Did he say feel trip? I listen, distractedly, as he talks to his mom. Not that I’m surprised, but she immediately asked for Molly to spend the night, to which Lee agreed after checking with me.

“I’m not sure why you asked my permission, honey,” I tell him after he disconnects the call. “What?” I question when he looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“Darlin’, nothing would make me happier if Molly was mine, but until the day we make that official, I’m not the one that has the power to make that call.”

“Yes you do,” I tell him, not understanding completely.

“No, Megan. I do not.”

I look over at Molly to make sure she isn’t listening and grab his hand, pulling him into the kitchen. “Where is this coming from?”

He sighs, “You know I love you? Both of you?” he asks.

“Of course I do.”

“One day, God I hope I’m lucky enough, when I put my ring on your finger and you become my wife, then I hope Molly gives me the blessing of being a man she calls daddy. One day, when we take that step, then yeah I would feel like I have the go to make a call on whether she stays with my mom or Dani. But bottom line, I don’t yet and I have enough respect for you to ask.”

I close the distance between us and smile up at him. “You have no clue how much that little girl loves you, honey, but I understand. I don’t agree with you, but that’s because in my eyes, you already hold that right. And one day, if I’m lucky enough, I’ll enjoy those rings on my finger.” I lean up on my toes and give his slack jaw a kiss, loving the way that my lips tickle against his stubble. “I’m going to put our girl to sleep, you want to come tuck her in with me?”

He seems to visibly shake himself from the shock that held him still, then with a small smirk on his lips, follows me to get Molly ready for bed.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask Lee.

“Darlin’,” he replies but gives me nothing more.

“You’re so annoying sometimes.”

He laughs and the vibrations tickle my palms, matching the vibrations that are doing nothing to squelch the arousal that having his body pressed close to my front gives me.

“Ready?” He asks, turning his head slightly, giving me his dimple.

“Uh,” I sputter and look away from his dimple and across the rain-soaked, mud-filled, expanse of earth in front of us.

“You’re ready,” he laughs. “Just hold on, Megan. Hold on and feel.”

“Again with this?” I retort then snap my mouth shut when he hits the gas.

My fingers dig into his shirt and my thighs tighten around his strong body. I feel the wind whipping against my face, my hair flying behind us as we speed up, and then . . . my stomach comes flying up to my throat and all I feel is cold before my eyes shut tight and wetness coats my skin.

“Holy shit,” I breathe.

When I finally feel like my stomach might have returned back to my gut, I open my eyes and watch as the trees blur by us. Lee holds the handles with his usual confidence and I know, even though I’m scared out of my mind, that he won’t let anything happen to us.

I lean forward, the helmet he insisted I wear even though he isn’t wearing one, tapping his on the side of his head, and do as he instructed. I hold on and feel.

He takes the winding trails for what feels like hours. The roar of his ATV trailing behind us with his speed. He doesn’t shy away from those big, mud-filled puddles, nope. Not my Lee. He spots one and it’s full fury of his speed powering through them. The first time that the muddy water coated us both, I almost had a heart attack. Mainly because I thought it would be like the first puddle we hit that was full of just rain water, splashing us and then just leaving wet marks behind. No. Not these monster baby lakes filled with muddy water. Okay, slight exaggeration, but that’s sure what it felt like.

He moved down from the trail we had just been climbing and started to take the steep dirt path downward. Not paying a bit of attention to the trail because I was too focused on wondering how hard it would be to get myself off using his body and the vibrations, when his nose end hit the mud first, a huge wave of brown wetness covered us. And of course, because I was too busy trying to work at getting myself off, my back was arched. I had, in my mind, the best plan to arch my back and rub my core against the seat and his hard body. But when that mud wave came up and then back down, it shot straight down the back of my pants.

“Oh, my God, Lee!”

He doesn’t answer, just laughs harder. So hard, in fact, that he has to stop the four-wheeler.