Pierced Hearts (Southern Charmers 1)

“The smell of sweat turns you on?”

Her head pops up, mischief filling her eyes. “No, the smell of suntan lotion mixed with salty air, the warmth of the sun on your skin from a day outdoors, all of it combined with you is what I love.”

“And sex.”

“Sex?” She quirks an eyebrow.

“All of that combined with sex. We smell like sex.”

My chest tightens at the shrug of her shoulders as she lowers her lips back to my stomach. I do an ab crunch, cup her under the armpits, and bring her body to lay over mine. My fingers sift through her hair as I search her face. “Are you okay?”

“Of course.”

“I was pretty rough with you earlier.”

“No, you weren’t, Pierce. We’ve talked about this before. I can handle it.”

“The drive over here, I was pissed as hell. Took one look at you, and the shit I went through today faded. You did that. Something in me snapped, and I physically needed you.”

“Do I want to know why your trip to the water park was awful?”

“Connie showed up and made a big deal about the family spending time together. Then, she proceeded to make things worse every time she opened her mouth. She openly thanked me for our time together on Friday night and for making sure she got home safely, all of this in front of the kids, who thought I was at a business dinner. When she took off her cover-up, her bikini was ridiculously inappropriate for a family water park. She strutted around like we were at a beach on Monte Carlo. Maya and Cole both found friends to hang with, leaving me to deal with her. I saw some clients and escaped just to be blindsided when she wrapped her arm around my waist and announced our kids were hungry and we should feed them. This was bullshit because they were nowhere to be found. She was trying to make a point.”

“It sounds pathetic.”

“Well, then Maya found us, and she actually was hungry, so I was forced to buy Connie lunch. She constantly made references to us as a family, sending the kids down a spiral of confusion. The only good thing that came out of it was, since Connie was already there and it’s her night to get them, they went home with her. I missed out on an hour, but I came straight to you.”

“There was no mention of Friday night at all?”

“Nothing other than her embellishing. I didn’t care enough to ask how she got her car the next day. Tomorrow, I’m going to handle her.”

I wait, anticipating her to throw back one of her illogical arguments. Instead, she shocks me by saying, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I know you expect me to disagree, but I think it’s best. This is no longer only about me. This is about sending mixed messages to your children, drawing lines on what you allow and the consequences when those boundaries are crossed, and your right to have a personal life. Connie can not control or dictate what happens with you.”

“Glad to see you’ve come around.” I grin.

“You can wipe that cocky grin off your face right now. The Pierce Kendrick fan club has gained two new members that ganged up on me Friday night and may have had an influence.”

“Remind me to thank them. But I’d hardly say two people is a fan club.”

“My family and your family—would that be enough to label it a fan club?”

My pulse picks up at the perceptive glint in her eyes.

She tries to roll over, but I drop my hands to her hips to hold her in place. “Where’re you going?”

“I should find my clothes for this conversation.”

“Not happening. Whatever you have to say can be discussed naked while lying on top of me.”

“That gives you a huge advantage.”

“I’ll take any advantage I can. When it comes to you, I need to play dirty.”

“Playing dirty is the perfect cliché.”

“Depends. Tell me what I’m going against here.”

“How about every single person in my life conspiring to bring me back home before I even start my new job?”

“I’m not sure I’d call it conspiring.”

She slants her head, and a flicker of irritation sparks in her narrowed eyes.

Yep, we’re definitely having this conversation with her naked and trapped to me. “Tell me what happened.”

She blows out an incensed breath and starts. “Stephanie and Scottie are entirely too confident that things between us are going to progress. They had a rebuttal for every point I tried to make. True legal experts. Then, Scottie said something about my contract with Brasher. Stephanie shut down all my questions. It piqued my curiosity, so after I dropped them at the airport, I came home to comb through that damn contract.”

Every muscle in my body goes rigid. Evin just mentioned the clauses and addendums Stephanie added.