LOGINCrandonTempest’s lips are still on mine, warm and insistent, her arms looped around my neck as if she never plans to let go. We’re standing in the middle of my bedroom floor, bodies pressed together, moving in a slow rhythm that has my brain short-circuiting.I cup her face and deepen the kiss, completely lost in it, until that little voice in the back of my head cuts through the haze.Why is she doing this? Slow down.I break the kiss, breathing hard.“Tempest.”She looks up at me, eyes soft. “Yes?”“I think… we should slow it down.”A small smile spreads across her face. “You’re right.”“You okay?”She exhales. “Yeah. I just… couldn’t let tonight go by without giving you a goodnight kiss.”I smile and lean down, giving her another lingering kiss. Before I can pull her closer again, she presses her hand lightly against my chest.“You’re amazing, Crandon,” she says. “And I don’t know if women tell you that enough. I know a lot of them at the office are interested in you. They’re just
Crandon POV After our date at Buckingham Fountain Saturday night, we walked past people selling neon necklaces and light-up gadgets. Tempest’s eyes lit up like she was a kid at a carnival, so I bought her a spinning fan that glowed in different colors and a neon necklace she put on immediately. I laughed and added a bracelet to the mix just because I liked the way she smiled when she was excited.As we kept walking, I asked, “So how are you liking the job?”“I’m actually loving it,” she said. “I love the dynamic. I love how family-oriented you all are. One minute it’s serious business and the next minute everybody’s laughing.”“Yeah,” I said. “Other than that whole incident with me and Carmen, I’ve never had an issue there. I was born into that company, so growing up and then actually becoming part of it, it means something. Some of our cousins went off and did their own thing, but they still come back in different ways. My cousin Philandra, she didn’t want to be an accountant or a l
Maya’s POV, After hanging up the phone with Shane, I shake my head. As a parent, just like Shane, just like Isla, I know exactly how this looks. Chasing someone who doesn’t want you anymore, using whatever tactics you can just to get them to interact with you. I’ve been there.When I first had my child, I moved just like that. I went to the mayor’s office over and over, trying to talk to him, trying to force a conversation. I threatened to tell the world about the baby. And every time, he threw more money at me, more “opportunities,” more hush offers. I was young. I was dumb. I took it.When Gabby was born, it got worse. I showed up everywhere he went, baby in hand. He wouldn’t even look at her. Not once. I had to accept that he didn’t want her. He didn’t want me either.He married another woman. He met her long after we started dating, after I was already pregnant. Six months. That’s all it took for him to marry her. Meanwhile, we had been dealing with each other for almost two yea
Shane’s POVI finish the burgers first, making sure the cheese melts just right over the patties, then I drop the fries into the deep fryer. They don’t take long. Once they float, I shake them off, hit them with seasoning salt, not regular salt, seasoning salt, because that makes all the difference.I pull out the ketchup and the mayo and mix them together in a small bowl for Sophie. She’s been hooked on that combo ever since I took them to a co-worker's backyard party in Skokie.“Daddy, I wanna try it,” she had said.Now she won’t eat fries any other way.I grab drinks from the fridge, but my mind isn’t in the kitchen anymore. It’s back on the call I had earlier with Maya.Flashback“Hey baby.”“Hey lovebug. Are you coming tonight?”I exhale. “I can’t.”She paused. “Why?”“My daughters,” I say. “When I came home last night I found my daughter in my bed, to which never happens, even if they are scared, and she asked me if I still loved them, and then asked me why I don’t stay home, an
Isla’s POV After my little impromptu meeting with the mayor and his crazy ass, I decided I might work with him. A little bit. Not a lot of bit. I don’t trust him. He’s creepy in that polished, smiling for the camera way, and the fact that he only seems to want Maya because she was, in his words, “the best sex of his life” is wild when that woman is also the mother of his child. That alone tells me everything I need to know about his priorities.I did my homework on him. During my at home work time I pulled up everything I could find on him. Public records, old photos, charity galas, tagged posts, the whole nine. He was seen out with Maya a full year before he ever met his wife. Then suddenly he marries this nepo baby with money and political connections, a girl ten years younger than him, no kids, pristine image. Meanwhile Maya who is still younger than him, just not that young is pushed to the side like she was a phase.It’s messy. Calculated. And it makes my skin crawl.He’s not gi
Kole’s POV As I pull the lasagna out of the oven and set it on the table to cool, I hear my girl singing as she works out with her headphones on. My daughter is sitting there watching Ms. Rachel, and I don’t know what kind of spell that woman has, but all the babies love her. Mae is just cooing and staring at the screen.I laugh as I watch them, my girl working out, trying to look even better than she already does. I don’t know what she’s working so hard for. She’s gorgeous the way she is, but she says that she's maintaining.As she finishes her last rep, I go grab my baby girl, pick her up, and give her a kiss. She immediately starts fussing because I picked up the remote to turn off the TV.I look down at her. “Mae, you wanna finish watching Ms. Rachel?”She smiles.“Well, shit.”I put her back in her walker and she goes right back to watching.Keisha laughs. “You better not interrupt her while she’s watching Ms. Rachel. She might bite your head off.”“She is not gonna bite her dad







