Sullivan chuckled with her, rested his hand holding the reins on the horn of the saddle, and breathed in the fresh air. Birds sang and chirped in every direction as shafts of the golden sun lit up the meadow in patches. The others were well ahead of him, and after hearing Mason was athletic and taking the private moment, he said, “We haven’t discussed all this yet, but sports and everything else are expensive, and I owe you child support.”
She shook her head, adamant. “You don’t need—”
“I do. I need to,” he countered.
The sun hit her face just right, bringing out the red hues in her hair. She watched him closely then offered, “All right, then let’s do this; we’ll get in contact with a lawyer and see how much you would have paid. Whatever that amount is, let’s put it into a savings account for him for college. Is that fair?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Makes sense.”
She smiled and exhaled, tipping her head back and soaking up the last couple of hours of daylight. She’d never looked more beautiful as she continued, “We can talk later about financial help going forward once we get everything else figured out.”
He understood. A lot hung in the balance.
She glanced his way again and added, “I think the biggest thing to work out is the logistics. I mean, are you even set up for him to visit you in Boston?”
“I’ve got a condo.” The space was set up for a busy bachelor. He had no backyard. No play gym. “It’s not exactly kid-friendly, but I can move.”
“Really?” she asked, brows lifted. “You’re going to move, just like that?”
“Without a doubt,” he said, adamant. “I’ll do what Mason needs.”
Slight hesitation crossed her face, erasing the gentle peace he’d witnessed a moment ago. “While I appreciate everything you’re doing and plan to do going forward, I know this is a lot. Mason changed my life in huge ways when he came into the picture, and I had months to get ready for him. I can only imagine how jarring this all is.” She stopped her horse, and he pulled on his reins too as she added, “So, I want you to understand that it’s okay if we take two steps forward, one step back. We don’t need to rush anything. We need to let Mason get to know you, and you get to know him. For now, when you go back to Boston, we can FaceTime or Zoom. Maybe I can fly out with him and we can come to a game. Once the season is over, you can find a place and get settled. And if Mason wants to, he can come out for a visit. Okay?”
Yeah, he liked that idea, but… “What if I decide not to leave River Rock?”
“That’s silly,” she said with a snort. “What are you going to do, retire from baseball?”
“It is one option,” he told her.
She rolled her eyes as her horse started walking again. “Again, that’s silly.”
His horse quickly caught up. “Why is it silly?”
A big cloud drifted overhead, shadowing Clara as she said, “Because playing baseball is your dream, and you’re damn good at it.”
He considered, and the thought of leaving baseball gutted him. But at the same time, things had changed. He didn’t feel like the guy he’d been before the suspension. “But dreams change, people change.”
“Don’t do that,” she snapped, stopping her horse once more. Her firm gaze met his. “The greatest thing you could ever teach Mason is that living your passion and following your dreams is important. We can make this work. Sure, it might take a little wrangling to figure out the logistics, but please, don’t for one second think I would want you to walk away from baseball. In fact, that would break my heart. Baseball is in your soul. You retire when you’re ready, not because of us. I won’t have that. All right?”
Damn, he loved when she told things straight. It reminded him she wasn’t a young twenty-one-year-old woman anymore. She was twenty-eight and had her shit together. He liked that. Hell, he respected and envied that. “All right,” he said, before watching as she trotted off toward Mason.
Sullivan’s gaze fell to Amelia and Beckett, and seeing his friend’s longing for her made things very clear. He didn’t want to be longing for Clara. He wanted to be with Clara. He’d made the mistakes in the past, but then and there, he promised himself that he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.
Long after the ride was over, and with Mason tucked away in bed and sound asleep, Clara stripped off her clothes, tossing them into the laundry hamper in the closet. Amelia had decided to go into the city for the night and was sleeping over at Luka’s, so Clara embraced a side of herself that rarely came out to play. She turned the mama-mode switch off and settled into the naked skin of a woman needing some hot pleasure. She clicked the lock on her bedroom closed and then turned her attention to the shower, where Sullivan was washing off from the long ride. Heat and desire flooded her as she moved into the bathroom, her nipples puckering in anticipation. Years back, she’d been more reserved, shy. She wasn’t that twenty-one-year-old woman anymore. She knew what she wanted, and the gorgeous sculpted-to-pure-perfection man behind the shower curtain was exactly who she wanted. “Sullivan,” she called, not wanting to scare him.
“Be done in a minute,” he answered.
Yeah, not good enough for her. She pulled the shower curtain aside and got a good look at Sullivan Keene soaking wet, partly covered in soap. His muscular physique was in tip-top shape, his skin a gorgeous golden, and an impressively thick cock was growing harder with every second that he watched her.
He made a low noise in the back of his throat, scanning over her naked flesh. Then he arched an eyebrow. “Well, now, that’s the look of a woman who wants something.”
“I’ll start with your mouth,” she said, climbing into the shower and closing the curtain behind her.
He grinned, his damp hair falling over his brow. “Bossy, huh?”
“Not bossy,” she corrected. “Horny.”
His gaze roamed over her parted lips before his heated stare returned to hers. “Best I see to that, then.” He slid an arm around her and pulling her under the shower’s head. His gaze followed the water sliding down her chest, and he slid his hand lower against the small of her back, pulling her up against his erection.