Page 54 of The Troublemaker

“Funny, Neaner-Nearner.” He casts me a quick glance. “The flies are starting to get bad and we’re low on bug spray. I volunteered to come back and get it. Cole said you guys have some,” he says and looks at Nina.

“Then what are you doing over here?” she asks with a smug grin. “Why aren’t you at my house getting it?” She winks at him. “Oh, wait, I know why. You came back here for a quickie.”

He rolls his eyes at his sister, but it lightens the tension inside me. “First, you’re here, aren’t you? Maybe I checked your place and couldn’t find you. Second, I am not talking about my sex life with my little sister, or anyone else.”

“Come on Katee, I think that’s our cue to exit.” They both stand up, and Cason gives little Khloe’s fingers a kiss as she reaches for him. It’s so goddamn adorable, air seizes in my lungs, and love fills my heart. “Come and get it when you’re done doing whatever it is you’re over here for.”

“Go,” Cason says, his gaze trained on me.

She blinks, and teasing like the younger sister she is, she says, “So I’ll see you in about five minutes then?”

He shakes his head and Nina and Katee’s laughter follow them out the door. Once we’re alone, I say, “Did you check her place?”

“No.”

“So, the quickie—” I say, reminding myself that maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up, that maybe this is all about tacos and sex. God, what am I saying? It has to be. If it meant more, he’d want to introduce me to his parents, right?

“I wasn’t coming here for a quickie. I mean it’s not that I don’t want one, or want to be inside you every chance I get, but I just wanted to see you, make sure you got enough sleep after me keeping you up all night, and to make sure your morning was going well.”

My heart leaps in my chest. My God, he really is the sweetest man on the planet.

“Marriage is never wrong when two people care for each other, Kinsley.”

Nina’s words bounce around inside my head as Cason brushes his knuckles over my cheeks. Could she be right? Could Cason really care about me? Yes, I know he cares about me. He wouldn’t be doing all this if he didn’t. The man cares about everyone. He’d walk on fire for his family and friends, but that does not mean what’s between us is…love. Right?

Right.

“I’m good,” I say around the lump in my throat. “I fell back to sleep no problem, and it was nice to wake up to company.”

He angles his head like he’s not sure he believes me. “Those two weren’t giving you a hard time, were they?”

I laugh. “No, I love them. They are awesome.” I go up on my toes and brush my lips over his. “You’re the only one who gives me a hard time,” I say and rub my pelvis against his thickening cock.

He groans and it vibrates through me. “Keep that up and this really will turn into a quickie.”

“I don’t mind,” I say. “But what about the spray for the guys? Aren’t they waiting on it?”

“Yeah, but they have enough for the kids,” he says and follows it up with a devious snort. “As far as the guys, screw them. Let them get eaten alive.”

“Oh?”

His hands span my ribcage, his thumbs lightly brushing my nipples through my cover-up and bikini top. My lids turn heavy as desire pulls at me. As they fall shut, a little moan catches in my throat and I arc into his touch, let him know how much I welcome it, how much I don’t want him to stop.

“They?

?ve been giving me a hard time,” he says. My lids open, surprised, and I take in the darkening of his blue eyes as anger and desire mingle.

“Why?” I ask, in a breathless whisper.

“Insinuating that I won’t make it past two weeks.” He pushes his cock against me, and I grow wet between my legs. It’s crazy how much I want him again. “They’re getting on my fucking nerves about it, too.”

“It kind of is your record, Cason,” I say and put my hands under his T-shirt. His muscles quiver beneath my touch, and I love the way he reacts. I scrape my nails over him gently and lean in to take in his scent. It trickles through my blood, and arouses me even more.

“Yeah, but this time I have a very good reason for lasting longer,” he murmurs, as he dips his head, his lips so close to mine, I can almost taste him.

“Sex and tacos,” I say, hoping, praying he tells me it’s more than that.

“Something like that,” is all he says and my heart tightens in my chest. God, I am so confused about us. I give myself a fast, hard lecture and remind myself that while I’m here, I’m not going to worry about the future; I’m simply going to bask in the now, and the way this man touches me. If he walks away with my heart in his palm after two weeks, or a month, I’ll deal with it then.

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