Free When You Least Expect by Lydia Rowan

children.
    “Don’t you want me to see your classroom?” Ariel said.
    Dani thought a minute and then nodded. “You come, too, Dr. Matt,” she said.
    “Okay,” Matt said, but Ariel could hear the faintest surprise in his voice.
    She looked up at him, and he smiled quickly and then dropped the expression. Ariel laughed.
    “Didn’t bargain for that, huh?” she asked.
    “Not exactly,” he admitted. “But I’m game.”
    With good-byes to Mandy, they again set off. Dani seemed to slow as they got closer to the kindergarten class, and when Matt reached for her hand, she held it eagerly, squeezing it, Ariel could see, with all her little might.
    “You’re going to have so much fun,” he said.
    She nodded, but Ariel didn’t miss the faint tremor in her lip, the way she tried to stop it.
    “And you’re going to tell me all about it, right?”
    She nodded again, and this time, Ariel swooped down and gave her a hug.
    “Have fun. And look, there’s Brandon. I think his cubby is right next to yours. Why don’t you go put your backpack away? I’ll be here to pick you up this afternoon. Love you, Dani.”
    “Love you too,” Dani replied, squeezing Ariel tight.
    “Now go put your things away and say hi.”
    Dani nodded, and then went, and Ariel was halfway worried that she’d break down and start crying. But any nerves the girl had seemed to fly away completely, and by the time she reached Brandon, she was abuzz with energy again and talking animatedly about them being big kids.
    “She’ll be fine,” Matt said.
    “I know.”
    Ariel took a minute to talk to the teacher and then she and Matt left.
    “Thank you for coming, even after that conversation last night.”
    “I wouldn’t have missed it,” he said. “And, Ariel…” She glanced over at him as they walked down the sidewalk. “I meant what I said.”
    She stopped and stared up into his beautiful brown eyes, which were serious, almost somber.
    “I…care about you, and I care about Dani. We can take this slow, figure out how you want to handle things, but I won’t hurt her. Or you.”
    “I know,” she said and began walking again.
    ••••
    The next few minutes passed in silence and Matt cleared his throat. “So, that was fun. She seemed really excited about it. I hope that enthusiasm for school stays,” Matt said.
    But Ariel clearly wasn’t listening and instead moved swiftly down the sidewalk until she climbed the stairs and then unlocked the door to her house.
    “When’s your first patient?” she asked distractedly.
    “Eleven,” he replied.
    She looked at her watch and then up at him, the naked desire in her gaze making all thought of whatever he’d planned to say flee.
    “Excellent. I have to be at the shop in an hour, so that gives us twenty minutes. Let’s make them count,” she said as she approached him.
    When she reached him, she pulled his T-shirt from his pants and stroked her hands up his torso, the slight roughness of her palms adding the little bit of friction that Matt had come to look forward to.
    She stood on her tiptoes and he lowered his head, meeting her in the middle, his lips crashing against hers with a fierce need that had sprung up in the minute they’d been back inside the house. Lips and tongues and teeth clashed in an urgent kiss that was only intensified by the touch of Ariel’s hands against his skin.
    As they kissed, he tugged her shirt up, soaking in the feel of her smooth, soft skin, anxious to feel more. She moaned low in her throat when he curved his fingers around her full breast, the hard bead of her puckered nipple standing prominent against the thin fabric of her bra. He squeezed and then swiped the bud. He felt her smile against his lips and then laughed when, after he slipped his hand inside of her bra to touch her breast, she moaned again, the warm puff of her breath against his mouth making desire tug in his cock.
    Ariel moved her hand down over his abdomen and then lower, cupping the