Page 54 of Inked Craving

I froze, wondering if that was going too far. Only, was it? We spent as much time together as possible. I loved that little girl. And I loved Paige. Not that either of us was ready for me to say that. We were going on our fourth date, and while she’d gotten the okay last week to have sex, we hadn’t slept together yet because we were taking our time—or at least as much as we could.

And yet tonight, it felt different. Emery would be with Annabelle while she and Jacob took care of the twins and her. And then later, we would pick her up because there was no way we wanted to spend the night without Emery. Or at least, Paige didn’t. It was still up in the air if I would be spending the night.

Hell, I wasn’t sure I was good at this. I hadn’t wanted a future and a forever, but here I was, thinking about it. With Paige. I knew I was probably moving too quickly, but hell, this wasn’t what I had planned. Nothing was. Maybe that was a good thing.

I shook myself out of my thoughts, quickly showered, and got ready to pick up Paige. I put on dark gray pants and a black button-down shirt. I wasn’t going to wear a tie or anything, but I thought I looked decent. I slung on a belt, put on some shoes, and brushed my hair back. It was getting a little too long, and I needed to cut it. But I also knew that Paige liked running her hands through it when we watched a movie. I would lay on her lap, with Emery sleeping on my stomach, and she’d either run her hands through my hair, or we’d hold hands over Emery’s diapered bottom. Like we were a family.

Paige and Emery weren’t anything I’d expected, but they were what I had. And I would do whatever I could to keep them.

Because Colton had thrown them away. And while part of me would always hate him, maybe I could be grateful at the same time because it had given me a chance. And that thought made me feel like a horrible person.

I grabbed my phone, wallet, and keys, and looked around the place, figuring it looked nice. Or at least, clean. I didn’t know if we were coming back to my place or Paige’s after dinner. I wasn’t sure what the plans were. But I’d tried not to make my house look like I was a bachelor living alone, even though I only spent the night here. Most of my time was spent at work, with the Montgomerys, or with Paige.

When I pulled into Paige’s driveway, I couldn’t help but grin. She stood on the porch, dressed in a dove-gray wrap-around dress, her hair pulled back in a little updo, and she wore sexy-ass shoes that made me think about her legs wrapped around my shoulders as I ate her out, her heels digging into my back. I quickly quashed that thought, adjusted myself in my pants, and made my way out of the car.

“I think we match,” I teased, and she looked between us and blushed. “I think dressing Emery in so many cute little gray outfits with dots of color has rubbed off on me. I can’t help it. It’s a cute outfit.”

I leaned forward and kissed her softly. “You look wonderful.” She moaned, and I placed my hand on her hip, squeezing slightly. “Seriously, fucking edible.” I bit her lip, and she moaned again, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. Her small handbag hit me upside the head, and we both laughed as I rubbed the spot she had hit and jokingly staggered back.

“Well, then. I see how it is.”

Paige giggled. “Oops. Sorry. You know this is our fourth date now. Or fiftieth. Depending on how you think about it. You’d think we’d be better at it.”

“I like the idea of it being our fiftieth.” I put my hands in my pockets to avoid reaching out to undo the tie at her waist. I knew the dress would fall to the sides, baring her to me. And all I wanted to do was put my face between those massive breasts of hers and have way too much fun.

I was a horrible person, and from the way her gaze darkened as she looked at me, she knew what I was thinking.

“Dinner first. Dessert later.”

I groaned, gripping myself over my pants as she laughed. “You are not a good person.”

“What? Are you going to be able to drive with the hard-on?”

“I could make a stick shift joke, but I’m not in the mood.”

She walked down the stairs, and I slapped her ass. “Hey!”

“What? It was right there. I couldn’t help it.”

“You are a problem, Lee Grier. Just saying.”

“I don’t mind. If you walk in heels like that in front of me, I will have to grab your ass. It’s just how things go.”

“I don’t mind.” She fluttered her eyelashes, and I kissed her hard on the mouth, unable to stop.

“If you aren’t careful, we aren’t going out. We’re just going right back inside.”

I groaned. “Do we need to eat dinner?” As if on cue, her stomach growled, and I laughed. “Sounds like we do. Come on. Let’s get you fed.”

“That wasn’t embarrassing or anything.”

“You already said that you’re increasing your calories to keep up with breastfeeding. You’re fine.”

“And this is a lovely conversation for a date.”

“I don’t mind. I like knowing these things.”

“I brought my pump, by the way,” she said as she waved her bag. “Not just my handbag, but this one. I’ll keep it in the car, but you know, just in case. We don’t need an accident at dinner.”

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