She gave me a slight smile, making my dick twitch. The fuckin' thing had been at half-mast since the moment I laid eyes on her, like it was just waiting for the right signal to go full on.

Everything else inside me relaxed. "You are now."

She cracked up again. "Just like that? You're supposed to ask me, not inform me!"

"I ain't takin' no for an answer, Baby Girl. So, it doesn't matter either way."

"Shouldn't we at least find out if we like each other first?"

"Trust me, I like you plenty," I assured her. "And you can't say you don't like me."

She arched an elegant brow at me, and I gave her a shit-eating grin.

"So, what happened after Bougainvillea?" I asked.

"I went home."

Takin' all the colors of the world with you, I thought.

"What about you?"

It was the first time I couldn't look her in the eyes. "I got pissed."

"Well, that's not vague."

"I nearly beat the shit out of that bouncer. It wasn't cool." That wasn't a lie, but not so much the whole truth.

"No, I suppose not," she said with a smile. "You guys did some great circuits after that. We went and saw you in Lafayette at Wigglers."

My eyes snapped back to her face. "Why didn't you try to see me?"

"Really? They let crazed teenage girls backstage to attack the bands?"

I grinned, feeling a bit sheepish. "I guess not, no, but still."

"You were touring, Phil, living a dream many don't get to experience. I guess I didn't want to get in the way of that."

"You wouldn't have," I said with a little more heat than I wished.

"You don't know that," she replied gently, cooling the fire in me.

"I would have taken you with me," I told her, keeping my tone soft.

She squirmed a little, and I realized my voice did something funny to her. A triumphant evil grin split across my face.

"I wouldn't have gone."

My evil grin dissipated. "Why not?"

I felt pissed now, and it made her squirm some more.

"There were several reasons."

"And they are?" Yeah, I'm pissed.

"One, my mother had died, and I wouldn't have left my grandmother alone after losing her only child-"

"Oh god, Baby Girl." I reached out and took her hands in mine, feeling like an absolute douche. "I'm so sorry."

"You didn't know. It's all right," she said softly.

"How did she..."

"She had a heart condition. She passed away three weeks after we met actually. She had been sick for a while, and we all knew it was only a matter of time."

My hands firmly squeezed hers, and I loved the feel of them, so strong and pulsing with heat.

"I lost my mom, too," I told her, surprised I'd actually volunteered that. "She died when I was five. Got so drunk that she puked and drowned in her own vomit."

"That must have been hard on you," she said softly.

"I don't remember it too much," I said. "I don't really talk about it either."

She nodded, and she totally got me in that instant.

"And I was going to school," she continued. "I wouldn't have given that up for the life of a groupie."

She was teasing me.

"You wouldn't have been a groupie. You would've been my woman. There's a difference."

I didn't feel like teasing back. She needed to understand what she meant to me.

"Instead, I became a doctor," she said. "And I went on to practice and research therapies to relieve pain and reduce the use of synthetic drugs."

"That's fucking amazing. And you're what? Twenty-five?"

"I just turned twenty-four."

"Shut the fuck up. I thought you turned nineteen that night at Bougainvillea."

"Nope. I turned eighteen at midnight. One of my friends used to work the door, and he let me in a few hours early."

That bit of info kind of floored me. She had looked young but not that young. She had been total jailbait when I spotted her on the floor while we were on stage.

"I came back on Wednesday-on your birthday," I told her, keeping that soft voice going that made her squirm.

"You seriously remembered it was my birthday?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

To show her just how serious I was, I reached out and took her face in my hands, gently molding my palms and fingers around the gorgeous planes. Looking into her eyes, I made it quite clear that I wasn't fuckin' joking.

Before she could try to pull back, I leaned forward and captured her lips with mine. Behind my closed lids, the universe exploded into prisms of light and colors. Her tongue slipped sweetly into my mouth, all soft and velvety, and she tasted like weed and honey and cream and Kenna.

Oh my fuckin' God! I've died and gone to heaven! This is really happenin'!

Her arms slid up and over my shoulders, and the feel of her skin sliding against mine felt like warmed satin. My hands moved from her face to her ass, and I pulled her onto my lap to straddle my waist.

Fuck me.

When our groins connected, it made us each suck in a ragged breath. My arms snaked around her back, clutching her to me, and with her breasts pushed against my chest, I could feel both of our hearts pounding.

"It really is you," I repeated softly, still in awe. I hugged her tight and buried my face in the crook of her neck. "Oh god, this is real."

She hugged me tightly in return. "It is."

"You taste the same," I whispered. "I've missed it so much. I never forgot just how wonderful that kiss tasted, how it made me feel."

"Me neither."

Thank fuckin' God.

I would have lost it if she didn't feel the same. I would have gone fuckin' mental if she had nothing for me in return.

My fingers speared through her amazing hair, gently tugging her back, so I could look into her eyes. I could see the same raw emotion inside of me reflected in there, and it snatched my breath.

"I've dreamed every night of this moment, Kenna. I've had only one wish for the last six years, and it was this-to see you, to hold you in my arms." I inhaled deeply. "Has it...has it been the same for you?"

"Yes," came her whispered confession. "It's only ever been you, Phil."

A deep groan escaped my chest, and I captured her mouth once more, kissing her as if I could fuse us together. It turned hot and heavy fast. It felt so fuckin' right, so completely correct...

There was nothing but us in this tiny corner of the universe.

We didn't hear the commotion happening on the patio. But we did hear the hurried footsteps of tiny feet on the tiled walkway. Panting heavily, we reluctantly pulled away from each other.

"Kenna?" came the pygmy's little voice.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah?"

"Are you decent?"

She snorted, and it was the most endearing sound. "Yeah."

"That's a shame."

Grinning wickedly, I told her, "We could totally rectify that."

"Well, keep your pants on," said her friend.

Lili-that's her name.

"That blonde bombshell who was wrapped around you earlier has been talking shit, and Alys is about to lay the smackdown."

Kenna scrambled to her feet, making my dick rage in protest.

"Oh, this isn't good," she said as she grabbed her bag.

"What's the big deal? It's just a cat fight," I grumbled, getting to my feet and adjusting my junk.

I glanced at her while scowling, and I found her eyes glued to my crotch. Busting her checking it out, I wanted nothing more than to show it off to her-it was hers, after all-and I suggestively wiggled my eyebrows.

Her juicy lips went all flat as she tried to be serious.

"Alys is an expert in Krav Maga," she told me, hoisting her bag across her chest.

"Sorry?"

"The Israeli military martial art. She knows how to kill a person-"

"Or rearrange a bitch's face, but she's had a few drinks, so she might not be able to hold back so much," supplied Lili.

Just my goddamn luck! Fuck you, Sher-Bear! I should let her rearrange your fuckin' face for ruinin' this for us!

Lili and Kenna headed down the path with me trailing behind, watching my Baby Girl's sweet ass sashay from side to side.

Mine. That woman is mine. It don't matter that Sheri just wrecked our reunion. I ain't lettin' this woman go. We have the rest of our lives.

I wanted nothing more than to drop to my knees, thank God for bringing her to my door, and then sink my teeth into that perfect ass.

Kenna "She called you bayou backwater trash," Lili chirped cheerfully. "And she called me a dirty wetback. I came looking for you before she got past calling Alys a dumpy oompa loompah."

"Are you fuckin' serious?" grumbled Phil from right behind us.

We both turned our heads and looked back at him, neither of us looking too surprised. We'd been called worse.

We arrived just in time to see Bombshell raising her hand in an attempt to slap Alys in the face, but Alys caught the hand in mid-swing and backhanded the bitch to the ground.

"Holy shit!" said Phil, jogging past us. He looked at Alys and asked, "You okay?"

"Yep," she replied as though she hadn't just slapped the shit out of someone.

There were a lot of spectators, and some were even cheering.

"Shut the fuck up!" shouted Phil.

Everyone shut the fuck up.

"Phil!" wailed the blonde.