to my previous statement. A little annoyed with Ben for getting information out of me so easily.
Pathetic. I can never keep anything from my husband. Just being in his presence is like taking a shot of truth serum. And this is a good surprise! It should be kept secret.
Come on, Mia. Play the game well or don’t put yourself in it.
“That’s all you’re getting,” I promise. I actually sound convincing.
Ben leans further into me. His nose brushes against my hair. “This surprise have anything to do with that sexy as fuck slip you were wearing today when I was pushing inside of you?” he asks quietly, even though there is no way the boys can hear us right now. They are too far away and being too noisy themselves.
Still. Whispered words have a bit more indecency to them than things spoken at normal octaves. And Ben is all about the indecency.
I tilt my chin. My cheeks burn.
Damn it.