Page 64 of The Grump I Loathe
Last we talked, he wasn’t interested in fighting Valentina to share custody of Alannah.
Ouch. WOW!
The courts are going to default to Valentina for custody because she’s the mom.That’s typically how things went in these custody situations.
Cassie’s emoji had a single tear running down its face.Poor kid.
Dad just says it’s best for Lana not to have to bounce back and forth. And yeah, part of me gets his position,I wrote.I hated moving between my parents’ places every week, and they lived in the same town, so it wasn’t like I had to get on a plane or deal with different schools or anything like that. So in some ways, Alannah might be better off living full-time with Valentina.Maybe that stability would be better for her in the end. But I don’t think that’s what Alannah wants.
I do feel like she’s old enough to have a say in all of this—especially when it means leaving behind everyone she knows.
Exactly. If I let Dad give up on her, it’s like I’m giving up on her.
Aww, E. No. You’ve been there for Alannah more than anyone.
I sighed, a ball of discomfort swelling in my chest. The last thing I wanted was to be in the middle of Dad and Valentina’s divorce drama. But I didn’t want to lose my sister, either. I didn’t want to be a twice-a-year-visit kind of sibling. I didn’t want to watch her grow up via social media posts.Everything just sucks.
Cassie sent a hug emoji. There was nothing she could say. There was nothinganyonecould say that would fix things. I flipped my phone over, feeling a little melancholy about it all and desperately in need of a distraction.
I popped my head over the top of my cubicle to confirm we were alone, then I locked my computer, adjusted my blouse, and pulled the clip out of my hair, strutting over to Connor’s office. What I really needed was a pair of sexy glasses to pull off my look, but sometimes a girl had to make do.
“Come in,” Connor called when I knocked.
“Hello, Mr. Lockhart,” I said in my sultriest voice. He glanced up from his computer as I closed the door behind me. He blinked, then blinked again. Maybe it was the pouty way I pursed my lips or the insane amount of cleavage I currently had on display, but he swallowed hard, unable to take his eyes off me, and I shivered with the thrill of it. “I’ve come to make sure you don’t need anything before I leave for the day.”
Connor pushed back from his desk as I strutted over, sitting myself down on the edge of his desk, my chest practically in his face.
He licked his lips like he might devour me. God, I wanted that. “Is this a thing we’re doing?” he asked, finally tearing his eyes away from my chest to look me in the eye.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said innocently, pressing the toe of my shiny black shoe to the edge of the chair between his legs.
He caught me by the calf, kneading the muscle gently. “The sexy secretary roleplay?” he said. “You’re missing the glasses.”
Dammit. “Knew that was going to be my undoing. Well, good talk. Seduction over.” I jumped to my feet, but Connor’s hands shot out, catching me around the waist, pulling me closer.
“I never said it wasn’t working,” he husked, running his hands over my hips. The amount of attention he gave me in these quiet moments, when it was just the two of us, was always a little intoxicating.
Every time he touched me, I thought about how different it was compared to the guys I’d dated before. Experiencemattered.Connor was confident and commanding and attentive in all the right ways. Not to mention, all it took was one intense look from him to turn my insides molten. “I can wrap up here if you want to?—”
I sank down in his lap, wrapped my arms around his neck, and nipped at his bottom lip.
“Eddie!” Connor said, voice laced with warning as he jerked back from my mouth.
“No one’s here,” I whispered, grinding against him for emphasis. “The floor is empty. It’s just us.”
“We shouldn’t?—”
“Tell me you haven’t had a fantasy about taking me on this desk,” I said, rolling my hips, feeling the bulge pressing back against me. “Or that you haven’t thought about me moaning your name while these papers fall to the floor.”
I reached back and swept a file off his desk, giving him a devilish look. Connor surged forward then, and suddenly his lips were everywhere—my mouth, my jaw, my neck—drawing a desperate gasp from me. He sank lower, tugging at my blouse, getting his mouth on the swell of my breasts, and I rushed to undo the rest of the buttons, shrugging out of the top.
Connor reached around for the clasp of my bra andthunk!
He stilled.
“Don’t stop,” I groaned.
He grabbed me by the arms, fingers tightening. “What was that?”
