She looked so good. Smelt even better. Her body was warm, perfect against his. This hadn't been the plan. He was supposed to be firm with her, discuss the plan for the boys since their current arrangement didn't seem to be working. Their meeting was meant to be professional, since she'd proven to him time without number she didn't want him in her life. But here he was, breathing her in like a drug, swallowing her lips like it was his last meal and gripping her body against his as if he needed her to survive. The table was too clustered with files and stupid things. Pushing the damned things away, he placed her right on the table, without even bothering to shut the door. His entire mind was on this goddess before him and nothing else. He didn't know who was more turned on. She was peeling off his clothes just as fervently as he was pulling hers off, breathing equally as heavily. Minutes later, they were both completely naked in the cold office yet sweating profusely. He stopped

Asher surprised her by laughing and soon enough, the lawyer began to laugh as well. "Everytime," he said, reaching into his briefcase and bringing out a new pile of copies of the exact paper she had just ripped apart. "There are several more where that came from and it is still saved in my laptop. So we could either waste each other's time or you could just calmly read the contents of the documents." She felt like such a fool. He was a lawyer, of course he'd have photocopies. But ripping those papers apart felt good. An adrenaline rush if nothing. She didn't dare look at Asher. She could imagine the amused look that would be etched on his face, mocking her. She swallowed as she picked up the first document with trembling fingers. …will be allowed visiting rights every two weeks. She will not be allowed to take the children outside the home without the father's permission. She should not be seen around the children until her allocated weekends…"You have to be joking." "I'm not,

As she held the check in her shaky hands, the urge to rip it apart like she'd once done before returned to her strongly. Once again, he thought he could fix everything with money. The tears were still in her eyes as she kept holding the offending paper, the reality of it settling in her. He really expected her to take the money in exchange for her kids. And she was considering it. Another paper fell out from the envelope and she opened it. It was a handwritten note addressed to her. Let's just make things easier. Asher. It was so impersonal, like he was laying her off from a business deal they'd both agreed to. A bile rose in her throat once again and she swallowed it. There were so many things she could do with that money. The possibilities were endless. But none of it would ever be worth it if she didn't have her children there to enjoy it with her. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she tried but failed to still her pounding heart. ***"The house is totally worth it.

Having the kids all to himself had not been anything like he'd expected. There were several things he never thought he would experience. He was only used to seeing them once in a while, usually when they happened to be on their best behavior because they were just excited to see him and tried to please him, but when the excitement wore off within a few days of them spending day and night with him, everything changed. Just at breakfast the other day, they'd asked for their mom and when Gabby told them she wouldn't be joining them soon, they began to complain about how the crusts of the bread hadn't been cut off like their mom always did. Danny made a fuss and threw the contents of his side of the table away and Damien soon followed suit. When he tried to get them to stop, they only spat at him and threw tantrums.. He wished that was the end but it wasn't. They complained about the most random things and threw a tantrum anytime anyone corrected them. The most unbearable part of it was

Her newfound admiration for Asher died down the moment he bade her goodbye, revved his car and started to leave with the kids. Perhaps she'd been wrong to assume that after the culprit responsible for her grandmother's demise had been found and him taking her out, the least he could do was let her have her children back, at least for some time. "I don't really think you're in the right frame of mind to have the children hovering all over you. I don't want you to lose it," he'd said before giving her an apologetic look and driving off. Now she was in her new house, telling everything to Lola after finally finding her voice. "Did you just say Jake was arrested?" Lola asked in disbelief. "For arson?" "I'm just as surprised as you are.""Hmm. I knew he was wicked but not a murderer. Are you sure the detective was right?" "They've been trailing him for a while now and even got his confession on tape." "Hmm. I suppose I'm lucky for everything that happened. Imagine we were still datin