Page 23 of Texas-Sized Scandal

“So back to the child...” she continued.

“Please. Will you let it go?” he asked. “Just for tonight.”

There was something raw in the way he asked, and she found that she couldn’t force anything else. Her mind was already full of everything that had gone on today and maybe it was time to just let the day end.

“Okay, but I’m going to want some answers eventually,” she said.

“Fair enough,” he said, standing up. “I guess I should be going...”

Of course, she wanted him to stay. She was tired and if she were being completely honest, more than a little scared about being a mom at forty. But there were too many dangers if she let him stay.

Tonight had made it clear how complicated this entire situation was. If there was ever a time when she needed a clear head, it was now. She couldn’t afford to let herself get used to Slade. That meant sleeping with him wasn’t going to happen.

Again.

“Yes, I think you should be,” she said.

“Fair enough,” he said, standing up, and she did the same. He came over to her and pulled her into his arms and she noticed how easy it was to rest her head on his chest right over his heart.

She heard the sound of it beating under her ear as he held her close, rubbing his hands up and down her back.

“I’m sorry for all of this,” he said. “I think that just goes to show how stupid I can be at times.”

She smiled because he couldn’t see it. He always surprised her. He was so aware of his faults and never hesitated to try to make amends for them. It was why she didn’t understand his reluctance to be a father to their child. Surely whatever was in his past, he could overcome it.

She tipped her head back to look up at him. Their eyes met and she saw the hunger and need in his gaze. It mirrored the feelings churning inside of her. She knew it would be smarter to send him away. But she also knew by the end of the year, Slade would be out of her life. The man she’d waited forever for was only here for a few more months.

Could she take what she wanted and still be whole when it ended?

Leaving was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to hold her. Just hold her and for a moment forget that he’d been born a Bartelli.

Forget that his uncles and extended goombahs weren’t ever going to let a child of his walk away the way he had.

“Slade, I know what I said earlier but do you want to stay the night?” she asked. Her voice was soft and entreating, and she put her hand on his face like she did sometimes. It always made it impossible for him to say no to her.

“I’d like nothing more,” he admitted. “But you have to know—”

She put her fingers over his lips to stop the words that would have warned her about him and his family, and he let her because the last thing he wanted to do was tell her what a mess his family was.

“No more talking,” she said. “We both know the facts but tonight is for us. Just you and me...and our new child.”

He had to smile at the way she said it. He wasn’t a man given to wishing, but at this moment, he longed to be anyone but Slade Bartelli. It didn’t matter that he knew in his gut he never would have met her if he weren’t himself.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, lifting her off her feet, and carried her toward the stairs that led to her bedroom. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and put one hand on his chest as she loosened his tie. After this day, which had felt like a lifetime, he needed this. Needed her in a way that he never would want to admit to another soul, but she did something to him that went beyond sex.

Maybe that explained that feeling he’d had when Nonna had said what she had about pushing him to meet her. As if he needed an incentive other than Melinda to ask her out.

He kissed her then. He couldn’t wait another moment because he felt like she was slipping away from him. That he’d lost his chance to keep her... Wait, he wasn’t keeping her. This was just for tonight.

Her tongue rubbed over his and everything masculine inside of him went on red alert. He wanted to take her in the hallway up against the wall. Just take her hard and deep until there was no doubt that she was his. That she belonged to him...with him. No matter what logic said, his instincts demanded he make Melinda his.

Pixie danced around his feet as he entered Melinda’s bedroom. The little dog stood on her back legs and he realized she might need to go out. Maybe they were never going to have sex again, he thought. Between the paparazzi, his family, her family and now her dog, it seemed as if the cards were stacked against them.

He set Melinda on her feet. A tendril of hair had escaped her updo and fell against the side of her face. He touched her check, brushing it back behind her ear. She was so beautiful that she took his breath away.

Pixie let out a small bark.

“Does she need to go out?” he asked.

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