Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Curtis may have said he was going to kiss me, but the look on his face and the erection in his jeans had said a whole lot more than that. He’d thrown down the gauntlet and walked away, giving me time to decide what my answer would be. I could crawl into bed, pull the covers to my chin, and we’d go to sleep.
Or I could stay where I was and wait for him.
Was I willing to blur the lines even further? Honestly, when would I have the opportunity again? It seemed mercenary when I thought of it that way, but it was true. I didn’t have any interested in starting a relationship with someone in the future. Our little trio worked, and I wasn’t going to screw that up. But Finn was only ten. It would be at least eight years before he was out of the house and I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted. But right now, I was already in it. I was living the life without arguably one of the best benefits of being in a relationship.
Curtis opened the door to the bathroom and shut off the light behind him as he came back into the room. His hair was damp, like he’d run wet hands through it, and the top two buttons of his jeans were still undone, making them hang low on his hips. I took it all in as he moved toward me, finally meeting his eyes when he reached the foot of the bed.
“We need some parameters,” I announced, rising to my feet.
His lips twitched, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Oh yeah?”
“Yes.” I fidgeted for a moment and then set my hands on my hips just to keep them still.
“All right,” he agreed. “Hit me.”
I opened my mouth to give him my conditions, but nothing came out. I couldn’t think of a single thing that I wanted to draw a line in the sand about. He already knew my kids. We were already living together. His public displays of affection were necessary, and I actually liked them. To the outside world, nothing would change.
“I won’t sleep naked,” I said finally, jutting out my chin. “Don’t even ask. It’s not happening.”
He grinned. “Okay.”
“We have kids in the house, and if there’s an emergency, I don’t want to go running out there naked as a jaybird.”
“Smart. I won’t sleep naked either.”
I hid my irrational disappointment.
“And this doesn’t change anything out there,” I said, gesturing to the bedroom door. “Even if we’re fucking, you still don’t have a say with my kids. I’m their parent.”
His head jerked in surprise. “Of course.” He let out a huff of laughter.
“What?”
“I, uh…” He shook his head and scratched his jaw. “I already treat your kids like we’re together, Teddy. They’re livin’ in my house.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. “Right.”
“We’re together as far as anyone knows,” he said. “We have been since you started sleeping next to me. What we do in that bed is nobody’s business but ours, and it doesn’t change anything outside of it.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Um…also, I haven’t had sex in seven—no, eight—years,” I blurted out in one breath, trying not to cringe.
The look of shock I was expecting never came. Instead, Curtis clenched his teeth, his jaw visibly flexing as he braced his hands on his hips.
When he spoke, his voice was rough, and I felt it everywhere.
“Am I comin’ to you or are you comin’ to me?” he asked.
“I think you’re going to have to come here,” I confessed. Nerves made my hands tremble as I pulled off my tank top. “I’m pretty sure my feet have been permanently cemented to the floor.”
“That’s gonna be a problem,” he murmured as he moved toward me. “Because I’m not gonna fuck you the first time bent over the side of the bed.”
He gripped me by the hips and tossed me onto the bed, making me gasp. Without hesitation, he reached for my shorts, and within moments, I was naked.
My heart was in my throat again, this time with embarrassment, as he suddenly stepped away from the bed. I was so shocked that I didn’t even say a word as I watched him cross the room. Mortification made my skin burn.
Then the bedroom door lock clicked, and I realized what he was doing.
He stripped out of his jeans as he made his way back toward me.
“Don’t,” he ordered as I started to curl up. “Let me look.”
Swallowing hard, I let my legs fall back to the bed, my arms sliding away from my breasts.
When he reached the bed, he crawled up beside me and knelt at my side, his thighs splayed wide. The erection I’d noticed in his jeans was far more visible in his black boxer briefs, and I tried not to stare. Curtis was big everywhere.