Chapter Eleven
“Mommy, you look so pretty!”
Katie smiled at her daughter, who was looking up at her with wide eyes filled with little-girl wonder. “Thank you, sweetie pie,” she said as she put on a pair of dangling crystal-cut earrings.
As Katie looked in her dresser mirror, she had to admit that she did look pretty . . . and sexy. Since having Val, she’d never had a reason to own a little black dress, or anything fancier than a casual one. So, when Connor had insisted on taking her out to a nice dinner to celebrate the new contract she’d just signed to handle all the logos and branding for a chain of restaurants, she’d gone out and splurged on herself.
The dress was formfitting to her curves and long-sleeved since the evenings were getting much cooler as they headed into fall. But it was the deep vee neckline that had sold Katie, because it showcased her breasts in a subtle but eye-catching way . . . which meant she’d also had to buy a new, lacy push-up bra and matching panties. Her strappy heels had a sparkle of rhinestones, and she’d given her hair some extra volume and gone with a soft, charcoal eye shadow to accentuate her eyes.
“Where are you going?” Val asked as she climbed up onto Katie’s bed.
“Out to dinner.” After pulling out the tube of pale pink lipstick she’d bought at the department store, Katie smoothed a layer on her lips.
“With Daddy?”
Katie smiled at her daughter in the mirror as she spritzed on a light mist of perfume. “Yes.”
“Can I come with you?” she asked hopefully.
“No, honey, it’s for adults only.” It was also the first time in the six weeks that they’d been in this arrangement that she and Connor had gone out together without Val. “Melissa is coming over to watch you for a few hours and to put you to bed, so be good for her, okay?” Katie said of the college-aged girl who lived across the street that she and Leah used occasionally for babysitting.
Val gave a little pout. “Okay.”
“Hey, tomorrow is Monday and you’ve got school in the morning, so you need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”
The doorbell rang and Val’s sullen mood instantly transformed into excitement. “Daddy!” she shouted as she scrambled off the bed and ran to the front room, even though she knew she couldn’t open the door until Katie got there.
Katie was about ten seconds behind her daughter, and she couldn’t deny that she felt a little nervous about Connor’s reaction when he saw her, when all he’d ever seen her in was mom clothes. “Did you ask who it is?”
“Yes, and it’s Daddy,” Val said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “I told you so.”
Katie checked the peephole just to be sure and felt a dozen flutters in her stomach when she saw his gorgeous face and those stunning blue eyes staring back at her. She would have thought after all these weeks that the giddiness would subside, just like it always had in the past with other men, but it was still alive and strong.
“Okay, you can open the door.”
Val flung the door wide and literally jumped up into Connor’s arms, which he was totally ready for since that’s how the little girl always greeted him. One strong arm bolstered her up by the bottom as Val gave him a big hug. Seeing her daughter’s enthusiastic reaction to Connor never got old, either.
“How’s my girl?” he asked, his focus and attention one hundred percent on Val as he walked into the house with her still in his arms.
“I’m good!” she said in an animated voice, and then she frowned. “But I missed you today.”
Usually on Sundays Connor spent at least the afternoon with Val, but he’d called that morning to tell the little girl that he had some things he needed to take care of. Val had moped around for the better part of the day because her attachment to Connor had grown that strong.
“I know. I missed you, too, princess,” Connor said as he set her down on her feet. “But I promise to come by for dinner tomorrow night, and we can play Candyland, okay?”
“Okay,” Val said, then tugged on his hand. “Doesn’t Mommy look pretty?”
Connor had been so focused on Val that he hadn’t seen her yet. But he looked now, and by the time his dark, smoldering gaze had traveled down her body, then back up again to her warm, blushing face, Katie felt the need to fan herself.
“Wow, you look . . . ” fucking hot, he mouthed to her in deference to his daughter’s little ears. “Amazing.”
She laughed at that last polite word, realizing she much preferred the dirty ones better. “Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself, Mr. Prescott.”
He was wearing a pair of black slacks, a plum-colored shirt, and a black overcoat that made his shoulders look broader and his chest wider. She could have easily used the same fucking hot description for him, too.
Katie pulled her phone from her small purse. “Let me give Melissa a call to let her know you’re here, and as soon as she arrives, we can leave for our . . . ” She’d almost said date, but this wasn’t a date and she certainly didn’t want to define it as one.
“Celebratory dinner?” he offered, his voice as direct as his gaze, as if he knew what had just passed through her mind and was catering to it.
“Yeah,” she said, and turned around as she put the phone to her ear as it began to ring, so she didn’t have to look him in the eyes, because those deep, endless blue eyes . . . they made her weak, and the man himself made her want things she knew better than to wish for or count on.
Melissa picked up after several rings, and Katie said, “We’re ready to go.”
The girl promised to be right over, and when Katie glanced back at Connor, she was relieved to find his attention on Val. She had to admit, things were good right now with Connor. Very status quo. She liked their uncomplicated routine, as well as the fact that she knew what to expect on a day-to-day basis. Regular visits from Connor, dinners together, him now mowing her lawn, watching him bond with Val, and at night . . . well, there was nothing routine about the way he fucked her. Connor definitely wasn’t strictly a missionary kind of man, though even when he was, he always managed to make her feel completely and utterly consumed by him.
Everything outside of the bedroom felt balanced and calm and predictable, just the way she preferred it. She was being practical about the arrangement, and about her affair with Connor. She tried her best not to have any expectations other than what they’d already established, knowing it was the easiest way to avoid heartbreak when all the shiny newness wore off and Connor moved on.
Melissa arrived, and after giving Val a kiss, Katie headed out the door and down the walkway, with Connor beside her, his hand resting low on her back. She glanced out to the curb, startled to find a brand-new SUV parked there instead of his utility truck.
“Is that yours?” she asked.
“Yep. That’s where I was today, at the dealership buying a car that’s going to be much easier to put Val’s car seat in.” He hit the remote and the locks disengaged so he could open the passenger-side door for her. “Thought it would be fun for us to take it for a test spin tonight.”
She slid into the leather seat, impressed by the brand-new, no-expense-spared vehicle. He’d never had to take Val out by himself, because right now they did everything together, but she knew that time would come and she was glad he was thinking ahead.
She had no idea where he’d planned on taking her, and she had to admit that she was impressed when they ended up on the fortieth floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange building and had reservations at the exclusive Everest restaurant. Connor had managed to secure a window seat, and the view of Chicago’s skyline at night was breathtaking.
He chose a bottle of expensive champagne, and after they ordered their meals, he toasted to her new contract. They talked about his work and the projects he was currently working on, and how Wes and his other partner, Max, were dealing with the fact that they’d recently become fathers. She, Val, and Connor had gone to Wes and Natalie’s a few days after the birth of their baby boy, Dylan, so Val could meet her new cousin.
Katie had brought a gift, and when Natalie had insisted that she hold the baby while she opened the present, Katie had been overwhelmed with emotion as she remembered those early days with Val, when she was little and cuddly and so precious. But seeing little Dylan in Connor’s big, strong arms had brought a pang to Katie’s heart, as did the sweet way Val talked to the baby and gently touched his tiny fingers and hand.
“It cracks me up how bleary-eyed both Wes and Max look when they come into the office in the morning because of their babies being up at all hours of the night,” Connor said in amusement. “And soon, Kyle is going to be in the same position when Ella has her baby.”
“It’s definitely an adjustment,” Katie said as she finished her second glass of champagne, then looked at Connor seated across from her, their only lighting coming from the candle on their table. He might have told her it was a celebratory dinner, but the whole atmosphere was undeniably romantic and intimate . . . like a date.
He was smiling at her, looking relaxed and so handsome, and she just wanted to enjoy the night and not overthink things. They’d already eaten a delicious dinner, and they’d both declined dessert, and once the waiter cleared their dishes away, Connor poured the last of the champagne into her glass for her to finish.
She raised a brow at him. “Are you trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me?” she teased.
“Are you?” he asked with a light, husky laugh that made her breasts ache and her nipples grow tight. “Getting drunk?”
“No.” She licked the taste of the champagne from her bottom lip, nearly groaning when his gaze zeroed in on her mouth. “I just feel good, though I certainly drank most of that bottle.”
“I’m good to drive, so enjoy it. Tonight is all about you, because you deserve to be spoiled.” Then he gave her a wicked grin that made her shift restlessly in her chair. “And if you think that this dinner was amazing, wait until we get home and have dessert. I can’t wait to eat mine,” he murmured meaningfully.
The sexual innuendo in his words had heat and lust and so much need swirling through her. “I think I’m ready to go and have dessert now.”
“Me, too,” he said, just as anxiously.
He paid the bill, and fifteen minutes later, they were in his SUV and heading back to her house for dessert.
* * *
The sexual tension and heightened desire filling the close confines of the vehicle were nearly tangible on the ride to Katie’s. Every time Connor inhaled, he caught the fragrance of her perfume . . . and the richer scent of her arousal, and it didn’t help matters that she kept shifting in her seat and rubbing her legs restlessly together.
He honest to God didn’t mean for their evening to take such a quick leap to sexy times, but he supposed it was his own fault for making the suggestive comment about dessert. He always wanted Katie, that was a given, but tonight was supposed to be about wining and dining her, and romance, and them as a couple—despite her attempts at keeping their outing as a celebratory dinner, rather than considering it the date he’d intended it to be.
After six weeks of being in her life, he was no longer satisfied with pretending they weren’t a couple during the day, then having hot, mind-blowing sex at night—only for him to go home afterwards instead of staying until morning like two normal, consenting adults would agree to. Her excuse was always Val . . . but that’s all it was. Just an excuse to protect her emotions, not her daughter’s.
He was beyond ready to take that next step with Katie, the one that enabled them to build what they currently had into something deeper and infinitely more stable. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, they were already in a relationship . . . but now he wanted the commitment to go with it, along with the freedom to be openly affectionate with her and not have to hold back on PDAs in front of Val, or anyone else for that matter. He’d done everything possible to prove that he was a man she could rely on, that being a father to Val was his first priority, and that he was the kind of guy who wanted the whole package . . . with her and Val.
Tonight, he intended to tell Katie how he felt about her. He knew she cared about him. Hell, he’d like to believe she was even falling in love with him. But now knowing about her family history, and the men who had come before him, he had a feeling that finding a way past her walls and defenses was going to be like attempting to tear down the Berlin Wall. Difficult, with a whole lot of resistance.
But he was willing to try, because Katie was worth it.
“Are we almost there yet?” she asked in a low, sultry voice that made him grin, because it matched their daughter’s impatience when they were going places.
He glanced at her, groaning at the way she was biting her lower lip, and watching as her fingers trailed down the perfect vee of her neckline that teased him with the plump curves of her breasts. “Soon,” he said through gritted teeth.
He returned his gaze to the road, maintaining a tight grip on the steering wheel to try and keep his hands to himself until they were alone in her bedroom, but when she reached out and grabbed his hand, then brought it over to her side and placed it very high on her thigh, his good behavior evaporated.
Connor didn’t know if it was the champagne that was making her so brazen, but did it really matter when he was more than willing to indulge her in whatever game she was playing? When she guided his flattened palm beneath the hem of her dress, then all the way up to that sweet spot between her legs, it was all he could do to concentrate on the drive home. She pressed his fingers against her sex and rubbed them along the soft, swollen flesh he could feel through her soaked panties.
She shuddered when he came in contact with her clit and massaged a little harder, a little faster, through the wet silk. “Connor,” she panted as her head fell back against the seat, her legs open wide and her hips pushing shamelessly against his fingers as he played with her.
“Don’t stop . . . please don’t stop,” she begged.
Somehow, when they arrived at her place, he managed to maneuver the car to the curb, but he had no choice but to retrieve his hand to shut off the engine. As soon as he severed contact, she made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat, clearly a little miffed that he’d brought her to the edge but hadn’t pushed her all the way over the peak.
“That was cruel,” she complained with a sultry pout. “I was so close.”
He gave her a hot, seductive smile. “You’re not coming until I’m buried so deep inside of you all I can feel is you wrapped completely around my cock.” Until she felt every part of him become a part of her . . . heart, body, and soul.
She released a soft moan. “Then let’s hurry, because I want that, too.”
His dick was throbbing inside his pants, totally on board with her suggestion, but as he looked into those big brown eyes, he realized that he wanted tonight to be different. That instead of a fast, hard fuck, he wanted to make love to Katie . . . with her knowing exactly how he felt about her.
He reached out and tenderly feathered the backs of his fingers along her warm cheek—a touch that was deliberately intimate but not sexual. “Katie . . . there’s something I need to tell you,” he said, and immediately saw a flash of uncertainty eclipse the desire in her gaze, because she was smart enough to guess what he wanted to say.
And she wasn’t ready to hear it, because she hastily shook her head in denial. “I don’t want to talk right now, Connor,” she said, her voice holding a desperate quality to it. “Please.”
He debated whether or not to say the words anyway, to get them out in the open, where they belonged, but with Katie suddenly in fight-or-flight mode, he decided it wasn’t a discussion he wanted to have in his car. That it would be better to have inside the house once the babysitter was gone.
He didn’t say anything more as they both got out of the vehicle and he walked with her up to the front porch. Once inside the house, Melissa assured them that Val had been great and was sound asleep in bed. Connor paid the young girl generously, then walked her outside and made sure she made it to her place across the street safely, before returning to Katie, who was waiting for him in the living room.
As soon as he closed and locked the front door, she was pushing him a few steps back while shoving his jacket off his shoulders, her mouth open and hot on his. No, she clearly did not want to talk, and was using sex as a diversion.
Somehow, he found himself backed up against the nearest wall, her hands working frantically to unbuckle his belt to free his thick, aching cock. Passion and lust had never been an issue for them, but there was a palpable urgency to her seduction that had never been there before, and the fact that she was ready and willing to strip him naked where Val might catch them told him how intent she was on avoiding any conversation.
As her fingers curled around his cock and she began stroking him in a tight fist, Connor realized he had two choices. Let this continue where it was heading, toward a fast, mindless fuck so she didn’t have to think, or take control of the situation and make love to her on his terms, not hers. He opted for the latter, because one way or another, this night was going to end with Katie knowing exactly how he felt about her—and with him in charge.
He pulled his mouth from hers, and she made a small sound of distress in the back of her throat as he ended the kiss. “We need to take this into the bedroom,” he said huskily, and her gaze cleared just enough to give him a nod of understanding.
He led the way, and as soon as the door was closed behind them, they were stripping out of their clothes. As he watched, her dress fell to the floor, and lust seared through him when he saw what she wore beneath . . . tiny black lace panties and a matching bra that pushed her breasts up like an offering. Normally, he’d take the time to slowly strip away the sexy lingerie and savor everything it revealed, but she didn’t want slow and seductive, as was evident in the way she was already unhooking her bra, then shoving her underwear down her legs.
Completely naked, she laid back on the bed, and he was right behind her, his clothes strewn on the ground as he rolled on a condom and joined her. Without any preliminaries, because he’d already felt how ready she was for him out in the car, he entered her in one fluid thrust that had her moaning in extreme pleasure. Eyes closed, she arched her back, wound her legs around his waist, and grabbed at his ass, urging him to take her harder, faster, deeper.
He deliberately did the opposite and slowed down, grinding against her clit every time he pushed into her with just enough control to keep her on the edge. She writhed eagerly beneath him, desperately trying to quicken his pace, but he pinned her body more securely to the bed, restricting her movements until he was ready to let her come.
Her lashes fluttered back open, her dark, sultry eyes searching his. “I need you, Connor . . . please,” she whispered, so much passion in her voice.
With his forearms braced on the bed beside her, he buried his hands into her hair, tangling it around his fingers and forcing her head back so her gaze remained locked on his. “I want more than your need,” he said, his tone rough around the edges. “I want your love, Katie.”
Panic flared across her expression, and she tried to shake her head in denial. “Connor . . . ”
“I love you,” he told her before she could refute his claim. “I just wanted and needed you to know that.”
Her eyes were wide, and knowing she needed time to process his declaration, he drove back into her, finally allowing her body the pleasure it sought and giving her mind something else to focus on. Another demanding thrust, and she moaned at the depth and fullness of his shaft impaling her to the hilt. Again and again, he claimed her, until she started to climax and took him along for the overwhelmingly intense ride.
Over the next few hours, he didn’t give her time to think or obsess or worry about the words he’d spoken to her. Instead, he showed her how much he cared and how much she meant to him, in the way he thoroughly worshiped her body, until she was so exhausted she fell into a deep sleep in his arms.
He held her close, knowing he’d have to leave soon, and told himself that tomorrow would be soon enough to figure out where to go from here.