“You don’t have to—

“Are you kidding? I haven’t got to do this in years!” He laughs when I rush off after Toby.

Something about walking into this place has sucked the years of maturity right out of me. A year ago, I never would’ve acted silly like this, especially in front of a guy I’ve crushed on since high school. But the all new, take-no-bullshit Lydia doesn’t care who’s watching as I climb up on the platform behind Toby.

There’s a slide, or you can just jump. Toby barrels down the slide and disappears under the balls, popping up and giggling. “Come on, Lydia!”

Making sure I’m not about to crush some poor kid, I back up and dive right into the middle. Okay, I’m not exactly heavy, and I didn’t expect that so many balls would fly out of the pit. I give a sheepish smile to the young employee who gathers them up and tosses them back inside.

Toby and I have a blast, wading through the balls and throwing them at one another until Toby says, “Here comes Uncle Simon! Quick, hide!”

He dunks under the balls, and I do the same right beside him. The excited grin on his face makes me laugh. “Shh! You’ll give us away!”

“Too late,” Simon says, pulling Toby up and tossing him.

Toby shrieks with laughter, and Simon turns to me. “Are you being a bad influence?”

God, that smile. I want to kiss it right off his face. “Probably. I don’t know anything about kids.”

His eyebrow quirks up. “You’re a teacher.”

“No, I’m a fitness trainer and conditioner who took a temporary job as a gym teacher.”

“So, you’re as clueless as me? Good to know.”

The young woman at the counter calls out Simon’s name. “I’ll go get the pizza. You can wrangle the kid.”

“Fine, but he’ll listen to you, you know. He’s got a crush on his gym teacher.”

“Stop it!”

“Too bad I beat him to it a long time ago.”

With those words, he wades over to Toby, leaving me with my jaw on the floor. Since when? Sure, he checks out my ass sometimes, but a crush? He said a long time ago. In school? Was he crushing on me in school?

My mind spins as I pick up our pizza and bring it back to the table. Simon keeps catching my eye and grinning at me like he can hear my thoughts while we all dig into the pizza.

Toby is the first one done. “Uncle Simon, can I go back to the ball pit? I can go alone. The other kids do.”

Simon hesitates before allowing it. “Okay, but stay right there.”

“I will!” He leaps up and runs off.

Simon turns around and looks behind him. “I can see him from here,” he says, as if I might be judging him.

“I’m sure it’s fine. There are other kids in there by themselves.”

Simon shakes his head with an embarrassed grin. “He’s six, and I’m still learning what’s appropriate at his age.”

What’s not appropriate are the words that spill out of my mouth. “I want you to fuck me.” Smooth, Lydia. That’s how you do it.

Simon chokes on his drink. “What?”

I can feel my face heat up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

His gaze is intense. “But you did mean to say it?”

Staring at the table and waiting for a convenient hole to swallow me up, I reply, “Well, you’re single and so am I, and I just thought we could get together sometimes, you know, with no strings attached.”

Simon smiles. “What if I want strings?”

Oh no. No, no. It’s best to get this straight right from the beginning. “I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want to date. I just want to have some fun. If you’re not interested, it’s okay.”

Scoffing, he leans over and drops his voice to a whisper. “Not interested? Lydia, my cock is rock hard in the middle of a Chuck E. Cheese. I’m fucking interested.”

Finally, I allow my eyes to meet his. “Okay, good.”

“Just to clarify, you’re looking for a bed buddy? Just sex, nothing else?”

“Yes.”

“We don’t have to date, but we could still hang out sometimes,” he suggests.

“Yeah, I guess that would be okay.”

“Are you free tomorrow night?”

“To hang out or…?”

Simon laughs. “Whichever.”

“I’m meeting a friend from work for a drink. I could come after?”

A smile spreads across his face. “Oh, you’ll come. More than once.”

CHAPTER 5

SICILY

Anderson pokes his head through my doorway, and for once, I don’t feel the urge to throw the heaviest thing I can find at his head and hope for a brain hemorrhage to follow.

“I have two lunch meetings, but plan on being in the conference room at three for the group breakdown of the new pitch. A new set of eyes will possibly add some things needed for the campaign to reach full potential. We’ll be running down all the campaigns we’re working on.”

Tags: C.M. Owens Romance
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