Page 35 of Silver Lining Love

He blinked twice after I spoke as if he was coming out of a trance, then lifted his head and sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. When he did, I noticed his hands. Particularly his fingernails which were painted sparkle pink.

He must have seen me take note of that because he said, “I visited Alice’s beauty salon tonight.”

I couldn’t help the mile-wide smile that spread across my face. “I see that. I had you pegged for a French manicure man, not a sparkly pink man.”

“She helped me pick out the color.”

“I bet she did.”

Seeing the contrast of his large, masculine hands painted such a feminine, dainty color flipped my ovary switch from off to on. I wanted to have this man’s babies.

14

WYATT

“Don’t talk, act. Don’t say, show. Don’t promise, prove.” ~ Gamma Mary

I stared up at Whitney. The sexual tension between us was palpable. Her gaze was penetrating and seductive, sending all sorts of signals below my belt. I could feel myself growing hard as our eyes remained locked. I tried to send the message to my dick that nothing was going to happen.

The dress she was wearing wasn’t helping matters. When she’d walked out of her bedroom earlier tonight, I’d had to pick my jaw up off the floor. She looked absolutely stunning. Thankfully, the kids filled in the silence; otherwise, it might have been awkward because it took me a minute to recover and remember how to speak.

I’d been using the kids as a buffer since we’d shared our kiss. Every time my mind or other parts of my body started wandering down a path it shouldn’t, one that would lead to us naked in bed, I just focused on what was actually important—the kids.

But they were all asleep. I was buffer-less. Which meant I should leave.

I stood abruptly and cleared my throat. When I did, Whitney didn’t move. She remained where she stood when she was waking me up, which meant there was barely an inch of air between us. Her neck was tilted back. She stared up at me with her wide blue eyes that held an intoxicating mix of innocence and seduction that I was powerless to resist.

“I should go,” I gritted out.

I saw what I thought was a flash of disappointment before she took a step back and nodded.

“Come on, Moose.” I hit the side of my thigh.

He huffed and curled his head into his body.

“He can stay here tonight,” she offered.

Moose had stayed over a couple of times when the kids wanted to have a sleepover with him. But never because he just didn’t want to go home with me. I tried not to take it personally.

“Okay, I’ll be here at eight to pick up Alice and Benji.” I was taking Alice to ballet and then to the park with Benji so Michael and Whitney could have some time together.

“Okay.” She nodded and dipped her head, tucking her hair behind her ear.

It took every ounce of self-control I had to force my feet to walk to the front door. My hand just touched the doorknob when I heard Whitney ask from behind me, “Actually, can you help me with something first?”

I closed my eyes and inhaled through my nose. I felt like a rubber band that had been stretched to its limits and was about to snap. I dropped my arm to my side as I turned around. “Sure.”

I waited for her to tell me what she needed, but instead, she turned and walked down the hallway. With each step I took to follow her, my chest grew tighter and my breaths grew shallower.

When she went into the bathroom, I wondered if the toilet had been acting up again. I waited outside the room to hear what she needed. The space was so small that I was scared one brush of her arm against mine would cause me to pop wood so hard I’d be able to hammer a nail into the wall.

She turned so she was facing the mirror, gathered her hair, and pulled it over one shoulder, then set her hands on the vanity. “Can you unzip my dress? I can’t reach it.”

Fuck me.I used to think that living next door to Whitney was torture, but this was a special brand of torment. This was “The Princess Bride” pit-of-despair level torture.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I took two steps inside the confined space and stopped behind her. As I lifted my arm, I noticed that my hand was shaking. The zipper slid down easily, revealing the smooth skin of her back and the strap of her black bra.

“Thank you.” Her sapphire stare locked with mine in the reflection of the mirror.

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