“I know you didn’t.”
“I just wanted to help.”
“You are,” I tell her as I hold her tighter. I breathe in the scent of her hair and let the heaviness go before I explain. “It’s hard for me to see these women like this and not think of you and Claire. If I’m unable to protect either of you—” I can’t get the rest of the words out.
“You will,” she says quickly. “I know you will.”
Her words are like a balm for my soul. And I can’t help but feel that if Emma believes in me, I might just be able to believe in myself. So much so that the next words that tumble out of my mouth fall free before I have a chance to sensor my emotions.
“Have dinner with me.” But I also won’t regret them, because even if it’s moving faster than she wants, I just want to be near her.
“Okay,” she says softly, her words muffled by my chest, but I still hear them all the same. And I feel on top of the world again, because Emma said yes.
ELEVEN
* * *
BE WITH ME
“Are you ready to go?” I ask Emma after I knock on the door to her basement lair. I have my jacket over my arm, and I jingle my change in my pants pocket to hide my nerves. I’ve known and worked with Emma for years, and we’ve been friends just as long, but now that I know how high the stakes are, I can’t help but be nervous. Like a teenage boy asking my crush to the prom.
“Yeah,” she says softly, and as she looks at me, her face gentles. Honestly, I could have just watched her close up shop for hours as she sorted paperwork and filed whatever was on her desk from the day. She’s that damn beautiful. But the way she looks at me now renders me speechless.
She neatly stacks the last of her papers in a pile before dropping them in her desk drawer and locking it with a key. There’s something about seeing this organized and orderly side of Emma, who is more than a little wild, that I can’t help but smile at.
She scoops up her purse and jacket and walks toward me. I take her jacket and hold it out for her to slide into, and she does so, tugging her long hair out as she goes.
“Thank you.”
“Of course,” I say with a smile. “What do you feel like?”
“Honestly?” she asks almost hesitantly.
“Yeah,” I reply. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
“Okay, but it’s silly,” Emma warns.
“There is nothing too silly. Seriously, whatever you want.”
“It’s weird,” she explains, “but lately I’ve had the worst heartburn, and the only things that put out the fire is the chili from Wendy’s and a double cheeseburger even though square patties are scary.”
“That stops your heartburn?” I can’t help the broad grin that spreads across my face.
“I told you it was weird.”
“It’s not weird. Okay, it is, but only that it cures your heartburn. So let’s go.”
“All right.”
I place the palm of my hand at the small of her back, and I feel her heat on my skin as I lead her out of the building and to my car. I beep the locks on the key fob and pull the passenger door open for her. Before she can get a foot on the running board, I place my hands on her waist and lift her up into the cab. She lets out an undignified squeak, and it’s singlehandedly the most adorable sound I’ve ever heard.
“All set?” I ask, and when she nods, I shut the door before rounding the hood and climbing in the driver seat.
“So….” she trails off.
“Yeah?” I prompt, turning to look at her. “How was your day?”
“Better. I feel like everything is just about to break through.”
“It will,” she assures quietly. I hate that she’s so quiet and not her usual loud, confident self. “I know you’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks.” I smile at her when we stop at a light. She doesn’t know it, but her words of encouragement go a long way to help me feel like I can do it. “So… dine-in or takeout?”
“Don’t laugh,” she hedges.
“I would never,” I swear to her with my hand over my heart.
“I would love to get takeout and watch TV,” she says sheepishly. “My feet are killing me.”
“I’m so sorry,” I tell her instantly. “I had no idea.”
“I know.” She smiles. “That’s why I’m telling you.”
I pull into the Wendy’s parking lot and around to the drive-thru. When I reach the speaker, Emma orders just about one of everything on the menu, making me smile. She laughs a happy sound when I tell the kid taking our order to double it, because for the most part it sounded good, and if I found her eating leftover tacos in the morning for breakfast, then that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“So… my place or yours?”
She looks at me with all of her trust laid bare for me to see before she answers me, and it isn’t until right now that I realize my heart’s beating in my throat. “Yours.”
“Roger that.”
I pay the kid at the window and collect an insane amount of paper sacks and our drinks, placing the bags on the floor in the back and the drinks in the cupholders. She unwraps the paper from her straw and sticks it through her lid before doing the same with mine.
“Thanks.”
“Of course,” she replies with my earlier response to her, and when I glance at her, her wide blue eyes are full of… hope.
I pull into my driveway a minute or two later and park. I jump down from the driver side and hurry around the hood. Emma is just reaching for the drinks in the center console when I pull open her door and pluck her from her seat.
“Lee!” she gasps as I set her on her feet.
“What?” I open the back door and grab the bags full of junk food.
“I’m not light, and now I’m even less so,” she explains. “You gotta stop doing that.”
“One,” I respond as I tap the tip of her nose with my index finger, “you are not heavy, and two, even if you were, I would not make you jump up or down from this high of a vehicle. It could be dangerous.”
I can’t decipher the meaning behind the look she gives me, but I do know it was a good one when she whispers, “Okay, Lee.”
I lead her up the walkway to the front door, even though she knows her way around from our time together before. This is a new beginning; we’re both trying to find the right footing this time, and I know I hope we can go all the way.
I unlock the front door and let us in, turning on the lights as I go. I move all the way into the house and set our dinner on the coffee table in the den. Emma places our drinks down and dances from foot to foot nervously.
“Come on,” I tell her as I grab her hand and drag her back through the living room and up the stairs to my bedroom at the back of the house.
“Lee….” she drawls, her voice filled with apprehension.
“This isn’t that, honey,” I tell her gently. “At least not yet. But I’m telling you now that when you open that door for us, I’m there, and I’m all in.”
I push open my door and immediately move to the wide dresser that sits low against the far wall of the room. I pull open the drawers and close them quickly, knowing exactly where each item I want is. I make two stacks of clothing before handing one to Emma.
“Here,” I tell her as I place a pair of soft plaid flannel pajama pants and one of my T-shirts in her hands. On top of the stack is a balled-up pair of socks.
“What’s all this?” she asks, her blue eyes wide.
“You’ve had a long day on your feet,” I answer. “Now it’s time to get comfy, so you can settle in and take over the remote to my television while we eat way too much junk food, and then I’m going to rub your feet. And then, when you’re ready, I’m going to take you home. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to change too, but I’ll do it in the bathroom down the hall,” I say, hitching my thumb over my shoulder in the general direction of the door to the room.
“Okay,” she s
ays again, and whatever passes behind those big blue eyes is so good and so beautiful it almost drops me to my knees.
“I’ll meet you downstairs,” I tell her as I grab my stack and make my way down the hall.
I change into my gray sweatpants and a plain white T-shirt before jogging down the stairs two at a time. Having Emma under my roof does something to me. There’s an extra pep in my step and a lightness in my soul, but overall, it just feels right.
I start sorting food from the bags into two equal piles on the table and for the first time realize just how much we ordered. These quantities rival any amount Claire could and would take down. While I try and maintain a fairly healthy diet, because forty is not the new twenty, my sister’s taste in food is atrocious.
But what my girl craves, my girl gets, so I’m putting my mostly good eating habits to the side for the night. I’ve just finished divvying up our dinner when she walks into the room, looking like every man’s wet dream. My pajama pants are too big, even with her belly, and too long, so she has them cinched at the waist and the cuffs rolled up to reveal my wool socks. My T-shirt, which was so long on her she didn’t need the pants, hangs off one shoulder. She has her messy curls twisted up on top of her head and dark-framed glasses on her face.
“I had to take my contacts out,” she explains with a wave of her hand in front of her face.
“No problem,” I tell her with a smile. “Have a seat.”
She curls up in the corner of the large sofa and grabs a chicken sandwich and some barbecue sauce from the table before she opens it up and starts changing it exactly how she wants it.
“It’s good, I swear,” she says when she catches me watching her.
“I don’t doubt it,” I agree as I lift my own sandwich to my mouth.
“Want to try it?” she asks as she holds hers up in front of mouth, and the move is so intimate and speaks of trust and a closeness between two people that I’ve only ever dreamed about with her that I couldn’t say no, even if I wanted to.
“Yes,” I whisper hoarsely before I wrap my hand around hers and slowly take a bite of her sandwich. The gasp that slips from her lips has my heart racing and the blood in my veins headed south.
“It’s good, right?” She smiles.
“Yeah.”
“Here,” she adds, handing me a packet of barbeque sauce for my own sandwich. “I’ll even share my magic sauce with you.”
I hold my breath, because I know for a fact that Emma did not mean that to come out as dirty as it did. And that is obvious when her eyes widen and she rushes to clear up the situation, making us both laugh.
“I did not mean it that way.”
“I know.” I grin, handing her the remote. “Do your worst.”
She takes it from my hand with a wicked gleam in her eyes that I want to fall into over and over again and starts flipping through the channels before she settles on The Real Housewives. I can’t help the chuckle that escapes my mouth.
“Don’t laugh!” she cries. “I love these bitches. They’re so crazy.”
“I’m not laughing,” I tell her, but I’m smiling. I’m sitting here in my living room, wearing sweats and eating fast food, but I’m doing all of that with her, and it’s the time of my life. It’s beautiful.
After a while, she wipes her hands on a napkin before she starts packing up the leftovers, which there are surprisingly few of, and carries them into the kitchen while I gather up the trash. I’m just standing up when she comes back in, and when my eyes meet hers, she looks surprised.
“Jesus,” she says before I can ask her what’s wrong or if it’s the baby. “Those should be illegal.”
“What?” I ask.
“Those sweatpants and that bulge,” she says, making me laugh. “It should be illegal to look like that. It’s like porn that slaps you in the face with a monster dick. Put it away.”
“I’d love to.” I laugh. “But your staring at it is not helping.”
“I know, you’re right,” she says, licking her lips. “But I can’t stop.”
“Emma, honey—” I start, because I don’t want to rush into things with her. I want this thing between us to go the distance and go strong, and even though I had her on my desk just days ago, I know that that won’t happen if I fuck her every chance I get. I need to show Emma that I want more from her than a quick fuck, I want everything.
“No,” she says as she places her slim fingers over my mouth, and my arms go around her. “I know what you’re going to say. We need to slow down; we shouldn’t rush things. But here’s the thing, Lee.”
“Yeah,” I mumble around her fingers.
“I want you,” she says, her eyes burning into mine. “I’m choosing you.”
“Emma…?” I ask, afraid to let the rest of my burning question be spoken into the air.
“The door is open, Lee, and it’s going to stay open.” And then she slides her hand from covering my mouth to the side of my neck, and she presses up on her toes, because she’s tall but I’m still taller, to touch her mouth to mine. And my whole world narrows down to just her and me.
I tighten my arms around her and deepen the kiss, licking into her mouth. She gasps against my lips when she rocks her hips against me and feels my hard length pressed up against her, ripping a low rumble of a groan from deep in my chest. Instead of stopping, she wraps her long legs around my waist so my cock presses exactly where she wants it. I pull back to catch my breath and watch her shiny blue eyes to see if she really wants this like I want her—like I want all of her.
“Take me to bed, Lee,” she says confidently, and I do just that.
I walk with her wrapped around my waist, her round belly keeping her from pressing against me fully, but she holds on tight to my shoulders as I take the stairs back up to my bedroom. I hold her hips tight to mine with a hand on her ass, and I use the other to pull back the covers. Laying her down in the middle of the pillows, I sit back on my knees between her legs.
I lean forward and place a kiss on the corner of her mouth before I sit back and gently take the glasses from her face. Folding them carefully, I place them on top of the nightstand. I gather the hem of her borrowed shirt in my hands and pull it up inch by inch until she leans forward and lets me slip it over her head. I pluck at the clasp of her bra that rests between her full breasts and watch them spill out when the cups part. I help her shrug out of the straps and push the delicate material aside, not bothering to watch as it falls to the floor, because I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s that fucking beautiful. She was gorgeous before, but now, as her body changes, she’s magnificent. I could say she would be even prettier if it was my child, but that’s a lie. If she’s serious, if Emma really gives us this shot, that child is mine no matter whose DNA runs in her veins.
I kiss my way down her neck and over the tip of one breast. The little gasp that slips from her lips when I flick the tip of my tongue over the stiff peak turns me on even more. And when I suck deep, rolling the tip under my tongue, she grips the short strands of my hair in her fingers and rocks her covered pussy against my hard cock.
“Lee,” she moans as she pulls my hair and rubs her hot center over my length again and again. Even with clothing between us, I can tell she’s wet underneath it all.
“So sensitive,” I mumble as I nip and lick my way over to her other breast. “Could you come like this?”
“Lee,” she pleads as she rocks against me, her movements faster and more frantic than before. “Please.”
“I want to give you that,” I tell her just before I lick her tip one more time. “I want to watch you come undone on my tongue and then my cock.”
“Yes,” she pants as she rocks against me, making me groan. If I’m not careful, this will end before it begins.
I lean forward again, this time bracing my weight on my forearms, one on either side of her shoulders. I suck her neglected tip into my mouth and roll it under my tongue, this time as I rock my hips against hers.
“Yes,” she whispers as her nails bite into my scalp. “Yes, yes, I—” And then she tips her head back, her back bowing off the bed as she lets go, and it’s glorious.
I keep my hips pressed hard to hers as she comes back down to earth, and I let her nipple go with a pop before sitting back on my heels and pulling my own T-shirt over my head. Her dazed baby-blues watch me with a hunger that has lust singing in my veins. I love that she wants me as much as I want her, that her hunger and passion rival my own. If ever there was a woman who was a perfect match for me, it’s Emma.
I don’t rush as I pull on the drawstring of the pajama pants she’s wearing, even though she clearly wants me to hurry. This is like unwrapping the best present under the tree on Christmas morning. I don’t want to rush; I want to savor.
I tuck my fingers into the waistband of the pajamas and her panties and lower them down her legs. She shimmies her hips to help get rid of them before parting her creamy thighs again, and I was right; she’s fucking drenched, and the lips of her pussy glisten with it.
“Lee,” she says. “Hurry.”
I push my sweats and my boxer briefs down my thighs. My cock springs free, and I grip it tight in my fist to keep from coming. I lean over and grab a condom from the nightstand drawer. We didn’t use one in my office, but we should have. I haven’t been with anyone else, but she obviously has, and there is nothing wrong with that, yet we should still be smart about it. So I grab one and rip it open without asking, rolling the latex down my hard length as quickly as possible.
I place my hands on her inner thighs that are spread open like a butterfly’s wings and lean in as I notch the tip of my cock against her opening. I press deeper against her and slowly slide all the way in. Emma sucks in a breath through her clenched teeth, and I’m not far off either.
I glide in and out of her at a slow pace, the angle deep enough that she rolls her bottom lip in her mouth and bites down. I enjoy the feel of her grip on my body, but it’s not enough. And while it feels good, we both know how great it can be when she comes on my cock.
Hush Little Baby Page 7
