Page 53

Kelsey

I thought I’d been prepared to meet Sam Sr., but here was a man who looked so much like the man beside her, who couldn’t be more different.

Sam’s dad had several inches on him, more lines on his handsome face, and a chip on his shoulder.

I had hoped he dared ignore my warning because walking out on him would have been the highlight of this trip.

The tension in Sam’s shoulders released the moment we slid into the hired car.

“Should we go out for one more drink? Or straight back to the hotel?” He asked, attempting to brush off what had just happened—a practiced reaction to bring back as much normalcy as possible. My heart broke a little for the boy he’d been and the trauma he still carried.

“Whatever you need, Sam. You don’t have to pretend everything is okay after that.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, looked out the window, and asked the driver to bring us back to the hotel.

“After that, I want to bury myself in you for a couple of hours.” He remained quiet momentarily, “Is it normal for me to feel pity, fear, and despise what the man has become all simultaneously? He could have had everything, but instead, he drinks himself into oblivion every night. Why are none of us worth it to him to quit?”

“I don’t know. But there is nothing wrong with you setting boundaries for yourself. He shouldn’t be able to disrupt your peace or our peace.”

“I love you, Kelsey.” He said it as if it were a matter of fact, but his eyes showed intense vulnerability.

He let me in and shared the depths of his family secrets, but he wasn’t telling me he loved me enough to respond to me.

He’d done nothing but take care of Crew and me since we met, and I’d resisted, trying to stop him.

I hadn’t had much experience with men, but it was always transactional when they did anything for me, and there were some expectations for what I would give in return.

Maybe that’s why I selected pieces I knew Sam would appreciate when I spent nearly two grand on lingerie.

“You know, the last thing I wanted was a relationship, and when we met, I brought Crew because I thought I was just going to watch a baseball game. Do you think it’s normal to feel this way so quickly?”

“Yeah, it’s normal. And it’s fucking amazing,” Sam said as the car pulled up in front of the hotel. “Did you bring the lipstick? It’s time to refresh it; I’ve been thinking about it all night.”

I shivered and pulled the lipstick out of my purse. I slowly removed the cap, licked my lips, and then applied it to my top lip and then my plump bottom lip while I waited for the driver to open the door.

“Have you ever heard of dick-sucking lips?” I asked him with a smirk.

I took his hand as he led me through the door held open by the bellman. “I hope you’re ready to provide a demonstration,” he said, practically dragging me toward the elevator.

I asked Sam to wait in the bedroom while I used the bathroom.

I slipped my black dress off and hung it on the hanger.

I might not have understood who the designer was when the pile of dresses arrived at my suite in Minneapolis, but I did now.

Kylie had fully enlightened me and assured me that I deserved it.

I would be taking meticulous care of those dresses.

I checked my reflection in the mirror; my hair had gotten mussed during the night, my lips were swollen, and my face flushed. And the lingerie? The anticipation of Sam peeling it off me had moisture flooding my core. Yeah, I could get used to this.

I left my heels on and opened the door, finding Sam sitting on the edge of the bed, shirt off, pants unbuttoned.

As soon as he saw me, he rose to stand; his hands shook as he ran his fingers under the strap of the bra that barely contained my breasts as the corset pushed them up.

It had been too long since I fed Crew, and my engorged breasts were more full and larger than they usually were.

“I don’t know where to start, Kels.”

“That’s okay. Because I do.”