Page 106 of Tempt Me Forever

I shuddered, swallowing hard. "How could you tell?"

"Because you're mine. Because I can read you, and I don't want you to hold anything back. We're strong together, Kimberly, and that strength won't melt away because of something you say."

"Drake," I whispered. A fuzzy feeling filled me up.

A vibrating sound interrupted us. I felt it somewhere on the couch. I straightened, moving my ass to the edge of the couch.

"Here it is," I said, taking his phone from the wedge between the backrest and the cushions. "Suze" was displayed on the screen. He put it to his ear right away.

"Suze, something wrong?”

I couldn’t understand what she said, but she was talking fast. Dread instantly replaced the fuzzy feeling.

Drake nodded. "Okay, yeah. Sure. Michael's sleeping. Yeah, we'll be here." His tone was flat.

I moved so he could get up. He had a frown on his face as he paced the room. He tapped the screen before throwing his phone on the couch where he was just sitting.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Guess who wants to come see the baby?"

"Oh, okay. I mean, I guess that's good, right?” In my book, it was always a good thing when a parent wanted to see a kid, but who knew what his intentions were?

"I don't know. I guess so." By the tone of his voice, Drakedidn’tthink this was a good thing.

"Did they even talk? It feels like she barely left."

"No. Apparently he wants to see the baby first, to make sure he’s fine."

"What exactly does he think? That your sister is hurting Michael?"

He threw his hands up in exasperation. "I don't know what the hell he wants. But I don't like this."

I went behind him and pressed my palms to the base of his neck. But he was much taller than me, so I couldn't properly massage his neck the way he'd done for me. I kneeled on one of the bar stools where he was standing. Now I was a bit too high, but it was better than before. I tried to mimic his earlier moves, pressing my thumbs along his neck.

"Come on, breathe in and out. We've got this." I totally didn't feel like we had it at all. I was on pins and needles, unsure how to act around Michael's dad once he was here. "Should I go?"

"No." He took one of my hands, kissing the back of it. "Stay here. You give me strength, Kimberly."

I sucked in a breath. He turned around.

"That's the most romantic thing I've heard you say." The connection we had was unbreakable.

"It's true."

"But wait, don’t distract me. Is there anything I should know? Like how to act or something?"

He wrapped an arm around my waist, lifting me off the bar stool and putting me down before kissing my forehead. I instinctively knew that he needed a hug, so I leaned closer. He wrapped an arm around my waist.

"No. Just be yourself. You're amazing." Then he slid his palm farther down over my ass. I laughed against his chest.

"What?" he asked.

"I thought you needed a hug. Instead, you actually needed to fondle my ass."

"I appreciate both things equally."

"Oh yeah, I bet," I said, laughing when he squeezed one buttock and then the other one.

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