Frayed Silk(56)

“Oh, shoot! I left it in the car.” He races off to get it.

“You got him that robot?” I look over at Taylor who shrugs, turning the coffee machine on and grabbing some mugs out of the cupboard.

“He wouldn’t stop talking about it, so it was the fastest way to get him to shut up about it, really.” She laughs.

Leo scowls at her. “Is that why you spoiled me as a child?”

She pats his cheek, smiling widely at him. “You always were a quick study, my dear boy.” He continues to scowl while I laugh. My mom takes my hand, leading Greta and me into the living room.

“How was Robert?” I take a seat next to Greta, who’s fiddling with her little ball of pink noise. My mom grins evilly. “Oh, my God. You should’ve seen how fast he ran away from Greta and that Furby.”

Leo takes a seat beside me. “Let me guess; he thought it was a sign of the apocalypse?”

My mom laughs, pointing at him. “How’d you guess?” She shakes her head. “Anyway, we’ll take them again next month for the weekend before Taylor drags me off to Australia. Most fun I’ve had in ages. It was even better than watching Taylor dance drunk on a cruise ship with a bunch of men half her age.”

I glance at Leo, who blanches at hearing that. Laughing, I pat his arm. “You’re going to Australia?” I ask.

My mom rolls her eyes as if traveling the world is such a chore. “Yes. Taylor wants to see that huge rock and a wombat.” Leo scrapes a hand over his stubble, trying to hide his smile.

“But you can see wombats here in the zoo,” Charlie informs Taylor who’s now bringing coffees into the room and placing them on the coffee table.

“It’s not the same.” She waves her hand at him. “You’ll see. I’ll take a video and send it to you.”

“You mean you’ll make me send it. And what on earth for? They don’t do anything. And finding one in the wild might just get your hand bitten off if you approach it.”

“Says who?” Taylor frowns. “They’re adorable, so cute and fat.”

I zone out, looking up at Leo who drapes an arm over my shoulder, melding me into his side. He shakes his head with a quiet laugh, kissing my head. And when I look over at Charlie, whose robot is lying on the couch next to him forgotten, he’s got a tiny smile on his face as he looks at us.





“I’ll try to get home a little earlier tonight, but I have a lot of work to catch up on that I was supposed to do over the weekend,” Leo says, doing up his tie behind me in the mirror.

Turning around, I smooth my hands over his lapels and adjust his tie for him. “Okay. We’ll be here.” I smile up into his face.

His hands trail up my arms to my neck, wrapping around the back of it and sinking into my hair. “Don’t bother making the bed.” He leans in to whisper the words to my mouth. I get dizzy, inhaling his cologne and the mint still on his breath from brushing his teeth.

“Why?” I murmur against his lips, my eyes fluttering closed.

His hands roam down my back, pressing me into his chest as his lips softly part mine with the barest hint of a touch. “Because as soon as the kids go to bed, we’re going to mess it up even worse than last night,” he whispers.

The memory of him fucking my mouth flashes behind my closed lids. The way he spread my legs wide afterward to take me hard and deep while making me hold the headboard as he tortured my breasts mercilessly has a shiver raking over me. Goose bumps cause the hair on my arms to rise. He chuckles, knowing exactly what he’s doing to me before finally taking my lips with his and kissing me slowly. His tongue touches but only teases mine before he’s pulling away and walking out of the room.

I finally open my eyes when I hear him saying goodbye to the kids downstairs. Snapping out of my daze, I turn back around to the mirror and throw my hair over my head to pull it all up into a messy bun. When I’m done, I grab my phone off the nightstand and head downstairs to finish getting the kids ready for school.

“Can I take my robot in for show and tell?” Charlie asks on the way out to the car.

I shake my head. “It’s not your show and tell day yet.” I put their bags in the back then hop inside to start the engine.

“I can do special news, though,” Charlie says as he opens his door.

“We’re going to be late if we don’t move it. Ask your teacher if you can bring it in for special news tomorrow.”

He sighs but climbs up into the car. Greta finally comes racing out into the garage, slamming the door closed behind her. I wind the window down. “Let’s move it, missy.”

She laughs, opening her door and getting in. I wait until they’ve both buckled their seat belts before backing out and closing the garage. Driving down our street, I hear, “Squeeze ma belly,” coming from the trunk. “Greta.” My head snaps around when I stop at the end of our street. “Did you put that pink furry thing in your bag?”

Charlie snickers at Greta, whose eyes are bugging out of her head. “Um, maybe?”

“Hand him over as soon as we get to school, okay?” I turn around, flicking my turn signal on and heading toward the school.

“It’s not a he; it’s a she.”

Charlie snorts. “It’s a weird, noisy ball of fur.”