She and her brother and their parents. They were his whole world.
Lucas’s hand tightened on his leg, making his cock twitch. Lucas was the one who sought him out in the middle of the day. Lucas worked from home now, having turned Aidan’s old crappy office into something truly elegant and beautiful. At least twice a week, Aidan could count on Lucas’s sex drive sending him into overdrive. Lucas would show up wherever Aidan was and they would throw down hard. They’d done it in fields and in the pond behind the house, in the barn and in the pickup truck Aidan had been driving.
It seemed like the longer Lexi held out on the both of them, the rougher he and Lucas got with each other. He still had bruises from the last time, and he coveted each and every one. They were proof someone still wanted him.
They both missed their wife so much.
“Okay. I’ll see you there.” Lexi hung up the phone and walked into the room, a harried smile on her face. “Sorry,” she said to the room. She shifted Jack on her hip. “Work is never done.”
He needed to take control. Somewhere along the way, he’d lost it and he was having a hard time taking it back. “Come and sit down and have some breakfast. You only have a few hours until you’re supposed to be out at the Talbot estate.”
Her face tightened, lips turning down. There was a small reception for the ladies this afternoon while the men were going up the mountain to a party thrown for them. Lexi had promised him she would attend. “I really want to go, but I might have to skip it.”
He shook his head. “No, you don’t. I already have a sitter for Chelsea and Jack.”
Bo grinned. “Little Jack and I are going to hang out and play. Trev and I are skipping the men’s party. We would rather hang out here with the kids and keep an eye on Beth.”
Trev laughed. “You have no idea how long he’s been looking forward to that. He’s just a big kid himself. Jamie found an old trunk of his and Noah’s toys. There’s a train set.”
“See, I took care of everything,” Aidan said. He really wanted her to get out and see her family and friends. Maybe it would remind her of what she was missing. “You promised Beth and Dani and Shelley that you would go. You missed the bachelorette party.”
She looked at him, biting her bottom lip lightly. “I didn’t mean to miss it. Something came up.”
Something always came up lately. He motioned toward the seat he’d saved for her.
She started to sit down, but her cell rang again. She grimaced. “Damn. It’s my publisher. Can you hold Jack?”
He settled his son on his knee as Lexi walked away again, talking into that damn cell phone that seemed to be the center of her existence. He knew he should take the phone and chuck it in the toilet, but he didn’t want to cause a scene at his brother’s house.
Lucas put an arm around him, his mouth close to his ear. “We have to do something, Master.”
Aidan agreed. Lexi might think work was never done, but Aidan was starting to worry that maybe his marriage was finished.
And he just couldn’t accept that.
Lexi shifted Jack on her hip as she tried to hang on to her phone. She’d attempted to leave him with Aidan, but he’d toddled into the room looking for her. Her baby boy didn’t care that she had things to do. After she’d hung up with her publisher, her assistant had called. Again. “Yes, so just order a thousand more. That should last all the way through conference season.”
She could feel their eyes on her. Oh, there might be a wall between them, but she had no doubt that both of her husbands were growing deeply annoyed.
They seemed to be that way a lot these days.
Her assistant’s voice came over the line. “But I don’t have the new cover yet. The new romantic suspense is coming out before the end of the season and we should have the cover on your promo materials, but the artist is completely backed up.”
Lexi held her patience. She loved her assistant. Jessica had moved from Austin to tiny Deer Run for a shot at helping run Lexi’s business and she’d been a godsend, but sometimes she took her job far too seriously. “We can print some single title promo materials for it later.”
Jack wiggled and his hand clutched at her shirt as though he was just about ready to use it as a way to climb down her body. He’d been patient, quiet, but her baby boy was restless. Since he’d learned to walk, he didn’t exactly love to be carted around.
“All right.”
Thank god. She could get off the phone. If she hurried, she might still be able to make part of breakfast. Maybe that would make up for the fact that she’d had to skip out on the bachelorette party in order to finish her edits.
Jessica barely took a breath before she started talking again. “One more thing.”
“No.” She had to get off the phone. She’d been on the phone for almost an hour, and she’d promised Aidan she wouldn’t work this weekend. “I can’t. I’m supposed to be on vacation and I’ve spent the entire time on the phone. Aidan is giving me killing looks.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll handle it. You enjoy your weekend.” Jessica’s smile practically came over the line. “I will do my level best to not call again.”
The button on her blouse popped open and her son started trying to crawl across her body, searching for a way down. Baby Jack wouldn’t cry except as a last resort, but he would ruthlessly seek out his goal. Unfortunately she hadn’t put on a bra yet, and now she was hanging out. “I’ve got to go.”
“Hey, Lexi. How’s it going?” Her brother-in-law stood in the doorway, a broad smile on his face. “Motherhood agrees with you.”
She flushed. Somehow Bo always managed to catch her in her most awkward moments. Even after he’d gotten married and he no longer ogled her, he still seemed damn amused whenever he caught her in dishabille.
“You pervert.” His wife, Beth, just laughed as she walked into the room, her infant daughter in her arms. “Go and find something to do besides make your sister-in-law deeply uncomfortable. Come on, sweetie. Sit over here. That baby looks like he wants down.”
Bo leaned over and kissed his baby’s forehead. He winked at his wife as he headed out.
“He’s really more of a toddler, and he takes that very seriously.” Lexi buttoned her shirt back up with her free hand after shoving her phone in her pocket. Glancing around the room, she decided this really wasn’t the place to test her son’s newfound skills. “He’s also a climber.”
He would be attempting to haul himself up those bookshelves in the corner in an instant.
Beth settled herself into a comfy chair, pulling at the side of her shirt and placing her baby at her breast. The baby’s little hands came up, clutching at her prize as she nuzzled and began sucking.
Jack grunted a little, pointing down. He was so stubborn, so willful. And Chelsea was off the breast now. Sometimes the only peace and quiet she’d gotten since Chelsea was born had been those moments of feeding her baby, holding her to the breast.
“He’s fine.” Beth gestured to the perfectly clean floor. “Jamie and Noah completely baby proofed this place. We’re over here as often as we are in our own house. The bookshelves are secured against the wall.”
She sighed and lowered Jack to the ground. He immediately started toddling all over the place. He was going to be the death of her.
Her phone rang again.
Damn. Maybe her career would be the death of her.
“You’re getting popular,” Beth said with a smile.
“I’m getting insane.” She pulled a magazine out of Jack’s hand before glancing down at the caller ID. Her agent. If she answered that call, she would be on the phone for forty minutes. Kathy was a great agent, but she loved to talk. She couldn’t. She shoved the phone back in her jeans.