Ryker holds up his phone.“I’ve got that covered.”
Five hours, three deliveries, and one visit from Maverick, his wife, Emmie, and Rosie later, Kyrie has a room, complete with a crib, a rocking chair, and a changing table. Who knew how fast you could everything a baby needs from Target. She’s stocked on diapers, clothes, and all the baby essentials, and she’s got my favorite eight-year-old already wrapped around her tiny little finger. Rosie’s in love. She’s already decided she needs to come back tomorrow to spend more time with her and is asking Mav and Emmie when she can have a baby sister.
Not gonna lie. The way those two fuck like bunnies, I’m surprised they haven’t fulfilled that request yet.
My kitchen is stocked with formula, every kind of baby bottle Target could deliver, and more sterilizing equipment than I think was even in existence when Rosie was Kyrie’s age. But Ashton and Kyrie are here and settled and safe, so for now, I guess it’s a start.
It’s close to eleven that night when I walk into the kitchen to find Ashton hand-washing a bottle. Her dark hair is piled high on her head, and a cropped, threadbare Baltimore Sentinels T-shirt hangs off one shoulder, showing a tiny sliver of skin abovethe waistband of her flannel pajama pants, reminding me of the days when our dads played for the team before they both retired and Carmichael moved here to coach the Kings.
“Hey,” I murmur as I slip by her and open the fridge. “Kyrie sleeping?”
She drops the bottle on the drying rack, something Maverick insisted she needed, and looks over her shoulder at me, every line in her beautiful body tense and tight. “Yeah. For now.”
“Good.” I grab a bottle of water and hold it out for her, but she shakes her head. “Suit yourself.”
“Jamie,” she stops me, exhaustion and frustration battling for dominance in her voice. “Thank you.” Ashton turns to face me, her hands braced on the counter behind her back, curving her spine and doing nothing to hide her silhouette under her clothes. “For everything.”
I stand on the other side of the kitchen, knowing she can’t handle serious. Not now. Not after the day she’s had. “Don’t thank me yet, Ace.”
Her head tilts, and a dark curl falls free from her bun as a smile tugs at her lips. “Oh... Why not?”
I cross the room and bend my knees, bringing our faces close, and love the way her breath catches from the invasion of her space. “Because I’m still me, and you’re still you, and we might hate each other, but even after your day from hell, I’d bet every last penny in my bank account that you can still feel every inch of me inside you.”
Her cheeks flame, and her lips part before she presses her palms to my chest and pushes me away. “Please,” she barely manages to force past her lips just above a whisper. “You’d have to have left an impression last night for me to even be thinking about you today, charmer.”
I take a step back, granting her the space she thinks she needs.
“Oh, you felt me all right, Ace.” I lean in for a split-second, my lips ghosting over the shell of her ear. “And you’re going to beg to feel me again.”
Ashton lifts her chin, ready to do battle, which is so much better than the broken woman I’ve watched all day. “Last night was a mistake, and it’s not one we’re making again.”
“Didn’t feel like a mistake to me,” I push, ready to argue for as long as she needs, as long as it means she gets some of her fight back. “Felt pretty damn good and pretty damn right,” I add, and fuck if I know why.
It’s been years since something about this woman has felt anything but fucking frustrating.
She’s so close, I can smell the scent of cherries lingering on her skin, as I lean in. “It felt like something we should do again.”
“It felt like something I wish had never happened,” she snaps. “Something I don’t want your brother, my best friend, to even know about.”
I slide my arms along either side of her, careful not to touch as I grip the counter behind her back, caging Ashton in. “Not what you were saying when you were riding my cock last night, Ace.”
She sucks in a breath, and I swear to God, I go from a semi to rock fucking hard in the span of one heartbeat.
“That won’t be happening again either,” she whispers low and slow as she slips out from under my arms. “I mean it, Jamie. I don’t want Finn to know about this.”
After a stare-off, where this woman musters all the fire she’s got left to stare me down, I grin. “Whatever you say, Ashton.”
“That’s what I say, Murphy.” She takes the unopened water bottle out of my hand. “Thanks.”
“What’s mine is yours,” I laugh as I watch her turn and walk right by Ryker, who no doubt just got a show from the doorway.
Ashton nods at Ryker as she walks out of the kitchen, and the son of a bitch crosses the room, laughing.“Finn might not be the one tapping that, but it sure as hell looked like you are.”
“Worry about yourself, Beneventi,” I growl and leave the shit head behind me, trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing and why I’m enjoying it so much.
Mom
Would someone like to tell us why we were just informed there’s a woman with a baby living in your house, boys?
