Nyla looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

“But, you said—”

“Yes, I know,” he cut in quickly. “I needed you to feel secure so you would let me help you. If I would have told you anything else, it would have been much harder to convince you of my sincerity. So, I told you about the pro bono thing.”

Andrew kept a sharp eye on her, waiting to be cussed out and shown the door for lying.

Instead, she just shook her head and asked him, “Then why? Why would you want to help me?”

He took a deep breath and said simply, “Because I wanted to, and I knew that I could. Because I didn’t like how you were being bullied. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that by Robert or Michaels. You’re a good person, Nyla. You needed someone to look out for you that day and that person was me.”

Nyla stared at him in disbelief; wondering if the sincerity she saw in his eyes was an act or if this guy was for real.

“Andrew, how could you have known that I was such a good person? You didn’t know anything about me at the time. Quiet as it’s kept, you still don’t know me fully. I mean, how could you form that kind of opinion?”

He shrugged. “I just did. You can’t hide that trait, Nyla. Sweetness is all over you.”

“Really? Did you feel that way knowing that I was a home wrecker?” Nyla quizzed skeptically.

She looked at him expectantly, as if she was waiting for him to react a certain way to her question. Consequently, Andrew wasn’t fazed at all. He met her gaze with an intensity of his own that silenced her uncertainty. He reached for her hand and laced his fingers with hers.

“When I first saw you, I had no idea of your connection to Robert. I only found out about you and him after I took your case, and it didn’t sway my decision to help you at all. My reason for wanting to help you was you. I didn’t like the way they ganged up on you. I didn’t like the fear that flooded your eyes when they walked into the diner that day. And I damn sure didn’t appreciate them making you cry. To be quite honest, I was two seconds away from ripping them into little pieces. The only reason why I didn’t was because of you.”

Andrew felt a wave of relief after his admission. However, he didn’t like the quiet that ensued. Unsure of what she was thinking, which was something he wasn’t used to, he waited for her to say something. When she didn’t, he brought the back of her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

He asked, “What are you thinking?”

Nyla blinked a few times and took a deep breath. She shook her head and smiled slightly answering soft and low, “That I’m glad you wanted to help. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Andrew moved his hand to the side of her warm cheek, cupping the back of her head with his fingers. He leaned into her, drawing her closer to him until his lips were only inches away from hers.

He glanced deeply into her red-rimmed eyes and said to her, his voice also but a whisper, “Anything for you.”

He kissed her sweetly, just wanting a bit of a taste. However, the moment she opened herself to him and he felt her tongue against his, he deepened the kiss. He was desperately trying to chase that euphoric ecstasy that had been driving him crazy all night. However, he realized quickly that the kiss wasn’t enough. He wanted her close. He needed to have her close. He leaned away from her placing his back against the couch, pulling her toward him by the back of her head.

Nyla moved with him, struggling to her knees. She bunched her dress up along her thighs. Andrew, his patience gone, gripped her by the sides of her hips, lifted her, and positioned her on his lap. His grasp tightened against her hip bone as she threaded her fingers in his hair. Her touch was everything to him. It calmed him and fueled him at the same time, and he was becoming addicted to the chaos that she created inside of him.

Their tongues continued to dance rhythmically together, savoring each other, satisfying a thirst that they both had been dying to quench. Her lips were soft, her stroke against his mouth was meaningful and filled with passion and desire that he wanted all to himself.

“Shit, baby, you feel so good,” he whispered against her swollen lips.

Her answer was a soft cry of ecstasy that coursed through him like molten fire. Andrew gripped her ass tight and slid her hips closer until she was flush up against him. Once he had her where he wanted her, he circled her hips into him, rubbing her sweet core against his throbbing erection. The motion he created with her hips was slow and penetrating, showing her just how bad he wanted her. Feeling the wetness against his trousers only fueled him to do it again.

Nyla gasped lightly, shivering from the friction he was producing. He moved her hips again and again, purposefully and determined. She cried out in ecstasy that seemed to charge him. His lips traveled hungrily along her throat, around her neck to just underneath her ear. He nibbled and sucked, feeling her body shutter in his hands. She whispered his name, and it sent him soaring.

Her hold tightened in his hair. Nyla glided her hips against him, taking over and searching for that sensation she yearned to feel. Her pace began to quicken and he could sense her getting close.

“Fuck, baby. I love to hear my name on your lips,” he admitted to her.

He squeezed her hips tighter and slowed her rhythm so he could glide hard and slow against her clit. “You’re close, aren’t you? Let go for me!” he demanded, his voice raspy and deep.

Nyla moaned her reply and buried her face between his neck and shoulders.

She kept moving, her core pulsing and building… pulsing and building...

“Oh, Drew!!” she cried out in a harsh whisper. She was almost there, almost…

“I can’t wait to slide into your hot, wet pussy, baby. Cum, Nyla. Cum for me.” The sound of Andrew’s pained yet commanding voice along with his strokes against her needy pussy, was bringing her closer and closer and...

Suddenly, she stopped moving.

It wasn’t because she had finally found her release. It just so happened that at that very moment, a shrill of a cry exploded throughout the apartment. They looked at each other, knowing the exact source of the cry, and closed their eyes. Andrew rested his forehead against hers, trying to slow his breathing. The crying continued and actually started to get louder. Nyla sighed and gave Andrew an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry, Drew. I better go and…” Her words trailed away softly. There was no way she could make this situation any better. She breathed out deeply, climbed off his lap, and headed to see about her daughter.

Andrew stayed where he was and ran his fingers through his hair. He tried his best to collect himself. He was acting like a teenager, as if this was his first time ever making out with a girl. But this woman… He couldn’t stop himself even if he tried. It was something that was trapping him, allowing him to finally admit to himself that he didn’t just want her. He wanted her. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply trying to ease his desires.

“See, there he is.”

When he heard her voice, he opened his eyes and found Nyla holding a very groggy Se’Nya.

He smiled and stood as Nyla approached him. Once she was within arm’s reach, Se'Nya reached out to him, and he took her in his arms without preamble.

He brought her to his chest. “What happened, princess?” he asked softly.

Se'Nya looked up at him and made a few noises as if she was telling him exactly what had awakened her. Nyla and Andrew chuckled and looked at each other.

This was what he had wanted with his wife, Mikaliah— a family. He wanted this type of connection and gratifying warmth. And this was what he had also been robbed of years ago.

Suddenly, Andrew felt the regret and anger starting to rise within him. He kissed Se'Nya on her cheek and tried to give her back to her mother before he became overwhelmed with grief. But Se'Nya wasn't having it. She gripped Andrew’s shirt tight in her little fists and started to get fussy again. Panicked, Andrew brought her back against him, and Se'Nya laid her head against his chest.

“I told you she was bossy,” Nyla said softly. “Let me get her a bottle, and I'll take her, if you want to go. I know it’s late, and you have your meeting and—”

“No, that’s okay,” Andrew replied quickly. “I'll hold her for a while.”

“Are you sure?”

Andrew sat back down on the couch. “Yes, of course. You can get her a bottle. If she lets me, I’ll feed her or hold her. Whatever she wants.”

Nyla stood there a fraction of a second, just watching Andrew rub Se’Nya’s back. He whispered to her softly, comforting her, and Nyla’s heart felt as if it was going to explode. Tears started to collect in her eyes, and she turned away quickly before they fell. Andrew didn’t know her or Se’Nya, but the tender way he treated them both melted her all the time.

Doing as Andrew asked, she escaped into the kitchen to make her daughter a bottle. It only took her a few minutes and when she got back to the couch, both Andrew and Se'Nya were asleep.

Nyla smiled at the pair admiringly, feeling that melting feeling all over again. She went to grab her phone to take a few pictures of the two of them before one woke up. After a few minutes and neither moved, she started to wake Andrew, but then thought better of it. He looked so peaceful, as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in forever. So instead, Nyla started cleaning up her kitchen and putting the leftover spaghetti away.

Putting her food away wouldn’t take long. However, Nyla took her time and cleaned her kitchen thoroughly. She also cleaned her bathroom and changed her sheets, not that she was expecting anything. But hell, a woman could dream. Once Nyla was done cleaning, she returned next to Andrew. She gaped at him for a long time, studying the angles of his face, the structure. He looked so serene and tranquil and so fucking gorgeous.

“Are you going to stare at me all night?”

Nyla jumped, startled slightly, before she smiled as Andrew opened his eyes and looked at her.

“I thought you were asleep.”

Andrew stretched slightly, keeping his hand firmly on Se'Nya's back.

“I was. Damn, it felt good too. Is she okay?” he asked, looking down at the baby in his arms. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“She’s good.” Nyla rubbed her daughter’s back and smiled. “She’s knocked out. Here, let me take her into the bedroom.”

Andrew reluctantly leaned over and Nyla reached underneath her baby’s arms and pulled her into her chest. Nyla was only gone a few minutes. When she returned, Andrew looked to have fallen back to sleep.

She shook him slightly and he snapped his eyes open startled.

“Shit,” he mumbled. “What did you put in that spaghetti?”

Nyla grinned and shook her head. “Why don’t you stay? You really seem tired.”

Andrew sighed and stretched. “I should be okay. Sorry, I’ve been a horrible date.”

“No, you’ve been wonderful, especially with Se'Nya a bit ago.”

Andrew sat up and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t want you to go,” she told him softly.

Andrew stopped in mid-rake, and stared at her, his eyes wide. Nyla, realizing what she’d just implied, started shaking her head emphatically. “Oh, no, I don’t mean… I’m saying that you seem really tired, and I would be going out of my mind if you tried to drive home sleepy. I’m suggesting that you to stay. You can sleep in my bed, if you like. I can sleep out here.”

“That’s sweet of you, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting you out like that. I’m good to drive.”

Nyla placed her hand on his forearm and squeezed. “You’re not putting me out. Seriously, Andrew, stay. Look, if it makes you feel any better, you can sleep here on the couch. It pulls out into a bed. It’s not the greatest, but you can stretch out. It’s like a futon, if you ever slept on one. Close your eyes for a bit and then leave in the morning. Okay?”

Nyla was trying her best to convince him to stay. She wasn’t trying to get a repeat of what had happened earlier. She truly wanted him to rest a bit. He looked exhausted.

Andrew studied Nyla and chuckled. “I look that tired, uh?”

Nyla nodded at him, smiling. “Yes, you do.”

“And I’m not putting you out?” he asked.

Nyla stood. “No, you’re not. Actually, I’ll sleep better knowing you’re not trying to drive.” She walked around the couch to her front door to double check the lock. She then walked back to the couch. “I have a new toothbrush from my recent dental visit that you can use. If you want to take a shower now, you can, or you can do it in the morning, whatever you wish. Let me get things ready for you.”

Andrew stood and smiled. “Thanks, Nyla.”

“No problem.”