Darcy’s bewilderment only grew. “He did?”

Monique nodded. “He takes Devon out every Sunday.”

“He does?”

“The arrangement seems to be working well so far, and I really wanted to thank you for introducing them. My son absolutely adores Reed.” The woman glanced at her watch. “Anyway, I need to grab Devon. Thanks again, Ms. Grant.”

Darcy watched the other woman walk away, stunned by what she’d heard. Four Sundays had passed since the workshop, but Reed hadn’t said a word to her about signing up to be Devon’s big brother.

Why the omission, though? She’d quickly discovered this past month that Reed didn’t shy away from any topic, and the two of them had had plenty of conversations about her students, so why hadn’t he mentioned his arrangement with Devon?

The fact that he’d kept it from her was totally mystifying.

Frowning, Darcy headed to her car and unlocked the doors. She would definitely have to ask Reed about it tonight. He was coming over after he finished work, which meant she’d have to take a very long nap when she got home so she wouldn’t be a zombie when he showed up at three in the morning. But she honestly wasn’t complaining, since Reed always made sure to reward her for her staying-awake efforts.

It was actually kind of scary how the sex only seemed to get better, and she knew that had contributed to her complete lack of motivation to end the fling. She’d gone into it craving passion—well, the passion kept coming. And coming. And coming.

Maybe if the sex was bad, she could find the willpower to call things off, but each time Reed kissed her, or touched her, or f**ked her to yet another mind-blowing orgasm, she seemed to forget that their arrangement was supposed to be temporary.

Sighing, Darcy drove out of the lot, her mind drifting back to the revelation that Reed was spending his Sundays with his “little brother.” At least now it made sense why he always seemed to be busy when she suggested they do something on Sunday afternoons.

God, she had no idea how she felt about him anymore. Every time she tried to slap that bad boy label on him, he turned around and proved that he was anything but. Comforting her the day she’d been crushed by her father’s disgusting display of selfishness. Pulling out her chair when they went out for dinner. Letting her squeeze his hand to the point of bone-breaking when they’d gone to see a horror movie last week.

Spending his free time with a little boy who needed a father figure.

Darcy bit down hard on her bottom lip as she stopped at a red light.

Crap. It was becoming glaringly obvious that she needed to reevaluate this fling of theirs. She was really starting to care about Reed, her initial doubts floating away like dandelions in the wind.

But at the same time, a part of her still feared this was just a lark on Reed’s part. He’d said so himself—he’d never lasted more than a month when it came to relationships. Darcy was afraid his impulsive nature would suddenly rear its head, he’d get bored with her, and then he’d move on to the next exciting affair and leave her heartbroken.

And was that a risk she really wanted to take?

…

Reed was dead-ass tired when he got to Darcy’s apartment that night. Or morning. Time lost all meaning when you worked at a nightclub.

The second he saw her beautiful face, though, he snapped into a state of wide awake. As bad as he felt showing up so late, this was his favorite time to see her. When she was sleepy, hair tousled, wearing her pajamas.

Her body was warm and pliant as she sank into his embrace and greeted him with a happy sigh. “You got here just in time. The coffee’s wearing off.”

He chuckled.

“Seriously, I’m going to turn back into a pumpkin in about ten minutes. Kiss me now before it’s too late.”

Like he could ever turn down that offer.

Reed kissed her, hard and deep, until she was gasping against his mouth. When her tongue darted out to swirl over his, he groaned as the sweet flavor of her suffused his taste buds. He could never get his fill of this woman. Never.

“Wait.” She broke off the kiss with a breathy exhale, her blue eyes hazy. “I have to ask you something before my brain totally turns to jelly.”

Reed cocked a brow. “Ask away.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you signed up for the Big Brother program?”

The question caught him off guard, bringing a pang of discomfort to his chest. Darcy didn’t look angry, but he knew from her perplexed face that she was bothered by it.

“I…ah…I don’t know,” he said gruffly. “I just didn’t.”

The half-ass response didn’t satisfy her, just as he’d known it wouldn’t. “You just didn’t?” she echoed, sounding even more confused.

Reed edged toward the living room couch, where he sat and raked a hand through his hair. A moment later, Darcy flopped down beside him and settled in a cross-legged position.

“Stop being mysterious,” she said. “I want to know why you kept it a secret.”

“It wasn’t a secret. I just didn’t mention it.”

She snorted. “That’s still a secret in my book.”

Reed released a sigh. “I guess at first it was because you made it clear you didn’t want to talk about important stuff.” He didn’t miss the guilt that flashed in her eyes. “And then…I dunno…I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to think it was something I was doing for you. You know, to impress you, or try to make you like me more.”