a plastic ring, I felt tears in my eyes.
“It didn’t start the way most relationships do, but it will be a funny story to tell our grandchildren, don’t you think?” he asked me as he reached up and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “We’ll work through it together and all be better off for it, I think.”
“I think my future husband is a pretty smart guy.”
“I’m not,” He shook his head and looked down, “But I’m working on it.”
“We’re doing this.”
“Yep. We’re doing this.”
“How are we going to tell the girls?”
“Just simple and matter of fact. You realized just how fucking cool I am and decided to snatch me up off the market before I got a better offer.” Rowdy smiled at me and then wiggled his eyebrows.
“Yeah, because Lexi will believe that.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Rowdy shrugged. “Now, rather than take you home to stew about this alone, what do you say that we sleep here in my bed tonight and then go get our kids in the morning.”
“I like the sound of that.” I watched him stand up and put his hand out to help me off the couch. “Can we do some more of that getting to know you kissing?”
“As much as I want to, unless you’ve got a condom in your pocket, we should probably maintain a safe distance.” Rowdy put his hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it. “Oh, fuck it. We can keep the underwear on and see what happens.”
“I’m good with that.” I smiled.
◆◆◆
ROWDY
“Wake up, sleepy head,” I whispered into Sierra’s ear.
She and I had only been asleep for a few hours and I knew she had to be just as exhausted as I was, but we needed to be at Marcus and Reagan’s house in an hour.
Sierra sat up with a jolt and shoved me off the bed.
“Unghh,” I groaned as I tried to take a breath.
“What the fuck?” Sierra’s face popped over the edge of the bed and she stared at me. “I’m so sorry, Rowdy! Oh, my God!”
“Where did that come from?”
“What?” Sierra asked as she jumped off the bed and stood between my legs, holding her hand out as if to help me off the floor.
“That ninja shit. One second, you were dead ass asleep and the next, you did some kung fu shit and knocked me on my ass.”
Sierra shrugged and pulled me to my feet.
“Well, alright then. Dynamite in a small package, check.”
“I usually don’t sleep very soundly, so things don’t really get past me. But I opened my eyes and you were just there.” Sierra shrugged and reached up to run her hands through my hair to check for bumps. “Did I hurt you?”
“I’m fine.” I reached up and took her wrists in my hands. “Good morning, beautiful.”
Sierra blushed. Honest to God blushed. It was the cutest fucking thing I had seen in my life.
“Good morning, handsome.”
I leaned down and kissed her softly, our hands between us.
“Want to hop in the shower while I make coffee? We can swing by your place and get a change of clothes on the way to pick up the girls.”
“Why don’t I make coffee while you shower, then we go to my place and I’ll shower and dress?”
“But if we do that then I won’t get to imagine you naked in my bathroom.”’
“If we get this shit done and figured out, I’m going to be naked in your bathroom every morning.”
“Well, there’s that.” I laughed and kissed her again. “Make the coffee strong. I didn’t get nearly enough sleep last night.”
“I’ll do that.” Sierra stood there staring at me, so I finally turned around and walked toward the bathroom. When I turned back to say something, I caught her staring at my butt. Her eyes darted up to my face and she blushed again before she rushed out of the room. “Sorry.”
I took the quickest shower on record and came out of the bathroom to find that Sierra had already made my bed, sorted my laundry into piles, and had a mug of black coffee waiting for me on the nightstand.
Damn, I thought to myself. I could get used to this shit.
◆◆◆
SIERRA
I walked around Rowdy’s house aimlessly, finding out all sorts of information about the man without asking a single question. He only had two day’s worth of laundry in the hamper, meaning he took care of his chores without them piling up. The kitchen was spotless and everything was organized perfectly - even mostly in