to a fight. He crawled up the bed, forcing up the shorts until they were bunched at Somers’s waist, and straddled Somers’s thighs. Then, bending down, he kissed Somers lightly. Just a brush of his lips. And then another. And then another.
When he pulled back slightly, Somers licked his lips and said, “No, sir. Don’t even think about it. You are not going to get out of having this conversation—ah.” The last noise was a combination of a gasp and a groan.
Hazard’s hand, which he had worked up under the shorts, moved slowly but surely.
“I didn’t say just food and sleep.”
“Um.” Somers’s eyes were hooded. His head rocked back and bumped against the wall. It seemed to startle him out of the daze. “Huh? What?”
Slow and sure. Tight and then loose.
“I said you needed three things. I didn’t say just food and sleep.”
“Oh. Uh. Right. Yeah. Three things.” Somers seemed to be trying to think.
“Come on,” Hazard said, giving a long, last pull before working his hand free of the shorts. He slapped Somers’s bare thigh, the red print rising almost immediately. “Our room.”
“But Evie—”
“This is just the pre-dinner entertainment,” Hazard said, grabbing the undershirt and dragging him up off the bed. “The real show is after she goes to bed.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JULY 3
WEDNESDAY
7:42 AM
HAZARD WAS COOOKING EGGS when Somers staggered into the kitchen. The blond man’s tie was askew, his shirt misbuttoned, and one leg of his trousers was caught in his sock. He had wadded his suit jacket into a ball for some unknown reason, and he stood in the kitchen, expression glazed, like a man who had survived a bombing and stumbled out of the wreckage.
“Well,” Hazard said as he slid two of the eggs onto a plate, “this is very flattering for a guy’s ego.”
Somers’s gaze narrowed. “This is your fault.”
“I know,” Hazard said, shrugging as he added bacon to the plate. “I’m too good. I’m a public menace.”
“Do not be cute. Do not be funny. Do not, for the love of God, get a big head and start swaggering and strutting.”
“That’s kind of your area.” Hazard set the plate on the table. Then he took the wadded-up jacket and guided Somers to a seat. While Somers picked up a fork, Hazard straightened the tie and redid the buttons.
“I’m not four years old,” Somers grumbled, poking the egg to break the yolk.
“Uh huh,” Hazard said, bending to free the trapped cuff of the trouser.
“Oh God,” Somers muttered as he took the first bite. “I need help.”
Hazard jogged upstairs and quickly ran the iron over the jacket. By the time he got downstairs, Somers was rinsing his plate in the sink.
“I’ll get that,” Hazard said.
Somers waved him off and loaded it in the dishwasher. “Thank you,” he said, slipping into the jacket when Hazard held it out for him. “God, I set four alarms. Four.”
“I noticed.”
“I cannot believe this.”
“You were exhausted. Emotionally and physically. Although not so exhausted that you didn’t want thirds last night when I—”
“Daddy,” Evie squealed, rushing into the kitchen and wrapping herself around his legs.
“Monster,” Somers muttered to Hazard.
Hazard pecked him on the cheek and turned him toward the garage. Wrangling Evie, he swept her up and over his shoulder, and her shrieks dissolved into laughter. “I would have woken you up if you were going to be late.”
“I wanted to get in early—”
“You needed sleep.”
“I have a million things—”
“You needed sleep.” Hazard pretended to squeeze Evie until she screamed in delight, and then the squeezing turned into tickling. “Especially,” Hazard added in a stage whisper, “after thirds.”
“I hate you.”
“Don’t say hate!” Evie screamed.
“Say goodbye to daddy,” Hazard instructed.
“Bye,” Evie shouted, waving both hands as Hazard flew her in for a kiss.
“Goodbye,” Somers said, laughing as he accepted a kiss first from Evie and then from Hazard.
“Eat lunch,” Hazard said.
“Yeah.”
“I’m serious. Something with protein. Not the shi—not the junk in the lunchroom.”
“Yeah,” Somers said, grinning as he went out to the garage.
And then Hazard flew Evie around the house, two loops, while she kicked and laughed. He was feeling better, much better. What could have been another epic fight with Somers the day before had turned into something else—a chance for both of them to support each other. And then, of course, after putting Evie to bed they had made it to round three, which didn’t hurt.
After breakfast, Hazard took Evie to preschool. Then he went to his office. The July day was overcast, already threatening rain, and the clouds moved fast; the shadows