“Hey, Tyler, want to go four-wheeling with Little A and me this weekend?” I asked over dessert.
“Me? Really? You want me?”
I knew Aston Junior needed it, and Tyler deserved some extra attention. That prick, Seth, had done a number on his own kid, and I wasn’t going to stand for it.
I also knew better than to argue with Bexley about it. It was time for me to take matters into my own hands. She would pussyfoot around how we had to be nice to Seth. Everyone might think he was a good guy, but he wasn’t. Plus, this made me feel a bit better about my other kids missing this dinner.
“Yeah, you,” I told Tyler. “We like to get in a ride or four and then grab pizza. Sound good?”
“Yes!” The kid practically shot out of his seat and through the roof. “Mom, can I? Please?”
Bexley looked straight at me, and all I did was smile. I had her.
“Of course, baby,” she said to Tyler, who scowled at that.
“I’m not a baby.”
“I know.” Bexley smiled at him, her eyes crinkling a tiny bit.
I loved the way she adored her children. Our children.
“Aston?” Piper said to me. “I mean, Dad?”
“What’s up?” I said casually, not wanting to admit how it cut me like a knife when she called me by my first name, and how it made my heart pound when she called me Dad.
“Do you think Mara could hang with us? I mean, if you have Denise set up, maybe she can take a day off?”
“Would that be okay with you?” I asked Bexley.
“Of course,” she said with that same comforting smile she reserved for the kids.
I grinned at Piper. “Of course, then.”
“Fun! Mom, can we go to the nail place? I want to get my soccer team colors, and Mar would love that. Please?”
Bexley turned to me. “Is that okay?”
I held up my hands. “Look, let’s stop with all the is it okays. If it’s okay for your kids, then it’s okay for mine. Let’s be honest . . . they’re all my kids.”
Tyler’s hopeful gaze landed on me.
“You too, bud,” I said to him, then looked at Bexley. “You get the nails taken care of, and I’ll pay. Done. Is it time to clean up?”
Bexley glanced around the table. “Everyone full?”
They all nodded, and we started clearing dishes.
“See? That was great,” I said to Bexley, who had a glass of wine in her right hand, and her left hand in mine. The kids were both in their rooms, tucked safely in bed, and we were sitting in the kitchen.
“I didn’t like that Aston and Mara weren’t here,” she said, and I fell for her for the millionth time.
“Yeah, that sucked. But when I planned to come over, I wasn’t sure what would happen, and so I had Denise take them to see Cass.”
Sipping her wine, Bexley looked at me, her brow furrowed, and I could tell she wanted to say something.
“What?” I asked.
“I shouldn’t say it, but I think they would have been happier being turned away from here than going to see Cass.”
“You can say whatever you want to me, and you’re not wrong. They would’ve been happier here.”
Her fingers ran over mine, drawing small shapes. “So, from now on, we’ll all be together?”
“Yes, if that’s what you want.”
She nodded, a small tear forming in the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you during these last few weeks.”
Gathering her close, I encouraged her to set her wineglass on the counter. My lips found her forehead, and I spoke quietly. “I deserved you shutting me out, but I told you I was going to fight for you. Now I did, and I want you back. All of you. Tyler and Piper and my kids as one.”
Her lips found mine. Our mouths lingered together as she said, “It’s always been you, Aston. Always.” She didn’t give me a chance to answer, kissing me harder, opening her mouth to me.
“Slow down,” I told her, bringing our foreheads together.
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, absolutely not. I just need to slow for a minute to tell you it’s always been you for me too. Always.” I repeated her words to her, but it was the truth. “I love you. I know it was my fault that we were cheated out of many years, but we’re here now, together, and I want this. More than anything.”
“Me too.” Her reply was soft, but urgent in tone.
As her eyes ate up every inch of me, I felt myself morphing from nice guy to caveman. I wanted that look to be for me, and only me.
“How will this work?” she asked.
In my mind, we’d all move in together, and I’d provide for the family we were meant to be. The family my dad almost denied me. But I didn’t say any of that.
Instead, I said, “Don’t worry about that. It will.”
Without any more words or plans, we kissed, our tongues exploring each other’s mouths, my palm running the length of her back.
Bexley stalled the kiss. “It’s okay if you have to leave and head home to the kids.”
“No, Denise is there. I told her I’d be home in the morning.”
Tilting her head back, Bexley said, “So, that’s the way it is? You were that cocky?”
“Maybe,” I said on a wink, then murmured in her ear, “Aston Prescott.”
“Stop,” she said, pretending to protest with a smile on her face.
“You know you like it. It turns you on,” I said softly, my lips tickling along her earlobe.
“It does.” She ran her hands down my arms, staring at me.
“Can we go to bed?” I asked, more than hopeful.
Bexley nodded and took my hand, her glass of wine forgotten on the counter. I turned off the light and followed her.
Inside her bedroom, she held up a
