“That’s not the only thing I want you to model for me.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I want to see you in that black lace thing that was hanging in your closet.”
“The catsuit?” The flush deepened in her cheeks as she giggled. “You’ve seen me in it before.”
“Pardon?”
“I was wearing it the day we met.” His eyebrows rose and his cock tingled when she smiled at him and stroked his inner thigh with her toes. “Yup. I knew the first day of school would be a little rough and I needed a pick-me-up.”
“Damn.” He remembered the way the lace pattern had drawn his eyes to her legs and reimagined her with that sexy-as-hell bodysuit on and hardened further. A sexy smile crossed her lips as she lightly caressed his stiffening erection with her toes. “Now I really want to see it on you by itself.”
She leaned back in her seat casually and whispered, “It has a split crotch.”
“That’s just mean,” he said and actually smiled when she giggled again. “I want to see it on you some time but right now I just want to get you alone.”
Gazing at him from across the table, she murmured, “I missed you, Spencer. I missed Heath and Cody. I know the three of you thought you knew what was best for me but you have to let me determine that.”
“We were protecting you.”
“I like that you’re protective, Spencer. I respect that, but I deserved a say and I still don’t appreciate that the decision was made before I even knew what was happening.” A half chuckle escaped him. She knew Cody well. “When I told you about the warning I received, it wasn’t so the three of you could ‘take the situation in hand.’ It was because I trusted you to trust me to make the right choices. I wasn’t hinting that I wanted to break it off or that I need you to ‘fix it.’ I just needed your support and encouragement.” She sighed as he kept massaging and she said, “So what happens now?”
“I take you home with me.” They’d left her car at her house but her neighbor had seen her leave with him. “And I’ll bring you home later.”
“And what about Cody and Heath?”
He sighed. He honestly hadn’t given it a lot of thought, trusting that things would just work out on their own. Heath’s belief had become his own. “Heath will be happy that you came over and sad that he missed you. Cody…”
“Cody will…what?”
He chewed his food in quiet thought for a minute. “This has been hard for him too, baby. I can tell how unhappy he is and I think he must feel a big burden for being the one to…”
“Break up with me?” she offered a little tartly as she pushed her food around her plate.
He reached out for her hand and stroked over the delicate bones and tendons, powerfully aware of how breakable she was, and yet how strong, too. “He’s a natural problem solver. I think that believing he had created the problem made it more painful for him. When Heath told him about seeing you the other day, and that he was sure it wasn’t over between us, Cody didn’t argue. I think he’d be very happy to see you.”
“That remains to be seen. And just so you know…” She looked down at her lap and frowned for second before she met his eyes. “I’m not going to just jump back into his arms like nothing happened.” She sounded very resolved but he could see that she’d struggled to even get the words out, as though she was unsure.
He released her hand when she tugged at it and he said, “Understood. Let’s take it one step at a time, baby. You done? I’m ready to get you home.”
She met his eyes and warmth filled his chest as she smiled and nodded. “Home. Yeah.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fading sunlight flickered down on Maizy’s silky tanned skin through the wooden beams overhead. Spencer reclined in the big tub that was filled to the top, with Maizy lazing in his arms. Every so often, she squirmed and wiggled, rubbing against his erection and making him ache to be inside her.
“Spencer?”
“Hmm,” he murmured as he stroked her shoulder and upper arm.
“Will you tell me how you came to be in foster care, and how you met Heath and Cody?”
That subject definitely took the edge off his arousal but it was high time he explained his history. She had a right to know.
“My mother walked into the emergency room of a hospital in downtown San Antonio, in labor with me. She abandoned me there. All I’ve ever been able to find out was that her records, which listed a false name, indicated that she looked like she’d been living on the streets and she had signs of drug use.”