Page 25 of Sin With Me

I lean back in my chair and grip the arms so hard my fingernails dig into the wood. I count backward from ten, breathing deeply through my nose.

Ten seconds isn’t long enough, and I start over.

Thank God the Lord only gave me one child. I don’t know what I’d do if I’d been subjected to more.

Thoughts of Roman flit through my mind, taking me to a different place and time altogether. A simpler time. A time when I’d be able to handle a situation like this easily. A time when he would’ve obeyed without question or complaint. Before it all got so messed up.

A soft knock on my door snaps me from my thoughts, and everything comes back into focus.

Charlene shushes a whimpering Harvey and blows her nose. She drops the wadded up tissue onto my desk and swaps it for a new one. Swallowing roughly, I roll my neck on my shoulders and lean forward, steepling my hands beneath my chin.

“Come in,” I call out, my voice raw.

Seconds before I lose my ever-loving mind, Eve glides into my office with a bright white smile gracing her stunning face. Golden light shines in behind her from the open door at the end of the hall, creating a downright biblical image, and my world stops.

Her eyes meet mine and her smile widens. My Adam's apple bobs with the force of my breathing. My heart rate picks up for an entirely new reason and everything inside me relaxes. My muscles uncoil, my palms cool, my throbbing headache ceases.

Her presence is a balm to my nerves. Always has been.

Charlene sniffles loudly and Harvey whines. Eve blinks rapidly and shakes her head. Her gaze flies around my office, taking in the destruction. Her eyes widen in shock, but beyond that, she keeps her reaction tempered.

Pasting on a wide, fake smile, she claps her hands loudly and gathers everyone’s attention.

“Have I got a treat for y’all or what?” she beams excitedly.

The kids jump up as one, eager for whatever she’s got planned. “What is it, Miss Evie?” Jasper shouts.

Eve plants her delicate hands on her lush hips and cocks her head to the side. Her small foot taps and she gives him a stern look.

“Well, I don’t think I can tell you quite yet.” She glances around the room and presses a hand to her chest in mock horror. “Seems Preacher Isaac’s office might need some tidying up first, don’t y’all think?”

Charlene’s lip twitches and she buries her face in her son's hair to hide her smile. The children rush to straighten their messes and Eve turns her attention toward their mother. She closes the distance between them and bends at the waist to meet her eyes.

My gaze immediately snaps to her perfect legs as the dress rides up along the back of her thighs. My cock twitches. The creamy expanse of skin on display does nothing to soothe my reaction to her and thoughts of this morning fill my mind.

The way she sucked on her straw. The sight of licking watermelon juice from the pad of her finger. Her thick ass in those goddamned pants—

“Now, Mrs. Johnson,” Eve coos, interrupting my downward spiral. “Why don’t you let me take him so you can speak to Preacher Isaac openly about everything troubling you, hmm?”

She’s so soft-spoken. So calming. So fucking genuine.

She’s pure.

And here I am thinking about tainting her. Dirtying her. She’s perfection personified and all I want to do is ruin her.

I force myself to look away, turning to my Bible and rereading the passages I’d highlighted for today. A fitting sermon, given my current state.

“When tempted, no one should say, ‘“God is tempting me.”’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

Death.

That’s exactly what lies ahead if I fall down this path.

Death of everything I’ve worked so hard to create. Death of the life I love and the world I deserve. Death to honor and pride.

It’s not worth it.

An hour later, I’m shaking Charlene’s hand and herding her from my office with a genuine smile and a solid plan to help her family.

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