Page 16 of Tortured Whispers

“Hey, Kiddo Ant is still at work and I have to go finish signing the closing papers on my house. You wanna go with me?” Cease stood at my bedroom door and I let my eyes travel shamelessly up his tall, muscular body.

Today he was dressed like he was going to the office. He wore gray slacks that hugged him flawlessly and a crisp white shirt. My breath clogged my throat on the way out when my stare lingered on the patch of skin exposed by the three open buttons at his throat.

Did he have to smell so warm and rich? It made my heart thump far too fast. Sometimes when I was tucked beneath his arm on the couch, his scent made me dizzy. Not in a bad way though.

“Yeah. I’ll go. Do we get to see the house?” I didn’t have time to put my hair in a ponytail because Cease was looking at his watch and I felt the need to hurry.

“I’ll take you to see it,” he promised. He looked at my hair and said, “Leave it down. I like it.” His eyes narrowed a bit with a smile that never quite met his lips. Heat rushed through my core making my belly clench. I placed my hand there subconsciously.

“Thanks,” I tried not to smile too hard but the urge vibrated through me, pushing my cheeks up and curving my lips. ”Um, your keys are in Daddy’s woom. He moved your car out of the dwiveway.” I moved past Cease and headed down the hall to Dad’s room.

Even though I was pronouncing words with R’s in them better, it still made my palms tingle when I said things wrong in front of Cease. He would never judge me but I judged myself and I was harsh.

“Thanks, Brook,” he said warmly. As I moved past, we locked pinkies then he gave my hand a squeeze.

When I walked into my father’s room I tucked my hair behind my ear and brought the heel of my hand to my lips. I sucked on my sleeve as I moved things around on Dad’s dresser looking for Cease’s keys. I knocked over a few medicine bottles and frowned, picking one up. I curled my fingers around the brown bottle and read the name of the medicine.