“You better hurry up and put that body of yours under the water before I do very inappropriate things to you in front of my son.”
I give him a disapproving smirk. He wouldn’t dare.
He leans in and nips at my bottom lip, sending a chill up my back in the sweltering heat. “I’m completely serious,” he warns with a smolder that I feel in places only he is familiar with.
“Well, I’d hate to see you put those handcuffs to use if I choose to disobey orders, Officer Kelly.” I shoot him a teasing look as I slide into the water. It’s warm but still cools my body off instantly.
He brushes his lips against my ear. “You’ll be in my handcuffs soon enough. Disobeying me has nothing to do with that.”
Good God. I was completely kidding, but by the look Ben’s currently giving me, he definitely isn’t. And I am down with whatever ways he wants to use them on me.
He backs away from me and holds Nolan out in front of him. “Show Princess Mia how you can swim, buddy.”
I hold out my hands to him, backing up to the wall. His little legs kick as hard as they can, splashing Ben in the process as he slaps his arms against the water. It takes him a little while, but he finally makes it to me with the biggest dimpled grin on his face.
“You’re like a little fish.” I wrap him up in my arms and he immediately draws me closer into a hug. He buries his face into my neck, holding on to me with all of his strength. “You give good hugs, Sir Nolan.”
“I wove you,” his husky little voice declares.
I lock eyes with Ben who is watching us intently. “I love you, too,” I vow, never drifting from Ben’s eyes. His lips part slightly as he moves closer to us. Strong arms find my waist under the water and he pulls the two of us against his chest. And we stay like that for as long as Nolan allows, Ben and I stealing kisses above Nolan’s head. It’s the best time I’ve ever had in that pool.
A perfect day with my two favorite Kelly boys.
Ben
I’ve never heard my son say I love you to anyone besides me.
Not even to my family, and I know he loves them. He is crazy about my parents and my sister. And I’m sure he loves his mom because all three-year-olds love their parents no matter how shitty they are to them. But he’s never said those words to her in front of me. Like the nose thing, those three words were something that he and I shared. Something that he kept between the two of us.
Until he met Mia.
And I can’t blame him for loving her. She is incredibly easy to love. Hearing him say it to her hit me right in my soul. It was the same way I felt when he said it to me. Like I’d just been given this amazing gift. And he meant it. My son is brutally honest with his feelings. He’ll tell you exactly how he feels and he won’t sugar coat it. He didn’t hesitate in the slightest either.
His words were strong and steady, just like I knew mine would be when she eventually heard them.
When she said it back to him, she looked right at me with those eyes that were impossible to look away from. No woman has ever looked at me the way Mia does. It was new, yet familiar at the same time. Like she’s been looking at me like that our entire lives. Like she knew me better than anyone. I was use to women staring at me because they wanted me. I was familiar with that look. That desire that was completely superficial and void of any real emotion. I could easily break away from those women. I wasn’t completely pulled in by a single fucking glance. Ready to hand over my entire life because of just one look. But that’s how it was with Mia.
When she looked at me, she saw me. My hopes, my fears, my future, that for all intents and purposes, belonged to her. She fucking owned me with that stare and I never wanted to look away.
I wanted Mia to come with me to take Nolan to Angie’s apartment. She seemed uneasy about it at first, but Nolan turned on that Kelly charm that she’d become completely helpless against. I wasn’t sure how Angie was going to take it, but honestly, I didn’t give a shit. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, Angie was very aware of my feelings toward her. I’ve always been straight forward and honest, even when I allowed the occasional blow job. And looking back, I hate that I was weak in those moments of loneliness.
But she knew we didn’t have a future, and I wanted to show off mine.
“Oh, um, I figured I would just wait in the truck.” Mia looks at me with an anxious expression as I stand outside her side of the truck.
I hadn’t mentioned that she would be walking inside with me, but she is well aware of that intention now. She hesitantly puts her hand in mine and allows me to help her down.
“Ben, really, I don’t have to go inside.”
I close the passenger door, pulling her against me and inhaling her hair. “Baby, relax. There’s no reason to be nervous. You’re the first woman I’ve ever introduced to my son’s mother.”
“That’s supposed to make me relax?” she asks with tenseness in her voice. “If anything, that makes me even more nervous.”
I gaze down at her, cocking my head to the side. “I’ve also never introduced any woman I’ve been with to Nolan before.” She seems to ease in my arms, her bottom lip finally releasing from her mouth. “That’s how much you mean to me.
