Текст книги "Fall From India Place"
Автор книги: Samantha Young
Соавторы: Samantha Young
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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 19 страниц)
CHAPTER 28
“I’ll get your short essays back to you next week,” I promised my literacy class as they all began packing up for the evening.
“Have a nice weekend, Hannah,” Duncan said, throwing me a kind smile as he headed out the door.
The others followed his lead. They’d been somewhat subdued this week and I had a feeling they knew the reason why I hadn’t been there to teach them last Thursday.
I was packing up my own things when to my surprise Lorraine made her way over to me. Trying to mask my disbelief at her willingly approaching me, I stilled, waiting for her to say something.
She shifted a little uneasily. “I, eh… I heard aboot the wee laddie fae yer class. Sorry tae hear it.”
I blinked rapidly at the unexpected condolence. “Thank you.”
“Aye, well, ye seem like ye probably give a shit, so, I imagine it hus’nae been easy fur ye.”
I nodded in silent agreement, honestly not knowing what to say.
Lorraine shrugged, looking anywhere but at me. “Aye, well… thote ye might like to ken that I, eh… got a jobe.”
“That’s brilliant.” I grinned. “Where?”
“Fur one eh the sport bookies chains.” She flashed me a smile and I was almost knocked over by the extremely rare sight. “It’s awright money, like.”
“Lorraine, I’m so pleased for you.”
She shrugged, shuffling back from me, seeming all too uncomfortable again. “Well, just wanted tae tell ye ’cos I probably widnae huv got it if it wisnae fur this class. I’ll see ye later.” She dashed out of the room before I could say anything else.
I stared after her. Lorraine was as rough as they came and prickly as hell. She didn’t like me, or at least she didn’t understand me, but she was the first student since Jarrod’s death to make me feel like there was still a chance to make a difference at all this.
Marco’s muddy riggers were sitting on a folded-out newspaper just inside the door to my flat. I felt something pleasant shift in my chest at the sight of them, and after I shut the door behind me, I cocked my head to listen for the sound of him.
I could hear the shower running.
To prove to him I was serious about us, I’d given him a key to my flat a few days ago. I knew, despite his determination to keep us together, that I had a way to go in reassuring him that I wasn’t going to do a one-eighty and come up with another reason for us not to work it out. My suspicion that he wasn’t quite over my defection sprang from the fact that this weekend was his weekend with Dylan and he hadn’t suggested I stick around for it.
I could live with that.
For now.
Dropping my keys in the bowl on my side table, I kicked off my shoes and then moved into the sitting room. Marco’s empty coffee mug was sitting on the table, his jacket was hanging over the back of the armchair. Shrugging out of my own jacket, I draped it across the arm of the chair and began making my way out into the hall, unbuttoning my shirt as I sauntered toward the bathroom. For the last eight nights Marco had stayed with me, but he’d given me space sexually, allowing me to deal with Jarrod’s loss, and the ramifications of it upon my kids at school. Marco didn’t want to push me into the physical stuff, and that was thoughtful and considerate and, ironically, sexy as hell.
That’s why I was done with him giving me space. I wanted a new kind of comfort from him. Specifically in the form of orgasms.
Dropping my shirt to the floor, I pushed open the bathroom door, the steam from the shower hitting me immediately. Marco jerked his head up at the sight of me through the somewhat fogged glass of the shower screen, and then a slow smile that melted my insides lit up his handsome face.
I unzipped my pencil skirt and pushed it to the tiled floor, my eyes devouring my too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend. By the time my underwear was off, Marco was ready for me. I stepped into the shower, eyed his hard-on with a sense of empowerment, and lowered myself gracefully to my knees to help him out with the situation I’d gotten him into.
As I lay in bed, my arm draped over Marco’s stomach and my head resting on his chest, I suddenly gave voice to my wandering thoughts. “Do you ever think about finding your mum and dad?”
Marco gave a huff of surprise. “Where did that come from?”
“I was just thinking about you and Dylan and how you managed to turn into this great dad despite your lack of a role model.”
“I guess I just don’t need my folks anymore, you know? It used to burn in my gut – the rejection. It did for a long time. But once Dylan came along, I slowly began to see it wasn’t my fault that my parents didn’t want me. You hold your kid in your arms, and if you don’t feel an overwhelming need to protect them, then that’s on you, not the kid.”
I sat up a little so I could look him in the eyes. “You’re one of the strongest people I know.”
His eyes warmed. “Back at you, babe.” His gaze suddenly turned knowing. “I’ll introduce you to Dylan as my girlfriend soon. I promise.”
Wrinkling my nose, I pulled back from him, disquieted. “Are you a mind reader now?”
Marco grinned and it was cocky enough for me to want to smack it off his lips. “I’m a Hannah-reader and my not introducing you this weekend doesn’t mean what you think it does. I just want this weekend to explain stuff to him first.”
Appeased by that, I said, “It’s fine. I get it.” I settled back down beside him and pressed a soft kiss to his chest. “You do what’s best for Dylan.”
“You mean that?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’m sorry, but… you’re never taking him ice skating. Ever.”
Marco’s laughter rang throughout my apartment as he attempted to escape the punch that I was aiming for his upper arm.
“So I take it this is permanent this time?”
I turned back from watching Dylan as he chatted quietly to his dad. Marco was down on his haunches, rezipping Dylan’s jacket after his son had started to remove it. We were taking him out today, however, and I gathered that was what Marco was telling him quietly, since Dylan kept throwing me quizzical looks every now and then. It was hard to pull my eyes away from them together, but I did at Leah’s question.
It was two weeks since Marco had laid down the law and told me I was not allowed to take Dylan skating. He’d revised it to say I was not allowed to take Dylan skating unsupervised, which I thought was rather fair of him, considering what he’d witnessed the last time I was on a rink.
This was my first weekend hanging out with Dylan. Marco had explained to him who I was and what I meant to him and that I’d be around a lot whenever Dylan came to see his dad. I didn’t know how Dylan was going to react to that. Although he was used to sharing Leah with Graham, since Graham had been in the picture almost as long as Dylan had been alive, I didn’t know how he’d feel about sharing his superhero dad.
Leah had just dropped him off with us. It was early Saturday morning and my stomach was filled with butterflies. I wasn’t really in the mood for an inquisition, but when I saw the smile in Leah’s eyes, I realized she was teasing me.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I answered. “As soon as it gets boring, I’ll probably move on to another single dad.”
She stared at me blankly.
“That was a joke,” I explained. “Apparently not a good one. Too soon?”
Leah raised an eyebrow. “You think?”
Awkward. I looked back at Marco, who had stood up and was listening in with mirth in his eyes. “I like her.” I raised my arm and gave a mini fist pump. “She’s feisty.”
His shoulders shook with laughter. Dylan looked up at his dad, saw him laughing, and a small smile played on his lips.
Glancing back at Leah, I found her smiling at her son. Her eyes flicked to mine and thankfully she didn’t stop smiling. “I’m glad it all worked out, Hannah.”
“Me too,” I told her sincerely.
She grinned at her son. “I’ll see you after school on Monday, honey. Have a great weekend with your daddy.”
In answer Dylan hurried over to her and gave her a hug. I got the impression from the surprised look on Leah’s face that he didn’t usually do that when she dropped him off with Marco. I was guessing the need for reassurance and comfort from her was because there was a strange, tall blond lady in his dad’s living room and she didn’t appear to be going anywhere. The concern must have shown on my face because Leah said as she caressed her son’s hair, “He’ll be fine once he gets to know you. He’s just a wee bit shy. Ay?” She pulled back from him, looking down into his gorgeous face. “You’ll have a good time with Hannah, though. She’s Daddy’s other best friend, and you know if Daddy likes someone they’re usually pretty cool.”
Dylan looked at me a little dubiously over his shoulder but turned back to his mum. “Okay,” he replied quietly.
The urge to cuddle him was great. He was so adorable. I had to remind myself, however, that he was a little boy and not a puppy. I doubted very much he wanted to be smothered with kisses and cuddles while I baby-talked to him.
“See you later, honey.” Leah kissed him on the forehead and gently nudged him toward Marco. “Take care of him.”
“Always do,” he replied.
She smiled, gave us one last look, and her eyes seemed to be laughing at us like she knew something we didn’t.
When she was gone I looked up at Marco and said, “I really do like her.”
“She’s good people.”
Still smiling, I looked down at Dylan, who was watching my interaction with his dad like a hawk. “I heard three-year-olds love the zoo. Do you fancy a day at the zoo, Dylan?”
“I’m nearly four,” he answered, holding up four fingers.
Must. Not. Cuddle.
Pushing past the overwhelming adorableness, I replied seriously, “Well, I’ve heard nearly-four-year-olds love the zoo, too.”
His brows drew together. “Will there be lions?”
“They have two lions, I think, and big cats.”
Dylan’s face closed down at that and he moved into his dad’s legs.
“They’re in an enclosure. A big cage. They can’t get at you.”
He still looked unconvinced.
“Your dad will be there with us. Do you think he’s going to let a lion get near you?”
It was the right thing to say. He looked up at his dad, contemplated how big he was compared to himself and slowly shook his head.
Marco grinned and smoothed a hand over his son’s hair affectionately. “You ready to go, then, buddy?”
He nodded and reached for his dad’s hand.
As we were walking out the door, Marco’s other hand in mine, I asked, “You won’t let the lions near me either, right?”
“It is tempting.”
“That was definitely the wrong answer.” I sighed in mock weariness. “No more searching for superhero boyfriends on the Internet. They always turn out to be duds who’ll quite happily let you get eaten by a lion.”
Marco hissed in a breath through his teeth. “You do roll the dice when you find a boyfriend on the Internet.”
“What about penguins? Surely you won’t let the penguins get me?”
“I don’t know – that might be fun to watch.”
I stopped on the stairwell and Marco and Dylan drew to a halt on the steps below me. “No penguin protection? What kind of superhero are you?”
“You’re weird,” Dylan said quietly to me.
Marco burst out laughing. “Buddy, you don’t know the half of it.”
Since Dylan grinned in response, I took the “weird” comment on the chin and went with it.
Dylan and I stared at each other across the table.
Marco had left me with him while he went up to order us some food from the zoo café. Everything had been fine while we wandered around the zoo with Marco present as a buffer. When Dylan had gotten close to the lion enclosure and one of the lions let out what I think was really just a yawn rather than a growl, I had easily reassured Dylan so he didn’t go skittering off in fear.
But alone? Even if it was only for a few minutes? I felt so much pressure for him to like me that my mind was suddenly blank. I couldn’t think of any topics of conversation that were appropriate for a child.
“You were scared of the snakes,” Dylan suddenly said, tilting his head to the side inquisitively.
He was not wrong.
I shuddered. I’d hurried away from the snakes as quickly as possible. “I don’t like snakes.”
“Why?”
That was actually a really difficult question to answer for a small child. “They scare me.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Uh… because so many of them can bite you, and the bite can make you really, really sick.”
“All of them?”
“Well, no…”
“But you’re scared of all of them?”
“Yes.” I could see where this was going and I didn’t like it.
“Why?”
Yup, that’s where I thought it was going.
There really was no good explanation other than irrational fear, and I didn’t think an almost-four-year-old would understand irrationality as an answer. I didn’t want the kid to think I disliked things because they were different, because even at his age that kind of thinking might stick with him. In the end, I replied, “The hissing sound they make.”
Dylan stared at me a second and then nodded slowly. I gave an inner sigh of relief before quickly changing the subject.
“What was your favorite animal?”
“Giant panda,” he answered immediately.
I grinned and turned the tables on him. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Cool eyes. I wasn’t scared. It smiled.”
The panda hadn’t actually smiled, of course, but when she contemplated us I could have sworn there was something mischievous in her eyes. The fact that Dylan had picked up on that made me feel absurdly proud of him. “All good reasons.”
“D’ye live with my daddy now?”
And we were back in dangerous territory. I shook my head. “No. We just hang out a lot.”
“You’ll be there when I come to stay?”
“Sometimes. Is that okay with you?”
Dylan shrugged again. “Daddy laughs a lot, so okay.”
I felt elated by Dylan’s analysis of the situation and the blessing he had given me in his cute little-boy way.
Must. Not. Cuddle.
When Marco came back to the table with the food, I was grinning from ear to ear. He smiled in bewilderment at my expression as he sat down and made sure Dylan had his food and juice. “What’s going on with you?”
I shrugged. “I just love giant pandas.”
Marco’s brows drew together and he looked at Dylan as if he would explain. His son gave him a look as if to say, What? It makes sense to me, and I burst out laughing.
The last few months had been an utter roller coaster of emotions for me, and after having to go through the ugly past again, and then losing Jarrod, I hadn’t known if or when I’d ever be able to laugh that hard again.
But laugh hard I did.
Marco was smiling, but he leaned his head down to Dylan and said, “You were right. Weird.”
Dylan gave a world-weary sigh that was far beyond his years.
I didn’t care if they teased me for the rest of my life. In that moment, all I cared about was that they’d be there for the rest of my life.
CHAPTER 29
June
The late June sun streamed in through my classroom windows, the light spilling over the kids’ empty desks. My last class of the year had already left, but I found myself immobilized. I couldn’t take my eyes off Jarrod’s desk. It had remained empty for the rest of the year whenever his class came into my room.
I didn’t want to forget.
It had been hard the past few months to find myself as a teacher again. Part of me had wanted to fall back on old habits and create a distance between myself and the kids. There was always supposed to be some distance anyway, but it was hard not to care about them, and in the end I decided if I stopped caring about them, I’d stop being a good teacher.
It hadn’t started out as the best year, but the past few months had begun to make up for that. One way in which they had was the permanent job offer I received from the department here at Braemuir. I’d be returning as a fully qualified English teacher after the summer. It was one less thing to worry about.
I had thought I would feel relief that the year was over and that I had the summer to enjoy before it started all over again.
But standing there in my classroom that last day, I couldn’t stop staring at Jarrod’s desk.
Sometimes it still made my breath catch when I remembered that I wouldn’t see him next year, that he wouldn’t get to grow up and become the amazing man I knew he could have been.
I hadn’t realized how hard the last day of school was going to be with that hanging over me.
“Knock, knock.”
My gaze jerked away from the desk and my eyes widened in surprised pleasure, my mood instantly lifting at the sight of Marco and Dylan walking into my classroom.
“What are you two doing here?” I asked, grinning happily as Dylan’s steps quickened. He reached me and instantly slid his arms around my legs. I hugged him close as Marco bent down to give me a quick, sweet kiss on the lips.
“I thought maybe you’d want some company. Not an easy day for you, babe.”
I shook my head in wonder. How had he known when even I hadn’t known? “I love you,” I murmured.
“I love you, too.”
I looked down at Dylan to see him watching us. I scrunched my nose up at him. “Guess what?”
“What?” he returned, genuinely curious.
“I love you, too.”
He smiled shyly and ducked his head.
So cute, I could die.
“Dylan, what do you say?” Marco chucked his chin.
Dylan shrugged. “Hannah knows I lu huh.” His words became a mumble, but I got the gist.
I gave Marco a look. “He’s four and he’s uncomfortable saying ‘I love you.’ I already pity his future girlfriends.”
Marco laughed. “He’s a man. He has a hard time showing his feelings.”
“You’re a man and you don’t have a hard time showing your feelings.”
“In public I do.”
“You just said you loved me in front of Dylan.”
“It’s just Dylan.”
“So you’re telling me that when we get married you’re not going to say you love me in your wedding vows?”
“You don’t say ‘I love you’ in wedding vows.”
“You do if you write your own.” I was completely messing with him and it was worth it to see the flicker of panic in his eyes.
“Write my own… vows?” His grip on Dylan’s shoulders tightened.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“You want me to write my own vows?”
I turned my mouth down at the corners as I shrugged. “Well, I might let you off with it, if you actually get around to proposing sometime.”
The light dawned in his eyes. “You manipulative —”
I grabbed my purse off my chair, ready to leave. “Finish that sentence and I won’t say yes.”
“I never asked,” he argued, ushering Dylan out behind me.
“But you’re going to.” I glanced back at Dylan. “Your daddy is a slowcoach.”
Marco looked at his son for help, but Dylan just looked at him with this “Really, dude” expression that made me love him even more.
“Are you sure he’s not my child?” I joked.
“Sometimes I wonder,” Marco muttered.
From school we got a cab back to my place so I could change for the evening’s event. It was Lily’s fifth birthday, and Gio and Gabby had generously offered the restaurant as a place to host it, closing off the back room for our private party.
Outside the restaurant we bumped into Cole and his new girlfriend, Larissa. She was a quiet, pretty auburn-haired psychology student who was clearly one hundred times more madly in love with Cole than he was with her.
“D-Man,” Cole greeted Dylan first. The two of them bumped fists, the brightness in Dylan’s eyes the only indication that he was thrilled to see Cole. While it had taken a few months for Marco to come around to Cole, his son had latched on to my best friend within a matter of hours after meeting him. They shared an overall seriousness that put them beyond their years and had a seemingly innate understanding of each other.
“What d’ye get?” Dylan gestured to the wrapped gift in Cole’s hand.
“Girlie stuff. You?” He indicated the present Dylan was carrying for us.
He scrunched up his nose. “Girlie stuff.”
Cole patted him on the back of the head and pulled open the door to the restaurant. “I hear you.”
“Hi, Larissa,” I greeted her with a coaxing smile.
In return I received a pinched smile. I couldn’t quite work out if it was because she was shy or because she, like most of Cole’s girlfriends so far, resented my presence in his life. I was sure it was the latter.
Marco and I held back as the three of them walked inside.
“She hates me,” I grumbled.
“You’re hot and Cole loves you. Of course she hates you.” Marco tugged on my hand, pulling me inside.
“Well, thanks for that very comforting and concise summary of the situation.”
He gave me a wry half smile as we walked through the front dining room and into the hall to reach the back. “She’ll get over it. That better?”
“No, because now you’re lying.”
He looked up at the ceiling as if talking to God. “I can’t win.”
“He’s not listening.”
He cut me a dry look. “Obviously.”
“Oh, shut it. You love me and you know it.”
“You kill me with your sweetness, babe.”
“Ah, there you are!” Liv came hurrying forward as we entered the back dining room. Pink and purple decorations had literally exploded all over the room. There were balloons, ribbons, flower chains, and sparkly confetti everywhere. Liv gave me a quick hug and grinned up at Marco in greeting. “Your aunt and uncle are amazing to do this. I think I’ve thanked them so much they’re ready to kill me.”
“It’s no problem.” Marco shrugged. “You’re family.”
Her eyes bugged out at me and she whispered comically, “I’m family.”
I patted her shoulder. “They’re not the Mafia, Liv. Calm down.”
“Nanna!”
My nephew William came flying at me, dangerously unsteady with momentum. I grabbed him before he made hard impact with my legs. As soon as I lifted him into my arms, Beth, Lily, and Luke were at my side. I greeted them all before bending down to kiss Lily’s silky dark hair. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
She smiled shyly and leaned into my leg.
Surrounded by the kids, I watched happily as we appeared to magnetically draw everyone else to us. Jo and Cam came over to say hello, Cam holding little Bella in his arms. Holding Bray in his, Adam came over with Ellie, who scooped William from my arms to hers. Joss and Braden sauntered over to join the pack and were quickly crowded in by Mum, Dad, Mick, Dee, Cole, Dylan, Larissa, Declan, Penny, Nate’s mum and dad, and Gio and Gabby.
Chatter sparked off all around me as I leaned against Marco, my hand resting lightly on Dylan’s head, and I didn’t feel overwhelmed.
I felt content.
I felt at peace.
I had just taken a wolflike bite of birthday cake when Gabby approached me. She smiled and I quickly tried to swallow the delicious sponge cake and buttercream icing so I could return the gesture.
“Marco says it was your last day today. You’ve got the summer now before you go back to school?”
I nodded, putting the cake down, only somewhat reluctantly, to converse with Gabby. I’d met Gabby and Gio officially a week after we took Dylan to the zoo. It had been difficult to be congenial to Gio, despite how charming he was, because I knew what a prize shit he’d been to Marco. However, Marco had moved past all the ugly stuff with his uncle and I didn’t want to constantly remind him of it, so I did my best to move past it too. Gabby was a different story. I loved her straight off the bat. She had a dry wit, a warm demeanor, and her fondness for Marco was obvious to everyone. “I’m just glad I’ve got a job to return to.”
“I heard about that.” Gio suddenly appeared, smiling warmly at me. “Congratulations on the permanent position.”
I gave him a small smile. “Thank you. And thank you both for hosting Lily’s party. It’s beautiful and the food is amazing, as per usual.”
“No problem.” Gio waved off the thanks and put an arm around his wife’s shoulder. “Lily is your family, which makes her our family.”
“She is beautiful.” Gabby looked over to where Lily was sitting on Nate’s knee and grinning up at whatever Liv was saying to her. “So well behaved too.”
“Oh, she’s an angel.” My eyes darted across the room, where I could see Beth doing what appeared to be a bad job of attempting to talk Dylan into swiping an extra piece of cake. “And some of them are angels with dirty faces.”
Dylan didn’t look convinced, so Beth reached up to the table to take another bit of cake by herself. Her little hand had just closed around it when Joss appeared. She didn’t say a word. She just held out her hand, palm up. Beth wrinkled her nose in annoyance and plopped the cake in her mother’s hand. Joss raised an eyebrow at her and nodded her head to the right. Beth followed the direction of the gesture and her shoulders slumped at the sight of Braden. He was sitting beside Adam and Ellie, holding his nephew, Bray, in his arms, but the look of rebuke on his face was leveled at his daughter. At the expression on her dad’s face, Beth’s shoulders suddenly flew back, and as if she was marching to her end, she strode across the room to her dad with the look of a martyr on her own face.
I could tell it took everything Braden had not to laugh.
My eyes went back to Dylan. Joss said something to him, smiling, and he gave her his serious-little-boy nod and began to move away. I expected him to head toward Marco, who was standing chatting with Cam, Cole, and Mick about something, but Dylan headed toward us.
I assumed he was coming over to Gabby and Gio, who were pretty much beloved grandparents to him. However, Dylan just looked up at Gabby and Gio as he walked by them, before dropping his gaze to me. Without a word he climbed onto my lap and rested his head against my chest.
He probably heard my heartbeat banging away in his ear.
I could tell by Gabby’s and Gio’s amused expressions that my face was a picture of surprise and absolute adoration. Looking down at the top of his head, I tentatively lifted my hand to stroke his soft curls. “Tired, sweetheart?”
He nodded slowly, and relaxed even deeper into me.
“Do you want to go home and I’ll read Where the Wild Things Are before bedtime?”
He nodded again.
My chest tight with emotion, I looked up from him to search out Marco. It didn’t surprise me to find his eyes were already on us, and there was such intensity in the way he was watching us that my chest tightened that little bit more until I was entirely breathless.
My mum always said it was the simplest things in life that moved you.
My mum had never been more right than she was just then.
“‘… and it was still hot.’”
I closed the picture book and looked down at Dylan, whose eyes were already closing. Carefully, I extricated myself from the bed, put the book on his bedside table, kissed his forehead, whispered good night, and walked over to the door.
Marco gave me a loving look from his place in the doorway and then strode inside to say good night to his son. I left them, giving them their time, as I had tried to a lot over the past few months. I didn’t spend every day of their alternative weekend arrangement with them because I felt it would be an easier transition for Dylan if he at least got his dad to himself sometimes. That was hard for me, not just because I missed Marco whenever he wasn’t around, but because those alternate weekends were the highlight of my month. I missed Dylan when he wasn’t with us, so I knew Marco must miss him a million times more.
This summer, however, we were getting him for two full weeks while Marco was on holiday. We’d booked into a holiday park in Cornwall, so we were praying for some of the sunny weather it was known for. I couldn’t wait to spend so much time with two of my favorite guys in the world.
I was in the sitting room, pushing my feet into my shoes, when strong arms wrapped around my waist and I found myself pulled back against Marco’s chest. “Where are you going?” his gravelly voice rumbled sexily in my ear.
A shiver chased down my spine, but I knew I had to ignore it. “Time for me to go home.” Not once had I remained overnight when Dylan was staying with Marco. We wanted to take things slow when it came to introducing me into Dylan’s life.
Marco kissed my neck as his hand coasted up my side, and over my ribs until he was cupping my left breast.
I sighed in pleasure, arching my back. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to get my girl to wrap those long fantastic legs of hers around me.”
Reluctantly, I broke the embrace to turn to look at him in question. “But Dylan —”
“We’ll be quiet,” Marco murmured hungrily against my mouth. “And I think we’re good to start introducing you as a permanent feature to his weekends with me.” His lips brushed over mine. Mine tingled in answer. Like always.
“Do you think he’ll be okay with that?” I panted, my hands already roaming over his strong chest.
“You make those great pancakes of yours in the morning, he’ll be fine.” He reached for another kiss, but I grinned, stalling it momentarily.
“Pancakes I can do.”
“Good,” he growled, crushing me against him. “Now do me.”
