Easy For Keeps: A Boudreaux Novella (The Boudreaux Series)

by Kristen Proby

  I had sex. A lot. With the hottest man ever.

  I giggle once more and stand, groaning now at the uncomfortable pull of my inner thigh muscles, and walk into his bathroom to clean up.

  The shower is quick, and before I know it, I’m in his kitchen, wearing last night’s clothes, kind of excited about the walk of shame I’ll do when he drops me off.

  “I like that smile,” Adam says as he walks into the kitchen holding a brown bag that was just delivered.

  “You put it there,” I reply with a wink. “You put on shorts.”

  He raises a brow. “I can take them back off.”

  “No.” I shake my head and laugh as Adam opens the bag of food.

  He smirks and passes me a bagel, already toasted with cream cheese.

  I take a bite and realize that I’m starving.

  “We burned a lot of calories last night,” he says casually as he watches me devour half of my bagel.

  “No kidding.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “Sore.” I lick cream cheese off my thumb and grin at the sexy man taking a bite of his breakfast. “Well sexed.”

  “Mission accomplished then.” He reaches over the island and drags his thumb down my cheek. “What are your plans today?”

  “I promised Hailey I’d take her to the zoo,” I reply and check my phone, relieved that I haven’t missed any calls or texts.

  “That’ll be fun,” he says. “When can I see you again?”

  I bite my lip and set my bagel down. This was supposed to be a one-night fling, right? A night to get some horniness out of my system and get on with it.

  But last night was more than just a whole bunch of exceptional sex. Which it was. Exceptional, I mean. But damn it, I like him.

  “Should I take your silence as a not in this lifetime?”

  “No!” I shake my head and reach over to take his hand in mine. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking about my…schedule.”

  “No lying,” he says, startling me. “Ever.”

  “Adam.”

  “If you don’t want to see me again, just say so.” He shrugs. His voice is calm. He’s not angry or railing at me. But his eyes look hurt.

  “I do want to see you again.” He continues to hold my gaze steady as I take a deep breath. “Okay, you want the truth?”

  “Every time.”

  “I went into last night thinking that it would be a one-night stand.” He cocks a brow and leans his hands on the countertop, listening. “I hadn’t been with anyone since my husband, and I thought it was time, and you’re—”

  “I’m what?”

  “Sexy and nice and I like you.”

  “I like you, too.”

  I nod and swallow hard. “So, I don’t want it to be just a one-night stand.”

  “What do you want it to be?” he asks.

  “I don’t know.” I shrug. “And that’s the truth. But I do want to see you again.”

  A sexy smile spreads over his handsome face. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”

  “Harder than you know.” I check the time. “I really should get home. And I’m not inviting you to go to the zoo with us today because I’m just not ready for that.”

  “Fair enough.” He nods and walks around the island separating us, cups my face in his big hands and kisses me madly. “But I want to see you, Sarah. I want to see a lot of you.”

  “And Hailey?”

  “I’m not running scared because you’re a mom, honey.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay.” He kisses my forehead, then pulls away. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For?”

  “Dinner. Breakfast.” The most amazing sex of my entire life.

  “You’re welcome.”

  * * * *

  “Do I look pretty for my date?” Hailey asks me two weeks later as we get ready for Adam to pick us up and take us bowling.

  “You look very pretty,” I reply, fussing with the pink bow in her dark hair. She finally let me dress her in something other than her Belle dress.

  This one is Sleeping Beauty. Because it’s pink, and as she said, a dress for dates should be pink.

  My child never ceases to crack me up.

  In the past two weeks, Adam has been present in our lives more and more. He and I have enjoyed a few nights alone together, but he’s also made the effort to include Hailey and even Becca when we go out for dinner or to the French Quarter for some shopping.

  “I don’t need the pads,” Hailey says, her hands on her hips.

  “What pads?” I ask as the doorbell rings.

  “The bowling pads,” she says and rushes out of the room to the door and dances in place, waiting for me to open it. “Adam!”

  “Hello there. I’m looking for a miss Hailey Cox.”

  “That’s me!”

  Adam’s face transforms in surprise. “Are you sure? Because the little girl I’m looking for always wears a Belle dress.”

  “Not on date night,” she informs him and takes his hand. “Date night is special.”

  “You’re right,” he says and scoops her into his arms to hug her tight. Adam has also become more affectionate, more at ease, with Hailey over the past few weeks. At first, I thought it would bother me, but it just makes me happy. “So that must be why I brought you this.” He offers her a single pink rose, making my daughter’s eyes widen in delight.

  He brought her a flower!

  And just like that, he makes me like him even more.

  “You brought me a pretty flower!”

  “Of course I did. I’m taking you on a date.”

  “What about Mommy?”

  His gaze turns to mine as he sets Hailey down and reaches outside, then offers me a bouquet of red roses. “Oh, Adam. You didn’t have to.”

  “Flowers for my girls,” he says with a wink to Hailey. “On date night.”

  “We should go on dates every day!” Hailey exclaims.

  “Well, then it wouldn’t be special anymore,” Adam replies and offers me his hand, then pulls me close so he can gently kiss my cheek. “Shall we?”

  “Absolutely.” I tuck Hailey’s flower in the vase with my own, set them on the coffee table, and we’re off.

  The bowling alley is quiet, but it is only seven o’clock on a Friday. We gather our shoes and balls and argue with Hailey about the gutter bumpers until she finally gives in.

  Halfway into the game, it’s obvious that Hailey is going to out bowl both of us.

  And she’s five.

  “Are you hungry?” Adam asks Hailey after the game is over.

  “Winning is hard work,” she informs him. “I’m very hungry.”

  “Okay, the winner chooses dinner,” he says as he leads us out of the bowling alley to his car.

  “Pizza!”

  “Pizza it is,” he says and winks at me. “How are you?”

  “I’m great.”

  He watches my face for a moment, and then satisfied that it’s the truth, he kisses my hand.

  “Let’s do take and bake pizza,” I suggest. “We can go back to our place and eat, and then it’ll be close to time for bath and bed.”

  “Good idea. Do you want to text Becca and ask her what she wants?”

  “You’re sweet.” I smile over at him, completely charmed by him. “But Becca is out on a date tonight.”

  “We are all on dates!” Hailey exclaims happily.

  “So just us, then?”

  “Just us,” I confirm. I call ahead to the pizza place, ordering a small cheese and a large combo, looking forward to going home and enjoying these two people.

  “Did I tell you that I have a boyfriend?” Hailey asks about an hour later when we’re sitting at the table, eating our pizza.

  “No, you didn’t,” I reply and wink at Adam, whose face looks shell-shocked.

  “You’re five,” he says.

  “And a half,” Hailey replies haughtily.

  “Who is this boy?
” I ask, enjoying the utter surprise coming from Adam.

  “Buster.”

  “Buster?” I ask. “His name is Buster?”

  “Yep,” she smiles and takes a bite of her pizza. “And he’s the tallest boy in my class.”

  “In your kindergarten class,” Adam clarifies, making me laugh into my napkin.

  “He’s supposed to be in the first grade, but he had to take ’garten again,” Hailey says as if it’s no big deal.

  Oh God.

  “And he’s tall.”

  “What is he like?” I ask.

  “I don’t know.” Hailey shrugs. “He’s tall.”

  “Have you ever actually talked to him?”

  “No.”

  I nod, smiling at Adam, who has calmed with the news that my five-year-old isn’t necessarily attending the prom with this kid.

  “His friend told my friend Lisa that he wants to be my boyfriend, and I told her to tell him okay.”

  “I see.”

  “But I’ll probably dump him,” she says.

  “Why?” Adam asks, thoroughly intrigued now with the soap opera that is my child’s love life.

  “Because he wore a green shirt today.”

  “So?”

  She stares at him for a minute, blinking. “Green is ugly.”

  “And there it is,” Adam says to me. “I’ve just been schooled on dating by a kid.”

  “Don’t wear green,” I reply with a laugh. “That would be risky around here.”

  “No more green,” he agrees and smiles at Hailey. “What about blue?”

  “Blue is okay for boys. But not girls.”

  “Good to know.”

  “She’s a dating and fashion expert,” I inform him. “She’s basically five going on thirty.”

  “I see that,” he says, laughing, and I can’t stop looking at him. He’s a big man, broad and tall, but his face is kind, and he’s gentle with both Hailey and me.

  Until I don’t want him to be gentle, and then he seems to know just how to touch then too.

  He’s dangerous for my libido and my heart. Especially since he doesn’t do forever.

  I’d do well to remember that.

  “You okay?” he asks, shaking me out of my thoughts.

  “Great.” I clear my throat. “I think it’s time for bath and bed.”

  “I don’t need a bath,” Hailey says with a smile. “I took one last night.”

  “Why do kids try so hard to avoid bath time?” I ask the room at large. “Trust me. You need a bath.”

  Hailey grumbles, but I stand firm. “We will only be a little while. Do you want to stay?”

  “I’m staying,” he says, catching my wrist in his hand and pulling me into his lap, kissing me soundly right in front of my daughter, who giggles with delight. “I want to make out with you on the couch after a certain someone is asleep,” he whispers in my ear.

  “Good plan,” I whisper back and usher Hailey into the bathroom. Once she’s washed clean and in fresh pajamas, I hug her close and breathe her in. There’s still a touch of her sweet baby smell left, and I want to savor it for every minute I still have it.

  She’s growing way too fast.

  “Shall we read you a story?” I ask.

  “I want Adam to read it,” she replies. “Please?”

  “Go ask him,” I reply and watch her run out of the bathroom. I’m cleaning up the mess from bath time when they walk past toward her bedroom.

  “I’ll be out soon,” Adam says.

  “Three stories!” Hailey exclaims.

  “One story,” I reply and turn to Adam. “Stand firm on that. Otherwise, she’ll take advantage of you every chance she gets. Trust me.”

  “Got it.” He winks and lets Hailey lead him away, her small hand tucked in his.

  With Becca gone, and Adam reading to Hailey, that gives me approximately fifteen minutes to myself. I don’t remember the last time that happened, and frankly, I don’t know what to do with myself.

  I sit on the couch and turn on the TV, but am at a loss as to what to watch. So I switch it off again and check my phone for e-mails and then my social media.

  I don’t know how I feel about Adam joining in on the everyday routine. I’ve been a single mom for a long time, taking care of everything on my own. And I’ve done a good job of it. I know that. Sharing it with someone new is…unsettling. Sharing my daughter with him is new.

  Do I want this? Do I want Adam to walk into my life and merge into our lane of traffic? Because that’s exactly what it feels like. That he’s just effortlessly merged into our lane of traffic.

  Finally, I stand and walk to Hailey’s bedroom, and lean on the doorway watching. Hailey is tucked under the covers, but she’s sprawled across Adam’s chest, watching the pages of Beauty and the Beast as Adam reads them. His voice rises and falls with the rhythm of the book, and to my surprise, he changes the pitch of his voice with each character, acting out the book perfectly. Hailey laughs, then sighs, watching Adam’s face now as he reads, and I can see it all over her sweet, little face.

  She’s falling in love with him.

  And if the truth be told, I think I am too.

  Do I want this? As I watch this confirmed bachelor with my little girl, everything inside me says yes.

  Yes I want this. I don’t know for sure where it’s going to lead, but it feels damn good right now.

  I walk away, letting them read in peace. In another ten minutes, Adam walks out of Hailey’s room, shaking his head and smiling wide.

  “She’s knocked out,” he says and sits next to me on the couch, pulling me to him. He nudges my face up so he can kiss me, long and deep.

  “For someone who claims to be a confirmed bachelor, you’re sure good with my kid.”

  He wants honesty? I’ll give it to him. But rather than floundering, he just kisses my forehead and tucks me next to him.

  “I told you before, sugar, you and your kid don’t scare me. That surprises me,” he says, offering honesty of his own. “But I’m not going anywhere.”

  For how long? I don’t have the guts to ask him that question, and instead I make a vow to enjoy him, to enjoy this, for as long as it lasts.

  Chapter Seven

  ~Adam~

  The next afternoon, I’m stocking bottled beer behind the bar, lost in thought. At this time of day, business is slow, so my mind wanders.

  And lately, it’s been wandering to a certain beautiful brunette.

  “Why are you so chipper?”

  My head whirls around at Callie’s voice. “I’m not chipper.”

  “You’re whistling,” she says with a laugh and grabs a wet rag to wipe down the already clean bar. “You’re happy about something.”

  “Why shouldn’t I be happy?” I counter and toss the empty crate to the side of the bar. “We have a great business and it’s a beautiful day.”

  “And you’ve been spending a lot of time with a certain woman,” she says and raises a brow in my direction.

  “Truth,” I reply and smile.

  “She’s pretty,” Callie says thoughtfully. “And you said she has a child?”

  “Yes, Hailey. She’s five.”

  “How long has Sarah been divorced?”

  I frown. “She’s not. She’s widowed.”

  “Oh.” Callie frowns and looks down at the bar and then back at me. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Yeah. He was a cop, killed in the line of duty.”

  “That’s horrible.” She leans on the bar and crosses her arms over her chest, watching me.

  It’s not that I’ve been keeping Sarah and Hailey a secret. Not at all. I’ve been consumed by them. When I’m not here, I’m with them, and Callie has been in Nashville with her husband, Declan, while he produced a new album for a country singer.

  I glance up to find her still staring at me.

  “What?” I demand.

  “You probably don’t want to hear this.”

  “That’s never stopped
you before,” I reply. “What’s on your mind?”

  “You’d better not hurt her,” Callie says sternly. “Seriously, Adam, she’s…fragile.”

  “Bullshit.” I pace away, then turn back and brace my hands on my hips. “She’s not weak, Callie. She’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

  “I’m not saying she’s weak,” she says, shaking her head. “But she has to be in a vulnerable place, Adam. She lost her husband violently and she has a young child to care for. Look at how lost and vulnerable my dad was after my mom died. I lost him completely.”

  “This isn’t the same,” I insist. “Callie, she’s bright and full of life. She’s so fucking strong. She’s honest about her husband and what happened. She doesn’t hide it. She’s exactly the opposite of your dad. Besides, why are you sticking up for her? You don’t even know her.”

  “I don’t have to know her to know that she’s special to have you all twisted into knots. You’ve been spending a lot of time with her, and you never do that. You haven’t even looked at another woman since you met her.”

  “I like her.” I shrug. “She’s great.”

  “And she has a kid,” she reminds me again.

  “I like Hailey too.”

  She pauses and watches me closely. “You’re pretty invested in this.”

  “Yes. Sarah’s great, and she has an amazing little girl.”

  “So what happens when you lose interest?” she asks, making me frown. “Because I know you, Adam Spencer, and you will lose interest. You always do. In the meantime, this strong, bright woman and her amazing child are falling in love with you. So I’m warning you, right now, do not hurt them.”

  “Who the fuck says I’m going to lose interest?” I lean on the bar, pissed now. I don’t even want to think about the love comment. Not yet. “I’m not a monster, Callie.”

  “Not at all,” she agrees coolly. “But you are you. And you play the field, at your own admission. You like variety. So just be careful with them and their feelings. If you decide that you want to commit to them, great. But if that’s not your plan, you need to seriously consider stepping back.”

  “You’re wrong.” Except she isn’t wrong. She’s right. That has been my philosophy my whole adult life. Variety is the spice of life, and I’ve been unapologetic about it.