“Thank you,” he said with a soft smile. “I never remarried. Never found the right girl.”

His gaze drifted to Lucy, and her face filled with heat as she shook her head. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Chuckling, he leaned into her, kissing her temple as Autumn asked, “So you lost your brother too, all to car crashes?”

Benji nodded, meeting her sad gaze. “Same car crash. All three of them.”

“My goodness, bless your heart,” she was almost crying and Benji nodded.

“Enter drinking problem,” River stated with a nod. “Been there. Done it.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “You did?”

“Oh, yeah,” River said, holding Autumn closer. “Baylor’s mom left me, and I left the NHL. I was depressed to no end, turned into a functioning alcoholic, and I thought I was good. But then I met your mom and things just changed. I didn’t need to be numb—I wanted to feel everything because I loved her.”

“Gagging, but wow, that’s sweet,” Lucy said, sending her mother a grin, but Autumn was too busy beaming up at River.

“Yeah, mine started when I was younger, but it got worse. Took me a long time to come back from that, but I’m coping. And while I didn’t stop for a woman, I stopped because I wanted to be a good guy, someone people could depend on, and maybe one day, love.” Looking over at Lucy, Benji found her lips quirked at the side, watching him with dark eyes.

“Well, I think you’re a great guy,” Autumn decided and Benji smiled.

“He’s okay,” Lucy said, and Autumn tsked her as River chuckled.

“Yeah, I think I’m finally enjoying life. And when you enjoy life, you become the person you want to be.”

River and Autumn both grinned at Lucy as she groaned. “Ugh, stop, guys.”

That made them all laugh as Benji held her close.

“Well, I’ve been around Ms. Lucy Lane for a little over a year now, and I can say I’ve never seen her smile or laugh as much as she does when she’s around you,” River said, toasting his cup of milk to Benji.

Lucy rolled her eyes, her face filling with color as she looked across the table at her soon-to-be stepdad. “Never had anything to smile or laugh about, unless Angela Lynn had something to say.” That made all of them smile, but the tension was back. All of them worried about spunky little Angie. Lucy eyed Benji, a grin pulling at her lips. “But maybe I do now.”

“Well, I’d say so,” Autumn gushed, beaming ear to ear as River nodded happily. “So, Benji, tell me, what are you doing on Christmas?” Autumn asked and Benji shrugged.

“Well, I was hoping I could score an invitation to hang with you guys at apparently the coolest wedding ever.”

“Done. The whole family will be in. Jude and Jace will be excited to meet you. So please come.”

The thought of meeting the other Sinclair brothers as Lucy’s boyfriend kind of made him nervous, but he wouldn’t miss it for the world. “I’m there.”

Lucy grinned as she leaned on the table, his arm falling to her hip. “It’s his birthday,” she said as Audrey came to the table.

“Is it?” Autumn exclaimed, looking up to Audrey. “We need to have that lemon cake he keeps talking about as a side cake for one.” Benji wanted to protest, but he knew Autumn would ignore him. She was Lucy’s mother, very headstrong but not as angry, and he was finding he was starting to care for the sweet lady. “It’ll be Benji’s birthday.”

When Autumn flashed him a grin, squeezing his hand, Benji smiled.

And he felt like, maybe, he could really belong to this family one day.

As he pressed Lucy into the wall, Benji’s fingers bit into her ribs and he got lost in her kisses. She tasted like cake, Audrey’s fabulous cake, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he liked the cake more on a plate or on her mouth.

One thing was for sure, he wasn’t about to stop.

Lifting her up, he pressed himself into her as her fingers threaded through his hair, arching her chest into his. He held her ass and she gasped against his mouth, pulling away as his lips trailed down her jaw.

“I’m gonna put a sectional over there.”

He couldn’t fathom why she wanted to talk about the design right now, but he was too busy to stop her. Dragging his teeth down her throat, he gasped against her as she squeezed her legs around his waist.

“It’s gonna look great… Oh God, yes,” she moaned as he dipped his tongue in the V of her shirt. “But, but, can we pause?”

“No,” he said against her skin, nipping her collarbone before grazing his teeth against her jaw. “No shits are given about design right now. All I care about is getting inside you.”

She gave him a serious look. “But I want to tell you.”

“And I want to fuck you,” he said desperately. “I leave in two days. I won’t get this ass for almost two weeks. Talk later, okay?”

When he went to kiss her, she put her hand up, stopping him. “It will take me five minutes, and then you can have your way with me.”

He paused, thinking it over as he held her gaze. “Actually, I can have my way with you without listening because I’m pretty sure you can’t say no to me.”

She scoffed. “Don’t get me confused with yourself,” she said, patting his chest and wiggling out of his grasp, her feet hitting the ground. “Now, as I was saying…”