Page 29 of Nothing to This

“She and Brenna won’t let me forget.Kye’s going next week, right?”

“He is,” she said.“I promised Sky we’d have a girlie afternoon; I’ll do her hair and nails.”

“You telling me I have to clear out next Saturday?”

“You could go shopping with your son.”

He laughed.“Take him to my tailor?”

“He’s a little young for that.My kids buy off the rack.”

“I can change that,” he said.

It was ironic that Brenna threatened he’d be a SpaghettiOs dad.Gifts were fine, to a point.She didn’t want her children spoiled.

“You will not.Your mom takes care of all the spoiling they need.”He laughed.“You should put the movie on or they’ll be tired and grumpy all day tomorrow.”

“Any last-minute advice before bedtime?”

She didn’t have to think for long.“Don’t sleep naked.”

A sound from the living room matched the sound of surprise that came down the phone.She’d managed to shock both Baxter and JD simultaneously.

“Excuse me?”the latter asked.

“If they shout you in the night or get sick, you’ll have to move fast… and you’re pretty much guaranteed to wake up in the morning with at least one of them in your bed… so no late-night booty calls.”

“Damn.I had a couple of Russian models on speed dial.”

Opening her mouth, she kept her mock laugh loud.“I love to rain on your parade,” she said.“Keep ‘em safe.”

Hanging up the phone, she looked down at the handset.She missed her babies and their voices already.

“I’m going to bed,” Baxter said, pulling her from her reflection.

He was on his way to the bedroom when she left the table, his tone betrayed his grouchy mood.Hadn’t they got over that fight?

Drawing in a breath, this wasn’t going to be a quick fix.With two men to wrangle, she couldn’t lose sight of her babies being a priority.

Life didn’t like making things easy, but she didn’t live in hardship.If she had to do a dance to keep things in balance, that’s what she’d do.

TEN

“So you didn’t have sex?”Brenna asked.

“No,” she said, rearranging her salad.

It probably tasted great, she just couldn’t get excited about it.Food was the furthest thing from her mind.

Usually, she looked forward to her time with Brenna.They ate lunch together several times a week.Without Brenna as an outlet, insanity was a real possibility.

“Did you want to have sex?”Brenna asked.“Did you… you know?”

Trying to figure out her friend, she frowned.“Did I what?”

Brenna shrugged.“I don’t know, do whatever you do to get a penis interested.”

Trust Brenna to make her laugh in a melancholy moment.“Get a penis interested?You’re asking if I tried to initiate sex?No, I didn’t.”