Except lots of moans. And sass. Yes, lots of sexy sass.

“Yeah, she’s dealing with a lot right now. But, yeah, I can swing by and grab it for her. Or let her know.”

He squeezed his eyes closed. “I’d really like to talk to her, set up another time, and get her the bag.”

Jayden paused. “Okay, and usually, I wouldn’t care, I’d give you the number. But my sister is insane, and if she didn’t want you to have it—not saying she doesn’t, but just in case—she’d kill me,” he laughed and Benji smiled.

“I got you, man, and I get it, but I really need her number. Remember, you owe me,” he said and he knew that made him a dick, but he was on a mission.

“Oh, low blow, dude! I can’t.”

“She won’t mind,” he said uncertainly, but he had to believe she wouldn’t.

“Ha! You don’t know my sister. She’s psycho about who has her number. I don’t even know her designer number, the one for her business cell phone, to give you.”

“That one is in the bag with a dead battery, anyway,” he said, and Jayden made a sound of irritation.

“Shit. Okay. Well, listen, she’ll be here in a few. I can give her your number,” he said and Benji rolled his eyes.

He wanted to laugh at the hilarity of the situation. “We sound like two fucking high schoolers, you know that?”

Jayden laughed. “We do. But seriously, I don’t like poking the bear, aka my sister.”

“Okay. I guess I’ll come by and drop off the bag and talk to her about my…stuff,” he decided, going to slide his tennis shoes on.

“Um, today? She’s sorta, like, superpissy. I don’t even want to be near her.”

Benji laughed. “It’s fine. I can handle her,” he said confidently.

“Your funeral. Hey, can I get your gamer chair when you die?”

But he wasn’t too sure of himself when he pulled into Jayden’s driveway behind Lucy’s car. Reaching for her bag, he got out of his truck and locked it up before heading for the front door. His heart was jackhammering against his chest and he thought about just leaving the bag and hightailing it out of there, but he stopped himself.

He wanted to see her.

He knocked on the door, and it opened a few seconds later and Angie grinned up at him. “Benji!”

“Hey, Hart, what’s up?” he asked, fist-bumping her before she opened the door enough for him to come in.

“We’re homeless. My grandma is gutting her house, so we’re staying with my uncle and aunt till our apartment is fixed,” she said happily as she shut the door and skipped up beside him. “What are you doing here? You homeless too?”

He laughed. “Nope, came to drop your mom’s bag off. She left it at my house.”

“Aw! She got to come play with you?”

Oh, kid. You have no idea.

Swallowing hard, he smiled. “She’s gonna design my house.”

“Supercool! My mom is the best, isn’t she, Aunt Baylor?”

He looked to the left to see Baylor sitting in a chair, her leg propped up. “She is. Hey, Benji.”

“Hey, didn’t see you there. How are you feeling?”

“Okay, today. Thanks for asking,” she said as Jayden came into the room, scooping Angie up and putting her on his shoulders.

“Hey, BP. Lucy’s in the shower,” Jayden said, but Angie smacked his head.

“She’s been out like for twenty minutes. Mammaaaaaaaaaaa,” she yelled, and Benji met Jayden’s sheepish gaze.

“Told you she was in a shitty mood,” Jayden said simply and Benji grinned. “She told me to lie.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be—” But he didn’t get to finish his sentence because as she came out of the back room, Lucy’s eyes met his and he was rendered speechless. Completely speechless. Her hair was wet, falling down her shoulders onto a white tee that was short in the front but long in the back, showing a bit of her belly. The same belly he had spent most of his time admiring last night. Her jeans were all but painted on and she had no shoes on. She looked exactly like what he imagined he would come back to after a long road trip.

She looked like home.

As his heart went wild, she moved her fingers through her hair, pulling it up into a wet bun. Looking over at Angie, she smiled. “Yeah, baby?”

“Benji is here. He has your bag.”

Still not looking at him, she nodded. “Oh, wow, thanks for bringing that over. You didn’t have to do that.”

He willed her to look at him as she came toward him, reaching for it. But when she didn’t look up, he held it tighter. “It’s no problem. Wanted to check in with you.”

She held the bag, pulled it once, and then pursed her lips. Letting out a sigh, she finally looked up. Just like that, everything stopped.

Did she feel that too?

Swallowing hard, he smiled as she blinked vacantly up at him. “Hey, Lucy.”

“Hey,” she said faintly, sucking in a big breath.

“Everything is in there,” he said, his brows waggling at her, and her face deepened with color.

“Thanks,” she said shyly, looking away as he let go of the bag. She set it on top of the couch and then crossed her arms. Looking around the room at her daughter, her brother, and his wife, she nodded as she cleared her throat. Not meeting his gaze, she tucked her hands into her pockets.