Текст книги "Hold on tight"

Автор книги: Abbi Glines

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Crap. Not what I wanted to talk about. I simply nodded and kept busy. I wasn’t allowing Dustin to

become a topic of conversation.

Gretchen seemed to get that, so she didn’t pry and she shut up. Relieved, I put the broom away and

grabbed my phone to see if I had a text from Micah. Normally, he texted me several times when he

was staying with someone. He hadn’t texted me at all today. Dewayne must’ve been entertaining him.

Gretchen changed the subject to her need for a pedicure and the date she had tonight with some guy

named Green. Anyone with the name Green sounded unstable, but I didn’t say anything. Gretchen had

a different guy every weekend, mostly her customers from the salon.

“Tomorrow night is girls’ night. When are you coming out with us, Sienna?” Hillary asked as she

looked at me in the mirror she was standing in front of to fix her hair.

“I can’t leave Micah at night,” I said by way of explanation. I would never be going out with them.

I was positive their going out meant drinking and men. I didn’t have time for either.

“Can’t you get a sitter?” Gretchen asked.

It was odd how Gretchen was two years older than me but acted much younger. She seemed like she

never had any real worries and was always partying and going out. I shook my head. “I don’t know

anyone I can leave Micah with and feel comfortable. I don’t think Dewayne would be open to

watching him on a weekend night. He has his own social life to see to.”

“My younger sister is a sitter. She has been to classes and everything to learn CPR and handle all

those emergency situations. She’s only seventeen, but she’s good at it. Makes good money and has

several regulars who have come to trust her and call on her.” Hillary’s seventeen-year-old sister was

the same age I was when I’d had to grow up fast. I didn’t doubt her because of her age, but I wasn’t

sure I was ready to leave Micah with a stranger.

“I’ll think about it,” I said, not wanting to insult Hillary.

She nodded. “I understand. But she would gladly come spend some time with you and Micah so you

can get to know her. She learned that it was better for the kids and parents if she did that first before

sitting for them.”

Hillary’s sister would also require money. From the sound of her professionalism with the whole

sitting thing, she probably charged more than I could pay. I didn’t want to spend our money on me

going out when Micah needed so many things. I had his future to think about.

“Money’s tight right now. Maybe when it isn’t so tight, I’ll give her a call,” I said, hoping this was

enough to get Hillary to stop pressing the issue.

She shrugged. “Just let me know when you think you’re ready. I’ll hook you up.”

I thanked her and checked my phone again for a text.

Still nothing.

DEWAYNE

The kid could throw a football. For five years old, he had an impressive arm. He was obsessed with

basketball, but he had a talent that was going untapped. I caught the next ball he hurled at me and

watched as he grinned and blew his fingers as if they were on fire. It was something my brother would

have done.

Instead of my chest hurting with the memory of a little boy who looked so much like this one,

strutting around the basketball court like he was king, I felt an empty place inside me being filled.

Micah was so much like Dustin that I had fallen in love with him in less than six hours.

My dad hadn’t been able to take his eyes off Micah either. Once the shock wore off, he’d sat down

beside his grandson and asked him so many things. And when Micah told him that he was a basketball

fan and that he was going to be the best, Dad beamed like I hadn’t seen him do in six years. Micah

also mentioned that his dad had been the world’s best basketball player. It had been pure luck that

Momma had gone back into the kitchen just when he mentioned his father.

But my father had heard him. Seeing his eyes mist over with bittersweet tears had gotten to me. I’d

needed to get the kid out of there. My momma had to be told gently, and when Micah wasn’t around to

see her reaction. I had explained that Micah and I had some things to do, and we’d said our good-byes.

Momma had made Micah promise to come visit again soon, and my dad had kissed the top of his

head. He hadn’t been able to help himself.

“Momma’s home!” Micah cheered and dropped the ball he had just caught, then took off running to

meet Sienna as she got out of her beat-to-shit car. The boy loved his mother. She must have raised him

without her parents’ help, because Micah said he didn’t have grandparents. He said he had an aunt

Cathy they used to live with in Fort Worth. That was it. He hadn’t had anyone else to talk about.

“Hey, Ace.” Sienna’s voice caught my attention, and I took my eyes off Micah to see the woman he

was throwing himself at and latching on to. Her long hair wasn’t up like it had been earlier today. She

had pulled it loose and let it hang down her back. All that red hair. Damn. I had to remember who she

was and how off-limits that was. The way she looked wasn’t something I could focus on. Hooking up

for a casual fuck with Sienna Roy was never gonna happen. She was the mother of my nephew.

And I didn’t do anything more than a casual fuck. Ever.

Sienna was responsibility. And she was mine already, even if she didn’t know it yet. I would help

take care of her and Micah, but adding sex to that mix was completely against the rules. It would fuck

up everything. I had to be a part of Micah’s life. That was what was important. Not the fact that his

momma had legs that didn’t stop, and a face . . . damn, that face. Those motherfucking gorgeous eyes,

and her lips. Jesus, I had to forget this shit. She was Micah’s mom. That was it.

“Did y’all have a good morning?” Sienna asked, looking from Micah to me.

I tore my eyes off her and all that perfection and looked at Micah. I needed to regroup. Dealing

with this woman wasn’t gonna be easy if I didn’t stop imaging her naked and in my bed. I didn’t put

women in my bed. Ever. Fuck that.

“It was awesome! Mama T gave me chocolate chip cookies and apple pie. And she had real milk

like us, and she said I could come eat anytime I wanted to.”

The color drained from Sienna’s face as she looked from her son to me. I had to explain why I’d

taken him over there. It wasn’t to undermine her, but to deal with it before my mother came over here

and figured shit out the wrong way. Plus, Micah had no idea who my parents were to him.

“He met my parents. That’s all,” I said, hoping she read the unspoken words from the pointed look

on my face.

She swallowed and took a deep breath, then turned her gaze back to her son. “Well, now it’s my

time to talk to Dewayne about things. I need you to go play in your room with all those toys you have

while we talk, okay?” she said, with a tremor in her voice that didn’t go unnoticed by the kid. He

frowned, and his happy smile turned to a warning glare as he looked at me. He was a little thing, but

no one had told him that. He was more than ready to take care of his momma if he needed to. Dustin

would have been so damn proud of that boy.

“Don’t make my momma cry,” was his simple demand.

“It’s okay, baby. I promise. We just have to talk about good stuff, like Dewayne watching you

again and maybe you visiting Tab . . . Mama T again. Okay?”

Micah looked back at her and studied her face before nodding, but he didn’t look real sure. Then he

wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed tightly before letting her go. He then turned and ran

to the door.

When the screen door closed behind him, Sienna turned to look at me. “You took him over there

without asking me.”

I had been prepared for those to be the first words out of her mouth. “They missed the first five

years of his life, Sienna. Dustin was their baby. Their golden boy. They have mourned him for the past

six years. It wasn’t fair that all this time they could have had a part of Dustin that they didn’t even

know about.”

Sienna’s back went stiff, and she raised her chin in a defensive pose. Damn, she was even more

gorgeous when fire was flashing in her eyes. “I sent them photos of him for two years. I begged your

mother for help when I realized my parents were disowning me if I kept the baby. Nothing,” she said.

“Nothing. I got nothing from your mother. She never once replied. I grew up in that house.” Sienna

pointed to my parents’ house. “It was my second home. I loved those people, and then, when I needed

them most, when Dustin’s child needed them, they turned their back on me too. You have no idea how

that felt. No idea.”

I heard the words she was saying, but I knew for a fact that my parents had known nothing about

Micah. My mother would have been in Fort Worth by Sienna’s side if she’d known. Something was

off here.

“You know Momma, Sienna. She’d have been there if she knew. She would have been there every

motherfucking step of the way. Momma loved Dustin, and she loved you. Micah would have been the

center of her world.”

Sienna was shaking her head. “No, she wouldn’t, because she wasn’t. I see that she still lives at the

same address, Dewayne. She hasn’t moved. I sent her letters. More than I can count. Not once did she

respond. Not once.”

This wasn’t right. I just didn’t have an answer other than that my mother didn’t know about Micah.

She couldn’t. She would have wanted that baby. She would have made sure Sienna had everything she

needed.

“We need to talk to Momma. Something isn’t right. She doesn’t know, Sienna. Hell, my father

almost passed out when he figured it out. Momma still doesn’t know who he is, but when I told Dad

who Micah’s mother was, he saw Dustin in the boy immediately. He wouldn’t move from his side

from that moment on. He asked him questions and he watched him with complete fascination. When

we left, he kissed his head. My dad kissed Micah’s head . My dad isn’t affectionate. You know that. So

tell me you believe they knew about Micah and ignored him.”

Sienna stood there, and then, instead of arguing, she burst into tears. Shit! Micah was gonna be so

damn pissed at me.

SIENNA

They wanted him. His dad had kissed Micah’s head. For years I had longed for Micah to have family.

Grandparents who loved him. Someone other than just me and Aunt Cathy. This was all too much. I

had sent those letters to Tabby. Was it possible she hadn’t received them? So many of them?

“Fuck, Sienna. Please don’t cry. Micah will blame me,” Dewayne said, sounding panicked. The fact

that Dewayne Falco was worried about a five-year-old boy being mad at him made me cry harder. He

wanted Micah to like him. He wanted to be a part of Micah’s life too. I hadn’t expected this at all.

Returning to Sea Breeze had been something that terrified me.

But this . . . I hadn’t needed to be scared of this. I had been worried about Micah being hurt. But

instead Micah got others who love him and want to be a part of his life. The fear of what would

happen to him if I died wasn’t as heavy anymore. I had always lived with that constant terror. Micah

was going to have a family. One bigger than just me. A group of people who he could trust to be there

for him.

“I sent letters . . . pictures,” I said, mostly for my benefit, to remind myself I had tried to tell her . .

. to tell them.

Dewayne nodded. “I believe you. I do. I just know my momma didn’t get them.”

That was the Tabby Falco I remembered. The one who Dewayne insisted would have been there if

she’d known. The one who wouldn’t have let me live in Fort Worth in a house with an aunt who didn’t

approve of me being a pregnant teen but who wasn’t going to force me to give up my baby. She had

given me a roof over my head and a ride when I needed it, but she hadn’t been warm and kind.

I wiped at my now-wet face and took a deep breath to calm myself. Dewayne was right. Micah

wouldn’t understand my tears, and he’d be upset. He didn’t like seeing me cry. I think it scared him.

“If they want to be a part of Micah’s life, I want that for him. He needs family. He wants it.” I

swallowed and concentrated on not breaking down again when I said this to Dewayne. “He has always

wondered where his grandparents were. Other kids had them, and he didn’t understand why all he had

was a momma, and an aunt who he wasn’t very close to. She was more like a landlord.”

Dewayne looked pained. “They’re gonna adore the kid. He will have the best damn grandparents on

earth. Just give them a chance. If you can do that, you may save them both. Micah is what they need.

He’ll bring back the joy that Dustin took with him.”

Micah and I needed to talk first. “Give me time to help him understand. And then I’ll call you and

let you know we’re ready. But I need to make sure that your mother didn’t get those letters. Because I

sent them . . . and if she got them and . . .” I trailed off. I hated saying to her son that she could have

known about Micah and hid it from Dewayne and his father. I’d sent those letters. They couldn’t have

just vanished.

“She didn’t get them. How did you send them? Did you mail them from your aunt’s?”

I nodded. I had put them in the mailbox in the mornings.

“Would your aunt have taken them?”

No. Why would Aunt Cathy take them? She didn’t want us there with her. She was taking us in

because she didn’t want us on the streets. I shook my head. “I can’t imagine she would have.”

Dewayne frowned. He didn’t look convinced. “Momma didn’t get them. Something must have

happened to them. It’s possible someone intercepted them.”

I hoped he was right. Because more than anything, I wanted the Falcos to be a part of Micah’s life.

I wanted him to know the people who were a part of his father. I wanted him to see pictures of his

father growing up. All those things. I wanted them for him.

“You find out if she ever received those letters, and then I’ll talk to Micah. I need to know they

want to be a part of his life first.”

Dewayne nodded and shoved his hands in his front pockets. “I’ll talk to Momma and let you know

as soon as possible. But can we go ahead and confirm that I’m hanging out with Micah on Saturday

mornings while you work? I want that time.”

Micah needed that, and it would save me money. I nodded. “Yes. That’s good. If you can’t one

Saturday, just let me know at least a week in advance so I can make other arrangements.”

Dewayne grinned. “When you tell those people across the street that Micah is Dustin’s son, you

will have free child care whenever you want it.”

Something else I wasn’t used to.

We said our good-byes, and I watched as Dewayne turned and headed for his truck. I may have

watched his ass as he made his way to the truck, but that was my secret.

* * *

“What did he want?” Micah asked the moment I walked inside. He was sitting on the sofa with his

arms crossed over his chest and his feet dangling because they couldn’t touch the floor yet.

“You were supposed to be playing in your room,” I reminded him as I made my way over to sit

down beside my little man.

“I was watching out for you,” he said simply.

I reached over, pulled him against my side, and hugged him to me. It had been just us for so long.

This past year had he started acting like he was the one protecting me instead of the other way around.

A month ago he had asked me who kept me safe since I didn’t have a husband to do it. I informed him

that I kept me and him safe. I assured him I was very good at it.

He’d changed that day. I was seeing it more and more every day. It was as if he’d realized I needed

someone to take care of me, and he was doing that job. Sweet little boy of mine. I kissed his head and

inhaled his outdoor smell.

“Did you enjoy your day?” I asked him.

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, but if Dewayne was mean to you, then I don’t want him to come back.”

He was about to have a whole new world opened up to him. One that would change his life. I

squeezed him. “Dewayne wasn’t mean to me. Dewayne wants what I want. He wants you safe and

happy.”

Micah leaned back and looked up at me. I could see the confusion in his little face. He wasn’t sure

what I was saying, and the little bit of hope in those eyes of his just about undid me. He didn’t want

me to know how much he wanted a man in his life, but I knew it and understood it.

It wasn’t time to tell him just how much Dewayne wanted him in his life and why. I still needed to

know that Tabby Falco hadn’t gotten those letters. I had to be sure she was unaware of Micah. Because

as much as Dewayne believed his mother would never do this, I knew I had sent her letters. They had

to have gone somewhere.

“Will Dewayne come back again one day to play?”

He wanted Dewayne to come back. It was in his hopeful expression. I was glad he had enjoyed his

time with Dewayne. “Yes. Every Saturday morning Dewayne wants to hang out with you while I

work.”

A bright smile lit up his face. “He does?”

I nodded, and Micah punched his fist into the air with a cheer and jumped down from the sofa. I

watched as he ran off to his room. Our conversation was over now. Smiling, I stood up and went to fix

myself a sandwich.

“You want lunch?” I asked him.

“Mac ’n’ cheese,” he called back.

“You’re gonna turn into mac ’n’ cheese,” I replied.

“Good! Then I’ll eat myself.”

Shaking my head, I laughed and fixed my son some mac ’n’ cheese.

DEWAYNE

If I went home tonight, I’d only think about shit. So I went out to Live Bay, where I knew I’d have

friends. People to distract me. It was where some of us always showed up on weekends. Even my

married-with-kids friends.

I sat back with a beer and watched as Krit Corbin sang while eye-fucking his girlfriend. It was like

some strange turn in the universe. When Preston Drake had fallen in love with our best friend’s little

sister, I’d thought he had lost his ever-loving mind. Now the Sea Breeze man whore and lead singer of

Jackdown was completely fucked over a girl. The world was going to shit.

“I love watching him watch her,” said Trisha, Krit’s older sister and Rock’s wife. Rock had also

been one of my best friends since elementary school. Trisha had been a part of our lives since Rock

had locked himself around her when we were seventeen. I had once made the mistake of asking if she

had a magic pussy. Rock had leveled my ass in one swing. I hadn’t even seen it coming.

I didn’t talk about Trisha’s pussy again. Lesson learned.

“He’s fucking whipped,” I said before taking another swig of beer. I had a good thirty pounds of

muscle on Krit, though I’d seen his ass go crazy once when he thought Blythe had left him. So I

wasn’t talking about her pussy in front of him. Dude would lose his shit, and I didn’t have that kind of

energy.

“You’re so jaded,” said Trisha, who was sitting on her husband’s lap.

“Honest, sweetheart; I’m just brutally honest.”

Trisha rolled her eyes. “One day, Dewayne Falco, you will fall, and when you do I’m gonna enjoy

the hell out of watching it.”

She was wrong about that, but I didn’t want to argue. I was trying not to smoke. If that shit did kill

people, then I needed to save a few years. I had a nephew who needed me now. I hadn’t had that

before. But motherfuck did I want a cigarette.

“We’re here! Sorry we’re late. Bliss was not in the mood to stay with a sitter tonight. Cage had to

rock her to sleep first,” Eva York said as she sat her beautiful ass down on a stool beside me. She

slapped my knee. “Hey, you,” she said with the smile that had been Cage York’s downfall. He’d taken

one look at Eva, and the player once known as Cage York had transformed. Eva had that magic pussy

too. Only fucking explanation for that shit. Cage was a daddy now, and he was happy about it. You

asked him about his baby girl and his face would go all soft and dreamy. Crazy shits. All of them.

I leaned over toward Eva and winked. “Just waiting on you to show up, sugar,” I told her in a low

voice, just to piss Cage off. Dude was funny as shit when he went territorial on Eva’s hot ass.

“Fuck you, Dewayne,” Cage growled, and he pulled Eva onto his leg and nuzzled her neck as if they

were horny and dating instead of married and parents.

“Amanda called and said she had the kids,” Eva said, giggling from Cage’s attention.

Trisha nodded. “Yep. Preston wanted the kids tonight, so we took them over there and came to hear

Krit. I thought I might get to visit with Blythe, too, but he won’t let her out here. He’s keeping her

back there with him. It’s why he keeps singing to someone offstage. He rarely takes his eyes off her.”

The pleased sound in Trisha’s voice was hard to miss.

“I love that. They are adorable,” Eva said, looking up at the stage and at Krit Corbin singing to the

woman no one could see offstage.

Cage slipped his hand over Eva’s stomach, and she laughed and tried to move away from his

groping. He was getting a little carried away, which was normal.

“I’m all about watching, but I don’t know if that’s legal. Might wanna pour some cold water on

him,” I said with a smirk.

Cage shot me an annoyed glare. “Jealous, Falco?”

I glanced over at the blonde who had been sending me flirty signals all night. She wasn’t dressed in

much, and she had that look in her eyes. She was at the beach to party.

I crooked my finger at her, and that was all it took. She bounced her perky little ass over to me.

“Hey, sugar, you’re trying to get my attention pretty damn hard,” I said, sliding a hand around her

waist. She snuggled up to me, and I could smell the beer on her breath. She was nice and lubed up. I

cut my eyes at Cage. “New pussy every damn night,” I whispered to him over the top of her head, then

pulled her face to mine and took a taste.

“One day, Dewayne. One day,” Trisha said, but I ignored her taunting and enjoyed the willing

young blonde in my arms. Her curves were nice, and her ass wasn’t as plump as I liked—I grabbed it

with one of my hands—but she would do.

“How old are you?” I asked before taking a bite of her neck.

“Nineteen,” she breathed. She looked nineteen and she felt nineteen. I’d require an ID before I

stuck my dick in her, but I believed her. That was enough for now.

“You good with that mouth?” I asked her, slipping my hand farther over her ass until my fingers

touched her crotch. The whoosh of breath that came out of her told me she was ready.

“I can be good at anything you want me to be,” she said breathlessly.

I liked this one. “Then sit that sweet ass on my leg and let me visit with my friends,” I told her. As

I reached for my beer she did exactly as I told her. She was like all of them, the beauties who came to

the beach looking for a good time. A good time they could leave behind here in Sea Breeze once they

went back to their lives. I was more than happy to give them a memory to take back with them.

I just had two rules. Never at my place. I didn’t fuck them at my place. And never overnight. We

fucked, and if it was good, we fucked a couple of times. Then I left. It was over. I didn’t even need

their names.

Relationships took too much thought. They took time. They took a shitload of stuff I didn’t want to

give. Sure, I got why each of my friends had fallen under his woman’s spell. They each picked

beauties with something more than a nice pair of tits. They had the whole package, and I was happy

for them. I just didn’t fucking want to be them.

“You hear that, Dewayne? I expected a snide comment,” Rock said, breaking into my thoughts. My

hand had made its way between the blonde’s legs, and I was busy working her up while I made her sit

here.

“Jess is pregnant,” Trisha said with a look of pride.

Jess was Rock’s cousin, and once she’d been one sweet little piece of tail. Then she’d run off with a

rock star’s brother. He’d fallen in love with her and taken her from her life here and changed

everything for her. I wouldn’t admit it, but I was happy for her. She had a good heart, and I used to

worry she was going to end up giving it to Krit, who would never be faithful to her. But he wasn’t

owned by her, and I didn’t think he could be faithful—until he’d met Blythe.

“Jess as a momma,” I said, then laughed. That was hard to picture. The girl had the body of a

fucking porn star, and before Jason Stone had walked into her life, she’d used that body to bring men

to their knees.

The girl in my lap let out a soft moan, and I remembered I had my hand up her skirt, playing

around. I better get her out to the truck. That was as far as we were gonna make it. I wasn’t in the

mood to go back to this one’s hotel room.

“Looks like I got to go put out a fire. I’ll see y’all later,” I said, standing up. I took the girl by the

hips and moved her through the crowd.

“You wet, sugar?” I asked as I pushed her out the door and into the cool night air.

She nodded and looked up at me with hooded eyes. Problem was, I wasn’t in the mood to fuck. I

hadn’t fucked in two weeks. Not since I’d been informed that I had a nephew. It had screwed with my

head, and I couldn’t focus on anything else. Not even the very willing woman in my arms. I’d worked

her up, though, and I needed to fix that.

“My truck,” I told her, and led her back there and pushed her up against it, then slipped my hands

back up the tiny skirt she was wearing and fingered her very wet and hot cunt while she bucked against

my hand.

This should be turning me on. Having one so willing to take me. But it wasn’t. Not in the least. I

felt like I was doing a job. Fuck this. I needed her to come so I could go home and get a shower.

“Come for me, sugar. Come all over my hand,” I said in her ear, knowing words could push a horny

woman over the edge. Sure enough, that’s all it took. She trembled and cried out as she held on to my

arms. When I was sure she was done, I pulled my hand out, then wiped it casually on her skirt. I didn’t

want her scent on me. I needed the damn hand sanitizer in my truck.

She looked up at me with dreamy eyes. At least she’d gotten some pleasure out of it. I, however,

was done for the night. “Go on back in, sugar. I’ll watch you from here to make sure you make it in

safe.”

Her pleased smile slowly turned into a frown as she stared up at me. “What about you?”

What about me? I’d given her a fucking orgasm and let her come all over my damn hand. I was

going home. That was all I had tonight. “I’m headed home. You head on back inside and find your

friends,” I told her, then gave her a gentle push toward the door. She stumbled, then glanced back at

me with a frustrated scowl.

“Didn’t promise you a fuck, babe. You were hot and bothered, and I gave you a release. I’m not

interested in more. Go on along now,” I told her.

That seemed to be enough of a slap to her ego. Her back snapped straight, and she swung her head

around and stalked off.

Good. Now I could go home and shower her off me.

SIENNA

I hadn’t told Micah about the Falcos tonight. I still needed to make sure Tabby Falco hadn’t received

those letters. We had watched Star Wars: Episode III (which was my favorite) and eaten two bags of

popcorn. When I’d tucked him into bed, he hadn’t even stirred. He’d had a long day.

After my long soak in the tub I crawled into bed. It was nice to be back in my bed. I had good

memories of home. Before . . . before I’d lost Dustin. I didn’t let myself think about the bad. I didn’t

let myself wonder why Dustin had gotten drunk and driven his car into a tree only hours after we had

had sex in that exact same car. Whenever he’d driven me, he had been so careful. He was always

taking care of me. Protecting me.

My phone started ringing. I reached over and grabbed it to see Dewayne’s name on the screen. Why

would he be calling me at midnight on a Saturday?

“Hello?” I said, almost expecting this to be a pocket dial.

“Hey.” Dewayne’s deep voice came over the line, and my lady parts woke up with that one word.

Crap! What was wrong with me? I hadn’t had sex in . . . well . . . since Dustin. And what I remembered

from sex was not good. The pleasure I could bring myself in bed at night all alone wasn’t a feeling I’d

ever experienced with Dustin.

“I want to talk to my mom tomorrow about the letters. Did you tell Micah?”

He was calling me at midnight on a Saturday to ask about Micah. Didn’t Dewayne have a date? He

always had a chick on his arm.

“No. I’m not talking to him until I know what happened to those letters. I need to know your

mother wants to be a part of his life. I don’t want him knowing about y’all unless he will be accepted.

He’s too little to understand anything else.”

Dewayne let out a sigh. “My momma didn’t get those letters. But even if she did, I want Micah in

my life. He’s my little brother’s kid. I want him.”

So he wanted Micah to know who he was. Could I explain that without explaining about the rest of

the Falcos?

“I need to know how your mother feels first. Micah is my number one concern. I won’t let him get

hurt.”

“Me neither,” Dewayne replied.

Good. At least he wasn’t willing to play with Micah’s emotions.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll probably be right behind my momma while she’s knocking on your

door—or possibly barging in. Once she knows, you won’t be able to keep her away from him.”

He had no idea how much I hoped that was true.

“You talk to her. I’ll wait,” was my only response.

Dewayne was quiet for a moment, and I wasn’t sure if he had hung up or not.

“Good night, Sienna,” he finally said, and the way his sexy, warm voice curled around that one

word made me shiver. Dammit.

“Good night,” I replied, then hung up. Laying the phone down beside me, I slipped a hand under the

covers and into the front of my lace panties. All I needed was the memory of Dewayne’s deep voice

while I eased the ache he inspired.

This wasn’t the first time I’d fantasized about Dewayne. For so long I’d felt guilty that it was him

and not Dustin I used as inspiration. But I’d finally resigned myself to the fact that I’d never felt any

pleasure with Dustin. Dewayne was a fantasy, and that was all this was. Something that wasn’t real.

I slid my fingers inside, closed my eyes, and let Dewayne’s body take shape in my mind. His sexy

grin and those arms. Lord, those arms were something else. Wrapping my hands around them as they

flexed and he moved inside me . . . My body trembled at the thought. The beautiful thing about using