Page 37 of Hers to Hold
“Well, I’m pretty sure something’s wrong with the billable time.”
“You mean a company is getting more money or less than what they should?”
“More.” He stabbed his rib with his fork and sliced through the meat with his knife.
As Wes chewed, Kady considered his confession. More money could mean a number of things.It could also mean funneling. But if it’s a discrepancy, then that means Wes isn’t involved in the scheme.
“You’re smiling. You like the mashed potatoes, huh?”
Kady laughed. “Everything is wonderful.” And everything was.I just have to prove the funneling…or whatever else it is.
His phone buzzed beside his glass. “Sorry.” He eyed the screen. “I’m expecting to hear from my lawyer about the custody hearing.”
“Oh! To legally keep Chastity?”
“Yes. Can’t take a chance with Caroline. If she came back, she might go and join a pirate ship next, or something.”
“I’ve never met her, but somehow I could picture a crew of pirates wanting her. She sounds like an adventurous sort.”
“Again, a nice way of putting it. I’m just glad Chas didn’t inherit her propensity to take off.”
“She’s young. She could blossom into a wild child in a few years.”
She smiled cheekily and he groaned. “I don’t even want to think about her as a teenager. That would mean short skirts and…boys.” His shoulders shook violently.
Kady thought it was the cutest thing.
“Look, Chas is smart. Like you. There may be a few bumps, but I’m sure she’ll turn out fine.”
“With me as a father?” He stopped eating, not looking up from his plate.
She touched his hand and he instantly raised his gaze. “I never knew mine. I…” She swallowed the thickness in her throat. “Not to take anything away from my mother, but the absence of my father is something that I still wrestle with. It’s why I work so much. Takes my mind off of not knowing…”
“Not knowing what?”
“Why he was never there. Why he never wanted to know me.” She laughed nervously and removed her hand. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”
“It’s been easy between us.”
She nodded. “Since the beginning. I’ve felt it too…”
The intensity of Wes’s stare shot need up her spine, the aftershock reverberating out to the furthest tips of her fingers and toes. Wes pulled her from her chair, his arms slowly encircling her. “Doc says you’re a crutch to me,” he breathed. He angled his head, hovering his mouth over hers. Warm breath fanned her cheeks. “That I need you to be well.”
Her heart rammed in her chest and she closed her eyes. “Maybe I’m the one who needs you.”
Kady’s fingers entrenched in the soft fabric of his button-down shirt, traveling up the sinews of his back. She’d been lulled into a hypnotic state by the thrumming of her heart and the gentle sway of his hips against hers. They were dancing without music, the instinctive rhythm playing to their souls. “Do you?” she whispered. She titled her head back, searching for his mouth in the darkness. “Need me?”
“Need…want,” his voice gruff. “The end is the same. It’s you and me.”
Pillowed lips took hers not in the desperate need she heard in his voice. He savored her lips in a long, slow massage, teasing her tongue, nipping her bottom lip never in the same place twice. Kady moaned and tightened her grip on his shoulders as her knees began to give way. Feeling her lack of balance, one hand slid to her lower back, pulling her taut against him.
She was in too deep.
A bottomless abyss with no way of climbing out. She couldn’t possibly tell him who she was now, not with his mouth expertly kissing hers into complete and utter mush.
His doctor was wrong. Wes didn’t need her to cure anything. She was the one addicted to him. Needing him for the story.
And wanting him for everything else.
