Page 123 of Ever With Me

He wasn’t about to question her good mood—she’d gotten straight onto her knees the night before when she’d entered the bedroom and given him the best goddamn blow job he’d ever had—but the idea of meeting her entire family terrified him.

He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Impressions are overrated. You know what’s not overrated, though?” His lips grazed the side of her neck. “The sound you make when you come for me.”

She turned her face toward him, and her freshly glossed lips found his. “Mmm . . . you know how to tempt me, babe, but I’m going to go with no. Even if you met no one else in my family, I’d want you to meet my grandfather. He’s my favorite person on the planet.”

He feigned a wounded look in the mirror.

A slow smile spread across her face, and she kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry. You’re my second favorite.”

“Hey!” His arms tightened around her waist, and he lifted her. She squealed, trying to get away as he carried her a few feet over toward the bed, where he dumped her. Laughing, she squirmed in his arms as he held each of her wrists down to the bed, his mouth crushing hers with a kiss.

She melted into his arms, the kiss slow and lingering, their tongues delivering well-practiced strokes. One week of nonstop sex had been exhausting—let’s face it, he wasn’t eighteen anymore—but her body felt familiar in his now, each curve and plane explored. She was ticklish behind her knees, and her chest flushed after an orgasm. She had a light smattering of freckles across her cheeks—mostly hidden by makeup—and an even cuter patch of freckles on her left shoulder.

And he didn’t have to question what he was feeling.

He’d never felt so content in his life. She was such a breath of fresh air. He’d never met someone so genuine in her affection, attentive to how she listened to him. ..and kind.

Gorgeous. Funny. Sweet. Sexy.

He was falling in love with her, harder and deeper each day.

When he broke away from the kiss, she moaned. “Not fair taking me horny to a family party.”

“We can do something about that, you know.” God knows he was ready to go again.

“Not unless we want to be really late.” She closed her eyes as though it pained her to push him away, then climbed out from under him. “I’m officially banning you from the room while I finish getting ready. Go on. I’ll meet you on the front porch. If you’re a good boy, I might even let you drive again.”

He chuckled, stealing her keys from her purse with a wink. She’d actually been good about letting him drive them anywhere this week—not that they’d gone many places. But while she still had the privilege of being one of the few people he knew that had ever driven him in years—because he couldn’t control when he needed to go by a chauffeur—she’d also explained that she understood his path to healing from the trauma of his mom’s fatal car accident was something he had to do on his own time.

Which he appreciated about her.

She didn’t look at his darkness and shame him for it. Somehow, she made him feel safe to speak about it.

He left the room and went down the hallway, then the stairs of the old house. A converted Victorian mansion, the Serendipity was owned by the cop who’d taken the police report that first day—Dan Klein—and his wife Avery.

As he stepped out onto the front porch, he bumped into them sitting there, each of them with mugs of coffee that steamed in the frosty morning air.

“Morning,” Dan said, standing from one of the chairs on the wraparound porch. “Sorry, people usually end up on the back porch in the morning. You want a seat?”

“No, feel free to sit. I’m just waiting for Maddie. Sorry to interrupt, actually.” He imagined they probably took this space as their little haven from the guests, considering they lived here.

“You didn’t interrupt at all,” Avery said, warmth in her green eyes. She swung back on a hammock swing. “We were actually just talking about you, Mr. Kent.”

“You can call me Brooks.” He turned and leaned his back against the railing, his hands on it. “Hopefully nothing bad.”

Dan’s face became more serious. “No, not about you. But I’ve had to chase a couple of photographers off the property this morning. I don’t have a lot of tolerance for stalkers. They’re parked across the street on the side of the road, though. Not much I can do about that, I’m afraid.”

Damn paparazzi.They’d been hounding him all week, trying to get pictures of him and Maddie. “That’s good to know.” He frowned. He didn’t want them following them to Maddie’s grandfather’s party and pestering them the whole time. By now, he was sure they had memorized Maddie’s car’s make, model, and license plate.

Dan seemed to read his expression. “You going somewhere this morning?”

He nodded. “Maddie’s grandfather’s having a birthday party.”

“You need a lift? They won’t know my car.”

The offer was tempting despite his dislike for being driven. But it seemed like since he’d arrived in Brandywood, it had been one person after another doing it.

“I don’t want to pull you away from the Serendipity,” he said.

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