Be My Hero (Forbidden Men #3)(76)

Her eyes softened with sympathy. "You had a pretty bad experience with foster care, didn't you?"

I shrugged and glanced down into my cleaned cereal bowl before I cleared my throat and set it on the counter. "Some places were okay. Others were f*cking hell. It's all a crapshoot. Most of those people take on kids for the money. They don't care what happens to you as long as they keep getting a check. You never feel like you belong. Anywhere." When a cry came from my bedroom, I glanced toward the sound. "Julian doesn't deserve that. Not when he's got me."

I left her in the kitchen to go get my boy out of his crib. When I pulled him to my chest and kissed his head, he burrowed into me, grabbing a handful of my shirt.

Eva and Skylar appeared in the doorway. When Tink smiled at me, her gaze soft and understanding, something in my chest screwed in tight. It hurt even more, knowing she completely understood why I couldn't pursue the attraction between us.

"You sure you don't need to go back to your place to get anything this morning? Change of clothes, stuff for Skylar?"

She shook her head. "Already got it covered. Reese is on her summer break from college and she doesn't have to watch Mason's sister today. She can bring me anything I need. Besides she'll need to give me a ride to the grocery store."

My eyebrow shot up. "You were serious about that too?"

"Hell, yes. I'll starve if I don't get more food in your cabinets soon."

"You can take my car if you need to go anywhere. The garage where I work is only about twelve blocks from here."

She shuddered as if that was a horrible idea. "I kicked you out of your own bed last night. I'm not taking your ride too. Especially in this heat."

"Yeah, but you looked really hot all curled up in my sheets, so that was more of a bonus for me."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "There it is. I was wondering where that flirty side of you had gone this morning."

I winked. "It just needed a little time to wake up and kick in."

"I don't know," she murmured, eyeing me as if she suddenly thought I was shifty. "You were telling me my voice sounded hot last night when I called you Patrick, and you were half out of it then."

"I did? Hmm, I must be better than I thought."

She laughed and laid Skylar in the crib. "You better get to work already, Rico Suave. Or you're going to be late."

"I'm always late. My boss would probably drop dead from shock if I actually showed up on time."

When she turned to me, I was tempted to lay Julian down too, so I could scoop Eva up and just tackle her onto the bed and have my sexy way with her.

"Well, Wonder Woman Eva is on the scene today," she said, completely oblivious to my lusty thoughts. "So you don't have to be late. Now give me that beautiful boy so I can spoil him rotten."

Sold. I handed Fighter over and waited until she had him settled in her arms before I leaned in to kiss my kid one last time and told him to be good for Tinker Bell. Then, I snuck to the bed to skim my fingers gently over Skylar's forehead. She'd fallen asleep, so I whispered, "Take care, princess."

When I straightened, Eva met my gaze, her awesome blue eyes expectant.

It felt wrong not to give her a special goodbye too. So, I said, "Thank you," before pressing my lips to her forehead. I lingered for longer than I should have. But she didn't push me away. She gazed up at me when I pulled back, and her eyes mirrored all the yearning I felt deep within my chest.

Turning away before I gave into temptation, I strode from the room.

After I left the apartment, the strangest fullness swirled in my chest. I was sure I could damn near float off ground and drift in my contentment. I could do anything. Because it felt as if I'd just wished my family goodbye for the day.

It was the dirtiest tease ever; I knew that. When Eva returned to Mason and Reese, I was probably going to feel more empty than I'd felt before she'd come into my life. But I refused to regret her presence, because it felt too good to have her here now.



EVA



Reese was more than willing to help me out. "I know you've only been gone a day, but I already miss you. I had to do a load of my own laundry this morning. And I actually had to cook last night. It was awful."

I laughed. "Oh, now I see why you hadn't kicked me out yet."

"I know. Not everyone has a free live-in maid. Seriously, E., I never realized how much you did around our place since you came to stay with us. But Mason and I definitely noticed it after Sky was born and you were stuck in the hospital. You do realize you didn't have to take over all the cooking and housework just because we took you in, right?"

I shrugged, unable to tell her how strongly I'd felt the need to pay her back somehow. "I actually enjoyed it. I never got to do that kind of stuff when I was growing up. We always had people to cook and clean for us, and my mother made such menial tasks sound like they were beneath us."

"God, it's crazy how different our mothers are when they were raised by the same parents."

Reese braked at the entrance to the first grocery store we came across in Pick's neighborhood. Yikes, was that a prostitute hanging around just outside the entrance? When a beat up car stopped along the curb beside her, the passenger side window rolled down and the driver waved some cash at her. She hobbled forward in her tight skirt and heels and hopped into the passenger's seat. Reese and I we exchanged similar, wary glances.