Be My Hero(53)

"You cock-blocking little shit," I muttered. "You couldn't have had a  dirty diaper to help me cool down, could you? Oh, no. You had to be  hungry so I could see that . . . " I waved my hand irritably at Eva's  exposed breast. "And only get amped up even more. Thanks a lot, pal."         

     



 

Cracking up over my lecture, Eva covered her mouth and shook her head.  "Leave the poor boy alone. He's just making sure I work for my money."

My shoulders slumped. Being reminded she was here for a job I paid her  to do killed my mood more than anything. I watched miserably as she fed  Julian.

"You really are my employee, aren't you?"

Her eyes widened as she realized what that meant. "Don't," she scolded.  "I know what you're thinking and you did nothing wrong. I begged you to  kiss me."

"No, I kissed you because I wanted to more than I wanted my next breath,  even though I should've pushed down my selfish wants and said no." I  pulled at my hair, wanting to give myself a black eye. "What the hell  was I thinking? I will not do this to you. I won't start something that  can't go anywhere. That's not fair to you. At all."

She opened her mouth, but then closed it and nodded silently before finally adding, "I understand."

I squeezed my eyes closed. Hearing her say that should've relieved me of  my worries, but it only made me feel shittier, guiltier, and achier.  And it made me love her even more.

Turning my face her way, I opened my eyes and forced a smile, trying not  to focus on her exposed breasts. "It was an amazing kiss, though,  wasn't it?"

Her smiled bloomed, which finally eased some of my troubles. "Yes. Yes,  it was. You're right. A little slice of heaven is better than none at  all."

Damn straight.





Chapter 21


EVA


Another week passed. Things between Pick and I should've smoothed out and fallen into a nice, platonic routine.

Well, shoulda, coulda, woulda.

After we-or maybe it was just he-decided we weren't going to be anything  more than friends, the sexual tension between us grew thicker.

One morning, I made sure I was awake when he got out of the shower  because he never remembered to take clothes with him to change into. And  he made sure to drop his towel and give me a show, like he always did.  When he glanced my way at one point, giving me a side profile of him, I  bit my lip and slid my hand under the sheet as if I was going to touch  myself.

His gaze heated and his cock grew out from his body as if on command. I  stared at it as I arched up my back and sucked in a breath.

"Fuck," he choked out.

Grabbing his junk, he rushed from the room. The bathroom door slammed a  second later and I heard the shower come back on. I laughed, but then  let out a little moan when I got to thinking about what he was doing in  there, touching himself and sliding his warm hand up and down his thick,  wet, slick-

So, yeah . . . I went ahead and touched myself for real. I finished  about the same time he did because he cautiously poked his head into the  room when I was still coming down off my high.

"Are you done fucking teasing me yet?"

I grinned and nodded. "Please enter."

"Jesus." He shook his head and strode naked to the dresser. "If only  you'd said that before I took a second shower." When I snickered, he  shook his head. "That was really low."

I couldn't feel guilty, though, because I felt too good. "But don't you feel a lot better now?"

He speared me with a glare as he jerked his jeans on. "I'd feel better if I could've done that inside you."

Even though I was completely satiated, my body heated again. "Maybe someday," I said.

His gaze flooded with misery, but he nodded. "Yeah. Maybe."

That night, he was beyond restless when he got home from the garage. He  played with the babies while I finished supper, but he kept popping into  the kitchen and checking on me, asking if he could help with anything.

"You are helping." I threw my hands into the air, flabbergasted with his  antsy behavior. "You're watching the kids. Now go. You're driving me  insane with your pacing and fidgeting."

"I'm not fidgeting," he muttered but left me with a moment of peace.

He didn't have to work at Forbidden, so we'd be together for the rest of  the night. That might've been why he was so on edge. I began to worry  I'd upset him this morning. Maybe he was going to kick me out because he  just couldn't handle the way I had teased him. He'd already made it  clear he wouldn't touch me again. My playful temptation could've come  across as not so playful to him.

Julian turned into a little butt after supper, throwing things and  crying when we didn't pick them up for him fast enough. Since Skylar  wasn't causing any problems, I dumped her off with Pick and focused my  attention on the boy, wondering what was up with the guys in this  apartment. But I guess the little boy only wanted to hog all my  attention because as soon as it was just him and me, he settled down and  went right to sleep. Pick carried a sleeping Skylar in a few seconds  later.         

     



 

But with the kiddos down for a while, that just left the two of us.

I silently followed him into the living room, but he didn't sit. He paced from one side of the room to the other.

Leaning against the hallway entrance, I watched him, knowing this was  probably it. He was going to give me my walking papers, except I  wouldn't go down gently. I set my hand on my hip and lifted an eyebrow.  "What is wrong with you tonight? Sit down before you wear a hole through  the carpet."

He glanced at me, his gaze intense, but then he followed my order and  perched himself on the edge of the couch where he wrung his hands  together between his spread knees. He was so masculine and beautiful.  Regret speared through me. I was going to miss him.

"I'm getting an annulment," he blurted out, jerking me from my doldrums.

My gaze shot from his tightly clasped hands to his nearly panicked expression. "What?"

He nodded, letting me know I'd heard him correctly. "And I'm asking Tristy if I can adopt Julian."

The breath left my lungs. I shook my head. "I . . . okay." Don't freak  out. Just because this was the very best thing he could say to me right  now, there had to be a catch. Somewhere. I took another small breath to  calm down. "Um, do you think she'll agree to that?"

He lifted his hands in a slight shrug. "I don't see why not. She's been gone this long and hasn't checked in on him once."

I stepped fully into the living room, letting my hope grow. "But what if she says no?"

"Then . . . nothing. Nothing changes at all. I have no rights to him now  as it is. If social services came in here tonight, they'd take him  away. I've looked it up online and read everything I could find. Being  his stepparent in this state means nothing. I am illegally harboring  that child. So, remaining married to Tristy isn't accomplishing anything  either. That finally struck me today. The only thing it's doing is  keeping me from you."

I gulped. "So you're doing this because of me?" Oh my God! Yes, yes, yes!

He surged to his feet and went back to pacing. "I'm not being fair to  you, Tink. I keep thinking about what you said the first night you  decided to stay on and how you were worried about us being wrong. The  last thing I ever want to do is make you worry about anything. But you  have it right. Kissing you, wanting you, just being here with you while  I'm legally bound to another woman . . . that's not what I should be  doing. I don't want to belong to her in any way when my heart is yours."

"Oh." The word puffed from my lips in a stunned gasp. "Oh my God." I  pressed my palm to my chest, hoping that could help slow the thumping of  my heart, but it didn't help at all. My blood raced with ecstasy.

Moving my fingers up to my mouth as tears filled my eyes, I let out a  nervous, scared, thrilled laugh. But, oh my God. Pick loved me. He'd  just proclaimed his love in the sweetest, most romantic way ever.

"Then we're totally asking her." I shifted toward him a step and then stopped. "It can't hurt to ask, right?"

He took a step toward me, only to stop as well. Eagerness and uncertainty filled his brown eyes. "Can't hurt at all."

"Do you know how to find her?" I moved another step closer and he countered by doing the same.

"Not physically, but I have an idea of how to get in contact with her.  If she's still logged into her Facebook account on the laptop she left  behind, I could message her."

Overwhelmed by the realization that we might actually end up together  after all, I darted around him to the couch to sit and soak this in just  as he started to reach for me. Covering my face with my hands, I  focused on taking deep breaths.

"Tink?" He sat next to me, sounding worried. "Baby, what's wrong? Do you not want-?"

"Yes!" I dropped my hands to face him. "I do. I want it . . . so much."