“Sorry, I needed more of this.”

“I’m not complaining.” She smiled into his neck.

“I missed you today. I wanted so much to be here with you earlier, to have dinner with you and Rennie and hear what happened at court today. Christ, the pipes were a mess. Erin’s going to be pissed. Her kitchen, everything on the bottom shelves got wet. My back wall is f**ked, the floor in the bathroom and the employee lounge was a disaster, but we got it cleaned up. The plumber said it looked like there’d been a long, slow leak and it finally just gave. The back wall where the pipes burst is going to have to be re-drywalled.”

She hugged him and then got off his lap, bending and kissing him before going into the kitchen to make him something to eat. “So you stayed to be sure Erin’s place got cleaned up because she had a doctor’s appointment today. You’re a good man, Brody. Erin’s lucky to have you. I’m sorry. It sounds like a horrible mess. Will you have to close the shop?”

She bustled around the kitchen, microwaving the beans, heating the tortillas and putting everything together.

“Tomorrow, a friend of mine who’s a contractor will come out to look at the wall to see what needs to be done, how long it’ll take and how much it costs. Hopefully just tomorrow and the next day. I hate to disappoint clients, but I don’t want to be open with all that dust and water around. So tell me how it went. Rennie’s asleep?”

“Yes, my parents ran her ragged at the pizza place, so she was pretty much out by the time she got out of the bathtub.” She put a plate in front of him and sat. “They’re going to keep the case here in Washington.”

He nodded as he began to eat.

“That’s the first big hurdle. Now they’re looking at their assertions that I’m unfit and my assertions that further contact with the Sorensons is detrimental to Rennie’s mental and emotional state and that they should be allowed no visitation or contact at all unless or until Rennie asks for it. It was all preliminary. This stuff can take a while. But because of the visitations being so upsetting, Bill and Frank both believe the judge will hear things sooner. It’ll all be back and forth between attorneys, and then there’ll be another meeting with the judge where she goes over the findings and hears from experts if she wants to. Apparently this is very narrow, so it won’t be a repeat of the trial I had in New York the first time. I just want it over.”

He put his fork down and took her hand. “It’ll be over soon. You’ll finally be free of them and we can all move forward. I’m glad the first step worked out. Keeping the case away from some crony of your ex-father-in-law’s will be a very good thing. I’m sorry I woke you. I just . . . I just didn’t want to go to sleep without touching you.”

She loved him so much right at that moment, loved him until she thought she might burst from it. And then loved him more. He was what she needed, what she wanted, and if she could just be with him and not spook him off with declarations of love, she could continue to love him. She wanted to tell him she loved him, wanted to tell him so much her heart ached.

After this whole legal mess was finally over, she’d sit down and figure out what to do, but for the time being, there wasn’t a darned thing wrong with loving him and being with him.

“I’m glad you did. I ate cookie dough.”

The confused look on his face morphed into understanding. “You ate cookie dough because you missed me?” He smiled so broadly the dimple usually shadowed by his mustache showed. “Erin used to eat cookie dough. By the log. She was the moodiest teenage girl to ever exist. I’m totally certain of it.”

“Until Rennie. Gah, I cringe to think.” She wished he could spend the night. Wished she could close her eyes with him there next to her and just fall away, knowing when she woke up he’d be there still. But with all the allegations that she was some sort of skank who paraded a group of bikers through her bedroom nightly while Rennie was forced to watch, she had to be careful. Besides, spending the night wasn’t part of the deal between them.

“You look so tired. Why don’t you go home and get some rest.” She caressed his cheek and leaned in to kiss him.

“You look ten kinds of sexy in that tank top and those shorts. Now, if I could wake up to this every day, I’d never want to leave my house.”

Maybe she wasn’t the only one who liked the idea of a sleepover.

“I think I might be able to do something about you being tired and me being sexy.” She stood and put the dish in the sink and his beer bottle in the recycling. “Come on back to my room.”

Once inside, she closed and locked the door. “Get undressed and get on the bed, facedown. I’ll be right with you.” She lit some candles and headed into the bathroom for a few things.

When she returned, she paused in the doorway, content to just look at how beautiful and sexy he was, stretched out across her bed. The sight was ridiculously sexy. He was so big and his shoulders so broad, the tattoo on his back lent him an edge of danger. His body was toned and muscular. Every inch of the man was gorgeous. Having him there, in her bed, in her house on a night like this one made her happy. Content.

She crawled up on the bed, straddling his ass.

“Hey.” He tried to turn around, but she pushed him back into place. “You can’t sit on me totally naked and not let me look or touch. That’s torture.”

She poured almond oil into her hands and then rubbed them together to warm it before she touched the skin of his back. Her reward was a long, deep groan of pleasure from him as she began to work her fingers into his muscles.