Chapter 5
MELODIE
Rubbing my eyes, I focus them on Katie’s drawing once more.
Last night was hell. I was too worked up to sleep, and it was only after three that I figured out a way to put some of that lust behind me.
I touched myself, then finally shut my eyes.
The second I woke up, my brain was back at obsessing over Rhett.
He already took half of my brain before he kissed me. Now it’s impossible to think of anything else.
The way his fingers dug into my hair, how he held tight, tugged gently.
His immense body shadowing mine, his stomach pressing against my chest, the hardness in his pants forcing against my belly.
Thinking about it still spreads heat down my face.
A fire burns inside me when I remember his hot lips pressed against mine. Demanding. Eating me up.
A shiver races down my arms. I clench my jaw shut, but it’s impossible to conceal it. My nipples pop against my bra, and I’m only thinking about him.
“Are you cold, Mel?” asks Katie.
I reach out to brush her hair behind her ears. “No, sweetie. Don’t mind me.”
She watches me for another moment before going back to her drawing.
One thing I loved to do when I was a kid was come up with my ideal house.
I would spend hours drawing or cutting images from magazines to build my room, choosing the color of the walls, posters, curtains, and cushions.
Looking back now, I’m pretty sure they would look ludicrous in real life.
But I gave Katie the idea, and she seemed to enjoy it.
We’re on her tenth drawing already. I picked up some magazines in the drugstore yesterday evening, and she’s cutting and painting and gluing to her heart’s content.
This time, though, it’s not only a bedroom.
There are stick figures. One of them is very tall, the other is small, and there’s a third one, right in the middle.
“Who are those?” I ask, touching the paper with a forefinger. “You, your mommy, and your daddy?”
Katie stops as if caught by surprise. She pulls back, gapes at the drawing for a moment, then chuckles. “No.” And she leans forward to draw another stick figure. A fourth one, distant from the others. “There. That’s Mommy.”
I blink. “Then who are the others?”
She chuckles. “That’s me. And Daddy, and you.” She smiles proudly. “I was about to draw your hair, so it’s going to be easier.” Then she picks up a dark crayon and starts drawing strands on the middle figure’s head.
My cheeks go hot. Me? Why is she drawing me, holding hands with both her and her dad? I should not be overthinking this. She’s just a kid, a small kid that has been neglected emotionally by her mother. That doesn’t mean a thing. It shouldn’t get me flustered.
It does. As I go through the day, and as I try to hide from Rhett as he glances at me during lunch. In the silent moments that follow while Katie naps in my lap, Rhett is quiet and invisible from where I sit, but I feel his gaze on me, burning, igniting my skin.
Should I? Could I? I promised myself I would never get involved with another older man.
And Jake was six years my senior. Rhett is, what, twenty?
He has so much more history, so many more problems. He has an ex and a kid.
A cute kid that adores me, but a kid nonetheless.
What happens when her mother shows up? What would she think of Rhett dating the nanny?
And what if that screws up Rhett’s fight for guardianship?
My heart cries for him. My body aches for his touch. I can’t help but fall for this man. But it’s my brain that keeps holding me back.
After she wakes up, I take Katie to the park so she can meet her friends.
She runs, and she plays, and she has fun.
I adore the way she smiles at me and how she keeps calling me and showing me stuff.
I take pictures of her and in the nooks of my mind, I pretend she’s mine. And I find myself liking that fantasy.
Once we’re back inside the building, I help her shower, then put her in lounging clothes.
I take a mental note to take her shopping one of these days—either Rhett chose her clothes or someone who doesn’t care did.
They’re too plain, too cheap. Katie needs fairies and unicorns and glitter.
She needs color and fun, and I will get her that.
Since Rhett’s still working, I stick around after five in the afternoon. After a light dinner, it’s time for bed. Katie goes early on the days I take her to the park, and I’m sure Rhett will take good care of her if she wakes up later. I tuck the covers around her and bend to kiss her forehead.
Katie opens the sweetest smile. “Stay,” she asks.
I shake my head, tilting my lips. “I have to go home. But I’ll be back tomorrow morning right after you wake up.”
She pouts, but her eyes are too heavy to fight sleep. “I wish you lived with us, Mel.” And in seconds, she’s breathing deeply. Her words fill my chest until my eyes sting.
I straighten, my hands curling into fists. No matter how hard my brain fights, my heart is winning this time. My heart is so going to win. Whirling around, I aim for the door and close it once I’m outside her room. My heart pitter-patters in my chest, and nothing would stop me now.
Going to Rhett’s office, I find him behind his computer.
He turns to me the moment I cross the threshold and maybe he sees something in my eyes.
Maybe he sees through me, straight inside me.
He shoots to his feet, his jaw clenched hard, and his hands reach out to touch my face.
Rough palms scrape against my cheeks, but his warmth is all I need right now.
I did not know I was holding my breath until he kisses me and air fills my lungs.
His lips send jolts of electricity down my body, making all my hair stand on end.
I fling my arms around his barrel torso, keeping my balance as my knees threaten to give out.
How did he know? How did he know I needed him this much?
Rhett claims my mouth with every swipe of his tongue, warmth coiling between my legs, turning my panties sodden.
His kiss is everything. It’s so much better than anything I’ve ever had.
He’s powerful and big and strong, and so sweet at the same time.
Rhett kisses me like he would die without my taste, but he’s extremely conscious of hurting me too.
It’s vivid and special and intoxicating. My nails dig into his back, and I want to climb him. Whatever this is, whatever this feeling means, I don’t want to think about it. I want to dive into it, let it soak through my skin, and sink into my heart.
Breaking the kiss to pull air in, I look deeply into his eyes. They burn, burn as he stares back at me.
“Take me,” I say, slowly, clearly, so he won’t miss it. So I won’t have to repeat it. So no doubt stands between us.
Rhett’s jaw tightens so hard a muscle flutters there.
I want to reach out and put a finger over it, but he moves fast, fast for someone his size.
His hands grip my backside, feeling me up for a mere second before he grasps my thighs and flings them around his waist. I gasp in surprise, and the sound morphs into a shameless moan.
“Right fucking now,” he roars back, desire clear on his face, in the way he looks at me, in how hard he kisses me. And I drink him in, every furious swipe of his tongue, every stroke of his fingers up my flesh.
I will have him, every part of him. And he will have me.