Her brows pinch, and she narrows her eyes at me. When she leans forward, she exhales slowly, deliberately, and the warmth of it tickles my skin.
Those emerald-green eyes stay locked on mine. Not flustered. Not shy. Challenging.
Something tightens low in my gut. The sudden, unmistakable awareness that this woman isn’t playing along for her kids anymore. It feels like she’s choosing this. Choosing me. Choosing to stand this close.
There’s no room left in my head for restraint. No polite thought will survive this. All I can think about is putting her on her knees, forcing her to look me in the eyes while choking on my cock.
The second her plush pink lips caress my bare skin, I know I’ve fucked up. And now I have a boner in public. I move my hands in front of my crotch, willing my dick to deflate.
“Better?” she asks, a hint of snark in her tone as her eyes flick down to my pants.
“Loads,” I rasp.
“Hey, Mike, I’ve got your special order,” a voice calls from behind me, and I spin on my heel as I step up to the counter, thankful for the momentary reprieve so I can collect myself.
Carl rings me up, and I have him add Lucy’s purchase to my tab. I’m almost out the door when I hear her protest. The way she objects tells me she’s not used to anyone stepping in for her. That might be a problem. Or it might be exactly what she needs.
The store is empty now when she calls out, “Mike, you didn’t have to do that. Let me pay you back.”
“I’m headed to the firehouse. We’ll have to square up over there. That is, if you don’t have too many other things on yourlistfor today,” I say as I exit the store, not entirely confident she’ll follow, but for once hopeful that she will.
CHAPTER 9
LUCY
Did he just imply what I think he did?
Holy fuck, he does have my list.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
What do I do? Do I go to the firehouse? The boys could stand to burn off some energy, and it’s too cold for the park today. But if I go there, is he going to tease me about my list? What if he wants to help me with it? No, there’s no way he’d want to do that. He’ll probably just give it back to me and send me on my way.
Carl hands me our meat, all neatly wrapped, pulling me from my thoughts. I set Levi down, drop it in my reusable grocery bag, and walk out of the store, boys in tow, still unsure of my next move. When I get outside, Mike is nowhere to be seen, so I head toward our car.
Micah tugs on my hand. “I want to see the fire trucks.”
“Fire trucks. Wee-noo-wee-noo!” Levi sings.
“Just get in the car,” I say, buckling Levi into his car seat. Once I sit down, I grip the wheel tightly, willing away the intrusive thoughts overtaking my brain.
It’s probably nothing.
He’s probably just taking pity on an overwhelmed mom.
He probably offers up the fire trucks to every kid he meets.
He probably doesn’t even have my list. I’m just imagining the way he emphasized that word.
That’s it. It’s all in my head.
“MAMA!” Micah shouts, startling me.
I turn in my seat to look at him. “What is it, baby?”
“I’ve been calling your name.”
“Sorry, I have a lot on my mind. I didn’t hear you.”
