Page 19 of Summer With You

“I’ve been planning a surprise for you, and she was in charge of making sure it happened while I worked extra hours to take time off to be with you once the babies were born.” My fight disappeared, and I felt like shit.

I had doubted him when he’d been busting his ass to make sure he could be with me after I had the twins.

He stood and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out for me, but I took another step back and shook my head.

“Don’t touch me,” I whispered as a soft sob ripped from my throat involuntarily.

“I’m in love with you, Spitfire.” Oh, God, that name. “Always have been, always will be.” He stood and walked over to me, taking small steps until he was right in front of me.

His big hands grasped my face, his calloused thumbs wiping away my free-flowing tears, his lips brushed mine ever so gently. They trembled beneath his.

“I’m so sorry that I made you feel like this, Amber. I wish I could take all your pain away. I’m so sorry that I failed you.”

Letting my head drop to his chest, I cried. Loud, ugly sobs tore from my throat as tears poured out of my eyes and snot dripped down my nose.

It was an ugly and extremely vulnerable sight, but Ryan’s arms only tightened around me like steel, caging me against him, keeping me glued together as I felt myself come undone.

“Let it all out, my sweet girl. I’m here now. I’m here.” His fingers stroked through my hair, massaging my scalp before threading through the wavy, red locks.

“I thought we were going to have to get a divorce, Ryan,” I whimpered. “That we would have to split the kids up. That I would be alone again.” I wrapped my shaking arms around his ridged torso, feeling his muscles through the thin material of his shirt.

“How can I fix this, Amber? Tell me what to do,” he pleaded as he kissed the top of my head, raw pain coating his tone.

“Kiss me,” I whispered against his neck, placing a soft kiss below his ear.

With one hand, he angled my head away from his neck and gazed down at me. His nose brushed mine before his lips barely touched mine. Ever so slightly, he teased me in that way that I both loved and hated. One light brush, and then, he pulled back before licking my bottom lip with his tongue and then kissing it.

He nipped my bottom lip, his teeth sinking in, followed by his tongue before pulling back and running his lips along my jawline, following the curve of my neck until his lips rested at the hollow spot where my shoulders joined.

“You just want a kiss, baby?” His husky voice ignited a burning in my belly, and I clung to his shirt, needing more.

“More. I need more, Ryan.” He laughed, holding me impossibly tighter against his body.

“Another kiss?” He quickly stole my lips in another rough kiss that left me breathless.

“More, please . . . more,” I moaned, eyes falling closed when he left open-mouth kisses along my neck.

“Oh, I get it now,” he rasped, and I moaned. “You want me to make love to you.” I nodded enthusiastically as he spoke my language. He chuckled, the deep sound washing over me. “You should have just said so, baby.”

He walked us over to the bed and laid me down, leaning on top of me he brushed a soft kiss to my right cheek, then my left, before settling on my lips once again, sucking my bottom lip. I knew he intended to draw things out, to make up for lost time, to make up for hurting me.

But a nagging thought at the back of my head pulled me from the heated moment.

“Why do you allow your assistant to call and message you outside the clock?” He sighed deeply.

“I thought we had moved past this?” His breath brushed my face, and I wanted to let him kiss me until I forgot how to form a coherent thought.

“You did, but I haven’t finished understanding how a young, hot girl texts and calls my husband whenever she wants.” I frowned.

He fell to his side of the bed with a groan. “It’s strictly work-related. All I ask is that you trust me. Stress isn’t good for the babies, and she isn’t worth stressing over because she isn’t hot, and she’s definitely not my sexy spitfire of a wife.”

“I still don’t like it, Ryan. You better put a stop to it in the morning,” I told him, not playing any games. Her messaging him, especially about things that weren’t about work, was completely unprofessional and not okay.

He got on top of me again, his body caging me against the soft mattress. “Let me make love to you, baby, and remind you how much I love you, even when you think I’m cheating on you.”

“Ryan, I have one more question.” He dropped his head to my neck again, kissing down one side before the other, and then his teeth nipped at my earlobe. I moaned, forgetting what I was going to ask.

“No more questions, sweet girl. It’s time to stop talking. I only want to hear you moan my name for the next few hours.”

And just like that, Ryan Wilson stole my breath away.

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