Chapter 27
27
Ezra
“You look ridiculous with my scrunchie in your hair.”
“Liar.” I pinch her nipple. “You’re just jealous because it looks better on me.”
Millie is wedged between my bent legs in the bath, her back resting against my chest and her head nestled into the crook of my neck. The tops of her breasts peek out of the suds, making my dick harden again.
“How do you feel?” I wasn’t my roughest, but I wasn’t gentle either.
“Like I could sleep till next Tuesday,” she sighs, sinking deeper into me.
With her painted toes, she plays with the faucet. Besides the sound of water dripping, we’re silent.
Just when I think she’s drifted off in my arms, she speaks. “Can I tell you something?”
My stomach flips with nerves, but I ignore the sensation. “Of course.”
“When I heard you in the bathroom earlier, before I realized it was me on the app, I thought you were with Val’s daughter. ”
“Jade?” I reel back. “She’s married with five kids.”
“ Five ?” She twists in my arms, sloshing water over the side of the tub. “What kind of psychopath is she?”
I laugh. “What? You don’t want children?”
“I didn’t say that. Just… five ?”
The primal urge to press her on her thoughts about children runs rampant in my veins. After coming on her stomach, I can’t help but picture it swollen with my child. What the fuck is that about?
My therapist loves to say fake it till you make it . Have I inadvertently been doing that? Is our fake marriage starting to feel real? Does Millie want it to be?
Question after question swirls in my mind. I’m only snapped out of the spiral when she leans her head back again and lets out an exasperated noise.
“What are we doing?”
My stomach tightens with apprehension. “What do you mean?”
“That.” She hikes a thumb toward the door to the bedroom. “This.” Her hand hooks around the back of my neck. “We just told Kane we’re not togeth?—”
“I realize that.” I wrap my arms around her so her teardrop breasts rest on my forearms and drop my chin to her shoulder. “What do you want?”
Silently, she pulls the scrunchie from my hair and plays with the strands at my neck for a long time.
I don’t dare speak or move. Hell, I’m barely breathing as I wait for her response.
“I—I don’t know. You’re kind of hot, so there’s that.”
“ Kind of ? Jeez.” I feign offense.
She’s deflecting, but I won’t call her on it.
“I am having a lot of fun with you. You’re funny and kind, and you can sing. ”
“Go on…”
She chuckles. “You’re a good man, Ezra. Can we see how things go when we get back to the city?”
“Sure.” I kiss the top of her head as a seal of compromise. I want so much more, but for now, I’ll take what I can get.
The next few days are filled with lots of phone calls and paperwork and waiting. Though I work hard to hide my frustration from Kane, Millie sees it.
She does her best to support me, even making matzo ball soup using my recipe. Let’s just say she is talented in other areas of life. I appreciate having her here to vent to, especially when she talks me off the edge after Rob doesn’t answer his phone—or door—for three days. He was supposed to turn in the final paperwork, but instead, he took a trip to the Big Island and didn’t bother to tell us.
I was livid.
I barely get the car in park before I fling the door open and dart for his front door.
“The fuck you think you’re doing?” he yells from his recliner in front of the TV when I storm inside.
“Me? Where the fuck have you been?”
He sets his beer to the side, right on top of the guardianship paperwork, as if it’s nothing more than a coaster.
I yank the papers, knocking the can over in the process.
“Ez—”
“Sign the goddamn papers. Now .”
“Relax, son.” He stands and lazily wanders to the kitchen, where he pulls a pen from a drawer .
Leaning over the counter, he scribbles his signature, then pops another beer from the fridge and watches as I flip through the documents, making sure he signed on each designated line.
Gathering the papers, I look him square in the eye. “You will not call Kane— or me —ever again. Do you understand?”
I turn on my heel and stomp toward the front door.
Behind me, he slams his can down on the counter, startling me. “You think you have what it takes to be a father? You think you’re so much better than me? Just because you’ve got yourself a pretty little wife ? —”
I whip around and stab a finger in his direction. “Do not bring Millie into ? —”
“I had a wife once.”
My gut drops. That’s news to me.
“Before your mother. Doesn’t mean shit. Guys like you and me don’t settle down. It’s not in our genes. I was just like my father, and you’re just like me.”
“I’m nothing like you.” The anger that’s coursed through me since I stepped into the house boils over. The man is delusional if he thinks misogyny is genetic. “I will be faithful and loyal to my wife. And I’ll never make my kids feel like they need to be anyone other than themselves. I came to Hawaii hoping to prove to you how wrong you are about me. So you’d stop holding this… this thing over my head. I should have known you’d never change.”
When he doesn’t respond, I step back into the room.
“I’m done with you.”
With that, I’m striding out of the house and slamming the door behind me, stealing his chance to have the last word.
Thank god for Millie, who has kept me distracted with another waterfall hike, plenty of walks on the beach, and even another live erotic story experience.
That last one helped the most .
Millie sighs, slumping against the arm of the couch. “I can’t believe it’s our last day on the island.”
Somehow, I’ve found myself rubbing her feet again; she’s sneaky like that. “I can’t believe I’m coming home with a kid.”
“Are you nervous?”
I pull her closer, keeping her legs draped over my lap. “A little. I’m not worried about whether I can handle it; I’m just worried about him. Life here and life in the city are night and day. I hope the transition isn’t too hard. He’s already been through so much.”
She hums. “You’ll make a great father figure. You’re already a great Da ?—”
“ Don’t even say it.” I flip her onto her back and dig my fingers into her sides, eliciting the most contagious laugh.
“Safe word! Safe word!” she calls between gasps of air.
Lowering over her, I bring my lips close to hers but don’t make contact. She parts her lips for me, and I suck in the sweet citrus of her breath before finally dipping down and slipping my tongue into her mouth.
When she grinds against my growing erection, I tug on her bottom lip with my teeth, wishing I could lick between her legs right now.
“We can’t,” she sighs.
“Why not?” I move to her neck and suck on the soft flesh.
“Because…” She rocks her pelvis into mine. “Because we’re leaving in the morning… and, um… and we have to pack.”
“Leave your clothes here. I’ll buy you a new wardrobe when we land.” I run my tongue between her breasts, inhaling her floral perfume.
“Ez ra .” She grasps my hair and tugs, lifting my head. “We can’t.”
“ Millie ,” I whine back. “Please. ”
“Excuse me, sir, are you begging?” The smirk on her face would win a competition with the devil.
“I will only beg once.” I slide down her body.
“Then you better make it worth my while.”