Beautiful Broken Promises(56)

When he seemed to have recovered from his shock, he said, “Well, now I don’t feel so mighty anymore. I was basically popping your cherry again. Anything would have made you blissfully happy at that point.”

“Trust me, I might not be that experienced, but I can honestly say I’ve never had anything like that,” I huffed, still trying to catch my breath. I wanted to hop down, but I still couldn’t move my legs. His hands reached around my waist and I felt him turn the water on behind me. It was back off moments later and I jolted when I felt a cold cloth touch the skin on my stomach.

“Sorry, I used all the hot water but let me clean you up,” he whispered. Lane moved the washcloth lightly over my skin and as each area was clean to his satisfaction, he kissed it tenderly.

“Why did you…?” I gestured at my thighs, stomach, and chest, hoping he understood.

“I know for damn sure you aren’t on birth control, so unless you want Braden and Kate to have a baby brother or sister right now, coming inside you probably wouldn’t have been the best idea.” He winked at me and grabbed a towel off the bar.

I immediately began shaking my head, surprised I hadn’t thought of that myself. “I should get on the pill.”

“Already planning round two, are we?” His intoxicating words slid over me as if they were his very hands. I watched as he slipped the towel over every inch of his body; I couldn’t make myself look anywhere else.

“I don’t want any more children,” I whispered while observing his movements.

His hands froze and he swung his eyes in my direction. “Really?” He sounded surprised and almost confused why I would say something like that. I finally hopped down from the sink and grabbed my own towel from earlier.

“Yeah. At least, I’m pretty sure. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not having another. Braden and…” I paused because I didn’t know how to approach this considerately. “Braden is enough.” I almost physically grimaced from my own words, because my heart wanted to say ‘Braden and Kate were enough.’ But what right did I have to claim his child?

“You can say it, Rae. I think Kate is as much yours as she is mine, at this point,” he stated, looking directly at me.

“I just… I don’t want to insult Ash or tarnish her memory.” I looked down at my hands as they fumbled with the towel, which I wrapped tightly under my arms, hoping to find comfort from its imitation of a hug. His feet appeared in front of me and I felt his fingers pushing my chin up.

“I think Ash would be grateful that, in her absence, Kate has a wonderful mother figure. I’m battling it too. I wish Ash could be here, but… she’s just not. Kate loves you and I don’t plan on taking that away from her.”

There were so many conflicting lines in that statement, but I just didn’t have the strength to break it all down and examine his meaning. He leaned down and kissed me until all of the thoughts seeped away.

When he pulled back, he looked at me sternly and asked, “Can I ask where Braden’s dad is? I’m not jumping into some guy’s territory, am I?”

“What? No! Lane, what kind of person do you think I am?” I shrieked in shock, but my tone was still light enough that he knew I wasn’t really pissed.

“Okay, okay!” he said with his hands raised in surrender. “I just didn’t feel like kicking anyone’s ass… well, not today anyway,” he laughed. I swatted at his chest and then my hand didn’t leave the warm, tempting skin. He grabbed it and kissed it lightly while looking down at me.

“It was the typical immature-guy response. He bailed at the first positive sign on that little white stick. Couldn’t get enough of me one day and the next day—gone.”

“Damn, now I am going to have to kick someone’s ass,” he grumbled. This time the words were joking, but his tone was absolutely not.

“Save it for someone who’s worth it, trust me.”





- TWELVE -

LANE -

After Raegan and I finally succumbed to the desires we had been feeling since almost the first day we met, we escaped the house for the rest of the day. I needed to get out because if we found ourselves at any moment with privacy, I would have jumped her again. As it was, I had to pry myself away from her because all I wanted to do was keep kissing her… well, among other things.

Since it was pretty warm out, we took the kids to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and the look on Kate and Braden’s faces was worth the hour it took us to walk there. I definitely wasn’t accustomed to New York life anymore and having to get around everywhere by your own two feet. We could have taken the subway, but I had this feeling the last time we took it that Raegan was having a hard time. I didn’t know if it was the screeching of the train on the tracks or the people bumping into us at every turn, but I realized then it was best to keep us all above ground.