Page 95 of Mended Hearts

“It was implied.”

“Was it? I missed that.”

“The kids are with Emma.”

“Hence, the quiet house.”

“Then why are they staying over if you didn’t intend to use our freedom to its fullest?”

“I did, Trouble.”

She blinked, her throat working in a way that was going to cause me problems sooner rather than later. This towel wasthin.

“Hence the tacos?”

“Why? Do you not want?—”

“Unless you want a pink outline of my hand on your ass, you willnotfinish that sentence.”

She straightened. Pupils blown wide. “What if that’s exactly what I want?”

“Then you’re going to have to wait.”

“This is what you meant by ‘maybe’ earlier? You knew you were going to wind me up like a top and let me spin out all by myself.”

Grinning, I closed the distance. Her hands landed on my chest, but her scowl remained.

“You’re not being punished, Leighton.”

“My lady blue balls beg to differ. You’re the one who went all caveman in the pantry. I didn’t ask you to turn me on and leave me hanging. Is this a milk and the cow for free thing?”

“That’s not quite how that saying?—”

“Explain yourself, Hart.”

I cupped her face and kissed her hard enough to shut her up. Her fists curled against my chest. She didn’t push me away, but when she pulled back, there was something in her eyes that hit like a punch to the sternum.

“Do you not want me? Why go to all that effort if?—”

“Leighton,” I warned, noses brushing.

“Don’t ‘Leighton’ me. Make it make sense, Oliver. If you feel half of what I do, there’s no way you’d go to all that effort just to…oh.”

Her voice faltered as I grabbed her hand and guided it to the problem she was very much responsible for—still hard, still pulsing. Her eyes flew to mine.

“I’ve already gotten off with your name on my fucking lips tonight. I want you, baby. More than you know.”

“Then why, prey tell, are we torturing ourselves?”

“Because I fucked up, Leighton. I made you feel like a cheap hookup, when you’ve been my world for the better part of a year.” Her mouth parted, and I traced her bottom lip with my thumb. “I’ve been in love with you since long before I knew how good you taste. And it hasnothingto do with how badly I want to ravage your body.”

I brushed my lips over hers, savoring her, torturing myself. Her palm still pressed against my growing erection as I whispered, “For months, I’ve looked for ways to pull you closer. Irritate you. Befriend you. Take whatever scraps I could get—because any part of you was better than nothing. You deserve a man who worships at your feet without asking for anything back. Who makes you feel like the only woman in the world. And I’m telling you right now, I have no intentions of standing by and watching someone else be that man.”

“You… youlove me?” Her voice was small, eyes wide and glassy. But her hands were roaming over my chest again, so I held on to hope.

“I was a goner the moment you showed up in my life. Watching you with my kids. Watching you pull Mattie from the water and hold her like she was your own—I was fucking gone.”

Her fingers traced slow patterns through my chest hair, eyes down. When the silence dragged too long, I leaned in.

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