Page 12

I arrive at Nick’s house after nine. It’s a small two-story house with blue shutters that match Nick’s eyes.

When he opens the door, he grins at me and my small bag. Yeah, spending the night means pajamas, a change of clothes, a toothbrush.

“Are you sneaking me up to your room past your daughter?” Because he hadn’t asked me to come in front of her, but he also didn’t hide how he felt about me in front of her. Kisses on the cheek, lingering touches…

And seeing him as a dad? Wow, who knew that would be so attractive?

I should have guessed though, everything about Nick is attractive.

“No. I told her you were coming.”

My body overheats at the admission, and I swear he clocks it. He’s so damn observant.

Nick takes my hand and leads me inside.

His house is cozy. Warm. A reflection of the pretty outside. Matching and not quite what I expected from Nick. There are touches of a woman who is not Ruby.

He pulls me into the kitchen. “Want a drink? A snack?”

“Wine? A beer?” I ask. I’m really not fussy, but I could use something stronger than water to get over my nerves. This is a big step.

He pulls a bottle from the fridge and pops it open to pour me a glass of sparkling white. He even has wine glasses. I suppose that’s a sign of being a proper adult.

Offering me the glass, Nick watches as I take a sip before he’s slowly moving into my space. The glass finds the counter as the inches disappear between us.

“How are your parents?”

That makes me laugh. “They’re good. Tired. They work a lot.”

“Mmm, like you.”

I smile at him, enjoying how he notices things about me and the way this man cares about the various parts of my life. About my family. Enough to ask.

He pulls in a deep breath, expanding that broad chest right at eye level. “How I enjoy making you smile.”

Nick leans in, kissing me softly. It’s a slow press of our mouths, driving my need sky-high. I want to grab hold of him. Because my skin is on fire.

And he’s barely touching me. It’s so opposite of what I expected from him. For all of the overt flirting, the clear attraction with him. He’s moving so slowly.

Our noses brush with the ghost of a kiss. A tease.

It makes me bold.

“Take me upstairs?”

Nick groans low, tipping his forehead against mine before taking my hand and escorting me up to his room.

The master bedroom is spacious and more masculine than what I’ve seen of the rest of the house. But it still has the telltale signs of a woman. The art on the walls, the decorative frame of the mirror above the dresser, the curtains.

They don’t seem like Nick’s tastes.

When he backs into the room to let me have a proper look, I can’t keep the questions at bay anymore. “Where is Ruby’s mom?”

Nick’s jaw works as he looks around the space as if for the first time. My bluntness stalls him for a moment, and I swear he almost looks shy. “Somewhere up north. We’ve been divorced almost a year.”

I nod as I approach, stepping close and dragging a hand up his chest. “That sucks.”

He shrugs at me, covering my hand with his own, right over his heart. It’s beating hard against my palm. “It did. But it doesn’t anymore.”

Nick brushes hair from my face, tracing the curve of my round cheeks.

This time when he leans in to kiss me, I meet him halfway, and it’s somehow more. As soft as our kiss starts, it grows and grows until the teasing shifts into serious need. His arms come around me, pressing our bodies together in a delicious way.

I allow myself the freedom to sink my hand into his hair. It’s so much softer than I imagined, silky between my fingers. And the noise he makes when my grip tightens sends heat throbbing between my legs.

Finally, his palms slide up my back, around my waist, squeezing me with a practiced ease. The confidence I’ve come to expect from him.

Still, he’s not groping me like a teenager, keeping his promise not to make this all about sex.

When he cradles the back of my head in his large hand, I let him tip me back so that his mouth can cascade kisses down my neck. My shaky breath sends a shudder through him.

“You’re so goddamn beautiful, Liv.”

It steals a breathy laugh from me. I’ve seen the kinds of women that throw themselves at him. But as hard as it is to believe him when he says that to me, that’s my baggage. Not his. He’s been showing me this since we met that first day.

So maybe I can believe that he likes the way I look. The shape of my body. The more to love I’ve always told myself I am.

His free hand grips my hip, pressing me into him so that I can feel how aroused he is. By me.

I lift my head to look at him, meet those dark blue eyes—blown wide, honest, and raw.

“You’re sweet. Kind. Intelligent. A good dad, which by the way, is so much hotter than I thought.”

Nick laughs, tracing my bottom lip with his thumb.

“I mean you’re hot anyway, but the other things…those are so much more important.” I want him to know that I see him, not just his good looks. Because it seems like that’s all the other women around him see.

What did his ex see? How much of him didn’t she appreciate?

I brush my fingers over his sharp cheekbones and jaw, thumb resting on his chin as we look at each other.

“So, what’s the plan? Should I change into what I brought and crawl into bed, or did you have something else in mind?”

“Mmm.” The noise is nearly a growl, and his hand squeezes my hip again. “And what did you bring with you?”

I tip forward and nip his bottom lip. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

He lays another kiss on me that has my knees wobbling. Maybe changing into my pajamas might not be the safest option.

When he releases me, the look he gives me threatens to overheat me. I back away slowly, peering over my shoulder to the two doors.

“The one on the left.”

I nod, grab my bag, and slip into the bathroom to change into my sleep shorts and loose tank top. So much of my skin is showing, and it has me a bit self-conscious. Although I already know he’s going to like it, I can’t help but blush when I step out.

The overhead light is off, and the bedside table has a lamp on. The mood of the room is darker, cozier, more sensual.

He’s changed too. Loose gray sweats. No shirt.

Holy shit. His body is packed with tight and lean muscle. Tan skin and dark hair trailing down his chest and stomach to disappear behind those low-hanging sweats.

Remember to breathe, Olivia. Breathe.

I’m sure my face is red. My cheeks hot.

I start to pull up my hair, but Nick steps forward. “Wait. Leave it down.”

Dropping my locks, I wait for him to come to me, and he does after a small hesitation. Nick takes my hand and lures me to his bed.

His mouth dips down to my ear. “Those are some of the sexiest pajamas I’ve ever seen.”

My head falls back with a laugh. “Surely not.”

“Maybe, it’s just you.” Nick helps me slide onto the bed before following, crawling over me, hovering.

I finally let myself touch him, trailing a hand over his shoulders. His muscles taut from holding himself above me. They bunch as my touch spreads over his chest and down the center of his stomach.

Nick tips to the side, his knee coming between mine. A hand finds my ankle, sliding up my calf and knee, up the outside of my bare thigh.

I suck in a soft breath as he runs his thumb along the line where my shorts cover me. It doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination.

When his face turns back to mine, I wrap my arm around his back and tug him to me, kissing him this time. My knee comes up over his hip, anchoring him against me as we rock together.

He takes my lead, pressing us together in small waves. I’m already so aroused from the feel of him between my thighs. How his hardness rubs against me through our layers.

Our pace is slow, unhurried, and that stokes my need more than any kind of rush would.

Trailing my nails down his back earns me a long, low moan against my skin. His mouth maps out my bare skin, tugging the thin strap of my top off my shoulder.

He’s not taking very many liberties. Nothing more than he said he would.

And maybe, just maybe, I want a little more.

I let myself take it, running my hand down his back to grab his ass. I give it a solid squeeze, and his teeth nip at the sensitive spot on my neck.

Our grinding turns more intense, prodding my pleasure.

His voice vibrates against my shoulder. “I want to make you come so badly. Want to watch you fall apart under my hands. My tongue. I don’t want anything in return. Just…you…”

Fuck, the temptation of what he’s asking for.

“And what if I want to give you something in return?” My voice is hoarse with desire.

Nick lifts back up onto his elbow to look at me.

Feeling bold, I take his hand and guide it over my right breast. He squeezes gently, finding my hard nipple and giving it a soft tug.

I arch into it. Pleasure zaps through me.

“Fuck, Liv.” He doesn’t even try to get under my shirt, simply drawing circles over my nipple until I’m writhing under him.

Then, his hand descends over my belly, slow and steady until he palms me over my shorts, rubbing and pressing as I bite back my moan, trapping my bottom lip between my teeth to keep quiet. Nick’s face swivels back to mine, intent on witnessing my pleasure.

“You are so goddamn sexy.” His pressure increases, probes me a little harder until my lip falls free to my panting. “God, I can feel how wet you are. How hot.”

The rasp of his voice nearly undoes me, and I whimper in response.

“Can you come like this? Do you need more?” He maintains a steady rhythm, waiting for my answer.

A small mewling noise escapes me. “I—I don’t know.”

I’ve never had someone concentrate on me this way. Especially not over my clothes.

He rumbles against me, dipping to kiss my neck, nip at me gently. “Can I taste you? Make you come with my mouth?”

His fingers dip again, pressing my shorts into me a little.

I choke on a moan. “Yes.”

Nick hums against my skin before his touch slips away. His body lowers down mine, mouth grazing my breast, pulling on a nipple through my shirt, kissing my belly, and then his hands tug down my sleep shorts.

I lift my shoulders to watch him, and those dark blue eyes meet mine before his mouth descends on my pussy.

Eyes closing as he hums again, like he’s gotten a treat, Nick slides his tongue through my folds and seals his mouth over my clit.

I gasp out a moan.

His rough palms smooth over my inner thighs, spreading me wider to delve that wicked tongue into me.

“Oh God.”

Swirling. Licking. Thrusting. Sucking. Every move hurdles me closer to my orgasm.

When he lifts my ass to tilt my core up like he’s sipping from a bowl, my muscles shake. My fist is in my mouth to stifle the noises I can’t seem to tamp down.

Head flinging back, I freeze under him, shattering so completely that I’m unable to breathe as he laps up every drop of my pleasure. I have to push him away to get him to stop.

His eyes blaze at me, smile sinful. “I can give you another.”

Nick plants a kiss on my sensitive clit, making me jerk. “And another.”

Another kiss sinks my hands into his soft hair and pull him halfway up me. “Not tonight.”

The not yet left unsaid.

I nip at his lower lip, swollen from eating me out.

“Besides, it’s my turn.”

“You don’t have to. I’m not expecting?—”

I silence him with a kiss, reaching between us to feel his hard-on over his sweats. He throbs in my hand.

“But I want to.”

After a second of hesitation, he lets me shift him onto his back, suck him into my mouth, down my throat, and make him come.