Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
BOOKS AND MOVIES AND SOUND MACHINES
WESTON
By the time we’re driving home with Caleb in the backseat, we’re flying high. We found so many great things today. When I told my mom what all we’d bought, she laughed and said she guessed I could afford it.
“But geez, save some for his college fund,” she teased.
His crib will arrive tomorrow morning, so after I’ve read a few of his new books to him, saving Where the Wild Things Are for last, I start to place him in his portable crib.
“Only one more night in this thing and then you’ll be sleeping like a king in your new bed,” I tell him.
Sadie walks by and then comes back and stands in the doorway.
“Want to give him one more kiss goodnight?” I ask.
She nods and walks toward us, smiling as she bends to kiss him.
“Love you, sweet boy,” she whispers.
I put him in his bed and Sadie turns on his new sound machine. We grin at each other when we hear the waves and move quietly out of his room.
“I wonder if he’ll sleep any longer with the waves going,” I whisper.
“I hope so,” she says.
We look at each other, still standing in the hallway. I like having her and Caleb upstairs now. I didn’t realize how empty this house felt before they got here.
“Want a glass of wine or anything?” I ask. “We could watch a movie.”
She looks surprised. “Oh. Sure. Yeah, that sounds great actually.”
I grin. “We’ve had a long, hard day of shopping. We deserve this.”
She laughs. “If that’s a long, hard day, I’ll take more of those, please.”
We go downstairs and I point toward the basement staircase. “Want to help me pick out a bottle?”
She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t know what to pick. I trust you...and I like everything,” she adds.
“I don’t have a bunch of fancy shit, despite my fancy wine cellar,” I say.
I jog down the stairs and grab a bottle of red. Hopefully she’ll like this one.
When I get to the kitchen, Sadie is putting a bunch of crackers and dried fruit out on the long, pretty board Felicity gave me for Christmas. She slices cheese and winds it around the crackers and then adds prosciutto and salami.
“That looks great,” I say. “My sister gave me that thing and I’ve never used it. Now I don’t know why I haven’t.”
“I’ve never used one either. But this is what they do on some of the home shows I like. They have a massive charcuterie board sitting on the table or kitchen island when the family comes to see their remodeled home for the first time. They’re usually piled higher than this, but this is a good start for the two of us.” She laughs. “It always looks delicious…and it’s pretty.”
“It is.” I nod.
She glances up and catches me staring at her. I hold up the bottle of wine.
“This okay?”
She nods without looking at the bottle and I chuckle, moving to grab two stemless wine glasses. I pour wine into each of them and when she steps back from the tray, I hand her a glass.
“These are pretty too. Did Autumn pick these out?”
“No, Olivia gave me these. I’ve never used them either. First time for everything.” I smirk and lift the charcuterie board and my glass and take it to the movie room downstairs.
Sadie turns up the baby monitor and looks at the screen. I set the board down and move to look at the screen with her.
“He is out ,” she whispers.
“I can’t believe how much he’s already grown,” I say.
We move toward the two chairs in the middle and sit down.
“Do we need plates? I can go grab some.” I motion toward the bar down here.
“I’m good without one,” she says.
I turn the TV on and Sadie laughs when she sees The Proposal playing.
“I love this movie. Have you seen it?” she asks.
“It’s been forever.”
“You’re probably not into rom-coms. We can watch something else.”
“I don’t mind a rom-com,” I say. “I have sisters, you know. They had to put up with sports and I had to put up with rom-coms.”
She laughs. “Well, I don’t want to put you out or anything…” Her voice is playful and I reach out and poke her in the side. She yelps and my eyes widen.
“Oh, you’re ticklish?” I do it again and her mouth drops in shock.
“Hey, watch it,” she says, and she pokes me in the side.
I jerk away and grab her hand when she laughs and tries it again. We freeze, staring at each other, both of us breathing hard. I weave my fingers through hers and pull our hands to my chest. I wonder if she can feel how hard my heart is pounding.
She licks her lips and my eyes track the movement, and before I can stop myself, I’m leaning in and claiming her mouth with mine. Her lips are soft and sweet. She tastes like mint and apricots and her mouth feels so fucking good. I deepen the kiss and she whimpers. I keep her hand in mine and with the other, I slide into her silky hair. Her free hand does the same, tugging my hair as we kiss and kiss and kiss.
When I finally let go of her hand, it’s to touch her jaw, her neck, and then I grasp her hips to lift her until she’s straddling me. She gasps when she feels how hard I am for her and it’s fucking bliss. When I start rubbing her over me, I lose my fucking mind. My hand wanders up her shirt, and I palm her tit before sliding her bra to the side to thumb over her nipple. The sound she makes goes straight to my dick and I do it again and again, tugging it between my fingers and then rubbing away the sting. She gasps into my mouth and our movements become more frantic. I tug her leggings down and she lifts up to help me, and I do the same for her until there are fewer layers between us and we’re just in our underwear. It’s unbelievable how good it feels. When she rocks against me like this, we both shudder. Every time I rub against her clit, I hear her sharp intake of breath and it makes me more determined than ever to make her sound like that again.
She clutches my shoulders, pulls my hair, and I feel the heat of her against me. I pulse up into her, my fingers moving beneath her panties to touch her, and it only takes a few small circles over her swollen bud before she falls apart. When her head falls back with a moan, I kiss down her neck and she swivels her hips to get more friction and that’s when my orgasm barrels through me. It’s blinding, and it’s like time pauses and the euphoria of how incredible this feels goes on and on.
But then, I open my eyes and she opens hers, and the next thing I know, she’s climbing off of me. She stands in front of me, her nipples raised proudly right at my eye level. My mouth waters. I’m desperate to get my mouth on her, but when I look up and meet her eyes again, I freeze.
“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispers. “This can’t happen.”
I run my hand through my hair and exhale. “Right. Okay. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have?—”
“No, I was right here with you,” she says. “It just?—”
She puts her hand up to her mouth and glances down, her cheeks pink as her eyes dart away. I adjust myself, cursing under my breath.
“I’ll keep my hands to myself,” I tell her. “Come on. We’ll eat and watch the movie.” I hold up my hands and wave them. “Hands off. I promise.”
She looks hesitant still, but then the scene comes on where they arrive in Alaska and Sandra Bullock meets the mom and the grandma. She puts her hands to her cheeks and takes a deep breath before she sits back down.
“Okay. I can’t resist this movie…and I am hungry.”
“Great,” I say, turning up the sound. “I’ll be right back.”
She still hasn’t looked me in the eyes again, but I’m calling it a win that she didn’t bolt.
I run to change and when I come back, I place the board between us, so it’s propped on the arms of our recliners.
She glances at me before I sit down and she still looks so concerned.
“It won’t happen again, okay?” I say, smiling to soften my words.
She nods slightly, and we both eat and drink and watch the movie.
Well, she’s watching the movie.
I’m still stuck on what happened between us and wondering how in the hell I’ll be able to survive around her and not touch her again.
It’s no wonder I’ve been able to walk away from everyone before now, and with absolutely no hesitation—I’ve never felt anything close to what I felt with Sadie tonight.