Not Broken: The Happily Ever After(20)

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

I put Shawn down, and he walked off toward the living room. “Why do most men stare at a beautiful woman?” I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist.

“Because they’re pervs,” she replied playfully, reaching behind her to pry my hands free.

“Because they appreciate what they see,” I corrected, trapping her hands beneath mine. Her hair was damp, and mostly plastered to her head minus a few strands that curled at the end. The soft, cherry blossom scent was more pronounced now since she’d just showered. I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to an image of her standing naked under the water, soaping her delicious body. Leaning down, I gave in to the overwhelming urge to kiss her.

She tensed; pulling her hands free, she gave a gentle push against my chest. I broke from the kiss, rested my forehead against hers, and let out a quiet sigh.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

I took a deep breath before stepping back to give her space. “Don’t be.”

Ginger turned her attention down the hall when we heard the sound of toys being spilled onto the floor, followed by Shawn’s babbling. Taking her chin in my hands, I turned her attention back to me.

“We’re taking things at your pace, Ginger, but I will probably slip up every once in a while. You make it hard not to.” I gave her a smile that would hopefully erase the worried expression on her face. “Like right now. Those shorts…they are driving me crazy.”

She immediately started pulling at them. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Only the fact that they make me want to double palm your ass and give it a squeeze.”

Her face turned red. “Sorry, I’ll change.”

“Don’t you dare. I will gladly look, but not touch.”

The sound of more toys being dumped took her attention away. “I’d better check on him before he makes a bigger mess.”

I followed her to the living room and allowed myself unrestricted gawking of her ass. It was a perfect, tight little ass, with that perky upturn. A delicious juicy booty. Fuck! These days it took very little to get me worked up. Her back being turned helped; it gave me time to adjust myself.

Entering the room, I saw that Shawn had indeed managed to dump out his bin of toys. He looked up and beamed as his mom approached him. He handed her one of the toys.

“Oh, congrats on getting the house,” she said, turning to look at me as she took a seat on the floor.

I didn’t have to wonder how she knew. It wouldn’t have even dawned on Macy that I would’ve wanted to be the one to tell Ginger. I loved my sister, but she tried my patience with all her nosy, mother henning.

I moved to join them on the floor. “Thanks. Now comes the home inspections and getting insurance and all the other fun stuff, but you know how it is.”

No matter how many times I’d come here, I never got used to how formal this place felt. It had changed a little with the addition of the baby stuff, but for the most part it felt stuffy, like it was all for show, and not for really living.

“Yeah,” she said. A smile tugged at her lips. “Buying my little bungalow was a headache, but the sense of accomplishment I had the day I closed couldn’t be beat. You’ll see.” A fleeting sadness shadowed her face.

I remembered her old place. It had fit her personality more than this current house.

“Speaking of closings, mine is currently scheduled next month, on your birthday. You won’t mind giving up a few hours of your day, will you?”

Shawn crawled through his mess to sit in her lap. “You want me there?”

“Without a doubt. Look, you’ve made it clear you feel like things are moving too fast, but I still want to share that experience with you. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.”

She smiled and nodded. “I’ll be happy to be there.”

My fingers played with the hair at the base of her neck while she talked to Shawn. When he crawled off, she moved to sit on the couch.

“So, Macy said you went out last night,” she commented as she played with the wheels of the car she held in her hands.

I pushed myself up onto the couch. “Yeah. G showed up and wanted to go out, so I took him to Reign.”

“You have fun?” She looked over her shoulder at me. There was a weird tone to her voice, and I couldn’t tell if she was pissed or not. I could only imagine what Macy’s version of the night’s events were.

“Not really. I could think of better ways to spend my Saturday night. And with better company.” I placed my hand on the small of her back, letting my thumb stroke the small amount of exposed flesh. She jerked away and pulled her shirt down in the process.

“Mal…”

“Don’t apologize to me again.” The words came out in an unintentional clipped tone.

Her leg started bouncing, and she kept her focus on the toy car in her hand until Shawn came over to take it, offering instead a cardboard book. She picked him up and proceeded to read him Brown Bear, Brown Bear for about two pages before he squirmed to get down again.

“Have you thought about what will happen when we don’t work out?” she asked, keeping her eyes focused on Shawn.

“You said that like you know us not working is a sure thing. Like you’ve planned on us not working out.”