Page 83 of Mended Hearts

“Because I might just believe you.”

13

Another One Bites The Dust

OLIVER

A quick glance over my shoulder showed Mattie still hyper-focused on her homework, but I wasn’t about to back Leighton into a hypothetical corner. Not when a physical one was readily available.

She had to want this—me.

Snatching her hand in mine, I jerked my chin over my shoulder, watching as her eyes flicked to the dining room and back.

“What are you doing?” she whispered, but to my eternal surprise, she didn’t resist, rushing along beside me until we ducked into the butler’s pantry and closed the door. “Ollie…”

I rounded on her, cutting her off as I backed her into the door, a breathy gasp whooshing out of her as her eyes went wide. Planting an arm above her head, I caged her in, relishing the way her gaze darkened. Her cheek was impossibly soft beneath my palm as I cradled her face with my other hand. Leaning in, I brushed my lips over her forehead—just to keep myself from devouring her mouth.

“One night,” I breathed. “Give me one night, Leigh.”

“I did that already,” she shot back, chin tipping up as she groaned when I retreated—denying her more than I was ready to give.

“Not to fuck you, Trouble. Not to worship your gorgeous fucking body.”

“Marginally less interested in this conversation,” she muttered, even as her hands found their way over my arms, my chest, my back—eyelids growing heavy. If desire had a face, it was this fucking woman, peering up at me through those dangerously long lashes.

Chuckling, I murmured, “I want to take you out, baby. I want to buy you a dress that fits like a glove and book a reservation at a restaurant you’ll love. I want to show up ten minutes early because I can’t stand waiting one more second to see you—even though I see you every damn day.”

“Ollie,” she whispered, running her nose along mine before making a desperate lunge for my mouth. Laughing, I stayed just out of reach, thumbing her cheekbone and savoring the desperation in her voice.

“I want to bring you flowers. Help you into the car. Eat and drink and dance with you until you’re nothing but putty in my hands. I want to call Arthur to drive us so we can blast your beloved oldies the whole way home—and I can spend the ride memorizing how you like to be kissed. I want to walk you to the door and tell you exactly how much Ilovebeing with you.”

I pinched her chin gently, tugging her face to the side and kissing down the line of her jaw.

Chuckled again when she arched off the door.Good. She was just as desperate as I was.

“Then I want to beg you for another night, because one is never going to be enough.”

Her hands fisted in my shirt, roamed down my back to my ass—and fuck me, I nearly lost it when she cupped it. My cock jerked against my zipper, aching for her touch, for her scent, for the feel of her skin against mine.

“Ollie,” she panted, her fingers scraping down my sides.

“Say yes, Leigh.” I smiled against her skin and dove for the curve of her chest, pressing a kiss into the base of that scar—savoring the memory of the last time I’d worshipped it. Any blood left in my brain headed south. Some day, she’d tell me her story—how she got those marks, who I should have killed for causing them. She’d feel safe enough and seen enough to tell me what happened. But I wouldn’t push. Not now.

Right now, I only had one mission. And it wasn’t talking.

“Say yes, beautiful. I’m begging you.”

“Yes,” she gasped, yanking my hair until it stung.

I wasn’t sure if she was trying to hold me there or pull me to her mouth, but either way, I sucked in a breath of sheer, relieved want.

“Yes, Ollie!”

I swallowed the plea with a kiss so raw, so claiming, I forgot all the reasons this was supposed to be complicated. Nothing this right could be wrong. She tasted like marshmallow lip gloss and heat and laughter. Electricity shot down my spine when she moaned into my mouth, and I realized she’d stripped me bare—left me exposed like a live wire.

She fit. She’d always fit.

From the moment she’d stomped into Greyson’s house, Leighton Rhodes had beenmine. And I was going to make damn sure she knew it.

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