Page 97 of Body Language
My head snapped toward him. “The fuck you just say?”
“I already talked to Rita.”
My eyes widened. “Damn… you met Rita too? I thought somebody in this damn house had some sense.”
He smirked, slow and unbothered. “I told her to get some rest while I was here, and I stayed up with the kids. I already told her you were coming back to my place with me.”
I blinked at him. “I don’t know why the fuck you did that, because I’m not going anywhere.”
That’s when his whole vibe shifted. “You can go willingly, or forcibly. Your choice.”
That should’ve made me take a step back. Instead, every nerve in my body lit up like he’d flipped a damn switch. My thighs pressed together without permission, because if there’s one thing I hate and love all at once, it’s a man telling me what he’s about to do with the kind of certainty that doesn’t leave room for a no.
He must’ve seen the heat in my face because his tone softened as he took a step closer. “You wanna know why I came over here?”
“Please enlighten me.”
“I just wanted to take a minute to step inside your world without you being around. Get to know the kids a little. See them for myself, not just through you.”
That hit somewhere I wasn’t ready to acknowledge. So I threw up a wall. “You mean lie to Heidi about playing dolls?”
He shook his head, no smile this time. “Not a lie. I used to play dolls with my niece all the time. Ain’t no shame in it. She loved that shit and so did I.”
That… did something to me.
He ran a hand over his jaw. “I never had sisters, but I always wanted one. Being around them tonight—it’s right up my alley. And it’s easy to see why you go so hard for them.”
My chest tightened. Damn him. He was supposed to be the one chasing, but here I was trying not to melt.
Before I could think of another smartass remark, he stepped into my space and wrapped his arms around me. The heat from his body, the weight of his hands at my back. It was ridiculous how fast my shoulders relaxed, like my body decided on its own that it trusted him.
“You can relax, Niv,” he murmured.
And I did. Then he kissed me.
It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t tentative, either. It was slow enough for me to taste him, deep enough to make my knees weaken. My hands slid up his chest before I even realized they were moving.
“Come home with me,” he whispered against my lips.
That time, I kissed him back. Harder. His hands went to my hips, and in one smooth move he picked me up and set me on the counter, his mouth claiming mine again. The heat between us got hot, fast.
“Kendrix—” I broke the kiss, breathless. “The kids.”
“I told you to come to my place,” he said, brushing his mouth against my ear. “Either that, or the kids are gonna hear you screaming my name.”
My pulse slammed against my throat. His grip on my thighs tightened, his eyes holding mine like he already knew what my answer would be.
25
Kendrix
Pulling into my driveway felt different. She’d been there before, but only for me to grab something real quick before we dipped out again.
The headlights swept over the front of the house, all that glass and stone staring back at me like it was trying to prove something. Big. Empty. Expensive. The kind of place people brag about but don’t actually live in.
She’d once joked,“Damn, this big ol’ house for just you?”and I’d laughed it off. But sitting in her living room earlier, listening to her kids laugh, smelling food in the kitchen, hearing the little everyday noises? That shit hit different. Her place wasn’t big, but it felt full. Alive. Peaceful.
My house was quiet enough to hear your own thoughts, and sometimes that’s the last thing you wanna do. It could swallow a man whole if he wasn’t careful.
