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I pointed at him as I hefted my purse over my shoulder. I needed to banish him and these thoughts of mine. “If you won’t take my ideas seriously, let’s stop here. I’ll figure this all out, and you can show up that weekend,” I whisper yelled at him, not wanting the girls to hear us arguing.
I’d gotten to the hallway outside the kitchen and realized I wasn’t on my way to the front door. “Damn it,” I muttered, turning around to return the way I came.
“Hey, what was that about?” He stood in the hallway, effectively blocking my escape.
“Out of my way,” I demanded. I knew my anger was climbing at an irrational rate, and I blamed it on how attracted I was to him and didn’t want to be.
“Not until you tell me why you’re so mad.”
“You know,” I practically growled.
He ran a hand through his hair, tousling the brown and gold strands until they stuck straight up. Even his hair behaved in a way that made him more attractive. I hated him for it.
I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to say what a jerk he was out loud. I was afraid if I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop, and even though the girls were thoroughly engaged in the movie, I didn’t need to call attention to our arguing.
He threw up his hands. “Clearly, I did something wrong.”
I flattened my lips together as I contemplated what to say. “You weren’t taking me seriously.” The words of the principal and eerily those of my stepmother echoed in my head… I was just a pretty face. I was tired of people not thinking I had some level of intelligence because of something out of my control.
“Yes, I was.” He went completely still. “What made you think that?”
“You were smirking at me, and when I asked what it was about, you refused to tell me. If you didn’t like what I had to say, you could have spoken up at any time.” Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I’d learned being vulnerable and showing weakness meant someone could take advantage of you.
He stalked closer to me. With each step forward, I took one away until my back hit the wall. “You don’t want to know what I was thinking,” he said, his voice raspy.
Because I couldn’t seem to shut my mouth, I answered him. “Yes, I do.”
Beckett’s gaze darkened, and his tense body leaned closer until he lightly brushed against me. He pressed his palm to the wall beside my head.
My breath trembled out of me and rational thought fled. All I wanted was to run my hands up his chest, loop them around his neck, and tug him closer. My body ached to feel his large hands touch me all over.
His other hand gently cupped my chin. “I wasn’t smiling because I didn’t take you seriously,” his ragged voice was like a caress against my skin.
The tears I’d pushed away rose to the surface once again. I hadn’t realized how important it was to hear him say that to me. “Then why?”
“I was thinking that you radiated with confidence when you discussed your thoughts, and how fucking sexy you looked. All I wanted was to kiss you, touch you, taste you.”
I was completely and utterly unprepared to hear those words come out of his mouth. “You did?”
He groaned. “I still do.”
His honesty deserved the same from me. “I want to kiss you too.”
The words had no sooner left my mouth than his hand slid from my chin to the back of my head. His fingers fisted my hair and drew me to him. He wasn’t being gentle, and I wanted more.
Our lips crashed together. Beckett’s mouth covered mine hungrily. My body sighed in relief. I shivered as a sizzling heat flooded me, and he moaned against my mouth. It didn’t matter that this shouldn’t be happening. It was, and I didn’t want it to stop.
My purse slid to the floor with a thud. Neither of us gave it a second glance. I gripped the front of his shirt, tugging him closer. I couldn’t get close enough. My nipples pebbled at the slightest touch of his hard-as-steel chest pressed into mine. His tongue ran along the seam of my mouth, and I parted my lips to deepen this kiss. I wanted everything he had to give.
My body softened under his, and I slid my arms around his neck as I longed to do. We barely took time to breathe. At this moment, breathing seemed overrated. His tongue swept into my mouth, finding mine and stroking it until I rubbed my body against his with the same movement. Everything was happening too fast and too slow, all at the same time.
I gasped as his other hand grabbed my ass and kneaded the soft flesh, guiding me to straddle his thigh. Only then did I get the friction I craved. I let out a soft moan as I rode his leg. The world seemed to fade until it was just us.
Beckett’s lips moved down my neck, nipping and licking like he was determined to find what made me shudder in ecstasy. I jerked in his arms when he lightly bit on the juncture between my neck and throat. He had found the spot, and I leaned into him to encourage him to do it again.
Part of me knew I shouldn’t be doing this, and the other had lost its ever-loving mind and didn’t care.
“Daddy?”