Page 47 of Undeniable You

She looked up at me and I fought the desire to kiss her again. Fuck, I wanted to kiss her. I needed it. Like food or air or water.

“I didn’t either. You’re not the only one who’s been avoiding dating. I can’t let anything derail me from getting my degree. Are we crazy for doing this?” The last few words slipped out of my mouth without even a thought.

Larison gazed at me for a long time. As if she was searching for something. I was desperate for her to find it no matter what it was.

“I don’t know. That’s my honest answer. But I think we at least owe it to ourselves to try.”

I couldn’t walk away, and I couldn’t say goodbye. Not without seeing what we could be together. Not without kissing her hundreds of times. Not without giving this my best. Larison and Juniper both deserved my best.

“I think the right way to start this is with honesty. So I’ll tell you that I’m scared. I’m scared as fuck. I’ve never dated anyone with kids before. And I know I’m Juniper’s nanny, but this would change our relationship. It just would. And I’m terrified of messing up.” I had to lay it all out on the table. Let her know exactly how I was feeling. Not let my anxieties fester until they broke us up.

Larison went back to stroking my spine and I settled closer to her, reaching up and pulling the elastic out of her hair so I could get my fingers in it.

“I’d be worried if you didn’t consider Juniper in all this. I could never be with someone who treated my daughter as an afterthought, or as someone who wasn’t a massive part of my life. Because she is. Juniper is my first priority, and that will never change.”

Fuck, this woman was incredible. Juniper was so lucky to have a mom like Larison who would burn down the world for her. Who would also teach her daughter to stand up for her values and never back down. It made her even more attractive to me. So attractive that I didn’t know what to do with all of it.

“Fuck, I have to kiss you right now,” I said, and without even waiting, I did, capturing her mouth and showing her how much I agreed with her, how all in I was.

We should have talked more, but our priorities shifted into making out and I was absolutely fine with that.

Those sparks I’d felt when we’d first met hadn’t flamed out and they weren’t momentary. The longer I was in her presence, the more I wanted her. Needed her. Was completely obsessed by her.

This thing between us was undeniable now.

Larison laughed in her throat as I did my best to get my hands under her shirt so I could touch as much of her silky skin as possible.

“Mmm, I think we should hit the brakes,” she said, leaning back. My eyes popped open and I gave her a wounded look.

“Stop being so cute, it makes me want to make impulsive decisions.”

My fingers slid through her hair and I never wanted to stop touching her. We’d just need to be attached to each other from now on. She could strap me on her back or something.

“But impulsive decisions can be the best ones,” I said, still pouting a little.

Larison rolled her eyes. “You know what happened last time I made an impulsive decision to talk to a guy at a bar with gorgeous blue eyes?” She raised both eyebrows.

“I’m going to assume her name starts with Jun and ends in iper.”

Larison snorted. “Yup. Now you know. Blue eyes are my weakness.”

She’d never spoken to me about Juniper’s dad. It wasn’t hard to assume that he wasn’t in the picture. That maybe he’d never been in the picture.

Larison shifted me until I was sitting next to her on the couch, still tucked up against her though.

“His name is Josh,” she said.

“Of course it is,” I said, making her laugh.

“Of course it is,” she agreed. “Anyway. I had just graduated from high school and was working summers scooping ice cream. I’d gone out with some friends and caught his eye across the bar and even though I wasn’t of age, one of my friends had a case of beer in his trunk that we shotgunned in the parking lot, so I was pretty hammered already. Not ideal for making good decisions. And I’d always been a sucker for guys with dark hair and blue eyes. He was pretty and I was weak, and one thing led to another and then my period was late.”

She closed her eyes and I scratched my fingers against her scalp.

“Oh, that feels good. You’re distracting me.”

“Sorry,” I said, withdrawing my hand.

Her eyes popped open. “I didn’t want you to stop.”

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