Strangers with Benefits (Siren Publishing Classic) (30 page)

“Liar.” He grinned.

“Have you taken your meds today?”

“You’ve met my mom. Do you think she wouldn’t have force fed ’em to me if she had to?”

“Yeah, you’re right about that.”

“I know I am.”

His eyes said he wanted to do some bad things with her and she wanted him to. But she couldn’t do anything more than look at him, so she did just that eagerly.

“Hey, Mom, you said that I could hear the whole story after breakfast.” Katie looked over at Den, who nodded.

“Okay, get in the car. It’s starting to get hot out here.”

“That’s fine.”

His father and mother got into his truck and Sidonie followed them to Den’s house.

On the trip there Den told the kids a PG-13 version that was all true but far from gory. It was perfect and she wouldn’t have been able to do better herself. She wondered how he was able to handle children when he had none of his own. He didn’t have any brothers or sisters, either, to be a beloved uncle.

She didn’t mention it. It was an odd item to check off of the itemized list of the perfect man she had been building in her brain without even knowing it. Somehow, his character added items she didn’t even think would show up in the same person.

Things like integrity.

Honor.

Kindness.

Sexual prowess.

A sense of humor.

And he liked children?

Somehow, he made her feel as if any other man she met was going to less than satisfactory. As if he had set a bar so high, no other could surpass it.

Katie nodded at Den’s quick recitation of the facts. “So are you dating our mother?”

“Katie!” Sidonie called out sternly.

Den took the opening instead of allowing her to handle it. “If she’ll let me, then yes, I am dating your mother.”

“You’re not like our dad, are you?” Mark asked and Sidonie just gave up at that moment.

She wasn’t going to be able to rein their natural curiosity in, not for a long while. They had every right to be curious as they had never met their mother in conjunction with a man.

Den chuckled. “No, I’m not gay if that’s what you mean.”

Sidonie wished she could up and die. Just die right here, right now.

“Yeah. Dad’s cool and all, but he kind of did the wrong thing.”

“Really, how so?” Den posed back at her son.

“Well, he told us that he had those feelings for a long time, but he didn’t act on them because he was ashamed of it. I don’t get why he would let shame keep him from what would make him happy. Not to mention Mom. He didn’t tell her, but your wife should be your best friend right?”

“You’re really smart for your age, you know that?”

“Yep. That’s why I decided not to get married until I find the perfect woman.”

“Just so you know, it takes a while for that to happen. At first, you just date a bit and figure out what you like. Then when you meet the person with all of the important things, you can decide if she will be the right one or not.”

She knew he spoke to Mark, but she could feel his gaze on her with every word that left his lips.

“How did you meet my mom?” Katie chirped in with her two cents.

“That’s enough!” Sidonie yelled.

The silence that emerged was enough to let her know that everyone was surprised by the outburst, even Sidonie.

“Sorry. But y’all need to leave him alone. He just got out of the hospital and you’re questioning him to death.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

“Sorry.”

Den chuckled. “It’s okay. I keep telling your mother that I’m not an invalid. But she worries about me.”

“Yeah, she does us the same way.” Mark laughed.

“I remember when I broke my arm on the field last year. Mom went crazy.” Mark chuckled.

“Crazy? Shoot, I thought she was going to take us both out of sports.” Katie huffed.

“It wasn’t my fault the defensive lineman wanted to bust my head open,” Mark replied.

That wasn’t her best moment. She really planned on taking him out of the program, but the coach begged her to reconsider. Sidonie didn’t want to be overbearing, but she wanted her children to grow up healthy and if that meant taking them out of some of the more dangerous activities, she would.

“Well, she was probably worried about you being hurt worse. There are people who have accidents on the field that they don’t walk away from.”

Thank you
, she thought.

He looked over at her and must have caught her quickly flashed grin as he supplied one of his own.

When she arrived at Den’s place, Sidonie pulled to the front of the house and let his parent’s park first. Then she pulled in behind them.

“I’m just going to help him inside right quick okay?” she told the twins in the backseat.

“Uh, I have to go to the bathroom.” Katie supplied.

“Is that okay?” She looked at Den.

“Of course. Sorry in advance for the mess, but Mom decided to reorganize my house and everything is everywhere.”

Katie shrugged. “I don’t care so long as it works and you have paper.”

“No paper. You’ll have to use your hand. Sorry,” Den quipped and Sidonie chuckled.

“Ewww… that’s nasty.” Katie laughed.

“I know, right?” Den replied with a comical wide eyed look at odds with the tight corners of his lids.

“Y’all gonna leave me here by myself?” Mark asked with more humor than anything in his tone.

“God, you two are a nosy bunch. Fine then, everyone get out of the car why dontcha?”

Shoot, Den’s mother really had moved everything, everywhere. The sofa had been repositioned. There were a new set of curtains hanging in the living room.

There was even some changes made to the bedroom, but she had to admit they all would help navigation and made everything more cohesive so the flow from one space to another was better.

“I like it,” Sidonie said.

“Really? I told him it would be better this way, but he didn’t believe me.” His mom piped in and Sidonie shook her head. It seemed Sidonie wasn’t the only mother with a tendency to hover over her chicks, even when they left the nest.

“Okay, Mom. You were right.”

“Thank you. How hard was that?” she asked as if Den didn’t look confused within his own four walls.

“She hung up my clothes in the closet,” he muttered.

Sidonie knew Den loved his unorthodox manner of using his hampers as dressers.

“That’s going to help out a lot.”

“Down to the underwear though?” Sidonie couldn’t help it, she laughed out loud and his mom joined right on in.

“I know it’s a little much, but I couldn’t resist. He needs some organization in his life,” his mom chirped.

Sidonie chuckled. “So what are you going to do today?”

“Oh, nothing much, just redo the pantry and change his bathroom stuff. He’s had that curtain for two years now.”

Den sighed, a long suffering sound that made Sidonie grin and rub his arm. “We are headed to the beach this afternoon if you want to go.”

“I sure would!” Mrs. McTavish beamed. “Earl and I never get the chance even though we live so close.”

“I know that feeling.” Most would assume that living by the beach meant sunny days on the sand.

After a while, the sand and surf held little lure as it was nearby. It was odd, but living in a tourist trap only made her want to see something new. She wouldn’t mind looking at snowcapped mountains. That would be a worthwhile vacation.

It was something different and something novel, and the beach just wasn’t that. But the kids loved it and as free amusement, the oceanfront couldn’t be beat. They could park right on the street and walk out to the sand. She could carry food, or eat at one of the numerous places right on the strip.

All for the cost of a gallon of gas. She took advantage of it, but it wasn’t her favorite thing to do.

“How about threeish?” she asked.

“Can we get a real time?” Den puckered his lips.

“Fine. How about three o’ eight, time Nazi?”

He shook his head and she knew he felt like the odd selection made no sense. It did to her. That meant she could leave her place at two forty-five exactly and be there. Not to mention, she needed to fill up.

By the time Katie came flouncing back from the bathroom, she knew that she had a few things to do. Their beach towels were ratty, so she needed to buy new ones. Not to mention that she needed to get to her swim suit.

It had been awhile since she had the chance to wear it and she was kind of excited at the prospect of tempting Den in a place where they couldn’t indulge their hunger. It would make for the ultimate tease.

When the kids bounded out of the door, ready to pack up for a day of fun in the sun, Den grabbed Sidonie’s arm.

“Unlock the door so they can get in,” he whispered.

She did and she looked out to see them hop inside. She pressed the fob to turn the car on as the weather had grown too warm to leave them sitting on the leather for long.

When the car turned on, Den pulled her back into the foyer, out of sight of every one.

“Kiss me, woman.”

She turned her mouth up to his and a clash of tongues later, she panted for breath and her panties were a soaked mess.

“Fuck me, I needed that. So hard to have you so close and I can’t touch you. You’ve spoiled me, woman.”

Did he really think that he was the only one that felt that way?

The One

Den watched as Sidonie drove off and he was forced to stand on his porch for a moment, in the hopes that his hard on would subside. Didn’t want the folks to see that, regardless of whether they knew he and Sidonie were sexually active or not, he’d rather not give visible proof.

As he walked back inside, he noticed his mom was nowhere to be found, but his father sat on the sofa.

“Wanna go fishing?” That was the only water sport Pa was fond of and Den enjoyed the occasional bout with trout as well.

“Sure.” His dad would have everything they needed, including the fishing licenses.

Den had a rod, but he needed to add line to it and really didn’t feel like bothering. No matter what rod he used, it was going to feel odd as he was not left handed.

His arm ached and he popped one of the pills the doctor had prescribed before it got to hurting too badly and he had to take two. Then he’d fall out like an old man or something.

He grabbed a cooler from his closet and filled it with ice from the drawer along with some bottled water and a container of OJ, and then found a pair of board shorts that weren’t too old along with a shirt that he could shrug off or wear open.

He hadn’t planned on a nap, but fell asleep on the sofa, despite the fact he wasn’t much of a nap taking sort. The only time he took naps was when Sidonie had worn him out with her antics.

Their antics.

But he did and woke a couple of hours later with a blanket thrown over him he hadn’t put on him. More than likely, his mom had done it.

He wandered into a bathroom he didn’t totally recognize, due to the new shower curtain, rugs, and other things and climbed into the shower. It wasn’t bad, but nothing he would have chosen for himself.

In all honesty, he was a basic kind of guy and the Nautica curtains and accessories he’d bought when the house closed were about the extent of his decorative abilities. He had to be careful of the bandages as they weren’t meant to be soaked, but he could sponge himself off for the most part.

Once he clean, he fumbled with the clothes, but eventually he was dressed.

His mom was in the kitchen, as promised, digging into the pantry. She had pulled out every can, box, and bottle then rearranged it all.

He was grateful Sidonie had gone grocery shopping with him. If she hadn’t, his parents would have arrived to an empty larder and would have seen the need to fill it.

“You don’t have enough food,” his mother said and shrugged. “We’ll go to the store tomorrow and make sure you have something to eat.”

“Ma, there’s plenty of food in there.”

“Not enough and you don’t have anything canned.”

His mother loved to can anything she could and he knew that by the time she left, anything that could be jarred and preserved would be.

“Okay, Ma.” He knew she would go to the farm to get some of the early produce and fruits that she would take hours to seal into the Mason Jars.

She always made the best stew and he wouldn’t mind having a bit of it for his lunches. She might even make cornbread and freeze it.

Yummy.

Even though he’d just had a huge platter of flapjacks and two servings of turkey bacon, he wouldn’t mind a snack, so he grabbed a box of crackers and ate them.

“I see you packed the cooler. Do you want me to make some sandwiches?”

“Nah, we can have hotdogs at the little stand and some Britt’s doughnuts to go with it.”