Chapter 13
Dakota
The winter market was magical and having Colin spend time with Caroline and me just added to the feeling.
She took to him so easily, folding him in as if he were already a part of the family, and by the time we’d made it home, she was sleeping in the back seat, hugging a hand-crocheted princess doll he’d purchased for her at the market.
I put the car into park and went to the back seat to scoop her up. As I unbuckled her, she yawned and her blue eyes fluttered open. “Where’s Mr. Colin?”
“Shh,” I said, holding her close and hoping she’d fall back asleep.
“Mr. Colin?”
He was at my side in a second and he reached out to rub her back. “Hey, Lina. I’m here.”
“Will you carry me?”
He chuckled and took her out of my arms. “Of course, honey.”
As Colin carried my little girl up the front steps and waited for me to unlock the door, my heart squeezed tight with happiness.
I opened the door for them and he murmured that he’d be right back before he carried Lina down the hall to her bubblegum pink bedroom to put her to bed.
I sat on the couch and waited for him to emerge, which he did a few minutes later.
When he did, he smiled and took a seat next to me. “Hey,” he murmured, bumping his shoulder into mine.
“Hey there.”
“I just wanted to thank you for including me tonight.”
I shrugged. “You’re the one who talked me into coming for the cookie exchange.”
“I meant after, at the market. Letting me spend time with Caroline, letting me put her to bed. It was nice. It felt like having family around again.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and nodded. “I get it. But you don’t need to thank me. I like having you around.” I leaned toward him, putting one hand on the couch between us. “In fact, I don’t know if I’ve told you lately just how much I like having you around.”
“Oh? Maybe you should.”
I leaned in a little closer, closing the gap between us and kissing him. Colin sighed softly into the kiss, pulling me to him and letting me lower him to the couch. Once he was lying down, I moved a hand to his side and slid it under his shirt. He groaned softly and arched his back into my touch.
Slowly, I trailed my lips from his mouth to his neck, leaving gentle bites along his skin.
He panted and writhed under me and the sounds encouraged me, made me want to give him more.
I moved my hand between us and teased at his nipple, testing the waters to see how he responded.
A soft moan escaped him when I pinched it gently, and encouraged, I did it again, harder, rolling it between my fingers.
“Fuck,” he hissed.
I lifted my head to whisper in his ear. “You like that?”
He didn’t say anything, just let out another soft sound of pleasure, breath hitching in his throat. After a moment, he put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He stuttered as I continued my teasing of his nipples. “Are you sure we should—you know, keep doing this—while Lina’s in the other room?”
Lina. It was like cold water had been splashed on me. He was right, of course. We’d been caught kissing by her once, and to my great relief, she hadn’t brought it up again, but if we kept going, the chances of us getting caught were extremely high.
I pulled away and sat back, Colin making a pouty sound in the back of his throat. “You’re right,” I murmured, my voice thick with disappointment.
He scrambled to sit up and pulled his shirt back into place. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be a buzzkill. It’s just…” He reached over and put a hand on my erection, stroking it with his thumb. “I didn’t want to get carried away.”
I exhaled sharply and resisted the urge to buck my hips up into his warm palm, to chase the sensation I wanted so badly. Instead, I put my hand on his and squeezed gently. “She’s back at her mom’s house tomorrow night for the week.”
He smirked and looked at our joined hands. “I can wait that long. If you can.”
My cock ached and I knew I’d be in the shower jerking off the minute he left. Still, I nodded. “I can wait as long as it takes,” I said honestly.
Colin kissed me, telegraphing his desire into the way his lips and tongue moved against mine. “That’s the single sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
I sighed and grinned at him. “I hope it pays off.”
“I can promise you that it will,” he whispered. “But I guess for now, I should get going.”
This time, the pouting sound came from me. “Don’t leave. Stick around. We can watch TV or something. I don’t know. I’m just not… ready to say goodnight.”
Colin nodded and grabbed the remote from the table.
“Whatever you say.” A few moments later, we’d settled on a Christmas movie and he was lying on the couch, head in my lap.
I stroked his soft, light brown hair as the movie played, loving the simple domesticity of the moment.
I liked Colin a lot more than I’d ever expected, especially considering he was the first person I’d dated since my marriage to Beth had fallen apart, and honestly, it terrified me just how much I liked him.