Page 47 of Just What She Needed

"Anyway," Dax continued. "The prettiest one of Danielle's friends kept saying how hot you are, right?"

Uncomfortable, Rhys cleared his throat. He was interrupted by Sienna's sound of disgust and turned to her with a raised brow.

"What? I'm not hot?"

"Ew, no." Her expression looked like she'd just sucked on a green persimmon. "You're my dad. I mean, you're handsome and all, but there's no way you're hot. Gross."

"That's not what that girl Zoe said," Dax contradicted. "Then she looked at me and said, 'You really look a lot like Rhys James. If you grew out your hair, I bet you'd look just like him.' So I thought to myself, what the hell, right? If girls think you look hot with the hair and all then I should take advantage of wearing your face around all the time. So, yeah." He tugged on the ends of his hair in illustration.

Rhys didn't know whether to laugh or high-five his son in congratulations. "It's always worked well for me."

"Okay, that's it," Sienna declared. "This is grossing me out."

"God forbid you should be grossed out." Rhys grinned at her. "And where's your mother? Surely she hasn't gone to work this early."

A solemn look passed between Dax and Sienna, one that made Rhys go still. "What is it?" he asked. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I guess." Sienna's voice held a hint of a tremor. "Mom's at her lawyer's office. She and Cam are getting a divorce."

"Oh." Taken completely by surprise, Rhys let himself sink into the back of the couch. Cam had been front and center the month before when Rhys was in town to help Dax find a new car. Whatever happened between Hayley and her second husband happened fast. "I'm sorry to hear that. Are you two all right?" He looked back and forth between his children.

"Yeah, we're okay," Dax replied. "It's just that it's still a little weird for him not to be here, right?"

"Mm-hm." Rhys nodded briefly. Since Hayley and Cam married so soon after her divorce from Rhys, he knew neither Sienna nor Dax could remember a time Cam wasn't around. In fact, Hayley had been so hell-bent on making her new husband their main father figure that she even attempted to have them call him Dad. Rhys put his foot down over that, and despite his frequent Illicit-related absences made sure his children knew who their real father was.

"Anyway," Sienna said with a sigh. "She said she's going straight to work after she leaves the lawyer's, so she won't be home until after the late newscast."

Rhys couldn't stop the rush of relief at knowing he wouldn't have to see or deal with either Hayley or Cam. "Is there anything you two want to do, then? Somewhere you want to go?"

Dax slouched low in his chair and stretched his long legs in front of him. "No, it's too hot out there to go anywhere. Let's just stay here."

"I know." Sienna jumped up from the couch and rushed over to the built-in maple cabinets that surrounded the large television. "Let's play Rock Band."

"Rock Band?" Rhys looked at her in amazement as she pulled the instruments from a deep drawer. "Are you mad?"

"Don't worry, Dad." She cast a mischievous glance over her shoulder. "We won't embarrass you by having you play any of the instruments. You can just sing."

"Embarrass?" He held out his hand. "Give me the damn guitar. And put the AC/DC version in. Let your old man show you how it's done."

Rhett sat down on one of the beige linen couches in the living room of Rhys's borrowed condo and grinned at the text message on her phone's screen. She'd asked him exactly when he would be home and received a reply that made her tingle.

Exactly? Don't know that. Around 2:30. But I expect to have you naked under me at exactly 2:31.

Oh, she had a surprise waiting for him, though. It might delay the getting naked part for bit, but she was pretty sure it would be worth it.

When Rhys asked her to check the condo over before he got home—make sure the ice maker was working, set the thermostat at the proper level and so on—she decided to stick around until he arrived. He'd been teasing her with text messages since her birthday, and she thought she should reward him with a little game.

She bit her bottom lip as she scrolled through some of the messages on her phone.

That lace thong you were wearing the other night? So hot. I like lace. I like white lace even better. Naughty lace, though. Hard as fuck just thinking about it.

Finished the extra verse to the song. Made Parker blush. Everyone wants to meet you now. You'll probably have to stay away from David or I'll have to kick his ass.

Have you ever had sex in public? Do you want to?

Had a dream about you last night. You were working out in the fitness room in a white lace thong. Couldn't walk this morning for a half hour.

I'll be home tomorrow. Be naked. And on a serious note, I've missed the hell out of you, Beautiful. And not just your body. But I've really missed that, too. Remember, naked. All right, maybe some white lace.