Page 47 of What We Keep
Oh, my little heart, always so hopeful, squealed with joy. I ignored the rest for now because Haven and his whole family were everything I wanted, and I was back home where I felt like I belonged.
When his forehead fell to mine, and he whispered, “We’ll figure it out,” my chest ached with something tender and terrifying. “Can I kiss you?”
I felt those words on my lips, and my answer was to simply close the millimeters between us and lose myself in another kiss. His mouth was open and lazy, sensual and lingering, and it was a good thing there was a counter behind me, and he was there in front to hold me. Otherwise, I would have collapsed to the floor as I all but swooned.
When we finally broke apart and stared at each other, he trailed his knuckles over my cheek. “You have sand on your face,” he said, his lips teasing with a smile.
A giggle slipped out. “I’m sure there’s sand everywhere. But I was running late for dinner, and I know your mom likes to have dinner on time.” I took him in. “You have some dirt on your cheek.”
When a low chuckle rumbled in his throat, I all but swooned all over again inside.
“We could shower,” he pointed out. “Together, of course.”
The heat in his gaze scorched me just before he stepped back and caught my hand in his.
A little while later, I was crying his name as he held me in his arms with my back pressed against the shower wall and my legs curled around his hips. My orgasm broke through me in shimmering waves.
It was only after he dropped his head into the curve of my shoulder that I realized we’d forgotten a condom. A moment later, he lifted his head, smoothing a wet lock of hair off my cheek.
In that second, his eyes widened. “I forgot a condom,” he muttered.
“It’s okay,” I added.
“It is?”
“Yeah, I have an IUD.” He was quiet for a long beat. “Going forward, you don’t need to worry about it.”
His brows hitched up slightly. This was ridiculous. Even now, with him still inside me, I wanted him all over again. With his dark lashes spiky from the water, the blue of his eyes was brighter.
“That’s your call,” he said slowly.
“And I just called it,” I said, feeling a little stubborn about the whole thing.
I felt his chuckle against my chest and bit my lip as I giggled.
“I suppose we could rinse off again,” he said when he slowly eased me down, withdrawing as he did.
He reached behind him and turned the shower back on. This had all started after I finished cleaning the sand off my body. We rinsed off in the steamy water and, once again, fell asleep together. That was becoming a habit. While the sexy times made my body sing, it was the intimacy that I felt curled up with him that made me worry about the state of my heart. I kept telling myself that was a problem for another day.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Haven
“And this is Chloe,” my mom said, gesturing toward the woman in her office.
“Hi, Chloe,” I greeted, lifting my hand in a wave.
Chloe smiled up at me. “Nice to meet you, Haven. Looks like I’ll be hitting the ground running,” she added.
My mom looked pleased as punch. “Elsa already got her all set up, and Chloe is super savvy with computer stuff.”
The chime from the front entrance reached us, and my mom glanced between us. “I’ll be right back. That’s the delivery I’m expecting.”
Chloe had a fresh-cheeked prettiness to her, and I took a moment to see if I felt anything. Not because I was even remotely interested, but almost a mental test for myself. Because I hadn’t felt anything when it came to women, except for Elsa, since the fire. I couldn’t even dredge up the slightest bit of anything other than objective appreciation for Chloe.
Elsa had ruined me.
Even though last night I could have taken the chance to agree with Elsa that maybe things were getting too complicated, I was in way too deep. The idea of trying to back out was worse than navigating the treacherous territory we were in.
