“Wow.” It wasn’t so hard to exaggerate my enthusiasm when it was about the cutest thing I’d ever seen. “I love it.”
I doubted so much that Tamar did.
I leaned over and kissed the top of his head, savoring in his sweet scent.
Penny met my eye. Cautious and knowing and sweet. “Mom, you look really pretty.”
My smile wobbled, and I fidgeted with my hair. “That’s nice of you, but I think I might have—”
The whistle and catcall coming from behind stalled the words, and I spun around with a glare. Eyes narrowing on the culprit.
“Holy Mia-Moly. You are some kinda sight, darlin’. Are you trying to knock the whole town dead?” Ash grinned from behind the counter, his thick, muscled arms planted on the island as he grinned across at me with his ridiculous dimples.
I rolled my eyes at Ash. “Hardly.”
“He’s right, Mia. You look HOT, mama,” Edie said.
A blush gathered somewhere on my chest, the silky, lacy tank I was wearing under my jacket suddenly feeling too thin.
“You look stunning,” Willow told me with one of her gentle smiles.
“I look ridiculous.”
Ash pointed at me. “Oh, people are most definitely going to be staring at you tonight, but it’s not because you look ridiculous.”
Redness crept to my cheeks. I wasn’t typically shy, but I was most definitely self-conscious of the fact I’d just spent the last three hours in front of the mirror getting ready.
Or really, the reason I’d done it.
So nervous. Wanting to look pretty for the man who had me in a fist.
Lyrik froze when he caught sight of me.
All kinds of protective.
Tamar smacked his chest. “You let one thing come out of that mouth, and I’m going to make you pay for it later.”
She even made that sound sexy.
He grunted.
“You look amazing,” she mouthed at me from across the kitchen.
“I . . . um . . . are you sure you’re going to be okay with the kids?”
Tamar laughed one of her sultry sounds. “Uh . . . if you’re worried it’s your children who are tearing down the house, look behind you. I think two more aren’t gonna make a difference.”
I worried my bottom lip, glancing behind me, back to her.
“Maybe I should stay.”
“Let me think.” She tilted pursed lips toward the ceiling for one second, tapping her chin, before she dropped her attention back to me. “Nope. You shouldn’t. Go. Have a blast. We have them.”
“Got them, Mia,” Lyrik reassured me. “You don’t have anything to be concerned about. All of us have them under our watch.” My brother lifted his chin. “Tamar is right. You should go. Have a good time. You deserve a night just for yourself.”
I gave him an unsure nod. “Okay.”
“Just . . .” He glanced out the windows to the backyard. His muscles twitched. The meaning of his real concern clear. He moved toward me. Slowly. The words quieted and only for me. “Be careful. Don’t take shit from anyone. But more than that? Go after what you want, Mia. What your heart tells you. Don’t you dare feel guilty for chasing down what makes you happy. You got me?”
There was something in his statement that impaled me deep. My chest stretching tight in appreciation, those nerves going for another tumble.
“Thank you.” The words trembled.
I moved in to give my brother a quick hug, but he didn’t release me, instead muttered at my ear, “He hurts you, he can kiss his dick goodbye.”
“Lyrik,” I mumbled, subduing laughter, pushing away from him.
He chuckled and squeezed my hand. “Have fun, baby sister.”
“I will.”
I gave a timid wave to everyone, all those eyes on me, feeling exposed. I moved to my babies, hugged my sweet girl. “Have fun tonight.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. We’re fine. I promise.”
I kissed her forehead, loving the child that she was.
I had to chase down Greyson to get one of those hugs, the kid squirming all over the place, laughing like crazy as he played hard to get.
Finally, I pried myself away, and I sucked in a steeling breath as I released the latch way up high on the backdoor and stepped out into the stagnant heat of the late afternoon.
Sunlight blazed down through the bluest sky.
A wicked grin slid over his face when he saw me coming into view where he stood on the patio of the guest house.
Waiting.
Watching for me.
Need boiled my blood.
Instant.
Man wearing jeans and a tee and sex on his skin.
All that terrifying beauty rippling under the sun.
My stomach tipped to the side, want sloshing over.
He stepped down and headed my direction, radiating this natural arrogance that had me shaking at the knees.
He cocked a grin when he was two feet away, and he slowly roughed a hand through his hair, voice filling up with a lusty declaration. “You really are tryin’ to kill me, aren’t you, Mia?”