Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Last year I’d planned a special February fourteenth, but like most things since I met Bennett Fox, our night didn’t go as expected. We got a call that morning from Lucas. He was at the hospital with his grandmother. He’d woken up to find her unresponsive and called 911. Turned out she’d had a stroke.
A week later, she passed in her sleep while still in ICU. And our lives took an unexpected turn once again.
Two years ago, my boyfriend of eight years had dumped me on Valentine’s Day. Today I’m raising a teenager with a man who makes me want to simultaneously strangle and straddle him. Yet I’ve never been happier.
The day after Fanny died, Bennett petitioned the court for temporary custody. We filed for permanent custody a few months later. I pushed for Lucas to talk to a counselor, concerned he might be struggling with the loss of the second woman in his life to have raised him. As his guardian, Bennett went with him for a few sessions, and he wound up also seeing the counselor on his own a few times to work through his lingering guilt over the loss of Sophie. It did them both a lot of good.
I picked up the framed photo on the bookshelf in the living room and ran my finger over Sophie’s smiling face. “Don’t worry. They’re happy. I’m taking good care of your boys.”
Over the last year I’d found some solace in talking to her at different times—when Lucas was acting out, or when Bennett frustrated me with his incessant overprotectiveness. I felt eternally indebted to her for the beautiful life I had today, and I told her so often.
I heard the key in the door and leaned over the kitchen counter, exposing an eyeful of cleavage as I waited for my crazy man to come in. He opened the door, and his eyes immediately zoned in on what I displayed. Tossing his keys on the counter, he set down two bags. His eyes flickered up to mine and back down to my cleavage twice before he even noticed the apartment was filled with candles.
“Where’s Lucas?”
“Sleeping at his friend Adam’s,” I said with a coy tilt of my head.
A wicked grin crossed Bennett’s face. He walked toward me with such an intent look that goosebumps broke out over my arms. I had to work to stand still and not squirm with anticipation.
He slipped one arm around my waist and tugged me flush against him, while the other gripped the back of my neck. “I’m going to make you scream so loud, the neighbors might call the police.”
His kiss knocked the breath out of me. I had no doubt he intended to make good on his threat.
We’d had to take our sex life at home down a notch since we became full-time parents to a teen. While before we’d had sex all over the apartment—up against the wall, on the living room floor, kitchen counters, in the shower—after the arrival of Lucas, our activity needed to be somewhat confined, as did its volume.
Although that didn’t stop Bennett—he just became more creative. He’d send the entire staff home early so we could have uninhibited sex in the office. That tended to happen after the two of us had argued over how a certain account should be handled. We might be on the same team now, but a heated disagreement still made my man frisky. Sometimes I rattled him on purpose for just that reason.
“How did the meeting with Star go today?” I asked. “Did you tell Tobias I said hello?”
Bennett’s eyes flashed.
See? Just like that. One of the easiest ways to get him riled up was to poke the jealous lion. It had always been a sore spot that Star had changed their mind at the last minute and gone with my campaign. Tobias had convinced the others it was the way to go, and that had only fanned the flame of envy Bennett carried. Oh, and by the way, Pet Supplies & More went with my campaign, too. Which meant I’d won two of out three, and it would’ve been Bennett wearing the cowboy boots. But it all worked out in the end. I’d taken both my new accounts and a whole bunch of others with me when I left Foster, Burnett and Wren and went to work for The Fox Agency.
“You’re just asking to walk funny tomorrow, aren’t you, Texas?”
The nickname had stuck.
I smiled. “Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart. We broke your streak.”
Bennett’s brows drew together.
“You never had a date with a girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, remember?”
“Ah. It’s Valentine’s Day.” He smiled mischievously. “I totally forgot about that. Hate to spoil your plans.” He looked around the room. “Seems like you went to a lot of trouble. Such a shame.”
I frowned. He forgot Valentine’s Day? Other plans?