Most men would go and stake their claim. I don’t have to, though. Knowing she’s coming home with me, living with me, is enough to leave her alone. Let them look, let them be jealous of what is mine.
She does another shimmy shake, positioning herself toward me. Her face lights up, and she bites into her bottom lip when she sees me staring, roaming my eyes over her body.
If I was over there, I imagine her breathing picking up and her voice tremoring with anticipation, heavy with lust.
I take a breath through my nose, and I adjust myself.
Nora’s eyes follow my movement, and I can see from here that she bites harder into my lips. Turned on as much as I am.
Her dance moves are more calculated now. She’s not twisting and turning.She’s sexily moving her body to seduce me.
Running her fingers through her hair as her head is lulled back, then slowly dragging her hands down the curve of her body, taunting and teasing me.
It’s still a shock to me that this minx of mine was a virgin for all these years, that she waited for me. You would have no idea because Nora was made to explore her sexuality.
We’re a match made in kinkery heaven.
“So this is the girl from your granny’s house?” I snap my head toward Wills, not realizing he’s moved next to me.
“Aye.” I tip my glass into Wills’s still full drink, “Not drinking?”
“Taking it easy, just in case. She could go into labor at any second.”
I nod. Surprised, he even agreed to her being here tonight, to begin with. Although watching her before, her movements are slower and more deliberate, knowing she’s limited in her movements. “Nervous?”
“For the baby or the birth?”
“Both? I guess.”
“For the birth, one hundred fucking perfect. I’m terrified for Sadie. I hate feeling helpless and that it will all be on her. I especially hate that I wasn’t there the first time. It eats me alive whenever I think about how she was there alone.” He takes a sip of his scotch.
“She wasn’t alone, mate. Belle was in the room with her, and Jackson waited outside the whole time. I know that doesn’t make you feel better, but it must put you at ease knowing she had a support system back then.”
“It still should have been me,” he bites back.
Wills didn’t find out he was Charlotte’s dad until last year, and I know he still has difficulty coming to terms with their past. If things had been different between Sadie and Wills, he would have known his daughter from day one.
I gesture toward our table and sit on one of the lounge chairs, so we aren’t discussing this on the edge of the dance floor.
“I can’t wait to be a dad again.” He hesitates.
“What is it?”
He gulps down another small sip. Wills isn’t big on expressing his feelings, though, he opens up to me easier than anyone else, even if that’s not happening often.
“I feel guilty that I’ll have all these memories with the new baby, not Charlotte. When she’s older, she’s going to ask why there are no pictures of us when she was a baby, but there are with her sister.” His voice cracks. I look over at my best mate, and he has tears welling up.
How long has he been feeling like this?
And for once, I’m not sure what to say.
It’s true, Charlotte is an inquisitive little girl, and I hate to break it to Wills… she won’t notice when she grows up. I bet after the first picture is taken of the new baby, she’ll ask to see hers.
“Has my mate forgotten his words? I was waiting for an infamous Declan speech.”
I smile sadly over at Wills. “Unfortunately, this is going to be a shite situation. I think you need to be honest with the lass. She will resent you later in life if you lie or make up a story. The truth can and will earn you respect. You’ve loved that little girl from before you knew she was even yours, and no one on this planet doubts that. Including Charlie. If you lie, she may not be so forgiving when she’s older.”
He shakes his head. “She’s four. She doesn’t need to know about our ugly past.”