Page 14 of Not Safe For Work

His eyebrows rose. “You’ve been married twice?”

“Almost a third time, but…” I waved a hand. “Things happen. Long story. What about you?”

“Never quite made it to the altar. Almost did, but…” He shook his head. “Just as well.”

“Long story?”

He draped his arm over my waist. “Long story.”

“Aren’t they all?” I rested my hand on top of his arm. “Anyway, since she and I live together, you’ll probably meet her at some point, if that’s not too weird.”

“Not for me. If you two live together, and it’s not weird for you or for her, then it’s fine by me. When we get to that point, I mean.”

“Of course, of course. No need to jump into meeting the ex-spouses or the kids quite yet.”

Rick laughed. “Yeah, give me a little warning for that one if you don’t mind.”

“I will. I promise.” I paused. “You and my younger daughter would probably get along great. She’s looking into your field.”

“Well, if she needs an internship or anything, I’d be happy to see if we have any openings.”

A weird feeling coiled in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to help my kids as much as possible, but also let them step out on their own and be independent. I wasn’t sure where “the bazillionaire I’m sleeping with can hook you up with an internship” fell on that spectrum. I half shrugged, running my hand along his side. “When the time comes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Great.” He chuckled. “Would you believe I’ve never been involved with someone whose kids were grown?”

“Really?”

“Really. I’ve dated a few guys who had younger kids, one who had a high school sophomore, but no adults.” He arched his eyebrow. “Does this mean I’m getting old?”

I laughed, patting his arm. “Welcome to the club.”

“Damn it.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Forty-three. You?”

“Closer to forty-six than I’d care to admit.”

Rick laughed wickedly. “Forty-five with kids in college. Pretty soon you’ll be dealing with weddings and—”

“No! No. No.” I shook my head. “No, we’re not thinking about that right now. They’ve all been forbidden from getting married until they’re out of school and I’ve had a chance to cope with that.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “Then again, two of them are in serious relationships, so knowing them, they’ll want to get married around the same time. Why they have to do everything expensive simultaneously…”

Rick chuckled, lacing our fingers together between our chests. “It does kind of make sense. Sounds like they’re pretty close in age?”

“Very. Literally all within one year.”

His eyes widened. “How the fuck did you manage that?”

“We didn’t plan it that way, believe me. We adopted Kelsey, and a week after that was finalized, Karen found out she was pregnant with Tyler and Brooke. So within a year, we had three infants in the house.”

Rick blinked. “Oh my God. Just thinking about that makes me tired.”

“You have no idea.” I laughed. “But we all made it through without killing each other, and we got three good kids out of the deal, so I can’t complain.”

“And now she lives with you?”

I nodded. Then I chuckled. “Jesus. Look at us—we got together to fuck and get kinky, and we’re already talking about kids and exes.”