Just for Now (Sea Breeze #4)(42)

“I woke up early,” she replied.

“I missed getting to see you all rumpled from sleep, touching you while that sexy, sleepy haze was still in your eyes.” I slipped my hand up her thigh and easily cupped her almost bare butt, thanks to the barely there panties she was wearing. “Manda.”

“Yeah,” she replied a little breathlessly.

“You’re gonna have to go change.”

She went still in my arms.

“I can’t let you go out like this. It’ll drive me crazy. This skirt’s too short, sweetheart. Guys will be looking, and I don’t want them looking.”

A slow smile spread across her full red lips. Thank God. She wasn’t going to get all pissy about this, because I really didn’t want to force her to do anything.

“You’re jealous?” she asked, almost as if she didn’t believe it as she said it.

“Hell yeah, I’m jealous,” I replied, running my hand over the soft skin of her bottom. “I’m not sharing this. I don’t want to think about other guys looking at you in this.”

Amanda’s smile got bigger, and I was real close to ripping these panties off and taking her against the fridge. The fact that my little sister was in the other room was the only reason I wasn’t inside her right this minute.

“I’ll change,” she replied, reaching up to touch my face. She kissed my cheek, then took in a deep breath as if she was smelling me. “So, last night . . . it wasn’t just a onetime thing?”

I would question how she could think that, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’d had sex with her before and walked away. She had every right to think I was going to walk again. She didn’t realize that I was incapable of pushing her away anymore. We’d gone too far.

“Last night changed everything,” I assured her before kissing the corner of her mouth. “I’ll never be able to get you out of my system. I don’t want to. I need you, Manda.” I covered her mouth with mine and slipped inside to taste her. This connection with her was the first thing in my life I was scared of. I’d never feared anything else—I could handle it. My brothers and sister I knew I’d be there. I could take care of them. I’d do whatever I had to, and I knew they’d love me. But this thing with Amanda—if I lost it, if I lost her, I would lose it all. In the screwed-up life I’d been dealt, she was my only source of comfort. Just being with her made everything else seem like it would be okay. I’d always be honest with her about everything . . . except the one thing that could take her from me. She’d never understand. Even if she did, she’d never be able to accept it. If she knew I slept with wealthy women for money, she’d leave me. She could never know.

Amanda



Jason: Have you thought about that dinner in NYC yet?



The text from Jason came during my literature class. I stared down at my phone and tried to think of what I was going to tell him. If the decision was between him and Preston, then it was Preston. I liked Jason, and he was probably the safer of the two guys when it came to protecting my heart. But that was just it. I wasn’t worried about Jason hurting me, because I knew he didn’t have that power. We’d only gone out one time, and that was to my brother’s engagement party. It wasn’t like I’d led him on.

Tucking my phone back into my backpack, I decided I’d deal with him later. I needed to think about the proper response. The professor dismissed class, and I hurried back outside to my car to get back to Preston’s. I had promised to do Daisy’s hair, and if I was completely honest with myself, I was anxious to see Preston again. Last night and this morning almost seemed like I’d walked into one of my dreams.

Having Preston look at me with emotion in his eyes was amazing. And him telling me I had to change may have been a little barbaric, but honestly, I’d put on a pair of sweats if he asked me to. The fact that he was possessive of me and didn’t want other guys to look at me made my silly heart soar.

The bad thing was, I kept waiting for my alarm clock to wake me up. This didn’t seem real just yet. My phone started ringing, and I reached into my backpack to get it out. Preston’s number lit up the screen.

Smiling, I answered and put the phone to my ear. “Hey.”

“Hey. You out of class yet?”

Was he checking up on me? Really?

“Yeah, just got out.”

“You coming back here?”

“Um, I was planning on it. I promised to do Daisy’s hair, remember?”

He paused and sighed. Oh no, it was already ending. Time to wake up.

“That’s right. I just wanted to make sure your plans hadn’t changed. I need to run up to the gym and meet with Coach. I can’t leave Daisy here alone.”

Oh . . . he wasn’t trying to get rid of me.

“I just hate to ask you to come here and stay with her while I’m out.”

Smiling, I opened my car door and got inside. “I’m glad I can watch her for you. I was planning on spending the rest of the day with Daisy, so it’s no problem. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Another pause. What was wrong with him?

“Okay. Thank you, Manda.”

Was he really this unused to people helping him out with the kids? “No need to thank me. See ya in a sec.” I clicked off and turned the car toward Preston’s.