But goddamn, this woman was still as beautiful as I remembered. Her angular teardrop face didn’t sport a single wrinkle until she smiled — full lips parting and her wide light brown eyes twinkling as she regarded us both. She pulled on a caftan, hiding all of that gorgeous skin. The loose fabric did nothing to hide the slow roll of her hips as she made her way toward us, though. A bright smile graced her lips as she climbed the steps.

“My gorgeous son,” she said, cupping Jared’s cheek like he was a kid and not a thirty-two-year-old man about to get married.

“Hey, mommy,” Jared crooned and kissed his mother.

She turned toward me, and I swear my heart punched out of my chest like a cartoon wolf with hearts for eyes.

“Hey, Ms. MacFarland,” I stammered.

Darcy rolled her eyes and swatted my shoulder. “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Darcy?”

My cheeks heated a little from her light scolding. “It just seems disrespectful.”

“Nonsense,” she said with a sweet smile on her face. “I’m Darcy to you.” She moved in close and cupped my cheeks in her hands. “Sweet lil’ Tommy… It’s been too long. I’d hug you, but I’m all wet!”

And then she kissed me — on the cheek, but it was still a kiss — and I felt like I might faint because all of the blood in my body had suddenly rushed to my dick.

“I’m so glad you boys came out here early. Are you hungry?” she asked, turning to Jared, still holding my face in her hands.

“Starved,” Jared groaned.

“Okay, let me go up and get dressed, and we’ll go to that place you like.” She turned her attention back to me and looked me right in the eye. “Lil’ Tommy Martinez,” she said again in a soft voice that felt like it was just for me.

I’m not little where it matters. I bit my bottom lip to hold in that declaration, and her eyes tracked the movement. Not for the first time, I wondered if she did that to create some distance between us. As if calling me Lil’ Tommy helped her see me as a kid and not the grown ass man who’s always had eyes for her. Either way, the nickname has never made me feel infantilized or disrespected. It felt as intimate as her hands holding my face.

“Mom…his name is Tomás. No one calls him Tommy anymore,” Jared said.

“She can call me Tommy if she wants,” I said. My voice was way too low and way too suggestive and probably gave too much away.