“So let me get this straight,” Beck drawled with characteristic snark. “Your saintly Catholic mother wants you—the poster boy for debauchery—to preach about one-man-one-woman wholesomeness? Should I start the slow clap now or wait for the encore?”
“Like I said, it’s peak irony. And completely futile. Those leopards aren’t changing their spots. I tried.”
“Of course they’re not. You gave them that speech when you caught them over the summer. It failed spectacularly.”
Seth winced. “She doesn’t know that, and I can’t tell her. She’d freak that I didn’t come clean.”
“Because if you had…the twins would rat you out about us.” Beck winced. “Gotta love it. So you’re supposed to fly to New York to tell them to ‘Just say no?’”
“This isn’t you running away again, is it?” Heavenly had to ask.
Seth’s stare snapped to hers. Hurt flashed across his features before he shook his head. “I’m not, angel. Since my mom called, I’ve been wondering how I could turn this situation to our advantage. I have an idea.”
Beck glanced her way, then raised a brow at Seth. “We’re listening.”
“If I can get Mom to admit she’d never care about her sons any less for being with whoever they love, that any grandchildren would be welcome no matter the circumstances… Maybe I can lay the groundwork for her to accept us.”
Relief swirled with hope in Heavenly’s chest. Not that she wanted Seth to leave or for the twins to be out of their mom’s good graces, but he was onto something. “That might actually work. Appeal to her heart.”
Seth’s voice carried conviction now. “Exactly. It won’t be easy, and her attitude won’t change overnight. But Mom asking me to come fix this situation could be a blessing in disguise.”
Beck pondered Seth for a protracted moment. “All right. But you come home to us. No matter what happens back there.”
“I will. I told her I’d fly out on Tuesday, but I have to be back by the weekend.” Seth lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. “I want you to know, I put off leaving for an extra day because you’re still in your fertile window.”
Heavenly felt a flutter of relief in her belly. His words melted away some of her lingering concerns.
“Good thinking,” Beck said, pushing back from the table. “My thoughts were on a similar path. That’s another reason I called Pike this morning and asked him to stop by. I wanted to arrange something special for us tonight. A celebration. Well, a kinky one.”
Heavenly’s pulse quickened. “What are you up to?”
With a wicked grin, he reached under the table. “All the inches I’m going to stuff you with later, but I digress. This is an adventure. Can you two get free this evening? We need to leave about an hour before dusk.”
Maybe Heavenly shouldn’t be, but she was excited. “I just have to study some and finish a paper, but it won’t take all day.”
Seth shrugged. “I’m going to do my laundry for the trip and touch base with River, let him know I’m jetting out. Other than that, I’m good. So…you going to tell us what you have in mind?”
“Nah. But I think you’ll really enjoy it. We all will.” Beck’s eyes glittered with mischief as he looked at Heavenly. “I suggest you rest up today. Oh, and I hope you can run.”
Hours later, Heavenly fidgeted anxiously in the front seat of the SUV. All afternoon, she and Seth had pelted Beck with questions about their surprise, but her sexy surgeon had remained tight-lipped, refusing to give either of them the slightest hint.
Why would she be running? She could, of course…but as quickly as Beck? And Seth was even more athletic. They’d both run circles around her.
And…what would happen if they were faster?
Dressed in head-to-toe black, Beck navigated the vehicle out of the city. The sun hung low in the horizon, painting the sky in shades of gold and crimson. It looked pretty, but Heavenly was too nervous to appreciate it.
She’d be less apprehensive if Beck had “picked” someone’s brain other than Pike’s. The taciturn, tattooed loner had proven his proclivities prowled a dark, freakishly twisted trail. Was that the reason Jasmine kept him in the friend zone?
As Beck turned off the main road and onto a gravel lane, Heavenly stared out the windshield at their rapidly changing surroundings. Through the few-and-far-between gaps in the trees, she spied a towering chain-link fence, topped with razor-wire.
Where the heck was Beck taking them?
Seth, also wearing unrelieved black, scowled from the back seat. “Are we visiting a prison?”
“No.” Beck laughed. He was keeping them both in the dark—and he was enjoying it.
Heavenly huffed. “Then what is this?—”
