Page 45 of Backup Plan

“Can I eat these now?” the older one asks, and the smaller one echoes him.

“Yeah, can we eat these now?”

“Go for it!” she says.

“Mommy, who’s that?” the older one whisper-yells as if I can’t hear him while he tears open the box of candy.

“This is Auntie Everleigh’s brother, Liam. Liam, this is Sammy and Benji,” she says, patting each one on the top of the head respectively.

“Hi, Liam,” they say in unison, and I grin as I wave.

“Liam invited us to have a sleepover at his house. Isn’t that cool?” she asks the kids.

“On a school night?” Benji screeches.

She nods. “Yep! Let’s get ourselves all packed up!” She nods upstairs, and she’s about to follow them up to their rooms when the man I assume is her ex rounds the corner.

“Fucking finally. Was your flight late?” He starts in on her before he rounds the corner and sees me standing beside her. He freezes, and then he tilts his head. “Are you one of the Bradley brothers?”

“Liam,” I say.

He stretches his hand out to shake mine, and I pretend like I don’t see it as I turn my gaze to Penny.

“He has some spare rooms and invited me and the kids to stay with him,” she says.

“To stay with him? You’re taking my children from me?” he scoffs.

Penny rolls her eyes. “I’m doing no such thing. My lawyer advised me not to live with you, and since you are being a total asshole about the house, I have decided to move out and take the kids with me. You’ll still get your weekends.”

“You can’t do this,” he snarls.

“Watch me.” She offers a smirk, and then she spins to walk out of the room.

“I’d say it was a pleasure meeting you, but that would be a lie,” I say to Brent, and I follow the sound of Penny’s cackle around the corner.

CHAPTER 14: Liam Bradley

Cap’n Crunch

“I can’t believe you said that,” she whisper-giggles after she closes the door behind me. She moves to her tiptoes to press a kiss to my lips.

“Is this where you’ve been staying?” I ask, looking around her bedroom. It’s nice enough, but it’s not a primary bedroom. It’s obviously a guest room that she escaped to.

She nods. “I just need to throw some clothes in a bag. My essentials are still packed from the weekend. And I need to go pack the boys.”

“What can I do?” I ask.

“Just sit there and look pretty.”

I chuckle as I perch on the edge of her bed, and I reach for her, pulling her between my legs. “Ever wanted to fuck another man in this house?”

Her eyes darken as they look down on me. “If you’re the one offering, yes. Like you wouldn’t believe. But I just want to get the hell out of here. Maybe we can find time at your place once the boys are settled in.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I offer a wicked smile, and then I let her go so she can finish up. She packs the boys, too, and doesn’t ask anyone for any help at all. Soon enough, the four of us are on our way to my place, and the boys are fighting in the backseat like she never left.

“That’s my Hulk wall walker!” Sammy yells.

First of all, what the fuck is a wall walker? I glance at Penny, who’s silently concentrating on the road and decidedly ignoring the yelling in the backseat.