Unexpected Gift(43)

“Hey, hey.” He picks me up and settles me on his lap. He brushes the hair out of my face. “You aren’t a bitch. Don’t ever call yourself that again, okay? Don’t do that. And you know what? I haven’t been the greatest to you, either, but I never thought that of you, Molly. And neither did Brandon.” He holds my face against his chest, making me feel safe.

We stay like that for a bit. I hear his heart pounding against my cheek—strong and steady, like a good song. He is warm, making the cold emotion in my body disappear. The letter falls onto the floor, and I thought the letter would be my safety blanket. I thought that would be my new comfort, but sitting in Caden’s lap, feeling his fingers play in my hair, hearing the rumble of his voice in his chest, and letting the kindness of his words bring me peace makes me think otherwise.

“Thank you,” I sigh, trying to get the weight off my chest. “I appreciate that.”

“It’s not a problem.”

I lift my head from his chest, and our eyes meet. Our lips are a breath away from each other. His gaze drops to my lips. His tongue flicks out, wetting his bottom lip. Hot puffs of breath filter into my mouth, seeping into my cells and flow through my veins.

Unlike mine, his eyes have green specs. When the light hits them, they remind me of a kaleidoscope as the specs change and morph into different shades of brown and emerald. Caden truly is a breathtaking specimen.

He inches forward, holding my jaw and neck with his hand. He rubs my lip with his thumb. “You know what these lips have been doing to me?” he growls.

My body gravitates toward him like a magnet. “No.”

“They make it difficult to concentrate.”

“Why?” I whisper, love drunk.

“Because you’re attached to them. They tempt me like you tempt me. I love your fire and your attitude. It turns me on as much as it pisses me off.” His fingers trace my jaw as they move to my chin. “You’re a beautiful woman, Molly. You always have been, but you test me. Every damn day, you test me.”

I decide to try something I have never done before. I slide my leg over his, switch my position, and straddle him. I swallow when his very hard erection presses between my thighs. “Do you pass these tests?”

“Not even a little bit. I fail at it every day.”

We don't move. And I wonder if he is thinking the same thing I am—if this is one big mistake. I see the question in his eyes. The want. The battle. I know it so well because I know mine shine the same. Do I give in?

Do we say the hell with everything and give into temptation?

I want to. I want him, but everything Brandon said in his letter scares the living hell out of me. I don’t know how to go after what I want, and I want Caden with every cell in my core.

But who will give in first?





Chapter Nineteen





Caden





It has been a week since holding Molly in her room as she cried. I was one second away from kissing her lips. Right as I closed the distance—I mean, I felt the surface of her mouth tickling mine—Posie let out a loud cry, ruining the moment that we had built. But that is parent life, right? It is something we have to get used to, and I am up for the challenge, but Miss Molly has a tendency to ignore me when things between us get heated.

So I’m done playing games now. I am done with us pretending that whatever this thing is between us wasn’t there. My body is tired of depriving itself of its needs, and I need her. She was meant to be mine for all these years, and we have a lot of lost time to make up for.

One way to get her attention?

My body.

I roll out of bed, sit on the edge of the mattress, and stretch. I chuckle from my plan. I have no idea if it will work. She is the most stubborn woman in the world, and she'd rather fight me than cave into her most carnal desires—which is me. I am that desire.

The smell of bacon and eggs wafts through the air and my stomach grumbles, reminding me that I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday. I glance down, wondering if I should stay in my boxer briefs. Just how crazy do I want to drive her? To the edge of fucking insanity.

I get up and brush my teeth before heading down the steps. “Smells good in here.” I slap my stomach, and the sound of it makes her jump. She peeks at me from under her lashes, and a blush tints her cheeks. I want to know if it took up any other parts of her body. Her breasts? I’ll lick them. Her ass? I’ll kiss it. Her pussy? I’ll eat it. Just as long as I get to taste that red hue.

“Um, breakfast will be ready in a minute.”

I hardly hear her over the sound of sizzling bacon on the stove, but since I can’t seem to take my eyes away from her lips, I read them. I scratch my stomach, snapping the band of my underwear just for kicks and giggles, because why not? The coffee beacons me, like her body does underneath the oversized shirt that goes down to her knees—probably her brother’s. Unless there is another man in the house that I don’t know about.

The thought of another man touching her skin makes my blood boil. “Whose shirt?” I grunt, gripping the handle of the coffee pot with more force than necessary. I pour the rich, dark brew in my mug, and imagine tossing it on the man that laid in her bed—if he is here.

“Why? What’s it to you?”

Her attitude makes my cock twitch. “You know what it is to me.”