Page 7

A fter a week of playing house, Chaz was shocked at how comfortable things between him and Lottie had become. They’d found an agreeable routine that worked well and it felt like they’d been together for years. But in a really good way—like she was his other, much better half. Which was weird for him to think. He didn’t believe in soulmates, but she fit into his life…dare he say, perfectly?

Considering he’d been single and cursing serious relationships since his marriage failed, the ease of them living together surprised him. And Reya, though quite a handful, brought a joy to his life that had been missing. The kid entertained him to no end. From her constant stream of happy babble to the way she always offered him some of her food during their meals. Sure, half of it ended up on the floor and most of it on her hands and face, but she always gave him some and he took it, pretending to eat her fingers when he did. She left her toys everywhere and he’d nearly twisted his ankle on a couple of different occasions when he’d stepped on them. But when she crawled up onto his lap with a book, looking up at him with those big, blue eyes, asking him to read her a story, it was so worth it.

Since moving in with him, no one had bothered Lottie. The calls stopped and the creepy voicemails ended. She’d told her mom about the situation and, just to be safe, they’d decided she should extend her trip. Her mom seemed happy knowing Chaz was keeping her daughter and granddaughter safe.

The Motley Crew, however, was giving him hell. But he’d expected it. They called him everything from Pop Pop to Paw Paw to G-pa. Their teasing was getting to be a bit much, though, and Chaz was glad he wasn’t able to hang out at Old Glory all the time since he was on babysitting duty while Lottie worked. They didn’t target Lottie with their teasing, though, so Chaz didn’t mind being the butt of their jokes.

Because the truth was he was damn happy. Yeah, life was good. Domestic bliss agreed with him.

Every morning Lottie made their breakfast and every evening he cooked dinner. During the afternoon, they walked to the park if the weather was nice. He didn’t mind pushing the stroller and he was beginning to understand Reya’s babble more clearly. Reading to her every night had quickly become his favorite part of the day, bringing back memories of that first time he babysit her. And he no longer cared about pulling out his readers.

For a guy who’d always claimed he didn’t like kids, he was quickly changing his tune. That little nugget had become damn important to him in a very short amount of time.

Her mother had, too.

Lottie worked at Old Glory five nights a week and Chaz drove her each night to her shift. He told himself it was because her Honda was at the garage getting fixed up. But, the truth was he enjoyed doing it. With Reya chattering happily in her carseat, he and Lottie would chat on the drive over. Then, Brand or one of the guys would drive Lottie home after she was done working.

Chaz had always been observant and detail-oriented. It had been a requirement of his job. Since he was always watching Lottie, he’d learned a lot. And even though their situation was only temporary, he wanted to make her life easier in every possible way. She didn’t have many people to rely on, but she had him. And he wanted her to know it.

She was a good mother, always putting Reya’s needs above her own, but Chaz encouraged her to take time for herself, too. It didn’t take long for him to discover she had a couple of guilty pleasures which included long bubble baths, lavender-scented candles, yoga, Hershey’s Kisses and catnaps while Reya slept in the afternoon.

After putting Reya to bed, he decided to surprise Lottie. Jayson was bringing her home after work and Chaz glanced down at the big watch on his wrist. He had about half an hour until she’d be back, so he gathered up what he needed and carried it all into the guest bathroom.

Chaz never considered himself romantic, but he really liked making Lottie smile. And after spending the last eight hours on her feet and dealing with customers, she deserved to unwind and relax.

Since one of her favorite things was a quiet bubble bath, he set to work, intent on creating the ultimate experience for her. He placed her lavender candles on the counter and lit them. Then he set up a small tray complete with a bowl of Hershey’s Kisses and another filled with strawberries. He figured it was a nice combination and wasn’t overtly sexy like maybe chocolate-dipped strawberries might’ve been. After adding a glass of wine and her book, he turned the water on, found the bubble bath she used, and poured a bunch beneath the running faucet.

Stepping back, he looked over what he’d done and doubt flooded him. Swiping a hand over his beard, he frowned. “This is creepy,” he murmured. What if she thought he was hinting at wanting something more—like payment for letting her stay with him?

As he bent down to turn the water off and pull the plug, ready to hurriedly put everything back, he heard the front door open, and he jerked upright. Dammit, she was home early. Panic filled him as her soft footsteps came up the stairs and he froze, not sure what to do.

She must’ve noticed the light on and she stepped into the bathroom doorway, her eyes widening as she took it all in. “Hi. Sorry, did I interrupt?”

His face burned and he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like an idiot. “No, I, ah, just… dammit,” he swore, getting frustrated. “I wanted to do something nice for you and then realized maybe this wasn’t the best thing to do.”

Her smile lit the entire room. “Why not? I think it’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

She kicked her shoes off then grabbed a Hershey’s Kiss, slowly unwrapping the silver foil around it. And he wished more than anything he was that little piece of chocolate as she popped it into her mouth. His body reacted instantly and he stifled his groan behind a cough.

“I just don’t want you to take it the wrong way. Or to think you owe me or—” Fuck. He needed to stop talking because he was inserting his foot deeper down his throat. Which, of course, made him think of her taking him to the back of her throat.

Fucking hell.

“Thank you, Chaz. This is really, really thoughtful.” Pure gratitude laced her voice and he wondered when someone last did something truly nice for her?

“You’re welcome,” he rasped, attention dropping to her mouth as she licked the chocolate from her lips.

Time to go. He brushed past her before she noticed the bulge tenting his pajama pants. More than anything, he wanted to join her in that tub, but that wasn’t going to happen.

Not now, not ever.

◆◆◆

Lottie leaned her head back on the edge of the tub and sighed, utterly content. The hot water soothed the aches and pains from being on her feet and running around all night at work. Lavender-scented candles burned, calming her ever-worrying mom brain, and the bubbles encompassed her in a satiny cocoon as steam rose up. She reached for a strawberry and took a bite, all of her thoughts on the big, rugged man who was turning out to be more thoughtful, and observant, than she ever expected.

A part of her felt guilty, like maybe she was taking advantage of the situation by using him as a free babysitter while her mom was out of town. But, no, he wanted her there so he could keep watch over her and Reya. Truthfully, she’d been a little surprised at how adamant he’d been, refusing to accept no for an answer, his inner protector flaring to life.

It felt good knowing he cared so much. Then again, she didn’t want to read too much into his kindness. Most likely, he felt bad for her. But she had caught several looks—long, lingering, very interested looks—that suggested otherwise.

Over the past week, he’d gone above and beyond for her and Reya. In such a short amount of time, they were beginning to feel like a little family. And she knew she was treading into very dangerous territory with that way of thinking.

After her ex left, she’d had to learn how to be independent and do everything by herself. Now, Chaz was encouraging her to lean on him. As much as she liked it, she didn’t want to get used to it. Their situation was only temporary—in the long term, she couldn’t rely on anyone but herself.

Falling for Chaz…

She gave her head a hard shake. It would be far too easy to do. And as much as she knew she had to think with her very efficient brain, her very lonely girly parts were yelling at her to jump his big, hard body and let herself have a little fun.

God, she wanted to kiss him. More than anything, she wanted to taste him, to know what it felt like when his mouth captured hers in a long, steamy kiss. She wanted him to kiss her in other places, too. Squeezing her thighs together, she let her mind wander, imagining the beard burn he’d leave.

A soft moan escaped her lips and she reached for the glass of wine perched on the edge of the tub, needing to cool off. Distracted by her overheated thoughts, she accidentally knocked it over. The glass hit the tiled floor, shattering, and red wine splashed everywhere.

“Oh, shit.” She popped up, wanting to clean it up fast before it stained the white flooring, and turned to grab a towel hanging on the rack when the door slammed open and Chaz barged inside.

“What happened? Are you o—” His hot gaze slid down her wet, suds-covered body before snapping back up as she hurriedly wrapped the towel around her nakedness. “Shit, I’m sorry. I should’ve knocked.”

Welp, he definitely just got an eyeful.

“I’m sorry. I knocked the glass over and…” She huffed out a breath, lifting her leg to get out of the tub when he raised a hand, his attention zeroing in on her pink-polished toes.

“No, stay put. I don’t want you stepping on any glass.” He took a wide step over the mess and opened the cabinet beneath the sink. Lottie lowered her foot back into the tub, staying put as he found some rags and floor cleaner then dropped down and began cleaning up her mess.

God, she felt like a clutz. How had she let herself get so absorbed in thoughts of kissing Chaz that she couldn’t even pick up a freaking wine glass? She picked them up for a living, for freak’s sake. “Sorry,” she whispered.

He lifted his head. “I’m just glad you’re okay. And I’m the one who’s sorry for barging in without knocking. I was worried you’d hurt yourself.”

“I’m okay,” she murmured sheepishly.

It didn’t take him long to clean up and then he set her slippers at the edge of the tub. “There could still be a shard somewhere. Let me help you.”

When he reached out for her, she securely tucked her towel then grabbed onto his hands. Lifting one leg followed by the other, she stepped into her slippers.

And neither of them let go.

Standing there, holding onto his big, callused hands, she lifted her face and looked up into his green eyes. Heat flashed in their mossy depths and her lips parted, desire thrumming through her body.

She wanted—desperately needed—to kiss him. The air between them grew electric and she could feel the connection. It was undeniable. The temperature seemed to shoot up a thousand degrees, and when his gaze dropped to her lips, she pushed up on her toes to meet his mouth as it came crashing down on hers.

The kiss was hot and hungry, all tongue and lost control. Demanding and passionate. She moaned into his mouth, pressing her body against his, winding her arms around his neck as he encircled her waist. A need like she’d never known before roared through her, turning her breaths into rapid pants, and her pulse rocketed.

Completely forgetting about her towel, it slipped precariously low as she writhed against him, needing more. So much more. His hardness pressed against her belly and she flicked her tongue over his bottom lip, imagining how good it would feel as his cock stretched her body to its limit. Because there was no mistaking his size. On a scale of one to huge, he was ginormous. Just like the rest of his delicious body.

As her mind started to spiral into all the incredible things she wanted to do with him, for him to do to her, he broke the kiss and abruptly pulled away. They held each other for several moments, breathing hard, before he carefully extricated himself from her embrace. She grabbed onto her towel before it fell away completely, a wave of humiliation sweeping through her.

He’d invited her to his house to keep her safe, and here she was throwing herself at him. Fantasizing about being with him. Having more than a fake relationship. So pathetic and desperate , she chastised herself.

“Sorry,” he rasped, turning around and marching out so fast, she barely had time to blink. God, it’s like his hair was on fire.

“Nice, Lottie. Way to go.” She dropped her head back, feeling like an utter fool. And still a little dizzy from their kiss.

Plopping down on the edge of the tub, she tried to wrap her brain around what just happened and what to do next. Somehow, she had a feeling she’d just made a royal mess of everything.

Because how in the hell was she going to be able to pretend the hottest kiss of her life never happened?