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  Leo moved just one hand upwards, lightly pinching her nipple beneath her shirt, before he slid it back along her sides. She gasped, but he didn’t offer her any reprieve. He didn’t move away, didn’t stop.

  The sound of someone whistling nearby reminded them they were in public, and they broke away at the same time.

  “You’re right,” she said, her voice huskier. “That wasn’t weird.”

  It was overwhelming. Intense. Incredible.

  But not a bit weird.

  “I think I should get you home.” He reclaimed her hand and neither of them spoke again until they were standing outside the pub, both lost in their thoughts.

  Well, she would have been if her brain was functioning. Sadly, the only thing she could focus on was the way her body tingled all over.

  “Want to come in?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t think I shou—”

  “Leo,” she interrupted his refusal, prepared to fight. His kiss had set her on fire. Going upstairs alone wasn’t an option she wanted to consider. “Please. Just for a little while.”

  “Vonnie, if I go upstairs with you, we both know this night’s not ending with a kiss, and you need time to think about what that means.”

  “I don’t need to thi—”

  He gripped her upper arms, guiding her backwards until she was pressed against the wall of the pub. She knew Leo was strong. How could he not be? The man did hard manual labor every day of his life. She wasn’t sure, but she thought this move was a power play, a way for him to show her exactly how strong he was.

  If it was meant to scare her off, he was a damn fool. She liked it.

  She really fucking liked it.

  Leo gave her a quick, rough kiss that didn’t last nearly long enough, and when he pulled away, she could see he was pissed at himself for instigating it. “Dammit, Yvonne. I’m not an easy lover. If you take me to your bedroom, I’m going to pull your hair, tie you to the bed and spank your ass, then fuck you in every position I can twist you in until you’ve come half a dozen times and you’re screaming my name. And even then, I won’t stop.”

  Yvonne blinked several times as she let each and every one of those dirty descriptions play out in her mind. “Okay. I’ve thought about it. You should definitely come upstairs.”

  Leo laughed, pressing his forehead to hers. “Jesus, Vonnie. You’re killing me.”

  “Seriously, Leo. What sane woman would refuse any of that?”

  “Plenty of them. And…you should.”

  “Nope. I should not. I definitely should not.”

  “I haven’t had sex since Denise died.”

  “Oh,” she said, truly shocked. “I didn’t reali— Why not?”

  He gave her an exasperated look. “Because I’ve been busy raising a couple kids with my ex-girlfriend’s late husband. Shit’s been tricky.”

  Yvonne wasn’t sure she bought that. Three years was a long time. And for the first time, she found herself questioning whether or not Leo was truly over Denise.

  Leo narrowed his eyes. “It doesn’t have anything to do with Denise.”

  “Then what?”

  “Exactly what I said. I can’t do a relationship. I’m committed to keeping Vince and Clint together. I can’t split those boys up, and I can’t see a way to add a woman to that equation. My living situation isn’t exactly normal.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You have some serious hang-ups about what’s ‘normal.’ Besides, you’re preaching to the choir. I know all about your living situation and the boys. Hell, it was my idea for you and Ryder to raise them together.”

  “I made a commitment to them, and a promise to myself that I wouldn’t date until they were older. The timing on this is wrong.”

  “Fine. It’s wrong. Bad timing. Dating is totally overrated anyway. We’ll just fuck, exactly the way you described.”

  Leo barked out a laugh and the heaviness on his face vanished for good, his smile firmly in place even as he said, “God. I need you to be serious for a second.”

  “That’s the last thing you need. Your life is serious enough. So here’s another secret to a happy life…laugh more.”

  Her quick response took him aback for a minute, but Leo wasn’t the type to get knocked down. Just off-balance. “Vonnie, I shouldn’t have come tonight, shouldn’t have kissed you.”

  “Then why did you?”

  “I’m…tired.”

  Leo didn’t have it in him to lie, and she knew he’d probably never spoken truer words than those. He was further along on that second piece of advice than he realized.

  But what he didn’t get was there was more to it than exhaustion, and until he figured that out, he wasn’t going to pursue what was happening between them.

  “If you get tired again, I don’t mind the kisses. They’re pretty hot.”

  He grinned, even as he said, “I’m sorry for the mixed signals.”

  Yvonne knew Leo well enough to know he wasn’t going to stop feeling guilty for coming over or for kissing her, because in his mind, he truly didn’t see this going any further.

  And though she was definitely reserving the right to try to convince him to take a chance later, she’d let him off the hook for now. She needed to gather her thoughts, figure out her next move. Aunt Riley could help her with that.

  No. Actually, what she needed immediately was fifteen minutes with her vibrator. Jesus, maybe thirty. She was at critical mass on the horny scale.

  Then, she’d map a course with Riley tomorrow.

  Leo sighed. “I should go.”

  Before he could step away from her, she grasped his hand. “We’re still friends, right?”

  Deep creases lined his forehead as he frowned. “Of course we are. Always.”

  “Okay. Good. Then you’re not allowed to avoid me.”

  One look at his face told her that while he wasn’t sure where they were going from here, Leo had indeed intended to lay low for a while.

  “Promise me,” she pressed. “No matter what happens, the friendship remains and you don’t start playing hide-and-seek. I’ve gotten kind of used to your grumpy ass.”

  “I promise. No hiding, no avoiding.” He sealed that vow with a platonic kiss on the cheek that she hated. Then he turned and walked toward his car in the parking lot.

  Yvonne watched as he drove away, not quite ready to go inside and deal with Finn’s and Miguel’s inquisition. They were no doubt both dying of curiosity about her “date” with Leo.

  People came and went, waving as they entered or exited the pub, but she didn’t give up her post on the wall, simply letting the world move around her.

  “Yvonne?”

  She spotted Kelli heading down the sidewalk toward the pub. “Hey, Kell.”

  Kelli was one of her closest friends, so she wasn’t surprised when the other woman pulled up short and gave her a funny look. “What are you doing out here?”

  Yvonne shrugged. “Just thinking. I had a date tonight.”

  “Oh. From the look of you, I’d say it sucked.”

  Yvonne laughed. “Honestly, it was an amazing date. One of my best.”

  Kelli digested that information, still looking confused. “My best dates usually end in the morning with me naked and wrung out after several orgasms, not with me holding up the wall of a pub looking lonely as a lost kitten, so we’re going to have to beg to differ on what constitutes a ‘best’ date.”

  “I went out with Leo.”

  “Seriously?”

  Yvonne nodded, wondering why Kelli seemed so genuinely shocked by that. “Yeah.”

  “Wow. Why now?”

  “What?”

  “The two of you have been friends forever. What changed?”

  Yvonne had never told anyone except Pop Pop about her crush on Leo. And even though she’d embraced the friendship, her heart had always beat a little faster whenever he was around. She’d kept that secret buried as deeply as the feelings.

  “He’s going through
some stuff with his family, so I took him dinner last week. He decided to repay the favor tonight, taking me out…and we kissed.”

  “Sounds okay so far. Which means there’s more to it, because the fact remains you’re standing here alone now.”

  “He regretted the kiss. Said he couldn’t let it go any further than that because his life is a hot mess and he doesn’t have time to date someone.”

  Kelli rolled her eyes. “Of course he does. Leo’s problem is he thinks his family would fall apart without him. His parents homeschooled him, Marie and Josh so they could work the farm, and I think they still put a lot of pressure on him to keep things running smoothly. Then Denise died, and Leo gave up a lot of his independence to not only raise his son, but Ryder’s. He’s constantly sacrificing his own needs to make sure the people he loves are happy.”

  The reason Yvonne and Kelli were such great friends was because they were both pretty straight shooters. Hearing Kelli’s perspective on Leo confirmed what Yvonne already knew. Leo wouldn’t willingly date her because of his overwhelming sense of responsibility.

  “So what you’re saying is—” Yvonne started.

  “What I’m saying is, if you want to wake up naked in that man’s bed after a half-dozen orgasms—and Leo definitely strikes me as the type to rock a girl’s world; it’s the quiet ones who are always freaks in the bed—then you, my dear friend, have some work to do.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “If things work out, you wouldn’t just be dating Leo. He comes as part of a set.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, if things don’t work out, if you decide to break things off, it’s not just Leo’s heart that could be broken. If the two of you start dating seriously, there’s a little boy—actually, a couple boys—who are going to be hurt if things go south as well.”

  Leo had just basically said the same thing, but the way Kelli worded it really drove home his reasons for pulling back. And gave Yvonne a reason to pause, to consider. She adored those boys, loved babysitting for them. She wouldn’t want to hurt them ever.

  “You’re right. I guess there are a lot of pretty solid reasons not to—”

  “I named one. The boys. I’m not sure what other reasons Leo gave you. Wait—the two of you aren’t playing that bullshit card about not wanting to risk the friendship, are you? I’ll tell you right now, I think that’s a lame excuse for not going after what you want.”

  Yvonne laughed. Yep. Kelli really did feel like her kindred spirit. “That thought never occurred to me, actually.”

  “Good girl.”

  “And you’ve given me plenty to think about. Thanks.”

  “You coming in then? I need some consoling of my own.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “School starts again in a week. I need margaritas to help me forget that fact.” Kelli was an incredible kindergarten teacher who loved her students like they were her own, but like most teachers, she considered the summer months the most coveted and sacred time of the year. While Yvonne looked forward to August and her birthday, Kelli dreaded it like the plague, boycotting Target the second they put the Back to School displays out until they were replaced with the Halloween shit, which was how long it took her to get back into the swing of things.

  Yvonne laughed. “Come on. Let’s go order a pitcher. I’ll help you drown away that pain.”

  Kelli walked into the pub and straight over to the bar to place their order and chat with Padraig for a few minutes as Yvonne grabbed a table and tried to sort out her thoughts.

  She considered Pop Pop’s advice from when she was younger. He’d said friendship and love were both important, both valuable, and she’d abided by his advice, shutting down her fourteen-year-old girl’s hopes and dreams for capturing Leo’s heart.

  But for the first time in her life, she thought maybe Pop Pop had been wrong about something.

  Friendship with Leo would never be enough.

  Chapter Five

  Leo sat at the bar at Pat’s Pub and silently chastised himself for being a fool. It had been a week since he’d taken Yvonne out to dinner. He’d seen her twice since then during his weekly deliveries, forcing himself to act natural, friendly. He had promised her after all.

  Yvonne, good friend that she was, had respected his wishes and they’d returned to their normal status quo.

  Just friends.

  Unfortunately, none of his feelings for her these days were friendly.

  Instead, they were primal, obsessive, possessive.

  She’d tempted the beast from his lair and that fucker was not going back into hibernation.

  The more she acted like “a friend,” the crazier he got, and the more he wanted to drag her into the back storeroom of the pub and do dirty, dirty things to her.

  Tonight, he’d hit the wall. Ryder was working late—again—so Leo and the boys had settled in, intent on watching the ball game and chilling. That had lasted about twenty minutes before Leo called Darcy and asked if she could watch the kids for a couple hours, then he’d headed here.

  He wasn’t sure what Yvonne had told Darcy about them, but the way his babysitter’s face lit up when he told her he’d be at the pub let him know she knew enough. Darcy’s last words as he’d left the house had been, “Have a good time and don’t rush back. Stay all night if you need to.”

  Yep. Darcy definitely knew too much.

  He had been equal parts relieved and frustrated when he’d arrived at the pub and realized Yvonne wasn’t working tonight.

  Relieved because that gave him time to have a drink at the bar and talk himself out of what he was planning to do. Without her knowing he was here.

  Frustrated because if she’d been working, it would have interfered with his plans to ravish her and made it a lot easier for him to resist.

  “Leo?”

  Leo turned at the sound of Lochlan’s voice and smiled. “Hey, man. Long time no see.”

  The two of them shook hands, then Leo’s gaze drifted to the pretty blonde standing next to his friend. Lochlan had married his secretary, May, the two of them not only raising their newborn son but May’s elementary-aged nieces as well. Leo got a kick out of seeing his “confirmed bachelor” buddy knee-deep in the family scene.

  “Hi, Leo,” May said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  “You too.” Leo took a peek at the baby in her arms and smiled, trying to remember when his grumpy tween, Vince, was that tiny.

  May excused herself to chase down her nieces, who’d headed straight for the kitchen to see Riley upon arrival. “I better go grab the girls before Riley stuffs them with bread and cookies, or they won’t eat their dinner.”

  “We were just about to head over to Sunday’s Side. Meeting up with Pop Pop for dinner. Want to join us?” Lochlan asked. “The more, the merrier.”

  Leo shook his head. “No thanks. Ate with the boys before heading over here for a quick drink. I can’t hang out too long. Ryder’s working tonight, so Darcy’s watching the kids.”

  “I’m glad to see you taking some time for yourself. You don’t do that enough.”

  Leo wondered how Lochlan would feel if he found out he wasn’t here for a break, but for Yvonne.

  Actually, he was certain Lochlan wouldn’t mind Leo asking Yvonne out at all. At least not until he recalled Leo’s penchant for bondage, something they’d discussed one night after a few too many bourbons at a friend’s bachelor party.

  Then his friend might have a few words to say.

  “Yvonne has been telling me the same thing, so tonight I thought I’d give it a try, see if this relaxation thing everyone raves about is all it’s cracked up to be.”

  Lochlan slapped him on the back. “It really is good to see you. I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to go to a game together or meet for a beer.”

  Leo smiled. “We’re both old family guys now. But I wouldn’t mind catching a Ravens game with you when the season starts back up, if you think you can get away one
Sunday afternoon. Ryder can get us pretty good seats.”

  “It’s a plan.”

  He and Lochlan said their goodbyes, then Leo resumed his seat and picked up his beer. He glanced toward the closed door that led to the Collins Dorm. He’d seen Yvonne’s car in the parking lot, so she was clearly upstairs.

  “You waiting for someone to come down?” Padraig asked, leaning on the counter in front of him.

  Leo shook his head. “No. Just me tonight.” He glanced toward the door again.

  “Yvonne is the only one home, if you were wondering,” Padraig said, clearly noticing where Leo’s attention was focused.

  He nodded, distracted by that information. She was upstairs and she was alone.

  Which meant he was fucked.

  Meanwhile, Padraig looked in the opposite direction, to where a woman was tapping away fast and furious on her laptop.

  “Who’s that?” Leo asked, curious about the pretty woman. She’d been sitting there since he’d arrived, and from the open notebook beside the half-empty plate next to her, it was apparent she’d been there awhile.

  “Emmy. She’s a writer. Been coming in here the last few weeks to work on her book. Not sure what it’s about. She won’t say,” Padraig replied, raising his voice so she could hear him.

  “Don’t want you stealing my plot,” Emmy said, grinning widely without looking up. Her fingers continued to fly across the keyboard.

  Her secrecy had obviously sparked Padraig’s curiosity. Leo got a sense the two of them had had this conversation before.

  Padraig turned his attention back to him. “Since Emmy won’t divulge her secrets, I’ll ask you, Leo. What are you doing here?”

  “Can’t a guy just hang out and have a beer, chat with an old friend while he’s tending bar? I thought you might like the company.”