“Sienna’s so pissed at her mom right now.” Hazel stood, looking around with a frown. “Ugh—I left my backpack upstairs. BRB.”

“I’ve told you before that those hipster abbreviations don’t work in polite conversation.” She knew it meant be right back, but she didn’t want Hazel reducing her vocabulary to groups of letters being announced out loud.

“OMG, Mom. Using hipster is so cringe.” And she was gone, the sound of her feet thudding on the steps. Zoey would have to get inside earlier from now on. Which was a shame because her time with Mike had been incredible.

They’d talked things out and, as usual, Mike had made her feel better. And then he’d made her feel better—from head to toe. It was shocking what his touch did to her. Maybe it was the secrecy and excitement of something new. Maybe it was that she hadn’t been active since Chris, so she had some pent-up sexual needs. Maybe it was Mike. Maybe they had a chemistry thing going on that neither of them saw coming. What was it Mike had called it?

Casual, dirty little fun...

She could believe every single one of those words except one. What they were doing didn’t feel casual at all. She finished her coffee and called out to Hazel before heading out to the car—no service calls this morning, so she could run some errands after dropping Hazel at school. This was the last week of classes, but Hazel was going to start working part-time for Mary McKinnon for the summer. Mary was rebooting her website design business from home, but she couldn’t do it without someone to help manage her three youngsters. Having a toddler burst into an important video conference naked and screaming at the top of his lungs was only funny in viral videos, not in real life.

The arrangement was a win for everyone—it would keep Hazel busy while giving her money to spend on her fashion accessories. It was helping Mary build her client list. And it was giving Zoey some free time during the summer to get more updates done at home. The kitchen was next on her list, and that would be a major project. And maybe she’d make time to meet Mike somewhere for...stuff. She tapped the horn to remind Hazel she was waiting.

That might be awkward. Hey, Mike—my daughter is at your sister’s place, so let’s have a little afternoon delight. Ugh. This whole thing was awkward. But she wasn’t willing to give it up yet. To give him up yet.

Hazel burst out of the house and into the car, giving Zoey a breathless grin.

“Sorry. Sienna wanted to FaceTime.”

“Aren’t you going to see her in school in like...five minutes?” Zoey drove down the driveway and headed toward town.