Not Broken: The Happily Ever After(83)

“At least stay through dinner. I’m a pro at ordering pizza.”

“How can I pass up an offer like that?” She paused, looking back at Shawn. “But, I brought clothes to stay if that’s okay.”

A wide grin spread across my face. “You got it bad. Just can’t stay away from this fine specimen of a man.”

“Oh my god, you’re so full of yourself.”

“Well, baby, if you play your cards right, you can be full of me too.” The words slipped out before I could think about them.

Ginger’s face instantly turned red. She hid behind her hands. Her shoulders shook with laughter. She laughed for a good minute or two, wiping tears from her eyes as she tried to compose herself. “Oh man, I was worried.”

“My bad. I shouldn’t have—”

“No, you should have. It’s you, Mal. It’s how you are. It’s how I want you to be.” She leaned forward and kissed me again.

This time, she wasn’t shy about it, and as much as I told myself to not go down this path, I found myself pulling her onto my lap, devouring her lips the way I’d wanted for the last week. She straddled me. I ran my hand up the back of her neck, holding her in place. The other ventured under her shirt to satisfy my need to touch her skin to skin.

God, I loved this woman and couldn’t get enough of her. I loved everything about her. The softness of her lips against mine. The low moan she let out when my tongue slipped into her mouth. The pink flush that would be in her cheeks. Most importantly, I loved the feeling of her body close to mine no matter what the reason.

When she pulled away, Ginger rested her forehead against mine. We both breathed heavily. My fingers opened and closed on her waist, continuing to stroke her butterfly soft skin.

She bit her lip and smiled. Her hands were on either side of my face as she ran her thumb across my lips. “I was worried you’d never do that again.”

I moved both hands to her hips and gave a squeeze. “I’m trying to be good. To not—”

“I know, but...I need you to be you. My session with Dr. Carr this week made me think. A little while back, when this thing with us first started, she’d asked me to think about what I was afraid of. You’ve pushed my boundaries. It made me uncomfortable and scared. I was mad at you a lot. You pushed, and that scared me.”

“Baby, I’m sorry. That’s what I’m—”

“Let me finish.”

I made the zipped lips motion with my hands. She moved off my lap, but kept our connection by taking hold of my hand.

“This week that question came up again. I told her my fear was being vulnerable. Letting you and everyone see how much of a mess I really am. But I’ve thought about it more since my session, and it’s more than that. I was scared of feeling again, mostly.” She paused, looked down out our hands, then back up at me. “For obvious reasons, I didn’t want to deal. But you were right. I am...was stuck. This is my long-winded way of saying I need you to keep pushing.”

I wanted to interrupt and protest what she was asking of me, but I held my piece to let her finish.

She smiled as if she knew what I wanted to say. “I freaked out, I know, and I can’t promise it won’t happen again. But I need you. You started me down this path. Don’t abandon me now.”

I brought her hand to my lips. “You’re full of surprises.”

“I have to keep you on your toes somehow.”

I reached up to cup her face, and pulled her toward me. Our lips met again.





Chapter 45


Calida





Malcolm wanted to put Shawn down for the night, so I stood in the middle of his expansive room, taking it all in. This house really was perfect. I smiled at the sight of the unmade bed and the articles of clothing scattered about.

Chuckling to myself, I started to pick up the items. For a man that spent as much as he did on clothes and shoes, he didn’t seem to be a fan of wearing them when at home. Not that I minded. My mind could easily stay in the gutter where he was concerned.

After putting his clothes in the hamper, I grabbed for my bag but stopped. I quickly stripped down to nothing then slipped under the covers, pulling them to my neck.

“What the hell am I thinking?”

Just as I started to get up to put on my PJs, Malcolm walked in.

“Does he always take that long to go down?”

I shook my head while silently praying my face wasn’t turning red. “Think he was just excited it was you.”

I gripped the covers tighter, hoping he’d walk into the bathroom to give me a quick minute to get dressed. Instead, he pulled off the shorts he wore and tossed them on the bench at the foot of the bed.

He looked around then back at me. “You picked up again. I’m gonna have to do better or you’ll start thinking I’m a slob.” He gave me a long stare. “Are you cold?”

I pressed my lips together and shook my head again. I had no doubt I was in full blown blush mode. The lopsided grin that appeared on Malcolm’s face confirmed that. With slow, deliberate movements, he crawled onto the bed. My hands clutched the covers as I slid down in an attempt to cover my face as well. I felt the tug.

“Whatcha hiding under those covers?”

He loomed above me on all fours. With a devilish smile on his face, he placed his hands on the top of the covers on either side of mine. Uncontrollable nervous laughter erupted from me.