bed. She wagged her finger at me.
“Gotta be quicker than that.”
I moved fast, launching to my feet. She ran, but not swiftly enough. I swept her up into my arms, her giggles warming every inch of me. Ambling into the large bathroom off my bedroom, I flicked on the shower. Without waiting for it to warm up, I stepped into the stall, the cold water drawing a scream from Athena.
“Ryker!” She wriggled in my arms. “It’s freezing.”
I let her down, wrapping my arms around her. “I’ll warm you up.”
My lips connected with hers, and by the time we came up for air, steam filled the bathroom. I lifted her. She automatically hooked her legs around my waist, giving me the perfect angle to ease inside, slowly, carefully, conscious we’d had a lot of sex in the last twelve hours.
“I won’t break,” she whispered in my ear.
“Damn,” I muttered. “You’re fucking perfect.”
Athena appeared in the kitchen wearing one of my shirts, the tails grazing her thighs.
I pointed at the breakfast bar. “Sit. Breakfast won’t be long.”
She slipped onto a stool and rested her chin on her hands. “Whatcha cooking there, sex god?”
I grinned. “You know the way to a man’s heart.”
She returned my smile and let out a contented sigh. “I could watch you all day.”
“You’re very good for my ego.” I tipped scrambled egg onto two plates and added a side of bacon and a slice of toast. “Here.”
She picked up her fork and scooped up the eggs. “These are yummy,” she said.
“Don’t sound so surprised. Eggs are the least of my culinary skills. My mother taught me how to take care of myself. I wasn’t always rich.”
Athena nodded sagely, and her eyes glazed over. “I remember.”
I clipped her under the chin. I didn’t want her to be sad or to feel sorry for me. I might have had a tough childhood, with just Mom and me, but at least I hadn’t suffered the mental torture of watching my father beat up my mother, like Elliot had. One blessed relief was that Athena had no memories of her bastard of a birth father. And besides all the early challenges, my upbringing made me hungrier, more determined to better myself. “We made it, Thea. It’s all good.”
She broke into an enormous grin. “You haven’t called me that in years.”
“You hated it as I recall.”
“Secretly, I loved it.” She touched my hand. “I love it.”
“You used to give me terrible grief. ‘My name is Athena, idiot’,” I mimicked.
She giggled. “I was such a brat.”
“Still are at times,” I said, earning a sharp poke in the ribs for my trouble.
“Careful.”
My response was delayed by the ringing of my cell phone. I glanced at the screen.
“Who’s that?” Athena asked.
“The other woman in my life. Hi, Mom.” I grinned at Athena’s momentary outrageous expression that quickly fell away when she realized the identity of the caller.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
I bit into a piece of toast. “What’s up?”
“Nothing at all. I just wondered if you had any plans for today.”
I glanced over at Athena. I definitely had plans. Not the kind I’d share with my mother, though.
“Some, why?”
“Oh, it’s not important.”
“Mom,” I said in a warning tone. “Spill.”
“Well, I’m heading off on a cruise on Tuesday, which means I’ll be away for Christmas, and I rather wanted to see you before I left.”
My eyebrows shot up. “And when did you decide all this?”
“Only a few days ago. It was Portia’s idea.”
Portia… my mother’s best friend and a very bad influence—in a very good way. Portia brought Mom out of herself, encouraged her to do things she wouldn’t normally. Portia put the ‘F’ in ‘Fun’.
“I guess I can drive up this morning,” I said, watching Athena’s face fall.
“That would be wonderful. I miss my boy.”
I rolled my eyes. “Hardly a boy.”
“You’ll always be my baby.”
“Jesus, Mother. Dial it back. I’m just having breakfast. I’ll leave shortly.”
“See you then, sweetheart. Drive carefully on the freeway.”
I cut the call. Picking up my coffee, I sipped at it, glancing at Athena over the rim. She’d stopped eating, instead choosing to push eggs around her plate.
“How’s your mom?” she asked, a dull sound to her voice. “I haven’t seen her in years.”
I grazed the back of my finger along her jawline. “She’s well, as you’ll find out when you come see her with me today.”
Her eyes widened. “You want me to come?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Oh, darling, I definitely want you to come. Over and over again.”
A red flush crept over her cheeks.