Page 83 of Unforgettable

The kid had hugged me a million times prior—I’d seen him and been there through every stage of life. But that hug felt different and more loaded with the possibility of the future after our conversation.

Would Zach want me as a stepmom? He loved me as “Auntie Manda”—he’d declared it loudly and often. But dating and eventually…marryinghis dad was something else altogether.

“Love you,” he crooned into my hair next to my ear.

“Love you, too.”

When he let go, I stood and looked at Josh. His smile was broad, and the emotion swimming in his eyes was enough to tell me his thoughts mirrored my own.

“Okay, Daddy, let’s go. Uncle Reed, are you coming? I want a hamburger!”

There was a conflict in his expression as Josh’s eyes bounced from me to the two standing at the end of the hall. I knew he was worried about Zach seeing too much, so I made the decision for him.

Pushing to my tiptoes, I wrapped my arms over his shoulders and pulled him into a hug that could have been considered a friendly goodbye. He chuckled softly into my hair as his arms banded around my lower back.

“Thanks, babe.”

“Anytime, Sunshine,” I said, using Reed’s favorite nickname for him.

And with a kiss on my cheek, he let me go. There was a hint of reluctance in both of us, but Josh walked down the hallway. Zach took his outstretched hand and waved to me as I slowly walked to them as well.

“Bye, Auntie Manda.”

“Are you coming?” Josh asked Reed, who’d barely taken his eyes off of me since he’d walked in.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there. Give me a minute.”

Zach huffed and then proclaimed, “Okay, you have one minute, but that’s all. You come downstairs in one minute, or we’re going to leave without you.”

Reed promised he’d be down there in a minute, and with one last glance at me, Josh led Zach out the door.

“Did you know that there are sixty seconds in a minute, Daddy? I knew that because…” The door closed behind them, and Reed’s whiskey eyes turned back to me.

There wasn’t a word between us as he took two quick steps, gripped my upper thighs and hauled me up into his arms.

He sealed his lips to mine, finally releasing the pent-up desire we’d collected throughout the day. My fingers tangled in his hair, which was slightly longer than Josh’s yet just as soft, and I huffed out a breath when my back collided with the living room wall. Pinned between the wall of a man and the actual wall was mind bending.

I tilted my head slightly, deepening our kiss and trying—but failing—to suppress the moan inching up my throat.

Only minutes before, I had come undone thanks to Josh and my trusty toy, Patrick, but subject to Reed’s hands and mouth and intoxicating smell, I still ground against him. My body urged me to find another release.

The fireworks I’d experienced with Josh did a little to release our growing tension, however, it was separate from my connection with Reed. We had our own desire and tension building between us that had to be released by him alone.

“Is this how you wanted to use your minute?” I panted against his mouth, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip.

“Yes, but it won’t be enough. It won’t be enough until I’m buried inside you again. And even then, I can’t say I’ll ever be fully satisfied.”

My entire body was a live wire under his touch, and my core clenched. I wished he was inside of me at that moment, so I could clench around him.

His lips, hot and urgent against my skin, migrated across my jaw and down my neck as his hands released my hips, propping me on the wall. His palms slid up my sides and found purchase against my ribs under my shirt.

I pressed my chest out and bowed my back off the wall. The touch of his fingers on the underside of my bra was a delicious tease.

“So, you talked?” he asked without stopping.

“Yes.”

“About Sam and Zach?”

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