Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
I squinted up at him.
“Now you know everything I do,” he concluded.
My scoff was soft because of the kids. “She’s here to rekindle the fire with you, not because she was tagging along. Don’t be stupid.”
“Listen, last Thanksgiving was bad here, and Christmas was worse. So my parents, though well-intentioned, have put their foot in it.”
“No, they haven’t,” I muttered, feeling how wrong the words felt in my chest. “They want you to be happy, so it makes sense.”
I got another flick on the forehead.
“Once I get up, you’re a dead man,” I apprised him.
“Yeah, I’m terrified,” he said with a smirk. “But it’s your fault because you keep saying what you think you should and not what’s in your heart. Don’t be a coward. It isn’t you.”
“My heart?”
“Yes. Your heart. We both know the kids are in there, and so am I, so stop trying to give us away because you’re thinking you’re not the best thing for us.”
That shut me up, because yes, talking him out of wanting me was really stupid when it was the exact opposite of what I wanted.
“I know it’s hard waiting for me to figure out my happy, but you have to remember this is all brand-new for me, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I barely managed to get out.
“In the meantime, could you not give up?”
I nodded.
“Good boy,” he said with a grin, then bent and kissed me.
It was fast, just a quick touch of his lips to mine, but electric sparks of happiness churned through me like a wave.
“Come back,” I murmured, and I could hear the pleading in my voice.
He smiled smugly and waggled his eyebrows.
“I’ll give you a dollar.”
“A whole dollar?” he teased, then kissed me again, that one harder, longer, his tongue pressing for entrance that I immediately gave, opening for him as he put his hands on my face and ravaged my mouth.
I stifled my whimper as he eased back, but I was pleased to see the blown pupils and the way he licked his lips. Apparently, he liked the taste of me.
“I really want to…” He took a breath, his gaze locked with mine. “Do things with you.”
This was excellent news. “Help me get the kids moving,” I instructed, and enjoyed hearing his frustrated huff before he left me, moved over to Griff, and gently roused his son.
They all got up groggy, yawning, shuffling toward the door like zombies, but before Luke could follow them, right before he turned the corner to go down the stairs, I yanked him backward, wrapped an arm around his chest, kissed the side of his neck, and then bit the same spot.
“Jesus, Nash,” he groaned, and I felt the hard shiver run through him.
“Tell me what things you wanna do with me.”
He was having trouble catching his breath.
“Luke?”
“I wanna lie down on top of you. I want to know what that feels like.”
I spun him in my arms, eyes locked with his. “Anytime you want, I’m all yours.”
“I’m gonna be on the couch, as I’m giving Quinn my bed. I was going to put her up here and share my room with you, but you already moved.”
“I didn’t want to assume…”
“Stop thinking I’m not taking this seriously.” He scowled at me. “Again, this is brand-new for me. I’ve never looked at another man before and wanted to touch all his skin and kiss him and hold his hand and do things I’m not even sure can be done.”
“Like missionary?” I whispered. “Because we can.”
He glared at me, but the quick catch of breath was a dead giveaway. The desire to sleep with me was simmering in him, and I was more than ready to stoke that fire.
“You—”
Leaning in, I kissed the side of his neck again, gently, tenderly before stepping back so I could see his face. “So you know, I want to put my hands all over you as well, Luke Duchesne. Don’t think for a second I don’t.”
His gaze held mine, and everything I saw there, softness, warmth, and not a small amount of desire, I liked.
“Dad!” Griff yelled from the base of the stairs. “Come on.”
Letting him go, smacking his ass before I slipped around him, I was down the stairs quickly, smiling at Griff.
“What is he doing up there?”
“I think he was interested in what else is up there that can be put out in the next yard sale. We did make a lot of money.”
“Yeah, we did,” he agreed, smiling, but then glowered. “But the next one isn’t until the spring, so we can worry about it later.”
When Luke suddenly appeared, his body language, how he was carrying himself—it was obvious he was uncomfortable. Also, his glare was hard to miss.
“Problem?” I baited him.
The smack in the abdomen doubled me over as he walked by.
“Daddy,” Tatum howled, “what do you always say about laying hands on other people?”