not to do it,” Mikey, the adorable little girl that his brother adored, said with a sad shake of her head and a pitying sigh.
“We really did,” Sebastian, her partner in crime, his cousin Trevor’s son, and a boy that he’d been worried about until Mikey came into his life, said absently from where he stood on the other side of the stretcher, reading a book.
With a mock glare aimed at his stepdaughter, Reese said, “I fell out of a tree trying to rescue a kitten for the little pain in the ass.”
“That you adore,” Mikey added for him with a solemn nod, making Aidan bite back a smile as he stepped around his niece and began examining his brother.
“Looks dislocated,” Aidan said after examining Reese’s shoulder before checking to see if there was any other damage that they had to worry about.
“He tried to pop it back in,” Mikey said with a sad shake of her head, making Reese’s eyes narrow as he muttered, “Traitor.”
“That didn’t end well,” Sebastian said.
“Not at all,” Mikey added while Aidan glared down at his brother.
“Where’s Kasey?” Aidan asked, wondering why Reese’s wife wasn’t here tormenting her husband, something that she really seemed to enjoy.
“She doesn’t know that we’re here. She thinks we’re asleep in my room and that he’s working in his office,” Mikey said, sighing heavily as she climbed onto the stretcher so that she could sit next to Reese and hold his good hand.
At Aidan’s questioning look, Reese said, “I didn’t want to worry her.”
“I’m pretty sure that she was worried when she saw you fall out of that tree,” Sebastian pointed out, earning a glare.
Nodding, Mikey said, “That was concerning.”
“It really was,” Sebastian said, climbing onto the stretcher so that he could sit next to Mikey.
“I don’t think all that yelling helped either,” Mikey added, looking thoughtful.
“I thought he was going to cry,” Sebastian said, which earned a nod of agreement from his partner in crime. “Me, too.”
“You’re both evil,” Reese said, closing his eyes on a resigned sigh.
“Did you lose consciousness?” Aidan asked.
“No,” Reese said as Aidan shifted his attention to Mikey and Sebastian for confirmation.
“No, but there was a lot of swearing.”
“I learned a lot of new words tonight,” Mikey readily agreed.
Cracking one eye open so that he could glare at Mikey, Reese muttered, “Brat,” before closing his eyes again.
“I already knew that word,” Mikey said, making him chuckle as he checked Reese’s pulse to make sure that his arm was still getting good blood flow.
“It’s true. She did,” Sebastian said as Aidan stood there, unable to help but wonder what it would be like to have a little girl who loved to torment him.
Chapter 30
“Look,” Arik said with a charming smile that probably got him whatever he wanted, “Aidan will never find out. This will be just between us. What do you say?”
“Step away from the pancakes,” Melanie said, narrowing her eyes on the man that kept her company all night and had already managed to devour three batches of pancakes, an entire pan of muffins, a dozen scrambled eggs, and two pounds of bacon.
“I thought you loved me,” Arik said, pouting as he reached for the plate piled high with pancakes and-
“Get out,” Aidan said, shoving Arik out of the way seconds before she found herself pulled into his arms.
“You ungrateful bastard!” Arik said in gasped outrage as she found herself being led out of the kitchen as Aidan brushed his lips against hers with a groan.
“What are you doing up so early?” Aidan asked as he guided her into the bathroom.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Melanie said, already reaching for his tie.
“You need sleep,” he said, breaking off the kiss just long enough so that he could reach down and push her oversized flannel pajamas off as she pulled his tie free only to grab onto his shoulders so that she could step out of her pants when he bent down to help her.
“I need you,” Melanie said, reaching down to cup his face and pull him back up so that she could kiss him.
“You have me,” he promised as he tore his shirt off and tossed it aside before reaching down and pulled his belt loose while he toed off his shoes. By the time that she pushed his pants and boxers down, he had her shirt off and was pulling her inside the shower.
“I made you dinner, but the warden wouldn’t let me bring it to you,” she said as she found herself turned around