Chapter 21 #2
I laced our fingers together and led her through the living room to my bedroom, which was less than twenty steps.
My door was across from the girls’ bedroom, with the single bathroom in between.
“I’m going to stop in here,” she said, pointing at the bathroom.
“I’ll be waiting,” I told her and went into my room.
It too was clean. I’d made the bed as I always did, and my dirty clothes were all in the hamper in the closet.
The sheets were relatively clean but not nearly the thread count she was used to.
Nothing to do about that except give her so much pleasure she didn’t give a single thought to what the sheets felt like.
Skipping the overhead light, I went to the nightstand and switched the lamp on low. I opened the drawer a few inches, dug to the back, and located the box of condoms as I heard the toilet flush and the bathroom sink run.
I slipped my shoes off, put them in the closet, then closed it. It was neat, but a woman like Presley would be appalled at how small it was.
When she didn’t immediately appear in my room, I glanced out to see she’d flipped the girls’ light on and was looking at their room from the hallway. She turned the light off and pivoted toward me as I approached.
“That’s the coolest little-girl room I’ve ever seen,” she said. “Where did you get that bed set?”
I peered down at her with a grin.
“You made it, didn’t you?” she asked.
“I made it.”
It was a custom full-over-full-size bunk bed shaped like a playhouse with a slide and stairs to the upper level. The window cutouts had curtains hanging in them, and there was a partial pitched roof over the top level.
“That’s every kid’s dream, West. And I love the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.”
“Couldn’t forget the stars,” I said.
I tugged her away from the girls’ doorway into my room and closed the door, then pulled her into my arms.
“You’re kind of amazing, you know that?” she said, peering up at me. “There’s so much care and love in this house. That’s a hundred times more important than the size of it.”
“That’s not what she said,” I joked.
Presley laughed as I’d hoped she would because I loved the sound of it. “You and I both know good dads are hard to come by. Scarlet, Sienna, and Nova are lucky to have you.”
I leaned down to kiss her, my reply a grunt because I didn’t know what to say to that. Her reaction to our little house made me like her all the more. Too much.
At that uncomfortable thought, I opted for distracting myself with something a lot more enjoyable.
“Slip your panties off for me, Presley.”
Her brows shot up, but after a heartbeat, she toed her sandals off, lifted her skirt, slid her fingers under the sides of her underwear, and shoved it down her legs.
As her skirt fell back in place, she stepped out of her panties, leaving a delicate pile of the softest, most feminine shade of pink lace and silk.
My blood pounded hard to my dick. “Good girl. Now sit on the edge of the bed.”
She took a single step to the bed and did as I said.
Her cheeks were flushed as she lifted her gaze to me. Then I did what I’d been fantasizing about all night. I dropped to the floor, crawled between her legs, and ducked my head under her skirt, settling right between her legs.
Hours later, I woke up disoriented.
Presley was curled into my side, naked, sound asleep. In my bed.
As I rolled to check the time on my phone, the past few hours refilled my head.
I’d made her fly apart no less than three times before sinking into her gorgeous body and finding my own release.
Afterward we’d lain there, talking quietly about a wide range of topics until apparently both of us had drifted off.
That was crossing a line I knew better than to cross.
It was going on four thirty, and the sky was starting to lighten. I sat up, alarmed.
Presley rolled to her back. “What’s wrong?”
I rotated to the side and stood. “I need to get you home before the sun comes up.”
She sat up, and I could see her just enough that I could make out her pushing her mane of hair out of her face as she glanced around, as if getting her bearings.
“Right,” she said eventually, but I wasn’t sure she was on the same page as me.
“If we don’t want people to know…”
“Yeah.” Her voice was sleepy and so sexy I froze for a second, wondering if I was the dumbest man alive. Presley Holiday was naked in my bed, and I was going to have her get dressed so I could sneak her out?
I shook my head, clamping down on my imagination. The second the world found out we were sleeping together, everything would change. I liked things just the way they were. Secret. Sexy as fuck. Safe.
I dressed quickly, pulling on athletic shorts and a T-shirt.
Presley threw the covers off, then stretched from head to toe. Even though the light was poor, I could see just enough to go rock-hard.
“Are you trying to get me back in that bed?” I asked.
She grinned. “I wouldn’t be opposed.”
Seconds ticked by as I fought with myself. How long would a quickie take?
Fuck. I wanted more than a quickie with Presley. I wanted hours with her. More.
An alarm went off in my head at that single word: more.
This was what I did. I rushed in. Wanted too much too fast.
This thing with Presley was not that.
“If I get you home now, you have time to sleep some more before we get started at the shop,” I said.
She rolled out of bed, planted a kiss on my lips, picked up her clothes from the floor, and disappeared to the bathroom.
I blew out a breath and reminded myself I was fine. This was fine. I was a goddamn grown-up, and while my pattern was to rush in, this time I was taking meticulous care not to.