her to date boys, and his attitude indirectly gave them permission to fend off any suitors.
“He was trying to kiss her,” Dylan whispered into Jemma’s ear as he walked by, grabbing a towel himself. Marcus and Davis both grinned, loving the prank and unconcerned with why they’d had to punish the “outsider”. Antonio, the more serious member of the clan – despite the fact that he was only eight year old – glared at the interloper. He even shoved his shoulder into Andrew as he walked by, completely unremorseful for their prank.
“Antonio!” Adriana yelled at him, going to Andrew’s rescue.
Andrew stepped back, smiling at the blond beauty warily. “I’d better go,” he said, eyeing her brothers warily.
Adriana started to say something, but something caught Andrew’s attention behind Adriana and the boyfriend practically ran off the patio.
That reaction could only be generated by one person. Sure enough, as soon as Jemma turned around, she saw Damien standing in the doorway looking marvelously ferocious in his dark tailored suit and black hair. He was tall and gorgeous and terrifyingly intimidating, especially for a sixteen year old high school student, which was why Andrew was nowhere in sight.
Jemma would have laughed at the boy’s reaction if she weren’t so disgusted. “Really, Adriana. Couldn’t you find a boy that isn’t afraid of your father?” she asked, walking over and kissing Damien on the cheek.
“Mother,” she sighed, “there’s no such person. Men like that don’t exist.” But she walked over and kissed her dad as well. “You have horrible sons,” she said and disappeared into the living room.
Damien looked down at Jemma, his arm still wrapped around her waist. “Tough day on the home front?” he asked.
Jemma laughed. “Not at all,” she replied. “I sold seven more horses today. The buyers are coming by to pick them up over the next three days. The only issue was fifteen minutes ago when, apparently, Dylan thought it would be a good idea to get rid of Adriana’s latest boyfriend by dunking him in the pool.”
Damien looked over at his four sons, none of whom looked even slightly repentant.
“I’m off to make dinner,” she said and walked back into the house. “I’m trusting you to explain to those boys that what they did was wrong.”
Damien slid his jacket off of his shoulders and loosened his tie even while he walked over to his sons. “What happened?” he asked in a lower voice.
Dylan was the first to step up, never afraid of his father’s intimidating glance. “That sap was kissing Adriana, Dad,” he explained, glaring at the side of the house where Andrew had raced off. “I didn’t like it.”
Damien didn’t either. “So you dunked him?” he asked. All four of his boys nodded their heads. “Good job,” he told them all and gave each of them a high five, but on the down low. He didn’t want Jemma to see that he wasn’t admonishing their children appropriately. “Good thing I wasn’t here. Andrew might not have gotten away with just a dunking.”
Davis crossed his arms over his chest. He might be only twelve, but he was scary smart and more than ready to dive into any mischief the others proposed. “He’s not good enough for her, Dad. He’s weak.”
“Adriana should wait until she’s older,” Antonio announced, mimicking his older brothers’ posture and attitude.
Marcus raised one dark eyebrow, so similar to his father’s. “And are you waiting?” he asked his brother, already knowing that Antonio had kissed his latest crush behind the school yard just yesterday.
“That’s different,” he announced. “I’m a guy.”
Jemma was stepping outside, carrying a tray filled with dishes and utensils. “That’s a completely sexist attitude,” she told him with irritation. But she knew that he got it from his father, who treated Adriana like a princess. Jemma was just relieved that Adriana wasn’t a spoiled brat. Spoiled, yes. But not a brat. The girl was sweet and kind and, thankfully, brilliant. She was definitely ready to tackle the world! But secretly, Jemma would like to put a bubble around that girl. She was too pretty and it scared her every time she went out on a date. Well, it scared Jemma any time one of her children left her house. Dylan was going off to college next year. Adriana had boys panting after her constantly and the only good thing about that is that she wasn’t truly interested in any of them. Her three younger sons were mischief makers at heart, as the afternoon had certainly confirmed.
And she loved every one of them to bits. “Set the table,” she told her boys. She looked directly at Damien, knowing exactly what he’d been saying to them.
Damien winked back at her, which only confirmed her suspicions. When she started to walk by him, he grabbed her, spinning her around so that he could greet her more thoroughly. “Hello,” he said softly a moment before he kissed her gently.
Jemma’s arms wrapped around his neck, her body pressing into his and sparking to life, just like it had that very first night. “Hello,” she said and lifted her face to kiss him back.
In the back of her mind, she heard her four boys vacate the area. Vaguely, she heard one of them say, “Aren’t they too old for that kind of stuff?”
Damien must have heard it as well because he chuckled, breaking off the kiss. “Never too old for this,” he replied and kissed her deeply, making her mind whirl and her body shiver with delight.
“Definitely never too old,” she agreed.