Page 12 of Perfect for Her

“Just wait.” She smirks, taking the oven mitts from my hands and placing them on the counter before picking up the flipper and lifting the cookies onto a plate. “You’re about to know everything there is to know about every dinosaur that ever lived. I’m sorry in advance.” She smiles, placing glasses of milk down on the kitchen table just as Ethan runs into the room with a book as big as his small body.

“Mommy gots me dis book for Cwristmas last year and it’s so cool! Wanna see?”

I peer over at Harlow who has a sad look in her eyes, one I can’t decipher but she smiles and nods her head to the table.

“You boys sit, I’ll get you some cookies.”

And that’s how I spent the rest of my night. Sitting at a round table in the middle of Harlow’s kitchen listening to my son talk about every dinosaur he could name, and even some he couldn’t. It was the best two hours of my life.

* * *

“He’s finally asleep,” Harlow sighs, collapsing down onto the couch beside me. Her head falls back against the cushion as she tilts her head to meet mine. Her eyes are exhausted, and from what I watched tonight, I honestly don’t know how she’s done it all these years. “I love that little boy with every fiber of my being, but sometimes I just want a night where I can go to sleep when I want and not have to worry about him, you know?”

I say nothing because I don’t know.

“Does that make me a bad mom?” she asks quietly and for a second, I wonder if she’s even asking me or just the empty room. But when her eyes connect with mine, pleading for me to answer her question, I shift closer, taking her face in my hands and caressing her cheek softly.

“You are an amazing mother. That little boy adores you. He thinks you walk on water and I can see why. You’re incredible.”

She shakes her head, tears filling her eyes as my thumb wipes them away. “I kept him from you… I kept you from him… he deserved to know how amazing you are and I robbed him of that.”

My head shakes as I lean forward, my forehead touching hers as her eyes close on contact.

“I’m so sorry.”

Fucking hell. This woman will kill me with her words one day.

“Harlow, look at me.”

She shakes her head, eyes still slammed shut, so I take both my hands and grasp her neck, my thumbs lifting her chin so we’re at eye level.

The second those eyes meet mine I smile. “You are incredible.”

She opens her mouth to refute what I’m about to say but I shake my head, halting her before she can say a word.

“No, I need you to hear this. Was I mad yesterday? Absolutely.”

Her gaze falters, flicking down before I tilt her chin back up.

“But I get it. It took me a few hours but I understand why you did what you did. You were protecting yourself and our son.”

She nods, tears falling silently as she takes a heaving breath.

“He’s an amazing kid, Harlow, you did good.”

“Thanks,” she whispers, her fingers grasping my wrists as my hands still grip her neck.

I know I need to let go, I know I need to give her some space but the warmth of her skin against mine is enough to send my body into overdrive and sitting next to her, seeing the way her shorts ride up ever so slightly when she shifts beneath my touch or the fact that I can see her nipples against the thin fabric of her shirt is causing all rational thought to leave my brain.

“Tell me to leave,” I mutter, my fingers lightening just enough to cause a gasp of recognition to leave her chest. “Tell me to leave and I will get up and walk out that door, but baby, if you don’t, I will finish what we started last night.” The promise sits between us, heavy and tempting as her eyes flick between my mouth and my eyes and back again. “Harlow,” I growl, waiting for a sign, something to tell me what she wants.

Harlow’s eyes darken just as she shifts onto her knees, her hands planting themselves on my shoulders and her legs straddling my hips. “Finish it,” she demands and it’s like all the air leaves the room and we both fight for control. Her fingers grasp the edge of my shirt, pulling it up until it’s thrown across the room, leaving my tattooed chest bare to her touch. The second her fingers trace the faded ink my hips lift, my hands grasping hers and pushing her down on my growing cock.

“I need them off,” I mutter, peering down at her shorts and I watch with rapt fascination as she rises, pulls her shorts down past her hips, and shows me just how little she’s wearing underneath. As I stare at her, wondering how the fuck I got this lucky, she straddles me once more, leaning down until her lips rest against mine.

“I missed you,” she whispers before kissing me with everything she has, and I give it just as hard because the feel of her against me is something I’ve been craving since the other night. I need this, I want this more than anything, but right now I need to make her come. I need it more than my next breath.

“Damn, how I missed the way you move against me,” I mutter against her throat, my lips sucking, kissing, and licking my way past her ear until shivers run down her spine. “You need me to make you come?”

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