Page 103 of Shortcake
“Oh, I don’t know. Because your kids are dating. Because you might have something in common. Because it might be good for you to have some guy friends to hang out with.”
He poured a full glass of wine, then slid it across the counter to me before pouring himself one.
“Oh my God,” he said, crossing the few steps until he was standing over me. “You think I’m some sad, lonely dad.” Then, he took a long, slow sip of his wine before setting the glass down on the counter beside us.
“I don’t think you're sad or lonely… I just thought you might enjoy some guy friends.”
He licked his lips, staring at me like I was a juicy, sizzling steak. Leaning down, he clamped his hands on either side of the counter, caging me in. “And you think Elijah’s the guy for that? I can’t even be in the same room with the man without wanting to tear his eyeballs out of their sockets and ram them down his throat for staring at your tits.”
Mid-sip, I nearly choked on my laughter. Finally swallowing, I poked Conrad in the chest. “That’sprecisely why you should be friends with him.”
“Why? So I can keep my enemies close?” He scooped my hair off my neck and pressed a kiss to the curve.
I rolled my eyes. “No. Because you have this weird animosity built up in your head. If Harper and Adam are going to be dating this year, you and Elijah probably need to learn how to coexist in a room without wanting to… how did you word it?”
“Tear his eyeballs out of their sockets and ram them down his throat,” he muttered again while dragging his nose up my throat. The scent of red wine drifted from his parted lips, engulfing me.
Humming, I arched into his touch. “Exactly. Make it a group thing. Invite him out to watch the game and have pizza at Nick’s Pizzeria one night.”
“Group thing?” His chuckle vibrated against me as he peppered kisses up my neck. “You just said I don’t have friends…”
“Invite Finn.”
The kisses paused. Dammit. “Your brother? Oh, hell no.”
“Why? He’s theleastscary of my scary brothers.”
“Trust me, I’m not afraid of Finn.”
“Mmmm. Then whatareyou afraid of?” I teased.
Gently, he caught my chin between the pinch of his fingers, dragging my eyes to meet his endless blue orbs. “I’m scared of losing this,” he whispered.
“What makes you think you’re going to lose this?”
With a little lift of his shoulders, he shrugged. But the intense gleam in his eyes betrayed the casualness of the movement. “You seem too good to be true. I think I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“I think I am, too,” I answered honestly. I brought my wine glass to my lips, taking another sip, buying me some time and using the sip to force myself to breath.
“What if there is no other shoe,” Conrad whispered, his hand landing on my hip and squeezing with just enough force to suck the wind from my trachea.
God, I loved when he took quiet control like that. He wasn’t a forceful man. But he had a quiet, diligent confidence that took my breath away.
And it always caught me off guard.
I love you.
Fuuuuuuuuck. Why couldn’t I control my brain around him? Why did those three stupid words keep popping into my thoughts?
His breath was still warm on my neck, hand firmly planted on my hip.
Pulling his lips off my neck, he tilted his head, examining me. My cheeks flushed under the attention and I knew that I was turning pink, heating with embarrassment. “You’re nervous.” It wasn’t a question.
Itchy and anxious, I hopped off the stool, reaching for some paper towels to mop up a little bit of wine that had dripped down the discarded bottle on the counter.
His unrelenting hand never left my hip, even as I tried to move past him.
But he wasn’t having it. Even as I clung to my wine glass in one hand and a piece of paper towel in the other, his hand stayed on my hip. Not caging me in… but also not relinquishing me yet.
