Chapter 11
Jesus fuck.
The tip of her pink tongue flicking out to lap up that frothy cream from her top lip is damn near my undoing. Especially after the way my mind had conjured up what that mouth could do to something else…
I swallow reflexively, and I can physically feel the knot in my throat bob at how difficult it is to swallow around. My mouth is bone dry, though I panic momentarily that I might actually be drooling. I’m acutely aware of the fact that her brother is standing ten feet away.
The second I saw her walk out of the coffee shop, my brain—and all my good intentions about staying away from her—went straight to hell. That damn tank top thing she’s wearing should be illegal. It’s cock-teasingly tight and the way it cinches in her waist and pushes up her tits… I can imagine the soft, stretchy material being pulled down when she has to nurse Bea, who is babbling and cooing from the car seat suspended in my hand . Fuck me .
And those shorts. High waisted, which only accentuates the narrowness of her waist and the wide curve of her hips. The jean materials' frayed edges play against those tanned, smooth, grabbable thighs.
I’m a fucking pervert. And a terrible friend and boss.
A breeze sends the blonde ends of her hair flipping around her shoulders, tendrils loosening from the little clip that’s holding half of it up at the back of her head, away from her face. Her clear rimmed glasses are shielding her eyes from me, but only barely, as she keeps looking up at me. Then blushing, looking away. Only for those eyes to come back to mine again moments later.
Like she can’t help herself from staring at me, either.
My male vanity beats at my chest all caveman like as her eyes swing to mine again. We start down the sidewalk, Penny in one arm and Bea’s car seat at my side. I peek down to make sure she’s not angled toward the sun.
Cal stares at me over the top of Scottie’s head as I walk away, raising one eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. I tip my head in acknowledgment and he chuckles lightly, crossing his arms around Scottie’s shoulders as we pass them.
He’s going to give me fucking hell when I get back, but the bastard can wait.
I spot Teddy’s white Chrysler Pacifica minivan ahead. Shit, she’d walked all this way to the coffee shop carrying Bea, a diaper bag, and probably corralling Penny, too? No wonder her skin is still sporting those angry red lines in the crook of her elbow. The woman is a goddamn superhero.
“Was there not any closer parking?” I ask, nodding toward her vehicle. She shrugs.
“No, but it’s okay. I’ve gotten pretty good at all this on my own.”
I hate that. I hate that she has to do this all on her own. Logan’s death had sent shockwaves through the area last winter. A reminder that no matter how long you’ve been in the field, how well trained you are… accidents happen that are simply beyond our control.
She stops Dalton, smiling down at him and he beams up at her as he slides the diaper bag over his head and hands it back to her. She digs into one of the smaller front pockets, clicking the fob to unlock the doors. Sliding it open, he climbs between the bucket captain’s seats in the middle row to the back bench seat, settling himself in. Teddy opens the front passenger door and sets the diaper bag in the seat, then leans forward to place her coffee in the center console.
She stretches forward, one leg kicking out slightly as she reaches in. Half bent over the seat as she stretches in, I can’t keep my eyes off the wide fullness of her ass in the cutoff jean shorts that leave the backs of her thighs bare to just below the delectable curve of that ass. My dick is half hard in my pants already. Her flip flop pops against her heel as she straightens, turning with a smile as she glances up at me.
“Who do you want first?” I ask, my voice coming out far gruffer than I expected. I clear my throat. Fuck, the chokehold this woman has on me…
“Penny,” she says, holding her hands out to the toddler. I lower her down into Teddy’s waiting arms, but my hand and arm get caught between Penny’s little body and Teddy’s front, and we linger for just a heartbeat too long for it to be accidental.
I also may or may not allow my arm to accidentally slide across the softness of her chest as I remove it from between her and Penny. The heavy weight of her breasts grazing the back of my forearm will haunt my every waking moment for the next week, I’m sure. As will the way her lips drop open, a soft, stuttering breath escaping those lips as I move away slightly. Goddamn she’s so fucking pretty.
She swallows hard, her eyes bouncing between mine before she spins, turning to the open slider door. Setting Penny on her feet inside the car, she instructs her to climb into her car seat, and then Dalton is leaning forward to help her buckle.
I notice the way Teddy’s hand shakes as she turns back toward me, her fingers tucking that stray strand of hair behind her ear. I heft Bea’s infant seat up, curling my bicep—hoping she notices the way my muscles bunch as I do—and she wraps her hands around the handle, our fingers grazing.
She doesn’t hesitate this time, though, turning immediately to snap the infant seat into the stationary base secured in the seat closest to us. She clicks a couple buttons to make the handle fold backward, then she pushes the retractable baby shade down. A tiny mirror is attached to the headrest of the seat, and I assume it’s so she can see Bea while driving.
Teddy takes a few seconds to adjust everything, and it’s easy to see that the safety of her kids is a high priority. Speaking to Penny, she says, “I’ll come around and check your buckles, Pen. Dalton, seatbelt, bud.”
Before she can slide the door closed, I lean in, bracing one hand on the top of the van and the other on the edge of the door. “Thanks for your help, champ.”
Dalton grins widely, then nods. “Yeah, no problem.”
I offer him my knuckles, and he fist bumps mine lightly. I grin. The kid has got a lot on his young shoulders. Turning my attention to Penny, I say, “Miss Penny, are you going to start behaving for your mom?”
She nods, kicking her little legs in front of her. “Yes. I pwomise.”
Teddy coughs lightly behind me, as if covering a laugh. I fight my own grin. We both know this isn’t the last time that Penny is going to try to escape, but we can pretend just for this moment. The tiny terror has me wrapped around her probably crossed little fingers.
Bea is happily sucking on one of her fists, gnawing on the knuckles. Drool is dribbling down her little hand, and it’s a good thing Teddy has a pretty, floral drool bib covering her clothed chest, because it’s soaked. I laugh, shaking my head.
“See you later, little one.” She flashes a toothless grin up at me, her big, brown eyes wide and fringed with long dark lashes. Dammit she’s cute.
I lean away and Teddy touches the button that slides the door shut automatically. She rounds the back of the van and opens the sliding door beside Penny’s seat, leaning in to double check the latches and straps of Penny’s car seat. When she’s satisfied, she closes the door. I followed her around the car, standing between her and the cars that are driving down the road just feet beyond us. It’s a downtown street, so the speed limit is slow, but this protective instinct in me is becoming harder to ignore.
She glances up at me as I lean around her and open her door. She smiles, shaking her head lightly. “You don’t have to do all this, Xander.”
“I know; but I want to. Come on, hop in,” I murmur, notching my chin toward the empty driver’s seat.
She climbs in and I close the door gently. Starting the ignition, she presses the button to roll the window down. Reaching up, I flip my ball cap around so the brim is facing backward, then lean my forearms against the window sill as she buckles her own seat belt. I’m drawn to her like a fucking idiot moth to a flame. I can’t seem to help myself.
There’s a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks that I can see now that we’re this close, and I itch to trace them with my fingers. They’re half hidden behind the clear acrylic frames of her glasses. I’d always thought her eyes were a dusty blue, but from this close, I know that they’re a stunning, silvery slate gray. And I’m transfixed, totally and irrevocably caught in her gaze.
As always when I’m around her.
“Thank you,” she whispers, those eyes bouncing between mine .
Against my own better judgment, I reach one hand inside and tuck that damn stray strand of hair that keeps falling into her face behind her ear. “You don’t ever have to thank me.”
She nods, ducking her head as a blush creeps up her neck and over her cheeks. Fuck she’s adorable when she gets flustered. I wonder if any of her blushes today are because of what she’d done the other night and the fact that she’d been thinking about me while she did it. I fucking hope so. I want all of her blushes, all of those sexy fucking sounds that no one else gets to hear.
Grinning, I wink at her when she looks back at me. Before she can look away again, I murmur, my voice husky, “I’ll see you soon, Mama.”
I fucking love the way her eyes dilate and those pink lips part when I say that. I noticed it earlier, the way it practically short circuited her brain, and I wasn’t going to let her leave without seeing that reaction again.
Her teeth dig into the plushness of her bottom lip, and I wink again, slapping one hand onto the window sill as I straighten. I waggle my fingers at Penny and Dalton as I step around the hood of the minivan and back onto the sidewalk. Teddy pulls out of the parking spot and I watch her vehicle disappear down the street as I make my way down the sidewalk, back toward Cal, who is now alone and leaning against the side of my truck.
He does, however, have a coffee in one hand and another sitting on the hood of the truck next to him. I must have been gone with Teddy long enough for him to run inside and get our coffees. Whoops . He grabs the one on the hood and hands it to me as I reach him. His hazel eyes are shaded by darkly tinted sunglasses, but the shit eating grin on his face says everything it needs to.
“Shut the fuck up,” I grumble as I step around the hood of my truck. His answering chuckle is devious and makes me roll my eyes. Payback is a bitch. And I gave him a lot of shit about Scottie when they first got together. Dammit this is going to suck. Have I mentioned Teddy is his younger sister? And I’m his boss? Fuck my life.
I climb up into the driver’s seat and he climbs into the passenger side. I flip my cap around again, so that the brim is once again facing forward, shading my eyes marginally from his scrutiny. I can feel his gaze on the side of my face, but I refuse to look over at him.
My truck rumbles to life and I pull us away from the curb, heading us toward base. Cal takes a sip of his coffee and then drapes his left arm across the back of the bench seat that stretches between us. The truck was my dad’s; it’s a ’93 box style Dodge Ram that’s seen a few too many winters. The black paint isn’t shiny anymore, and there’s some rust over the wheel hubs, but it’s reliable and handles the Washington winter roads well.
“So, is this why you haven’t been staying at base? You got a thing for my sister?” Cal asks, grinning over at me. I grunt. Guess we’re finally talking about this. Cal knows me better than just about anybody. He knows, even if I don’t say it out loud. He knocks his knuckles into my arm, bringing my attention around to him. He’s flipped his sunglasses up to the top of his head, and he’s staring at me, his face drawn and his eyes solemn. “Be careful with her, Xander. She’s been through enough. If you do something to hurt her, I’m gonna have to kick your ass on principle.”
I shift in my seat, tightening my fingers around the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white. “I know,” is my gruff response.
He harrumphs then, leaning back in his seat and taking a long draw of his coffee. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
I shift in my seat and tighten my fingers around the wheel as my heart skitters in my chest painfully.
Shit.
The fucker isn’t wrong.