Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
REESE
Malaki’s grin challenges every excuse I’ve come up with to put space between us.
I know I shouldn’t, but I do exactly what he says and test him.
“You wouldn’t do that,” I say teasingly.
God, what am I doing?
The more time I spend with him, the more I slip up. I need to stick by the book or, at the very least, reflect on that list of boundaries I’d given him.
Sleeping in his bed is nothing more than sleeping.
Kissing him in public is for the watchful eyes and that’s all.
“Are you challenging me, Dimples?” Malaki stalks forward slowly, and my heart beats faster as I anticipate his next move.
I look past his hot grin and wide shoulders. If I run, he’ll chase me, and the thought of that does nothing but send flutters in between my thighs.
“I’m fast,” he admits out of nowhere, like he can read my mind. “The fastest in the league.”
“Arrogant much?” I tease.
He shakes his head. “Just stating facts, baby.”
My cheeks burn, and I’m so swept up in him calling me baby that I don’t even realize he’s swooping low and wrapping his arms behind my legs.
“Malaki!” I hiss.
His arms tighten around me even more as he heads for the stairs. We’re face to face, our breaths mingling as he smirks. “I warned you.”
I can’t help but laugh, and God, it feels good.
I don’t laugh anymore—not like I used to.
Our engagement may be fake, but the laughter that comes with being around Malaki is as real as it gets.
I wiggle my legs back and forth when he makes it to the landing. He opens the bedroom door, and he walks us into his–our—room. The dress I’m supposed to wear is hanging on the bathroom door, and I wiggle again, hoping he’ll put me down.
Malaki’s arms tighten, and our eyes lock. “You better stop doing that,” he rasps.
His heart hammers behind his chest against me.
“Then put me down,” I say quietly.
Malaki tips his chin, and I get a better view of his mouth. “Maybe I don’t want to.”
He shifts me in his arms when I start to slip. I graze something hard beneath his waist, and my stomach flips.
A slow swallow moves down his throat as he stares at me.
I force myself to say, “We’re going to be late.”
Malaki exhales, and then I’m slowly sliding down the front of his body. I brush against every one of his taut muscles before my feet land on the floor.
To hide the flush creeping along my skin, I race over to the bathroom and grab the dress from the hanger.
“I guess this means you’re going, then?” he asks.
I turn around, and my breath catches.
It takes me a second to regain consciousness again.
“Malaki!” I chide.
God, stop looking!
Malaki is in his tight boxer briefs, still sporting that hard bulge I apparently didn’t imagine a few moments ago. “What?”
“You’re practically naked!” I exclaim.
Does he not understand that I’m highly attracted to him? Is he doing this on purpose?
“You’re my fiancée…surely you’ve seen me in less clothing.”
My lips flatten at his joke.
“You’re only my fiancé when people are around! In case you haven’t noticed”—I gesture to his empty room—“we’re alone.”
Malaki hums before going back to his closet. He reaches for something, and I stare at the defined muscles along his shoulders like I’m trying to burn them into my memory. I turn around in haste, clutch my dress, and walk into the bathroom.
“Thought it’d be good to practice,” he says from the bedroom. “The more comfortable you are around me in private, the more comfortable you’ll be in public.”
“It just took me by surprise,” I explain, my voice slipping through the crack in the door. I strip off my clothes and leave them bundled on the tiled floor. “I am comfortable with you.”
More comfortable with him than I ever was with Benedict.
“Good.” His voice is closer than before. “Then you won’t mind if we share the mirror?”
The door to the bathroom opens all the way, and I yelp. My hands fly to my chest to hold the loose fabric there.
“Oh, my apologies.”
I can tell without looking in the mirror that Malaki is smiling.
“If you want to see me naked, just ask!” I snap half-heartedly. “Though, I’ve had a baby, so you might not like what you see,” I mutter under my breath.
While holding up the strapless dress in the front, I reach behind me and attempt to zip it up. I use the mirror to get a better look at the back of my dress and immediately catch Malaki’s glower in my direction.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.” My fingers freeze on the zipper.
Malaki stops buttoning his dress shirt to grip the edge of the vanity.
The veins on top of his hands strain, and I tear my gaze away.
I pull on the zipper but stop altogether when he appears behind me.
One hand lands on top of mine, the zipper in my grip, while the other wraps around the front of my waist.
His warm whisper brushes the side of my neck. “Did you just say that I wouldn’t like what I see because you’ve had a baby?”
Words are nonexistent.
He grips my wrist, removes my hand from the zipper, and places it on the wall in front of my face. I press my palm against it, still holding the front of my dress steady with my other hand. He tugs on my dress, zipping it halfway before stopping.
“Did he say that to you?” he asks in a low tone.
My heart beats so hard I feel it everywhere.
Benedict’s opinion isn’t the problem; it’s the insult itself.
I don’t care if he thinks I’m more appealing in a size two with a toned stomach.
It’s the fact that my body is different, and my jeans don’t fit the way they used to.
When you’ve been told something about your appearance on more than one occasion, it’s hard not to believe it.
“Reese.” The strain in Malaki’s tone pulls my attention to his face. Our eyes meet in the mirror, and for the first time, there is no amusement lingering.
“Yeah,” I say. “He did.”
Malaki’s expression remains steady as he removes his hand from the zipper. A chill races down my spine from the touch of his knuckle skimming my skin. Then, he tugs me backward by my waist. I hit his hard chest, and a breath slips from my lungs.
“Well, I’m nothing like Benedict, Reese.” Malaki’s jaw is set in a firm line as he drags his knuckle back down my spine, landing at the zipper. “I can assure you that I’d love every single part of your body.”
My breathing quickens, my lungs tight with trapped air.
Once Malaki finishes zipping my dress, he spins me around and grips my waist with both of his hands. I press against him, and he takes me in. “If you want me to prove it to you, just say the word.”
I open my mouth, and nothing comes out. I’m flushed, and the room spins. I can’t catch my breath, and I think he notices, because he finally backs away and puts space between us.
I inhale a gush of air and move my hair to the side to expose my warm neck.
“There’s no rush, though.” He goes back to the mirror to continue buttoning his shirt.
Wow.
He may not be affected by our little moment, but I most definitely am.
I spend the next twenty minutes pinning my hair back and applying makeup, all while refusing to give my attention to Malaki in his high-end, black suit. Benedict wears dress attire daily, yet I can whole-heartedly admit that I have never been this distracted by a man in a suit before.
Malaki is hot in his hockey uniform, especially on the ice, but it should be illegal for him to wear a suit.
It tangles everything inside my head.
“You ready, Future Mrs. Young?” he asks.
I can barely manage a glimpse at him leaning against the bathroom door. “Mm-hmm,” I squeak. “Just let me check on Charleigh real quick and tell Zoe bye.”
“I’ll be downstairs.”
After eyeing Charleigh sleeping in her room, I head to Zoe’s bedroom and peek through the crack of the door. She’s lying on her bed but pops up when she sees me creeping.
“Don’t you dare try to sneak out without showing me your dress.”
I slowly push on the door, and her jaw drops. “Now this is what I expected you to look like on prom night.”
My shoulders fall. “I had better things to do than go to my senior prom.”
“Better things?” She rolls her eyes. “I’m not sure I’d consider making sure Dad didn’t choke on his vomit from drinking too much a better alternative.”
I scoff. “Fine, I mean…I had more…important things to do.”
My dress is pretty.
It’s light blue, and the glossy satin looks good against my olive-colored skin.
It feels wrong, though.
“What’s wrong?” Zoe asks.
She always knows when something is up with me.
I pull on the slit in my dress. “It feels wrong to get all dressed up and go to some fancy event with a man like Malaki. I should be staying in with Charleigh, but instead, I’m having my younger sister watch my baby and–”
“Reese.” My sister scrambles from her new bed, which just so happens to be bigger and nicer than any bed she’s ever had before.
She places her hands on my bare shoulders and gives them a gentle squeeze.
“You do know that you’re allowed to be more than just a mom, right?
You’re allowed to have fun and get all dressed up to spend the evening on a date. ”
“It’s not a date,” I argue.
She shakes her head. “Whatever. Just…” She squeezes my shoulders again. “Promise you’ll have a good time tonight. Charleigh is fine with me.”
“I know she is. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to watch her,” I say.
Except Daisy.
And maybe Malaki.
Wait, I would trust Malaki?
“It’s just…” I let my words fade because the real reason I’m being hesitant is simply a reaction to how I grew up, and we both know it.
“Just because you’re going out for the evening doesn’t mean you’re turning into Mom.”
I wince because I hate when she brings her up.
“I know that,” I say, nodding.
Deep down, it’s the truth. My mother left us alone with our alcoholic father more times than I can count just so she could escape a life she hated. Never once were my sister and I a priority or even a thought in her head.
The last thing I would ever want for Charleigh is for her to think that there is anything more important to me than she is.
“Then go have fun.” My sister twists me around and shoves me out her bedroom door. “Hook up with your fiancé while you’re at it. Maybe getting laid would help ease all that stress you’re carrying around.”
“Zoe!” I hiss.
Her laughter follows me all the way down the hallway.