Soft music and warm sunlight filtered into the bedroom. I kept my eyes shut while my mind did a recap of last night. In spite of wanting to appreciate all that happened—the wine, the easy conversation, the dancing—I struggled with it.
Easton did everything right in making me feel like the desired woman I had wanted to be, but it didn’t matter, the urgency to flee still came at me full force.
Lying there, I tried talking myself off the ledge and pulled the sheet to my chest. Then I smiled at how deliciously sore my muscles were. But as I put more thought into it, I couldn’t quite decide how I felt about the bigger picture, or the hard truth that I had slept with another man.
“Lord, please have mercy on my heart.” I stared at the ceiling. “You said I should move on,” I quietly argued, thinking about Tyler’s letter. In the light of day I let the guilt settle in—again.
As hard as this was, Easton awakened something inside me. Convincing me he was real and tangible and would be a good place to land if I needed somewhere to fall.
After last night and how understanding he had been, I decided I needed to try my best to see where this went. We might hit it off or we would take flight and crash and burn. If it was the latter, I wouldn’t be any worse off than when I started. Or at least, I hoped I wouldn’t be.
I threw the sheet off and sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes searching the room for my clothes, aside from my bra and panties I had on, they were nowhere to be seen. Summoning the bold Lilly I had tucked away somewhere, I stood, held my chin high, and walked out of the room.
Nearing the living room, I could hear the tension in Easton’s voice while he spoke to someone, who I assumed was on the phone. I slacked, giving him a minute, trying not to eavesdrop but that proved to be impossible.
“I’m pretty sure you made up your mind when you said you weren’t leaving New York.” He huffed. “Look, it’s done—we’re done.” He waited a few seconds then hung up. I was a bit surprised by his brash tone. Easton had been nothing but kind to me, then again everyone had a boiling point.
Seconds later, his phone rang and when he answered it, the smile was present in his voice. “What’s up, dude?” He paused, listening to the person on the other end of the line. “That’s cool, but it sounds tricky, not to mention crazy dangerous.” He paused again. “What does Dad have to say about it?” When he dropped into silence again, I took a step forward so I could see him. Easton stood in his kitchen, shirtless flaunting his hard chest and torso, his hair a sexy mess eliciting a heady feeling in me. His tattoos on full display were an added bonus.
“Well, make sure you’re careful . . . yeah, I know you are . . . All right, you practice and I’ll see what I can do . . . tell Mom I said I love her and I’ll call soon . . . talk to you later, bye.” He hung up and then turned to me.
“Good morning, Sunshine.” Easton’s eyes trailed the length of my body, and a slow, appreciative grin curled at the corner of his mouth. That smile could brighten any day, good or bad.
“Good morning to you.” I pointed to his phone. “Your brother?” He nodded. “For some reason, I didn’t think you called your stepfather dad.”
“I usually don’t, but when I do, it’s for Kipp’s benefit. I never liked saying your dad. It sounds too impersonal, and that was never a line I wanted separating me from my brother or sisters.”
“He’s lucky—they’re all lucky to have you.” Easton nodded in thanks, and his smile grew wider as his eyes continued to take in my almost naked body.
I wanted to laugh. He was trying to be so casual about it when his reaction was anything but. Feeling bold and sexy, I playfully sassed, “Care to tell me where my clothes might be?”
“There’s a shirt right there you can use.” He gestured his chin toward the barstool where a T-shirt hung off the back. “Or you could stay like that. No complaints from me.” I nodded, taking his sexy smirk into consideration.
I pushed off the wall and made my way toward him with thoughts of foregoing the shirt all together. Taunting him and parading around his home half-naked sounded like a better idea, but a strange bout of nerves had me deciding against it.
I grabbed the shirt and pulled it over my head. Soon after the cotton touched my nose, I did a quick inhale of his lingering scent. There was something to be said about a man that smelled like musk and the clean scent of soap that made my insides rev to life. I moved around the island and into the kitchen to stand beside him.
“What have you got here?” I asked and he pulled me in closer. Being cuddled in his strong arms caused my heart to balloon in my chest.
“Breakfast, are you hungry?”
“Um-hmm.” My mouth watered, appreciating him as he stood there in nothing but his boxers, and suddenly I felt overdressed. I placed my palms flat on his hard stomach, gliding them upward over his smooth chest and locking my fingers together at the base of his neck. Our eyes connected, and I held my gaze with his, smiling up at the gorgeous man in my arms.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” he repeated softly before slowly leaning in and pressing his lips to mine. The faint taste of mint on his tongue mixed with the distinct taste of him was intoxicating. Our tongues swirled wildly, and I was beginning to love the contrast of hard and soft that Easton possessed. He knew how to push and when to pull, making me dizzy with an onslaught of emotions.
When I was about to tip over the line of dragging him back to the bedroom, I pulled away and pressed my forehead to his, saying, “About last night . . .”
Easton’s body tensed, and I felt the deep rise and fall of his chest.
The tension expanded, creating a wedge in the tight space between us. He slid a finger under my chin and warned, “If you’re going to tell me you made a mistake—don’t.” He stared at me with hard-pressed eyes, no longer the warm color of honey, and my heart tumbled to the floor. “You cannot—” He swallowed hard. “For one second think what happened last night was a mistake.” I stood still, confused as heck as to the change in mood and conversation. “How? After everything—”
I cut him off. “Excuse me?” I tried to step away, but he wouldn’t allow it. “Why would you say that?”
“If you just heard yourself sounding like the bearer of bad news, you would probably be asking me the same thing.” The muscle in his neck twitched. He cocked his head to the side and challenged me with his eyes to tell him otherwise.
“Easton.” I sighed. “I was trying to . . . what I want to say.” I swallowed a gulp of air. “Is that I like you,” I finally admitted sheepishly.
His pursed lips gradually tilted upward. “Keep talking.” His left eyebrow rose playfully.
“You’re crazy.”
“Sometimes, yes, but I’m quickly finding that it’s you who makes me all these different kinds of crazy.” He hoisted me by the waist and set me on the counter, coming to stand between my open thighs. I locked my legs around his firm butt, pulling him to me so he was pressed tightly against me.
“Thank you for last night and for being patient with me.” I raked my fingers through his hair, getting lost in his warm eyes. He caressed my thighs as his hands inched higher, setting off the swarm of butterflies in my belly and my heart pitter-pattered.
“Go on.” A mischievous smile crept over his perfect lips.
“What I’m trying to say is that I like you a lot and was thinking, maybe we should give us a chance.” The words made it out of my mouth before I had a real chance to think about them and the what-ifs hit me. But it was the way his eyes brightened with excitement that I pushed away my unease.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Good.” His hands traveled higher and under the hem of the shirt. “There’s something here, Lilly, and I know you feel it, too.” His fingers migrated north.
“Easton,” I mewled and licked my lips, sparks igniting in the wake of his touch.
“Sunshine.” His thumbs skimmed the edges of my lace panties. My head fell back, and his lips latched onto my neck. Sparks exploded through me, prickling every inch of my skin, making my body drip with need. “There are a few things we should discuss first,” he breathed against my neck before sucking at the hollow of my throat.
“I agree,” I moaned.
Rubbing my clit with his thumb, he dragged his lips upward along my jawline before finding my mouth. My skin burned hot, and the thumping of my pulse echoed in my ears as I slipped the shirt off my body.
“I don’t share.” The sternness in his voice made his statement very clear.
“I don’t, either,” I conceded.
His hands moved quickly, yanking each hook from my bra. Desperation toyed with the better of me, wanting me to beg and plead with him to hurry it up. I planted my feet at the base of his hips and slid his boxers down his thighs, revealing his erect cock. A buzzing feeling resonated deep within me, humming in anticipation. I reached between our bodies, wanting to hold him between my palms and stroke his pleasure out of him.
He took a step back and out of his boxers mumbling, “Forget breakfast,” before his lips found the column of my throat again. “I need you more.” His voice was hoarse as he secured his arms around my waist, lifting me from the counter and heading in the direction of his bedroom, where he breathed into my mouth, “Move your panties to the side.”
“You were incredible.” I ran the back of my knuckle down the side of her face, admiring the glow on her cheeks and twinkle in her eyes. She was absolutely stunning.
We had been in my bed for well over an hour, pleasuring each other and getting to know one another on a more intimate level. I had a mountain of things to do today, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get out of bed. Not if it meant having to spend the day without her. I could go for another hour or two of being tangled up and compromised under the sheets.
“You aren’t so bad yourself.” She peered up at me, and her smile hit me square in the chest.
When I moved a year and a half ago, I had no intention of looking for companionship. I closed that part of me off for a while in hopes of getting my head on straight. My intentions were strictly to help my grandmother. Keep a straight line, concentrate on work, and detoxing my mind and heart from my last failed relationship.
But in a short amount of time, Lilly unexpectedly and effortlessly made her way into my life and my heart. Regardless, if I wasn’t looking for anything serious—I took relationships seriously.
I was a man who knew what he wanted, and I wanted Lilly.
“You make me crazy when you’re around me, you know that? I just want to rip your clothes off and stay buried deep inside you.” Running the tip of my finger along her bottom lip, I trailed my finger over the curve of her shoulder, down the length of her arm, where goose bumps broke out and she shivered. Moving along, trailing the swell of her breast, I brushed my thumb over her taut nipple. Nowhere recovered from earlier, let alone ready to make good on my taunting, I still couldn’t keep my hands off her.
“Easton, we should talk.”
Normally, those words would scare the shit out of a man, but not an ounce of fear plagued me when she said them.
“We should,” I agreed and slid my hand behind her neck, bringing her lips closer to mine. “Maybe you should put a shirt on first. I don’t think I can talk or stop touching you with your beautiful body on display.” I kissed her slow and sweet before I hopped out of bed to grab a shirt. I pulled a pair of boxer briefs from the top drawer and put them on before sliding back into bed beside her.
“Last night. . .” she trailed off with a faraway look in her eyes. “You said it’s been a while for you. Why? I mean. . .”
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered.” I grinned, teasing her.
“Why has it been a while for you?”
“What if I said I was waiting for you?” I joked, trying to deflect, knowing good and well she wouldn’t buy it.
“Shut up. You know that isn’t true.”
I laughed. “It was worth a try.” I kissed her cheek. “I had a girlfriend before I left New York. She had a choice, her new job or me. When she chose not to move, we agreed it was best if we broke it off.”
“Was it serious?”
“Somewhat.”
“A job doesn’t sound like a good enough reason to end a relationship, at least not in my opinion.”
“She’s a city girl. She would have been miserable here.”
Lilly nodded, understanding. I thought she would have left it at that, but of course, she had more to ask.
“How long were you two together?”
“Four years.”
“And you never asked her to marry you?”
The tone she took and the way she went over my answer with a fine-tooth comb felt accusatory, as if she were making me out to be somebody I wasn’t. Toward the end, Sierra and I just didn’t work. She chose her life of glitz and glamour, knowing that wasn’t something I wanted. Thinking back, it was clear that my moving was just an excuse for an easy break for the both of us.
“Not every relationship ends in marriage, Sunshine.”
Sierra was a high-class fashion model and would have been bored in a small town like Savannah. If the choice presented itself five or ten years earlier, we might have stood a chance, but if she had come with me when I moved, she would have lasted a week tops before she had her bags packed and was on the first flight back to New York.
“Right!” She scooted out of my arms.
Kicking off the sheet, Lilly moved to sit on the edge of the bed, but I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her back into me. Leaving our little bubble wasn’t an option—not yet.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I spoke low and pressed a lingering kiss to her shoulder. “You’re reading this all wrong,” I whispered close to her ear. Needing her to feel just how wrong she was.
Looking over her shoulder she argued, “And how do you figure that?”
“Sierra never wanted a husband like me.”
“So, she just stayed with you for four years for no reason? And what the heck is that supposed to mean anyway? ‘A husband like you’?” She turned to face me with a pretty scowl on her face. She was almost as hot angry as she was when she smiled.
“Why are you talking about another woman while we’re in bed? After I pleasured your body . . .” In one swift movement, I positioned myself between her thighs and braced myself above her. Grinning at the sour look on her face, I teased, “You’re so pretty when you’re pouting.”
“I am not pouting, you big jerk.” She bit back a smile as she tried to push me off. I lowered my lips to her ear and blew a soft breath.
“You feel that?” Grinding my cock against her warmth, she let out a soft moan, which had me pushing harder into her. “You feel me? This is what you do to me.”
“Hmm . . .” She snaked her arms around my waist. “Why wouldn’t she want a man like you, Easton?” I ground harder. If I pushed my boxers down, I could easily slide into her and make her forget all of this nonsense talk. “You’re kind and patient.” She pressed a warm kiss against the tattoo on my chest. “And sexy.” She gently raked her nails from my nape down the center of my back before bringing her hands around to the front. “So sexy.” She stopped at the trail of hair that disappeared below my waistband.
Sex with Lilly was nothing like I’d ever experienced. These feelings were foreign and new to me. Her touch alone caused a wave of heat to blaze through me, charring every inch of my control. I reached into the waistband and pulled my hard cock out and teased her entrance. Just as I submerged myself into her warmth, a loud knock came from the front door.
“Shit!” I pressed my forehead to hers and waited, taking in a deep breath.
“Easton,” Aunt Millie called before knocking a little harder.
With a side-glance, I looked at the alarm clock and couldn’t believe it was already past ten. Turning away from Lilly, I yelled and my voice cracked. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Okay, take your time.”
Sucking in a deep breath, trying to ease my throbbing cock down, Lilly laughed. This was most definitely no laughing matter, but the sound alone warmed me.
“Oh, so you think this is funny, huh?” I ground into her again, only to end up throwing myself to the side. “Dammit.” I chuckled, slightly irritated with the thought that my aunt was waiting on me.
“It’s okay, lover boy. There’s always next time.”
“Damn right there’s next time.” I pulled her in for one last kiss.
“I should get going anyway.”
I wasn’t ready for her to leave just yet. “What are your plans for the day?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I think I’ll stop by the salon and see what my sister is up to.” Lilly sat up and looked back at me. “Do you mind if I take a shower?”
“Not at all. Towels and everything else you might need are in the bathroom. Help yourself.”
“Thank you.” She got up, and with a big sneaky grin, she pulled my shirt off, revealing her beautiful naked body. Then tossed it at me, hitting me square in the face.