Page 43 of Infatuated as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #2)

“Goodnight.” Holly gave him a hug as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Looking over her shoulder, she sent me a smile. “Sawyer’s gonna drop me off at my room.”

I raised my eyebrows up at her, but her dad spoke up before I could even get the chance to respond.

“Drop you off?” he asked. “You’re going upstairs . You can get to your room in one piece.”

“I know, but I’m scared after watching the movie,” she said, worry in her face as she sidled up next to me.

“The movie with the Muppets?” he asked. “That one? The one you watch every Christmas?”

“It freaked me out.” She tugged at my hand. “Come, let’s go. Goodnight, Daddy!”

And then she was hauling me out of the room and pulling me up the stairs. “The movie scared you, huh?” I asked.

“I’ve never told anyone this, but I have a fear of puppets.”

“Uh-huh,” I said as we made it to the top of the stairs. We took a left turn and then moved down the hallway, finally stopping outside Holly’s room.

“You don’t believe me?” She spun around, voice teasing as she leaned up against her bedroom door.

“I think that was a ploy to get me up here,” I said lowly. “Is that what this was?”

“Maybe.” She bit at her bottom lip. “I miss you.”

“I’m right here.”

“I miss kissing you.”

“We’re not allowed to kiss. I don’t think we’re even allowed to talk to each other.”

“Just one kiss,” she said with a little pout. “Please. ”

“He’s gonna come running up those stairs and drag me off you.”

“You don’t wanna risk it for me?” Soft fingers got all tangled in my shirt as she pulled me to her, closing that tiny gap that had been between us. “Please kiss me, Sawyer.”

And I couldn’t say no to that. I couldn’t.

I pressed one hand to her door, the other cupping the side of her face as I stroked a thumb against her soft golden skin.

My lips found hers, not able to hold back my groan as I pushed my tongue into her mouth.

Her fingers were still yanking at my shirt collar as my tongue moved against hers.

It felt like I hadn’t kissed her properly in days and God, I had missed the feeling of my mouth on hers.

She tasted so good, that lingering taste of chocolate and sugar there on her tongue, her pouty lips so soft and inviting and perfect.

When I pulled away from her, she let out a happy sounding sigh, her pretty eyes slowly opening.

“Is that what you wanted?” I asked, thumb still tracing at her cheek.

She nodded, letting out a giggle. “I’m not scared anymore.”

“Mm, I’m glad.”

She pushed her door open, looking over her shoulder at me. “I love you.”

“I love you too, princess. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did when she closed the door.

It had been a while since I had Holly’s body up against mine as we slept, either her head on my chest or my arms around her.

With how busy I had been at the studio, we hadn’t really had the chance to fall asleep together. I missed that. I missed her.

There was nothing left to do but to make my way to my own room, and of course, just as I walked by the top of the stairs, I bumped into Holly’s dad.

“Are you done dropping Holly off?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “She’s in her room.”

“I’ll hear you if you get up,” he said, voice stern. “So don’t even think about doing that.”

I held in a laugh. “I won’t.”

“Good. ”

“Cool.”

There was an awkward, uncomfortable silence as we both just stood there. I wasn’t sure if I should have just walked away and let him get to bed or if he wanted something, because he wouldn’t stop looking at me with accusation in his eyes.

“Look… I know you still don’t like me,” I finally said. “But I wanted to say thank you for letting me stay here. I know you’d prefer it if I stayed somewhere else…”

“That’s correct.”

My throat cleared. “But… even though you don’t like me—”

“You don’t like me either, so it’s fine.”

“I just wanted to say thanks, okay?” I said bluntly. “Thanks for letting me stay. I appreciate you letting me stay over.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, this has been a productive conversation,” I said, rubbing at the back of my neck.

“The only reason I’m letting you stay is because of my wife and daughter,” he said. “I’ve never been good at saying no to either of them. If it was up to me, you’d be back at that trailer park where you belong.”

Jaw clenched, I gave him a stiff nod. “Right.”

“I don’t want you here.”

“I can tell.”

“I don’t think you’re good enough for Holly.”

“You’ve said that before.”

“And I’m still waiting for the day where she wakes up and realizes that she can do much, much better than you. I know it’ll happen, and then I won’t have to deal with you being in my house. Don’t you miss your house? Trailer, I mean. Don’t you miss it?”

Deep down, I did. I missed how small it was, because Holly’s house was too big with too many wandering hallways and too many rooms with high, never-ending ceilings. “Yeah, kinda,” I admitted.

“I’m sure you feel very, very out of place in this house. I mean, that’s just one of the reasons why you don’t belong here. ”

My whole body was tensing up at his words. It seemed like he had been waiting to get me alone so he could rant to me. “Alright, great. I see things are exactly how they were before.”

A tiny smirk appeared on his face. “It’s funny you think I’d ever change my mind about you.”

“I think it’s funny that you thought Holly would change her mind about me,” I said, keeping my voice low.

“I know you were banking on her meeting some rich trust fund frat boy and falling in love with him, but that didn’t happen, did it?

And I know you wanted Nate to sweep her off her feet or something, but that didn’t exactly work out for you either.

She still chose me, and I know that really pisses you off. ”

The air was thick with too much tension, like it was growing and growing, like it was just seconds away from snapping. He gave me a slow nod, looking over his shoulder before turning back to me.

“You know,” he said, “we’ve watched that movie every Christmas since she was a baby and never had a problem. All of a sudden, it scares her.”

I gave him a lazy shrug. “It did get kinda crazy towards the end…”

“I suppose you’ll be sitting in on all my family’s traditions now.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“My daughter mentioned you wanting to start a new tradition with her. Which implies… you’ll be doing it again next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. Which means…”

“She doesn’t want me to go anywhere,” I said firmly.

“What are you planning on doing with her?” He laughed. “There’s nothing… low budget to do in this part of town.”

“We’ll find something.”

“I saw that present you put under the tree for her.” He nodded to the side. “It’s just the one, correct?”

“Yeah, it’s just the one.”

“Can I ask what you got for her?”

“You’ll see it when she opens it.”

“There’s a lot of high-end stores in New York. Did you go to one of them? ”

My head shook. “No. I made her something.”

“You got her a handmade gift?” He smiled. “Right, of course. That makes sense. I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“Yeah, I hope so.”

“There’s still time, you know?” he asked as he moved past me, shoulder bumping into mine.

“Time for what?”

“She’s gonna be spending another two and a half years around rich trust fund frat boys,” he called out. “I’m sure she’ll meet one that’s actually good enough for her.”

A sharp breath left me, not bothering to look over my shoulder at him.

He didn’t like me before and he didn’t like me now and he wouldn’t like me tomorrow or the day after that.

The sound of his footsteps faded, and I stood there as the silence settled around me.

I hated that the feeling of doubt stayed strong in the air and in my chest. That all that warmth from earlier in the day had disappeared in seconds flat.

I moved down the hallway, trying to force that sensation out and replace it with the good feeling that had been there earlier. And when I’d go to bed tonight, I’d imagine that it was Holly in my arms, that I was holding her tight, and that we were living in a world where money didn’t mean a thing.