Faked (Ward Family #2)(56)

Finn gave her a warning look.

I struggled mightily against my first reaction, which was to say something to piss her off.

Claire slid her hand up under my shirt and tightened her grip. It was proprietary, a signal that couldn't be missed, and holy shit, I loved it. At that moment, she soothed the bull ready to charge. "He is, and I can't wait to introduce him to Logan and Paige," she told her sister. "Which is why you're going to uphold your promise to me, Lia."

Her words had the intended effect on Lia because her body deflated slightly and lost the shocked tightness to it.

"You know I will," Lia answered quietly. Then she looked at Finn, who nodded. "I guess we'll meet you guys there."

Claire looked up at me. "I want to freshen up before we go over."

Finn nodded at me before he climbed into the driver’s seat. Claire walked out of my grasp for a moment to squeeze her sister. Lia closed her eyes as they embraced, and it was easier that way to see her in the role of loving, protective sister rather than someone who'd vacillated between hating and barely tolerating me over the years because of my family. Because of me.

I wove my fingers through Claire's as they drove away, and as soon as Finn's car left the parking lot, I turned and cupped her face in my hands, pressed her against the car, and took her mouth in a deep, deep kiss.

The match lit immediately, and she wound her arms around my neck as I tasted the sweetness on her tongue, the softness on her lips.

Yes, for her, I could try. I still felt unbalanced and about a thousand miles outside of my comfort zone, but when I touched her, felt her touch me back, everything fell back into place.

My hand dug into the back of her leggings, and I groaned happily when she rolled her hips. If it was dark, if we were hidden and out of reach of prying eyes, I'd have taken her there up against my Jeep. Quick and hard, with little preamble, simply to soothe whatever addiction to her had taken over every corner of my soul.

Someone hollered an obscenity out of their apartment window, and I broke my mouth away from hers.

I laughed against her mouth. "Sorry."

Her face had a dazed look on it. "What was that for?"

"For whatever you said to her," I admitted. "And for inviting me to dinner. For being crazy enough for wanting me there."

Claire grinned. "Don't thank me yet."

My forehead pressed against hers, and I breathed her in, trying to wrestle my desire for her under control, given we were in public. "I want to take you out on a date, princess. A real one. I pick you up, and you know it's me coming." My voice was rough, and my hands held her tightly. She must have sensed a change in me because she smoothed her hands up my chest and kept them there. "You can dress up, and I'll take you somewhere expensive and think about kissing you all damn night."

"Okay," she answered softly. "I think we can do that."

Wrapping her in my arms, I kissed her temple. What Claire Ward was doing to me, I wasn't entirely sure, but I was on unsteady footing. She had me balancing on a beam, thin and wobbly, over a wide-open expanse and no net.

While we were alone, I felt the strongest in what was building between us. Even now, just one hit of her to my bloodstream, and I was calmed. I'd have to share her eventually, and maybe Claire was right when she said I'd be able to make it through dinner just fine.

"Good." I buried my head in her hair again.

"You know what I want to do?" she asked. Her mouth nipped at my jaw.

"What?"

Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "Show you my bed before we have to leave."





Chapter Twenty-One





Bauer





When you begin your drive to a former football star's home, especially one who is now one of the league's most respected coaches, you start getting a certain image in your mind about what the house might look like.

Long, curving driveway.

Lush landscaping.

Arches and large windows and a pool house.

Somewhere I'd feel like a fucking fraud even more than I already did.

But when I turned my Jeep into a packed, normal size driveway, I had to take a second to look around.

Yeah, it was in a nice neighborhood, but the house was ... normal.

Big, but normal.

"Ready?" Claire asked.

"Yeah." I scratched the side of my face. "It's not what I expected."

She blinked at the brick structure. "The house?"

"I was thinking I'd be driving up to a mansion with a code and shit."

Claire grinned. "No codes, no gates, just …" She shrugged. "Just home."

From the assortment of vehicles parked in front of us and judging by the noise that came out like a blast when a small boy opened the front door and came flying out at us, it appeared everyone had beaten us there.

"Claire!" He flung himself at her, and she caught him on a laugh. "We thought you died."

"No, you didn't." She kissed the top of his head, covered in reddish-brownish hair, and in the curve of his smile, I saw a strong resemblance to her. "I was just snowed in, goofball."

The boy released Claire and gave me a wide-eyed look. "They're talking about you a lot in there."