Page 22 of Promise Me, Katie (Bennett Sisters #1)

“If this is the worst you’ve got, then we’re gonna be just fine,” he said, leaning in to press a reassuring kiss to her lips.

“And to answer your question, Julia said my work schedule interfered with her sleep. She said it was even worse when she got pregnant, so I offered to sleep in the spare room until Libby was born. But after that, things didn’t change.

And it wasn’t long before I’d moved the crib into the spare room with me.

I took care of Libby after work and at night.

And in the morning, she went to my parents’ house, and my mom watched her. ”

“What about Julia? Didn’t she spend any time with Libby?”

“Only in the beginning when there was a lot of attention from family and friends. But when motherhood turned into actual work, all she wanted was to go back to her job.”

“I’m sorry,” Katherine said, not knowing which urge was stronger: the urge to cry or the urge to scream. Knowing how precious those first months were, she couldn’t understand Julia’s decision to completely pull away from her baby. “I feel bad for you and Libby.”

“You shouldn’t. Libby is a happy baby, even without a strong bond with her mother. And it’s not like she’s old enough to know something wasn’t right. Besides, it helped me to put my priorities in order and make the best decisions I could.”

“Still, it doesn’t seem fair.”

“That’s because life isn’t always fair. But it can still be good.”

Again, Katherine searched Matthew’s eyes, and an unexplainable peace enveloped her.

“Like you,” he said quietly, resting his hands on her hips. “You’re good. And being here with you is very good.”

Drawing her in even closer, Katherine surrendered to him once again. Seizing the moment, he positioned his mouth over her bottom lip, gently sucking on the rounded curve, and sighing in pleasure. Then, using his tongue and teeth, he licked and tugged on her lip to the point of complete distraction.

Not even Katherine was sure if she gasped or whimpered, but the sensation was magnificent and maddening at the same time, and her body submitted to the wave of tingling pleasure that washed over her.

“Make that very, very good,” Matthew said as he pulled away.

But Katherine wanted more, and she grabbed his head and brought him back down so she could kiss him the same way he had kissed her.

“And you’re very, very good too,” she added when she’d finally loosened her grip.

Smiling, Katherine’s eyelids were so heavy that only a sliver of their chocolate brown color was visible to Matthew. And a broad grin brightened her face.

“Katie, Katie, Katie. Do you haveanyidea what you do to me?”

“Probably the same thing you’re doing to me,” she said, as the underlying purr in her voice confirmed just how much she wanted him. “Are you ready to take me to bed now?”

“Damn,” Matthew chuckled softly, his head rolling back. “You’ve got me so close to the edge right now.”

Then Katherine raised herself on tiptoes to smell the inviting scent of his cologne and kiss the warm skin of his neck. “Do you want me to stop?” she cooed so boldly that she hardly recognized herself.

“No, I don’t want you to ever stop.”

Guiding her into his bedroom, Matthew kissed Katherine again and again until they were both breathless with desire and need. Then, despite the heat building between them, he stopped to ask if she was okay.

“I am doing very well,” she said, her dreamy smile and heavy eyelids a testament to her words. Like someone after too many glasses of champagne, she’d fallen under the influence of his kisses.

“So am I.”

Katherine beamed in satisfaction before pulling away to catch her breath and inspect his room. “Very manly,” she observed, looking around at the dark blue fabrics and deep mahogany furniture.

“Sorry about the mess,” he said, referring to the unmade bed, a few stray items that didn’t quite make it inside the laundry hamper, and two uniforms fresh from the dry cleaners, still in plastic bags and draped over a chair in the corner. “Obviously, I wasn’t expecting company.”

“I can help in here, too.”

Since leaving his parents’ home, Matthew wasn’t accustomed to anyone taking care of him. “That’s okay. It can wait,” he said, leaving her by the door to open a drawer in the dresser across the room. “Tops and bottoms? Long T-shirt? Leather and lace?”

Katherine froze.

“What did you just say?”

“What do you wanna sleep in?” he asked, with a smirk. “And no, I don’t have any leather and lace. I was just checking to see if you were paying attention.”

“Oh… okay,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound nervous. “Wait, did you say tops and bottoms? As in actual pajamas?”

“Yeah.”

“Like the kind my granddad wears?”

“I didn’t buy them if that’s what you’re thinking.

My mom got them for me years ago. I just haven’t had the heart to donate them.

She was so happy when I opened the box. Apparently, the saleslady told her all the young hip guys were wearing them again,” he said, holding up a pair of men’s polka dot pajamas, clearly too small to fit him.

“How long have you had those?”

“Since high school.”

“Wow.” Katherine looked them over, pressing her lips together to stifle a laugh. She tried to decide which part was the least like Matthew. The size. The baby blue color. Or the teeny-tiny white polka dots that covered them from top to bottom. “Those are…”

“A bit on the snug side? A bit nineteen fifties?”

“Pretty much,” she laughed. “Did they come with a pipe and a Charles Dickens novel? That’s what granddad usually has with him before bed.”

“Are you calling me an old man?” Matthew said, tossing the pajamas in her direction.

“If the pjs fit, Grandpa.”

Matthew’s mouth dropped open.

“You know you’re gonna pay for that, right?” he said, rushing over and swooping Katherine up in his arms. Then he dropped her on the bed before pinning her down and burying his face in the crook of her neck. “Is this how you do it?” he asked, growling like a monster, the way she’d done with Libby.

“No, Matthew,” she begged in whispered hysterics just before he tickled her. “Please, Matthew, Please!”

“Say you’re sorry,” he taunted, grabbing her sensitive sides.

“You’ll wake the baby,” she said, trying to suppress another fit of uncontrollable giggles.

“No… you’ll wake the baby,” he teased, unrelenting and clearly enjoying himself way too much. “Now, say you’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry,” Katherine giggled. “Please, Matthew, please stop.”

“That’s more like it.” He grinned, kissing her forehead before raising himself off the bed as her giggling and gasping for air subsided. “I’m gonna go brush my teeth. Then the bathroom’s all yours.”

Smiling, Katherine got up from the bed. Her sides ached, but her heart was full. Weeks ago, it would’ve been hard to imagine the same man that sat across from her in the church’s kitchen could be this fun.

While she waited for him to return, she picked up a pair of socks, a sweatshirt, and a T-shirt that missed the hamper. Then straightened out the blankets on the bed and fluffed the pillows. She was propping them against the headboard when he came back into the bedroom.

“Oh, Katie… you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I wanted to.”

Matthew looked visibly touched. “Thank you.”

Although she wanted to reply with a simple “you’re welcome”, before she got the chance, Matthew pulled off his shirt and Katherine instantly forgot all words even resembling a polite response.

Staring openly at the broad expanse of his shoulders, rounded chest, and flat stomach, she fought back a smile threatening to lift the corners of her lips.

He was beautiful, big and strong, and his skin smooth except for a patch of dark hair at the top of his herculean chest, along with an intriguing dark line of hair under his belly button that traveled straight down into the waistband of his jeans.

After tossing his T-shirt into the laundry hamper, Matthew turned to see Katherine standing completely still and utterly speechless, looking him over as building heat colored her flushed face.

“Is this okay?”

Katherine swallowed hard, nodding as her gaze lowered once more before the pink of her cheeks got even pinker. Smiling, Matthew seemed to enjoy the approval in her eyes and the bashful way she was checking him out.

“You need to tell me if this is too much too soon.”

“Mm-hmm.” Katherine nodded, unable to form a sentence. The urge to turn away and hide her face was strong. But not stronger than the need to keep looking him over, admiring the lines made by each muscle, getting lost in the thought of running a hand over each one.

“Maybe I should put on a shirt,” Matthew said, grabbing a white ribbed tank top from one of the dresser drawers and pulling it over his head, even though it did little to conceal the appealing lines of his body.

Then, from another drawer, he pulled out a pair of plaid pajama pants.

“You take this bathroom, and I’ll finish getting ready down the hall.

There’re extra toothbrushes in the drawer.

You’re welcome to any of the pink ones.”

“Pink ones?” she teased. “Were you planning on entertaining more?”

When Matthew advanced on Katherine, he pulled her up against him, buried his face in her neck, then growled low in the back of his throat, sending chills down her spine.

“Do I need to toss you down on that bed again?” he teased as she tried to squirm away from him like prey, desperate to escape a predator.

“No.” She squirmed.

“You’re a bit of a tease yourself, aren’t you?”

“Sometimes,” Katherine laughed. “But no more than you.”

“Hmm, you might be right about that,” he said, leaving a trail of tiny kisses along her neck and ending at her lips. “Meet me back here in a few minutes?”

“Absolutely.”