Page 85 of All Our Secrets

“Stealing you.” He hoisted me up by the hips and flipped me over his shoulder.

“Put me down!”

He slid his hand up my shorts and gripped my ass, a guttural sound vibrating his chest. “Any particular reason you have no panties again tonight?”

That white-hot need burst through my stomach, lighting up my skin. “Silas—”

T.J. started crying, and Silas stopped at the doorway.

Relief at the interruption had me sagging against his back. “Look what you did.”

If my son hadn’t woken up, I would have gone and let Silas devour me.

“You were the one yelling,” he pointed out and placed me on my feet.

I walked over and picked my boy up from his portable bassinet. Silas turned on the light. I squinted my eyes under the blaring bulb, then at the man responsible. “Why did you turn that on?”

“Come on,” he murmured. “We might as well watch a movie.”

“Watch a movie if you want.” I grabbed Junior’s bottle, mixed the formula and water, and shook it vigorously. When I plopped down on the bed and gave T.J. the bottle, Silas still hadn’t moved from the doorway, so I added, “I’m not watching anything with you. Go on.”

“Don’t be stubborn.”

“I’m not—” My eyes widened as he stalked closer. “What are you up to? I’m holding my son.”

“I’m about to be carrying you both,” he told me right before he went to grab me.

“What are you doing?” I screeched.

His head jerked toward the exit. “You. Me. The baby. On the couch, watching a movie. Let’s go.”

“You’re impossible.” I exhaled.

“I’ll carry your ass if you don’t get to walking in five, four, three—”

I stood and hurried out of the room. As I ran past him, I muttered, “Being a bully isn’t attractive.”

“I’m not a bully, baby. You’re just not going to poke the bear and think you can get away from it.”

I snorted. “You? A bear?”

He smiled as he followed me. My back felt overly sensitive with his presence nearing, so I rushed to the couch, cradling my little dude against my chest. My son watched me with his wide-eyed stare, like he wondered how mentally unstable his mother might be.

When I sat down, Silas stood in front of me and leaned over, eyeing my lips. When his gaze finally reached my eyes, he grinned, and I was unprepared for it. His scars wrinkled slightly, and the crinkles at the edge of his eyes only heightened the rugged beauty of Silas King.

“Want to know a secret?” he asked.

My heart thudded against my ribcage. “No.”

“I was slowly cornering you. Waiting for the opportunity to make my move, and you know what you did? You came to me and all that fucking waitingfinallycame to an end.” He kissed my forehead then, and I hated that I closed my eyes for it, reveling in the brief touch. “You fell into my arms much sooner than I imagined. I was trying to be all the things you deserve: A good friend. A better man who waited for you to heal.”

What? Butterflies fluttered inside my belly. Silas King was waiting? On me? My mouth dropped. Oh sweet baby Jesus. Even though I’d entered his room with my own two feet, nothing prepared me for him.Nothingwould ever prepare me for everything this man could make me feel.

What had I gotten myself into? It seemed as though I asked myself that question daily anymore.

“You didn’t say that,” I whispered.

“I did.”

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