With each caress of his tongue, he seemed to pull her deeper into him, until she no longer remembered how it felt not to be in his arms. By the time he pulled away, she wasn’t sure if her legs would support her. He looked down at her, his eyes heavy-lidded.
“So tell me,” he whispered. “When can I see you again? We could stay in with the kids. Give me a chance to meet them. We’ll tell them I’m a friend—nothing more.”
She released his shirt and stepped back. She immediately missed the warmth of his arms, but the warmth of his words kept her burning inside. He actually wanted to spend time with her kids. Get to know them. Her brain screamed at her. Keep him away from her kids. Keep him away from her, until she could actually be certain of what they could be.
But her heart already hoped for what they would be and it spoke too loudly for her to ignore.
“All right,” she said. “We can try that. Friday night at my place? Be prepared for a second helping of bare butt cheeks.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, God. That came out wrong.” She buried her face in her hands. “I didn’t— I mean, not my— I meant his. Wait, that’s worse.” She groaned. “I’m going to shut up now.”
His deep, husky laughter wrapped around her. “Yours or his. I can handle the challenge.”
She had no doubt of that.
Chapter Nine
Thomas stood at the end of the pathway to Brianna’s house. Déjà vu all over again, only this time he wasn’t waiting for Jerry Springer.
He was waiting for the earth to swallow him whole.
Kids. And he was about to spend the entire evening with them.
What the hell did he think he was doing?
He’d never wanted kids. He didn’t know how to talk to children. How to make them like him. He closed his eyes. He couldn’t let himself be intimidated by children. He’d have to get past this hurdle if he wanted to date Brianna. Date the mother, date her kids. That was the rule. He wasn’t the type to get cold feet, so it was time to get those feet moving.
He’d almost shown up with gifts but they’d only think he was trying to buy their approval. Anyone would think that, and they’d be right. It was a cheap ploy, one that wouldn’t win him any points in the long run.
This isn’t a game. Get out of the marketing mindset.
And get moving.
He cursed to himself. He could do this. He headed up the walk and hit the doorbell. The door swung open almost immediately—and the entire reason he was here stood in front of him, smiling up at him with a dazzling warmth, her hair loose around her shoulders and making her look more carefree than he’d ever seen her, in a pale yellow sundress. She’d left the businesswoman at the office.
So he could leave his issues at the door.
He leaned in and kissed her cheek, breathing in her scent. “Hello, sweetheart.”
“Hello.” She flushed. “You smell good.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
She laughed. “You think you smell good, too?”
“Fabulous.”
From over her shoulder, Zach sneered, “Why is he here? I told you I didn’t want to meet him.”
“And I told you to act your age and accept that he was coming whether you liked it or not,” Brianna said, hands on her hips. “Mind your manners or you can forget about going to the movies with your cousin tomorrow.”
Thomas hovered in the doorway. He was more out of place than a gazelle among lions—and just as vulnerable to attack. He tried a smile. It felt like his marketing smile, frozen and oily. “Hi. I’m Thomas. I’m one of your mom’s work friends.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Sure you are.”
Brianna stiffened. “Zach, I swear to God, you will be—”
“—staying home if I keep it up. Yeah. I know.” Zach looked Thomas up and down, then left the room, calling over his shoulder, “But it might be worth the punishment. I can catch the movie when it comes out on Netflix.”
Brianna closed her eyes, her fists tight at her sides, and counted from one to five soundlessly. His amusement rose with each number. When she opened her eyes with a calm smile, he tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Feel better?”
“Not really,” she said. “A little. I’m sorry. He’ll be stubborn, I’m afraid. He misses his dad. Don’t let it bother you.”
“Don’t worry about me.” He pulled her into his arms. She rested her cheek on his chest. She felt so perfect against him. He was tempted to tell her—tell her how right she felt in his arms. But he couldn’t. Not when he could still hear Nicole mocking him for daring to express human emotion. He took a slow breath and chose his words carefully. “I’ll be fine.”
“Really?”
No. “Sure.”
She exhaled and pulled free from his arms, curled her fingers into the front of his shirt, dragged him down, and kissed him hungrily. He stumbled only momentarily before he crushed her in his arms—where she damned well belonged. When she dipped her tongue into his mouth, he sank deeper into her, seizing a desperate and ruthless control. God, no woman had ever kissed him like this. Wild. Hungry. Savage.
He buried his fingers into her hair and backed her against the wall. She tore free, panting. He bent to kiss her again but she stayed him with a finger to his lips.
“We can’t. The kids are in the other room.”
Reality hit him harder than a kick to the nuts. He forced himself to pull back. “Shit. Sorry.”
“That’s a bad word,” a prim little girl said from the doorway. Katelyn, he guessed, with her neat blond curls and her mother’s ladylike demeanor. She carried a Nintendo 3DS in her tiny hands and watched Thomas curiously. “Mama says for bad words you have to put a quarter in the swear jar.”
Brianna’s lips twitched at the corners. “Well…he doesn’t live here, so he doesn’t have to play by our rules.”
The girl’s face fell. “That’s not fair.”
“She’s right. That’s not fair.” Thomas felt around in his pocket and withdrew a quarter. “I’ll pay up. I shouldn’t curse around pretty ladies.”
“See, Mommy?” Katelyn smiled, her eyes bright. They were her mother’s eyes, hazel and clear. “I was right. It was a bad word.”
Thomas knelt before her. “Why don’t you show me where the swear jar is?”