He exhaled, relief softening his face. “To the man who thinks pleasing his woman is gross?”
Kylee let out a laugh and tossed a strawberry at him, which he caught effortlessly. “No, smartass. To my kids.”
Rio grinned. “That’s fair. I like your kids more than your husband anyway.”
She shook her head, laughing, but there was a truth behind it neither of them needed to say out loud.
He stood and walked around to her side of the table, pulling her gently to her feet and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Thank you,” he whispered into her hair.
“For what?” she asked, resting her chin against his chest.
“For saying yes. For giving me more time. For showing up and wrecking my entire understanding of what I thought love and lust were supposed to look like.”
Kylee leaned into him and closed her eyes, letting herself feel the warmth of his hold in this dangerous comforting exhilarating place she had no business staying in but didn’t want to leave. Not yet.
Kylee pulled back just enough to look up at him. “You’re really something, you know that?”
Rio brushed a thumb over her cheek. “You’re the only one who sees me this way.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“It’s true,” he said. “Everyone sees what they want: rock star, bad boy, party guy. But you… you look at me like I’m worth something more than the thrill. Like I’m a man. Just a man.”
She swallowed hard. “That’s how you’ve made me feel, too. Like I’m more than just… a wife. A mom. A woman holding things together.”
He kissed her forehead softly, his lips lingering. “Today’s yours. Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go, we’ll do it.”
Kylee laughed gently. “You sure you want to spend your last free day with a small-town mom who needs to get back to folding laundry and cooking casseroles?”
“Don’t downplay how sexy casseroles can be,” he teased, making her laugh harder.
She took his hand. “Alright, Mr. Riot. Surprise me
Later that day they rode his motorcycle up into the hills, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, wind in her hair, sun on her skin. They stopped at a hidden lookout spot above the city where he laid out a blanket and a cooler filled with wine, cheese, and chocolate-covered strawberries.
They laughed, fed each other, and made out like teenagers. He snapped pictures of her with an old Polaroid camera calling her his Idaho sunshine every time she smiled.
As the sky turned pink and orange, he leaned back on his elbows, watching her with a softness that didn’t match his reputation.
“You keep looking at me like you’re saying goodbye,” she whispered.
“I’m trying to memorize you,” he said. “In case this really is the end.”
She didn’t respond. Her throat tightened with the weight of it all. The kids. The lie she’d told Jake. The secret romance with a man who was turning out to be much more than she bargained for.
Back at the mansion Kylee sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her phone. Her thumb hovered for a second before she finally hit call.
Jake picked up after a few rings, voice tight.
“Hey. Are you on your way to the airport?”
Kylee hesitated, biting her lip.
“Actually… I need to stay another night. My flight got canceled.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.” Jake’s frustration was instant. “Kylee, I have to be back at the clinic tomorrow. Rachel’s already blowing up my phone about the schedule. She needs hours. She needs money. I can’t keep pushing things around. She is all over my ass!”
