Bennett (On the Line Book 2)(38)

“Oh, Bennett.” She was panting and she gripped my forearms tightly, her nails embedding in my skin.

It was so f*cking good. She cried out and I pulled down on her hips, making her moan loudly. This had been all her, but I couldn’t help making her come a little harder.

Buried deep inside her, I came again myself. Her name came out of my mouth as little more than a whisper as my body tensed and I released inside her.

She grinned, her cheeks a gorgeous shade of pink. As soon as she’d swung her knee over me, I pulled her down beside me and wrapped myself around her, my chest to her back.

“Oh,” she said suddenly, jumping slightly. “Give me your hand.”

She moved my hand over her belly.

“You feel that?” she asked.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. “I don’t feel anything. The baby’s kicking?”

“Yes.” There was a smile in her tone.

“I can’t wait until I can feel it.” I kissed her shoulder and sat up. “I’m gonna go make us some plates of dinner to eat in bed.”

“You’re amazing.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” I took one more look at her, naked and relaxed in my bed, before heading into the kitchen.

I wanted to enjoy this moment. We got too little time alone together for me not to. But our earlier conversation crept into my consciousness.

“I cared for her so much it hurt sometimes.”

It was how I was feeling about Charlotte right now. My feelings for her were an out-of-control freight train, barreling down the tracks. I’d vowed not to let this happen again, but not only did I think it wasn’t possible to stop the train, I didn’t want to.



Charlotte

I woke up slowly the next morning, too warm and content to snap back into awareness. Bennett had held me against him all night, and now he was snoring lightly, his head laying on my hair.

Our dinner plates were on the floor. We’d spent our whole evening in his bedroom, which I was just now getting a look at.

It was small, with dark paneled walls and beige carpet. There were no decorations, just a queen-size bed and a dresser. Everything about this room said this was Bennett’s temporary player housing.

He could get called up to an NHL team anytime. I considered that for the first time, realizing how much I’d miss him.

Would he be here when our baby was born? I wanted him there. No one else, just him. He was quickly becoming the most important person in my life.

We could be whatever we wanted to each other. I wasn’t gunning for a marriage proposal by any means. I liked what we had.

He shifted in his sleep, made a grunting sound, and tightened his hold on me. I slowly eased my hair out from under his head. Much as I wanted to stay like this all morning, I had to pee too much to do it.

“Where you goin’?” Bennett asked in a deep, sleepy tone as I made my way out of bed.

“Bathroom. Want me to make breakfast?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll help.”

I took my overnight bag into the bathroom and brushed my teeth after peeing. There were two toothbrushes in a holder on the counter, and I sighed as I realized one of them belonged to my brother. The little sister in me wanted to dip his in the toilet, but I didn’t know which one was his so I refrained.

I got dressed in jeans and a clean shirt, pulled my hair into a loose, messy bun and went into the kitchen. Bennett stood in front of the fridge, shirtless. A pair of sweats hung low on his hips and his hair was tousled from sleep. I couldn’t help wrapping my arms around him from behind.

“Omelets?” he asked. “Or pancakes?”

“Mmm, either.” I pressed my cheek to his hard, broad back, wishing we’d stayed in bed.

“Pancakes,” he said, turning around and wrapping his arms around me. “You sit and I’ll cook.”

“I can help.”

“Nah. This kitchen requires a special touch. You have to know just how to spill pancake batter on the stove and counters to piss Liam off.”

I laughed and sat down at the small kitchen table. “So you like aggravating him?”

“So much. He’s too damn easy.”

“I’ve been texting him trying to set up dinner, but you guys have so many games and he’s busy on the nights you’re home.”

“With Keri, I think.”

“The only night he was free last week was the night of my yoga class so I couldn’t make it.”

Bennett turned around, his brows arched with interest.

“Yoga?”

“Yeah, I started a prenatal yoga class.”

“Cool. I’m all about your flexibility.”

My gaze wandered to the stack of unopened mail on the table. The letter on top was addressed to Bennett and had a red lip print on one side. Kind of weird . . . I lifted the envelope up and saw the next one was for him, too. Also the one after, but this one had hearts dotting every “i” on the return address from a Christina Miller.

“You checking out my fan mail?” he asked, grinning.

“Is that what this is?”

He shook his head and looked sheepish. “It’s because of that Hottest Men on Ice thing. Keri wants me to respond to all of them.”

“There are at least twenty of them.”