I hadn’t thought it was possible to sleep, but when I rolled over on my bed and opened my eyes to check my phone, it was 15:12. I thought back to Colin’s comment earlier that morning and shocked myself by changing the time from military to civilian. I stared at the numbers on my lock screen. 3:12. That’d take some getting used to.

I stood, pocketed my phone, and gripped my chin between my palms to crack my neck. I’d slept awkwardly, but at least I’d managed a few hours. Hopefully, those few hours of rest would help my overall mood and keep me from opening my mouth and oversharing like I’d done all morning with Izzy and Juliette.

I left my bedroom, curious if anyone else was awake. Stopping outside Juliette’s closed door, I was tempted to invade her privacy and check on her, but I forced myself to move along.

When I reached the end of the hall, I halted at the sight of my son sitting at the breakfast bar. He slurped milk straight from his bowl, a box of Cheerios next to him.

My assistant must’ve delivered my food order while I slept. She was among the few people with access to my home and the security code to get in and out. I’d told her to be quiet in case any of my guests were asleep.

And dammit, I’d ordered the food before knowing about his peanut allergy. Were Cheerios safe to eat?

He’s not three. He’d know better than to eat something without checking. The reminder slammed into me, keeping me in place and from shouting out some ridiculous warning to stop eating.

Colin set down his bowl and used his sleeve to clean the milk from his chin like he’d done with his tears that morning. He had to have seen me hovering by now, but he acted like I was invisible.

I was. For sixteen years.

The painful thought hit me, nearly knocking my feet out from under me, and spurred me to get walking again.

“Your mom asleep?” I assumed he’d have opened her door and peeked in on her when I couldn’t.

“Yeah, out cold.”

Good. I dumped the espresso I’d left out down the drain. I’d been so distracted by Juliette when she’d walked into the kitchen earlier, her messy hair framing her beautiful face and her tight nipples showing through her shirt, I’d forgotten all about the drink.

“How long have you been awake?” I asked him, hiding my grimace as the mere thought of Juliette had my dick waking up. Do not get hard with Colin in the room. What the hell was wrong with me?

If my son knew the dirty thoughts I’d had about his mother these last few days, I’d have a coronary right along with him.