Me: A fancy dress with lots and lots of ribbons

Shade: Sure, it’s red with black lace. And underneath it is super sexy lingerie. Now tell me what’s under your clothes…

I snickered. Had to give him credit—the guy never gave up. Pushing myself off the couch, I went over to the girls’ door and peeked in. All three of them were sound asleep, the pink glow of the night-light bathing their little faces. Then I walked into the kitchen and grabbed another beer before going into Hannah’s room. She’d said I could have the bed that night and I planned to take her up on it.

Setting the beer down, I unbuttoned my jeans and pushed them down, grabbing a pair of sleep shorts out of the laundry basket. Then I slid my arms into my shirt and reached around behind to unhook the bra. Feeling lazy, I let it fall to the floor before climbing into the bed and propping myself up against the pillows.

The phone buzzed again.

Shade: Waiting

Me: I just took off my bra and got into bed

Shade: Tell me more

Me: About what?

Shade: Tell me what else you took off or I’ll come and see for myself. I could be there in five minutes

Oh, shit. Would he really come here? Of course he would. Shade didn’t do the whole boundaries thing. He didn’t do shame, either. He wasn’t the kind of guy to show up with pizza while you’re babysitting, but he’d make a booty call after the kids went to sleep. I’d bet money on it.

Me: Bad idea

Shade: Talk to me then

Me: I’m wearing sleep shorts and a T-shirt. Not sexy at all

Shade: Nope, definitely not sexy. You should take them off. Much sexier

I laughed despite myself, then took a deep drink of the beer. Warmth settled into my stomach, and I scooted lower into the bed.

Me: I’m leaving them on, but I’m sliding my hand down into my shorts.

Shade: Touch yourself. You wet?

A tingle of awareness rushed through me. I shivered.

Me: where does phone sex fall in terms of one night stands?

Shade: Phone sex doesn’t count. But think how much fun it’d be if you didn’t have to type everything. Call me.

Calling was probably a bad idea, I thought.

He’s right, though, Wonder Woman said. Phone sex doesn’t count. Everyone knows that.

Hmmm…she probably knew what she was talking about, right? I mean, she was a demi-goddess. I killed the rest of my beer, found his name in my contact list and hit the dial button.

“Mandy,” he said, that low, gritty voice of his sending shivers through me just like it had the first time I’d heard it. “Wasn’t sure you’d call.”

I heard the noise of the bar in the background, but it was getting softer. Like he was walking away.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“Just stepped outside,” he said. “Heading around the back of the building. I like the picnic table there. Fond memories.”

My cheeks grew warm. It was a nice table—hadn’t left a single splinter in my ass, even though we’d been going at it hardcore. God, I was such a slut.

“So, you never answered the question,” he said.

“What question?”

“Are you wet for me?”

I slid my hand down, under the covers and into my pants.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Christ, I’d love to be there eating you out right now. You got a real cute little clit—did you know that? If I was there, I’d start by flicking it with my tongue. Use your fingers and tell me what it feels like.”

I closed my eyes, relaxing back as I touched the little nub.

“It’s slippery,” I said, sliding from my clit down to my opening, then swiping back up again. My lower body tightened, and while it wasn’t as good as him being there, just the sound of his voice made me hot.

“You’re tight,” he told me. “I knew it’d be good, but when I first got inside, I thought I might die. You were so damned tight. Squeezing me.”

“I love the feel of it…”

“Of what?” he said. “I want all the details.”

“Your cock,” I said hesitantly, fingers moving faster as the tension started to build. “When you first—”

“Auntie Mandy?” Callie stuck her head through door. I jerked my hand out of my pants, heart racing.

“What is it, baby?” I asked, fumbling with the phone.

“I found something in the bathroom,” she replied, turning on the light. My eyes flooded from the sudden glare. I blinked as the little girl walked across the small room, holding something out to me. A baggie. “It’s one of Daddy’s secrets.”

My eyes widened and I sat up, forgetting all about Shade. Callie handed it to me, looking scared. The bag held a handful of white crystal rocks. Holy shit… Was that what I thought it was? Meth. That was meth. Had to be. I was holding a bag of Goddamn meth—a bag delivered by a five-year-old child.

“Motherfucker…” I whispered, and Callie frowned.

“That’s a Daddy word,” she told me. “Mommy says we should never say it.”

I raised my eyes from the bag to look at her, feeling sick. “You said this was Daddy’s secret. Does that mean Mommy doesn’t know about it?”

Callie squirmed and looked away. “I’m not supposed to tell, but Daddy said that if I ever found more of it, I needed to give it to him right away. Not Mommy. You know, so the twins don’t try to eat it again. But he’s not here and I’m worried. He said it could kill them.”

Taking a deep breath, I set the bag carefully on the side table. That was when I realized the phone was still on. I reached for it and hung up on Shade. Hopefully he hadn’t heard anything, but if he had, I’d deal with it later. Right now I needed to focus on Callie.

“It’s good that you told someone,” I said slowly. “You said that you’re supposed to tell him if you find more so the twins don’t try to eat it again. Does that mean they’ve tried to eat it before, baby?”

Callie’s eyes started to water and she looked away.

Fuck. This was real. This was really happening. Fucking fuck fuck!

“It’s okay to talk to me,” I said, catching her little hand. It was cold, with just a hint of a tremor. The poor kid was terrified. “This is important, Callie. Talking about it is the right thing to do. You know how there are good secrets and bad secrets?”