Page 85 of This Kind of Forever

She laughs. “Thanks. I’ll take care of him.”

Clara and Delilah both shrug on their jackets, and then Clara kisses her brother’s cheek before they slip out to Delilah’s car. Gabe has one hand on the door. As soon as her Audi starts backing out of the driveway, he presses it closed.

Then his gaze settles on me, and I know I’m in big trouble.

THIRTY

GABE

Hallie immediately starts backing awayfrom me. I’m not about to let her get far, though. Not after the way she’s been teasing me tonight.

“Where are you going, Foster?”

Her cheeks are flushed. They have been since I walked in the door and set eyes on her. Clearly, I’m not the only one affected by our texts.

“Just, um—” She swallows nervously, but there’s also something else in her expression. A heady kind of anticipation. “Going to bed.”

I flip the lock on the front door and then take a step toward her. She takes another back, inching closer to the staircase.

“Did you have fun tonight?” I ask.

“Mhm,” she hums. “Lots.”

“Good,” I say. I slip out of my coat and hang it on a hook on the wall. “I’m glad.” And I am. She deserves everything good in life, and having friends like Delilah and my sister is part of that.

Hallie glances over her shoulder, gauging the distance to the stairs, then back at me. “Did you have fun tonight?”

I nod. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Luke falling asleep while putting Sophia to bed gave me plenty of time to let my imagination wander. Fuelled by Hallie’s messages, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about everything I planned to do to her when I got home.

Another step forward. Another step back.

“What’s the matter, baby? Scared I’m going to make good on my promises?”

She shakes her head. “Not scared. I’m counting on it, actually.”

Then she spins around and makes a beeline for the stairs. I’m faster, though, and just as her foot makes contact with the first step, my arm snakes around her middle. She lets out a sound of surprise, but her body melts in my hold.

Pulling her back flush against my chest, I lean down by her ear and say, “You should know better than to run by now. You’re mine, Foster, and I have no intention of letting you go.”

A shiver travels down her spine.

I press a kiss to her pulse, and then I spin her around. Backing her against the nearest wall, I relish the small gasp that leaves her. The way lust clouds her irises as my thigh wedges hers apart.

Grabbing her left hand, I bring it up to my lips and place a kiss on her fourth finger. The exact place she wears that fake ring. She doesn’t have it on tonight—no need to pretend in front of Clara and Delilah.

Butfuck, how I wish it was real.

Hallie’s pupils dilate as she watches me. I kiss her knuckle a second time, then guide her hand to the back of my neck. Instantly, she threads her fingers through the hair at my nape.

With one hand braced on the wall beside her head, the other takes her chin, tilting it. And then I close the distance between us, claiming her lips. She sighs at the contact, opening for mewithout hesitation. My tongue sweeps inside her mouth, and I savour her taste. A hint of sweet wine and something uniquely her.

I’ve kissed her countless times since the wedding. I have her in my bed every night. But each time, my first instinct is to hold on as tight as I can, because I never quite know when she’s going to decide to leave again.

“Is this the part where you show me?” she asks when my lips hit her neck.

I pinch her side lightly. “You are trouble.”