Juniper Hill (The Edens #2)(41)

He opened it before I could knock. His gaze tracked a tear as it dripped down my cheek.

“I want to not feel so alone. I want my kid to smile when I pick him up from daycare. I want Drake to have a normal life, and I feel like this is so far away from one, I can’t even see which direction to start walking. I want you to kiss me again. I want to never eat a peanut butter sandwich again. I want—”

Knox silenced me with his lips, banding one strong arm around my shoulders while the other lifted Drake’s car seat from my hand. His tongue dragged across my lower lip as his soft mouth pressed into mine.

Before I was ready for it to end, he pulled his lips from mine, but his arm stayed tight, pulling me to his chest. “There’s one want granted. What else do you want?”

I leaned into him and told him the terrifying truth. “You.”





CHAPTER TWELVE





KNOX





Memphis laughed as I strolled into the hotel room she was cleaning. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“I’m on a break.”

“Uh-huh,” she deadpanned. “You had a break fifteen minutes ago.”

“Twenty.” I handed her the latte I’d just picked up from Lyla’s.

“What’s this?”

“A latte.”

She stared at the paper coffee cup like I’d brought her a brick of gold, not a drink my sister had refused to let me buy. Memphis sipped from the black plastic lid, and that look of sheer joy on her face . . .

For that look, for a laugh, I’d bring her a coffee every day.

“Thank you.”

“It’s just a coffee, honey.”

Her eyes softened. “Not to me.”

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

I stepped closer, fitting my hand to her jaw. “Like you need to be kissed.”

A smile lit up her face as she stood on her toes. She was too short to reach my lips so I bent and sealed my mouth over hers, my tongue sweeping across her lower lip.

She gasped, her hand with the coffee stretching for the TV stand to set it down. But her arm wasn’t long enough so I took it from her, setting it aside, then I swept her up and carried her to the freshly made bed and laid her on the plush white comforter.

Memphis clung to me as I gave her my weight, pressing her into the mattress and wishing like hell I’d thought to close the door.

This woman made me hungry. Ravenous. Her tongue tangled with mine and I let loose a low moan into her mouth. She tasted like sweet coffee and vanilla.

She was the best damn time I’d ever had and so far, all we’d done was kiss.

In the past week, I’d barely managed to keep my hands off her. I’d had to put at least one hotel floor between us to get any work done, but even then, I’d constantly found excuses to leave the kitchen and hunt her down. And I’d kissed her as often as she’d let me.

But as soon as I’d been on the cusp of tearing her clothes away, I’d stopped. And for a week, my showers had run as cold as the early November air.

Fuck, but I wanted her. If kissing her was any indication, we’d be goddamn fire in bed. But she wasn’t ready.

Memphis needed slow. Steady. Maybe I did too.

But I’d been real with her last week. I knew what I was stepping into. With her. With Drake. And it was time to let go of the past.

She whimpered as I nipped at her bottom lip. That sound shot straight to my aching cock so I tore my mouth away and let out a groan, dropping my forehead to hers as we breathed.

“Knox?” Eloise’s voice carried down the hallway.

Memphis gasped, trying to shove me away, but I didn’t budge. “Knox.”

“What?”

“She’s going to see us.”

“So?” My sister was either going to see me on top of Memphis or she’d see me standing with a larger than normal bulge behind my jeans.

Memphis shoved harder so I stood, swiping her hand and tugging her to her feet. She pushed the hair out of her face as I wiped my mouth dry and adjusted my dick. Her cheeks were flushed. She scurried away to the bathroom as my sister reached the threshold.

“Oh, there you are. What are you doing?”

I nodded to the coffee cup. “For Memphis.”

“Ah. That was nice.” She gave me a smirk, like she knew exactly what I was doing in this room. Maybe she did.

Memphis came out of the bathroom with a can of glass cleaner and a rag. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Eloise smiled. “I just came to get Knox. There’s someone here to see you.”

“Who?”

Eloise shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t give me his name.”

Maybe it was a happy customer. Or a pissed-off one. “’Kay. Where is he?”

“The lobby. I’ll point him out.”

I nodded and glanced at Memphis, giving her a wink. “See ya.”

That wink made her cheeks flame brighter. “Bye.”

I chuckled and walked with Eloise out of the room, following her down the hallway to the stairway door. Behind me, Memphis was beside her cleaning cart, her eyes glued to my ass.

When she realized I’d caught her staring, she simply shrugged and smiled.