The Guy Next Door

by Toni Blake

  Look at him. Just look at him and Emmy. And even Claws, too. Derek might not think he was daddy material, but she’d never seen anyone who looked cuter or more content in the role.

  After they’d settled on the couch, Holly finally came inside. “Hi,” she said, toting a large shopping bag at her side.

  “Hey, you’re home.” Derek looked up with a smile. “I didn’t expect you for a while.”

  “False alarm,” she explained. “Mom’s back on track again, so she insisted that Michelle and I both leave. In fact, she even forbid us to come back tomorrow.”

  He nodded. “That’s good news. I’m glad she’s doing okay.”

  “And how are you doing?” she asked, casting a soft grin his way.

  “Oh, me and Emmy and Claws, we’re doing great. Aren’t we, guys?” Neither cat nor baby responded in any way. “Well, we are,” he told her.

  She held up the shopping bag to ask, “Hungry?”

  “Do I smell Italian?” he inquired hopefully.

  “Antonio’s has takeout,” she informed him. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I took a guess and got a double-order of lasagna.”

  “Perfect,” he answered, his mouth curving into a warm smile.

  Holly walked to the dining room table and began unloading her wares. “I also got…bread,” she said, pulling out a long, narrow loaf, “wine—” she extracted a bottle, “—and candles.” She drew those out last.

  “Good timing,” he said, “because I’m starving.”

  “It’s the least I can do for you, considering all you’ve done for me,” she told him.

  “Although,” he added with a glance down at the baby, “Emmy’s looking kind of dressed-down for dinner now. I didn’t want to ruin her dress, so I changed her.”

  “I’m glad you did,” Holly replied. “And besides, Emmy won’t be joining us for dinner tonight.”

  He lowered his chin. “She won’t?”

  “When Emily’s Aunt Michelle found out that you and I had been cheated out of yet another date,” she explained, “she offered to babysit for a few hours so that you and I can have some private time.”

  “Private time,” Derek echoed. “That sounds…nice.” His dark, sexy eyes pinned her in place and she was glad she could offer him this little interval without Emily. As much as she loved her daughter, there were times when it was good to be alone and she’d been looking forward to it for the entire drive home.

  Holly walked to the living room and lifted the baby from Derek’s arms. “Michelle’s waiting outside in the car,” she told him. “She’d keep Emily for the night, but she’s got an early appointment in the morning. I’m going to swing by and pick her up in a few hours.”

  “’Night, Emmy,” he said as Holly wrapped her in a light blanket and strapped her into her carrier. She’d already fallen asleep.

  Just the thought of being alone with Holly had Derek’s temperature rising—he couldn’t wait. And while Holly took Emily outside, he set the table, grabbing plates from the kitchen and pulling two candleholders off a shelf in the dining room. Next, he rooted through a kitchen drawer until he found matches, then lit the candles. After dimming the lights, he pulled two stemmed glasses from the small china cabinet next to the dining room table, uncorked the wine, and poured.

  When he was done, he cast a quick glance at Claws, who’d meandered into the room behind him. “Looks like maybe there’s a party after all. Just a different kind now. And sorry, but you’re probably not invited to this one.” He dropped a quick wink to the cat—just as Holly came back in the front door.

  “Oh my.” She lifted a hand to her chest with a light gasp. “This looks lovely.”

  “All I did was set it out,” he told her. “You were the one who brought it all home.”

  “Well,” she said, as they both sat down, “I really wanted us to have a nice evening.”

  “I have a feeling we will,” he said, suddenly more hopeful than he’d thought possible considering the way the night had begun. He lifted his wineglass in a toast. “To you,” he said. “The most exciting woman I’ve ever met.”

  He liked the way she blushed. “Me? I’m the most exciting woman you’ve ever known?”

  He gave his head a sly tilt. “Have you forgotten the other night? Or, I mean,” he joked, “was that just kind of run-of-the-mill for you?”

  This time the color that rose to her cheeks was accompanied by pretty laughter. “You know it wasn’t,” she said, looking bashful. “You know it was unusually…”

  “Mind-shattering?” he asked with a devilish smile.

  She nodded as she sipped her wine. “Um, yeah,” she said, “mind-shattering about sums it up.”

  Derek couldn’t keep his eyes off her as they ate and chatted—about Holly’s mother, about Emily, about Claws. He liked watching her lips move when she talked, drank, ate. He liked watching her every move—the tilt of her head, how her tapered fingers lifted a glass or a fork, the dainty way she blotted her mouth with a napkin. His heart had been doing that bending thing since she’d walked in the door, and the sensation grew stronger throughout the meal.

  God, she was beautiful. And God, he loved her.

  Damn, that was still a shock. But he was getting a little more used to the idea now, beginning to accept it. He was beginning to get past the stark fear part to the this-feels-so-damn-amazing part. He was in love with Holly Blake.

  When they’d finished eating, she rose and cleared the table while he poured two more glasses of wine. And by the time she rejoined him, he didn’t think he could wait any longer. All his feelings seemed to have gathered in his pants, emotions and physical urges all melding into one huge ball of desire.

  “You look beautiful in that dress,” he told her across the table.

  She answered warmly. “Thank you.”

  “Let me take it off you.” The words came in a rough rasp.

  Another pretty pink blush found her cheeks as she bit her lip and peered at him over her wineglass. “Are you in a hurry?” she asked playfully.

  “Yes,” he told her, deciding not to mince words. “We don’t get much time alone so far—so when we do, I want to squeeze everything into it that we can. And ever since I left your bed the other day, honey, I’ve been waiting for the moment when I could have you again.”

  Holly’s beautiful green gaze turned darker, sexier, than he’d ever seen it before, and it pinned him in place as she said, “Well then, consider me dessert.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Derek’s sweet, dainty Holly had once again surprised him with how utterly hot and sensual she could be. And if the pressure in his pants had been powerful before, now it was officially overwhelming. He wanted her. And he wanted her now.

  Rising from his seat, he walked around to her side of the table and pulled out her chair, allowing her to stand and face him.

  “Turn around,” he whispered.

  She hesitated only for a moment, biting her lip. Then she did as he’d asked, facing the table again.

  As he placed his hands on her shoulders from behind, even that slight, small touch set small fires deep inside him—he’d never known a woman who could arouse him so much, so easily. And part of him wanted to just stand there, to let his fingers rest on her delicate shoulders, to bask in that simple pleasure. Yet despite his wish to prolong the moment, he found himself reaching for the zipper at the back of her dress and smoothly sliding it to her waist.

  Taking in the bra strap that crossed her pale back, he reached up to her shoulders again, this time gently pushing the dress down off them. “Take it off for me,” he breathed low in her ear.

  When she turned back toward him again, he took a few steps back from her so that he could see her, study her.

  She lowered the dress to her waist, then pushed it gracefully to her ankles and stepped free of it until she stood before him, her luscious body clad in only a sexy black lace bra and matching panties.

  “Unh…” He heard the soft moan escaped
him.

  “You like?” she asked.

  “Very much,” he murmured on a nod, studying the swell of cleavage that peeked from behind the tight lace.

  He lifted his eyes to her face and watched her bite her lip. “I’ve had these for…well, a while,” she explained, sounding suddenly timid. “But I’ve never worn them.”

  He tilted his head. “Why not?”

  “I’ve never…felt comfortable enough, or sexy enough…like I feel when I’m with you.”

  Derek couldn’t wait another second—he stepped up and took her in his arms, pressing her into a kiss. And when the hardness in his pants meshed with the softness between her legs, she released a sweet moan.

  “You feel so good,” he breathed as his palms skimmed over the lace, relishing every curve that hid underneath.

  “Mmm…” she replied, and he kissed her mouth, her cheeks, her eyes, her nose.

  Then he ran his hands over her throat, her chest—her skin like velvet to his work-roughened fingers. Raining kisses on her neck, he slid one bra strap from her shoulder—then lowered his mouth to the porcelain skin there, following with still more delicate kisses across her silky flesh. Soon his fingers found their way to her lace-covered breast, stroking lightly at first, then taking it full into his hand.

  “Kiss me there,” she whispered.

  “Mmmmm,” he growled, excited by her candid yet somehow innocent command. And, eager to obey, he gently peeled the black lace down to free her breast, then lowered his mouth to its enticing pink peak.

  “Oh—oh Derek,” she breathed over him. He circled her taut nipple with a stiffened tongue, then lifted his hand to the lace of her other breast. “Ohhhh,” she moaned.

  As enraptured as he was with her beautiful breasts, though, he wanted more of her. He was almost surprised at his own impatience, but then he chalked it up to the one thing about Holly that was different than any the other women he’d known before: He was in love with her.

  He lifted his kisses back to her neck as he slid one hand to the lace-covered spot between her thighs. “Ahhhh…” she nearly purred when he touched her there, and his chest tightened with increasing need.

  Reaching around the thin swath of lace, his fingers found the warm moisture they sought. “I want to kiss you…here,” he said, sinking his touch further into her wetness.

  “Oh God,” she sighed between rapid, gentle intakes of breath.

  Derek started to slowly strip the bits of lace from her body, caught off guard to discover his hands were trembling. But it didn’t matter. Holly trembled along with him, each touch becoming as powerful as an electric jolt.

  When she was naked, she reached up to unbutton his shirt—and he wrapped around her, pressing his bare chest against hers and cupping her bottom in both hands as he lowered a warm, thick kiss to her lips.

  Lifting her onto the table, he pushed her legs apart. And he drew his attention from her only for the length of time it took to lean around her and swiftly blow out the candles. “Things are gonna get hot enough without these,” he whispered. Then he drew her back into his embrace as he began to kiss his way down her body, lingering at her throat…her breasts…her stomach.

  “Oh Derek,” she breathed above him as he moved closer to where he’d promised to kiss her. “Derek, I’ve never…”

  On his knees now, he licked her belly button—but her words made him stop to look up at her. Was it possible? No one had ever loved her this way before? “Is it all right?” he whispered.

  She nodded vehemently. “Yes,” she said between still-rapid breaths. “I want you to do everything to me.”

  Using his hands to spread her thighs farther, Derek bestowed the first tiny kiss between her legs and listened as a moan escaped her throat above him. It fueled his fire and he used his tongue to slice deeply into her wetness, the muscles in her legs tensing sharply beneath his fingertips as she cried out in passion. His heartbeat reverberated throughout his whole body.

  He listened to her labored breath above until his own desire reached peak intensity. He wanted to make her feel better than she ever had in her life. He worked at her sweetness, felt her moving against his mouth, her undulations coming harder and harder, until finally, finally…he heard her release.

  “Ohhhh! Oh God! Ohhhhhhh…”

  Even when her sounds softened, though, he continued bestowing soft kisses and licks there, aware of a selflessness he’d never quite experienced before. It filled him with satisfaction just to know he’d taken her there, given her that perfect piece of heaven for a few incredible seconds.

  When he stood up, Holly leaned back over the table, her body looking long and slender, her hands planted behind her for support. She’d let her eyes fall shut.

  “Good?” he asked her softly.

  Her eyes fluttered open and she offered him a gorgeously wicked smile. “Mmm, good…” she breathed.

  “I’m glad,” he told her.

  “Now…”

  “Now what?”

  “Now come inside me.”

  At this, another of her sweet commands, he undid his pants and quickly complied, pushing easily into her soft, waiting body. “Aw baby,” he breathed, soon lost in the ecstasy of her.

  As she raised herself against him, he pushed in deeper, as deeply as he could. And he moved against her, trying to go slow, but unable to still the heat that pumped through his veins.

  When her arms closed around him, his body took over, pumping harder and harder into her. He couldn’t remember a moment in his life when he had ever felt more consumed, or more connected to another person.

  “Don’t wait, Derek,” she told him, her voice coming in feathery breaths. “Come for me.”

  “Oh…” he moaned. And though he’d actually wanted to stretch this out, take his time, she’d just pushed him over the edge.

  He let go then, let it happen, let his body and mind dissolve into a million tiny points of heat and light that reached every extremity in his body. He closed his eyes and gripped tight to her hips as the thick pleasure burst through him.

  ***

  Holly watched him sleeping. He was beautiful.

  Then she glanced at the clock by her bed. One a.m. And tomorrow was Sunday. Ah—what could be better than sleeping next to the man she loved and knowing that the next day was entirely theirs, with no alarm clocks to rule the day?

  “Uh waaaaa.” Though the soft sound rising from the other room almost shocked her somehow—Emily was home now. After their hot sex on the dining room table, she and Derek had gotten dressed and driven to Michelle’s house to pick her up. And really, it had all worked out very well. Holly wanted to be alone with Derek, but she also wanted to have Emmy near her, too. Maybe she could mesh these two worlds, after all.

  Pushing back the covers, she got up and reached for her robe, tossing it on and tying it loosely in front.

  “Waaaaaa.”

  Then she rushed into Emily’s room and quickly lifted the baby from her bed.

  She settled with her in the rocking chair in the corner, where a streetlamp shone through the window, providing enough light for them to see each other. “Did you have a bad dream, punkin?” she asked the baby, who had quieted at her arrival. “Did my sweetheart have a bad dream?”

  She rocked in the chair with Emmy in hopes of lulling her back to sleep.

  And she thought about the things she’d done with Derek tonight.

  Soon maybe she’d be bold enough to let herself do those things without sending Emily away—to feel that freedom, that sense of rightness about it. Derek had a way of taking away her inhibitions, of empowering her, giving her the courage to face her desires head on and stop running from them.

  She remembered experiencing such passion as a teenager. But she supposed she’d squelched it—nice girls didn’t feel those things. Finally now she realized: She was nice, and she did feel those things. And how horrible to have found it necessary to swallow such beautiful, alive emotions. It had taken her this long
to get them back. It had taken Derek to get them back.

  Why did I ever push those feelings down in the first place? She wasn’t sure. Maybe her parents’ divorce had confused her about sex, or maybe her father’s departure from her life had confused her about men.

  But whatever the reason, now she let a smile form on her face in the darkness. How wonderful to discover that her fears had been in vain, that she could do the things she wanted and follow her urges, that she could be so wild and reckless.

  “Well, time to put you back to bed,” she whispered to the baby in her lap who neared sleep once more. “Time for me to get back to Da—”

  Oh. Oh God. She’d almost called him Daddy.

  Her heart sank instantly at the realization. Because yes, in one sense, things were wonderful—completely perfect. But in another, it felt like an empty victory if Derek wasn’t willing to share everything in her life, Emmy included. And she wasn’t sure where he stood on that now, but only twenty-four hours ago he’d informed he didn’t want to be anyone’s daddy.

  And yet maybe…

  Maybe if she eased Derek into Emily’s world at the same time she eased herself into the dual roles of mother and lover…

  Maybe all of them would discover how wonderful it could all be.

  Though…it was probably wrong of her to hope so fervently that Derek could change his mind about being a father. After all, he'd made his position perfectly clear.

  And still, she couldn’t stop hearing him singing the “snake in my sleeper” song to Emily earlier. It rung in her ears, and in her heart.

  Looking down, Holly realized that her daughter had fallen back asleep. So she rose slowly from the rocker and gently lowered the baby back into bed. “Sweet dreams,” she whispered.

  Then she padded quietly back into the bedroom, slipped off her robe, climbed back beneath the covers naked, and cuddled up against the man she loved. She thought she could get used to this. If only…