Free Just a Kiss: The Bradfords, Book 5 by Erin Nicholas Page A

and brimstone. That’s a hell of a payoff for being good for a couple years.”
    “It’s almost heavenly .” Dooley quipped.
    Sam gave him a grin.
    Kevin plopped himself back down. He didn’t need this. He really didn’t need this. Seeing Eve again had him all mixed up. And he absolutely did not need to be thinking about the fact that he could have her. Technically anyway.
    “First of all,” he said, “you’re already married to the love of your life. You don’t need to be rewarded with another one.”
    Sam shrugged and grinned. “I’m thinking an equivalent reward for me would be winning the lottery or something.”
    Yeah, being married to Eve was exactly like winning the lottery, Kevin thought wryly. But right on the heels of that thought was yeah, maybe it was . For most people, the lottery meant access to everything they’d ever wanted. Being married to Eve really could be a lot like that for him…
    He shook his head and frowned. “Second of all, I’ve been celibate and devout and… celibate for eight years .” That was hardly something to skim over. Especially considering that none of these guys could go more than a couple of days without their women.
    Sex—or the lack of sex—was, by far, the hardest part about the life changes he’d made. He wasn’t a sex addict, he wasn’t into porn—well, any more than the next guy—and he’d never been a playboy like Sam or into the sexier stuff like Mac. But he’d been offered a little bit of everything. Threesomes—two girls, a girl and another guy—but that had never gotten him going. He wasn’t against toys and lickable body oil, but he didn’t need them either.
    He just loved women. Loved touching them, making them moan, making them crazy about him. Giving that up had been his biggest challenge for sure. He could easily do without alcohol, do without sleeping in on Sunday mornings, even do without swearing—though that was his second hardest thing to give up—but women were a temptation he had to consciously deal with every time.
    And now there was one— the one—that he could have by all legal and moral standards.
    It seemed too good to be true.
    “Third of all,” he went on, “I can’t sleep with her whether we’re married or not. It’s been too long. We barely know each other anymore.”
    There was a pause as all the guys looked at him. Then Sam asked, “Is there a fourth of all coming?”
    Kevin frowned. “No. Why?”
    “Because the third of all kind of sucks.”
    Dooley and Mac nodded. Kevin’s scowl got deeper. “Why does that suck? Just because a piece of paper says we’re married, doesn’t mean we’re married .”
    “Don’t you want to be?” Sam asked. “Don’t you want to find the right girl and live happily ever after?”
    Kevin opened his mouth but immediately realized there was only one thing he could say. He saw his friends living happily-ever-after every day. Did he want what they had?
    “Yeah,” he admitted. “Of course I do.”
    “Then doesn’t it make sense to at least see how it goes with the woman you’re already married to?” Mac asked. “This girl is the one that got away. You’re both single, you’re here, there’s still chemistry…why not find out what it means, if anything? The lawyer’s office and those papers will still be there down the road if you need them.”
    That all sounded damned good to him. Too good. Too easy. Too…risky.
    Kevin groaned and covered his face with his hands. It had been eight years. How could he be expected to not want to do all the things the guys were saying he could, and even should, do?
    He might be a Christian, but he was still a guy . And it was still Eve they were talking about.
    “It’s like I haven’t had candy in eight years and now someone threw open the door to the candy shop and said ‘it’s all yours’. I could make myself really sick doing that. Just because I can , doesn’t mean I should .”
    “I disagree,” Dooley said, pushing