Chapter 44
Forty-Four
REESE
I peel my eyes open slowly and blink through the blur. The gleam of the moon lies still on Malaki’s bedroom ceiling, filtering in through the window.
What time is it?
I turn at the sound of shuffling and watch as a tall, shadowy figure strides toward the bedroom door with a pillow in tow. Malaki’s side of the bed is empty, along with said pillow.
Without asking him what he’s up to, I watch him quietly open the bedroom door and disappear down the hall.
My phone, somehow beneath the covers that I don’t remember pulling up, is dead.
I must’ve fallen asleep when Malaki was showering.
How long ago was that?
Charleigh fell asleep on the car ride home and, surprisingly, went down easily after I got her bathed and in a fresh diaper.
By the looks of the dark bedroom and groggy state I’m in, I’d say it’s past midnight.
After flipping the covers off my legs, I walk across the bedroom floor on my tiptoes and peek my head down the hall.
It’s empty.
I walk farther and stop in front of Charleigh’s room to check on her before attempting to find wherever Malaki just disappeared to.
Her bedroom door is cracked, as always, so I peek my head inside. What on earth–
I shake my head and blink, but it’s the same scene as before.
Malaki, shirtless, in his low-hanging sweats, is lying in the middle of her bedroom floor, with nothing but his pillow.
“Malaki!” I whisper.
He crunches upward, his abs flexing beneath the shadows. His brow furrows when he sees me standing at the door.
“What are you doing?” I mouth to him.
He angles his head to Charleigh, who’s sleeping on her back, arms and legs both sprawled out without a care in the world, as if she didn’t scare me half to death hours prior.
Malaki climbs to his feet and strides over to the door. He grabs a hold of my hip and tugs me out into the hallway, away from Charleigh’s door.
“What are you doing?” I ask again, still whispering.
Malaki’s mouth opens, but nothing comes out. He squints, and I can tell he’s trying to figure out what to say.
“Are you sleepwalking?” I snap my fingers in front of his face.
“I haven’t done that in years,” he says in a low voice.
“Then why are you lying in the middle of her floor?”
Malaki crosses his arms defensively. “You know…just…” He shrugs and looks past my head at the wall.
I cross my own arms, just like he is, and watch him squirm. He shifts on his feet, and I can’t help but feel amused.
“Wow,” I say, voice full of mirth.
He peers at me warily. “What?”
“I have never seen you this uncomfortable before.”
His jaw flexes. “I’m not uncomfortable.”
I poke his hard stomach. “You so are.”
When he still doesn’t budge with an explanation, I start guessing. “Was I snoring?”
His mouth twitches. “No.”
“Was the bed uncomfortable? Thought you might be comfier on Charleigh’s bedroom floor?”
His quick eyeroll makes me smile. “No…”
I open my mouth to list off another guess, but he stops me.
“I was…” Malaki snakes his hand up his chest and lands at the back of his neck to give it a tight squeeze.
For a split second, I let my eyes wander down his tight torso before he starts to explain.
“I was worried. Okay? What if she needed something? What if the doctor was wrong and she does have a concussion? What if the medication wears off and her head hurts? I figured if I slept on her floor, I’d be there if she needed me.
” Malaki’s worried gaze flits between mine, and I suddenly have a knot in my throat.
After a few seconds pass, I uncross my arms and let them hang down by my sides. “You were going to sleep on my daughter’s floor?” My voice is wobbly. “In case she needed you?”
Malaki exhales slowly. His jaw flexes, and he shrugs. “I know she’s not my daughter, but–”
I erase the space between us without thought. My arms wind around his waist, and my head presses against his chest. The speed of his heart pounding against my ear tells me all I need to know about him.
Malaki Young is one of a kind. He may be my fake fiancé, but I still can’t help but feel lucky.
He says my name hesitantly while wrapping his arms around me, keeping me pressed against him. “Reese?”
I angle myself away from him slightly and look up at him with blurry eyes. “You are going to make an amazing father one day, Malaki.” I force myself to smile, even though it hurts me to think he’ll be this for someone else. “And husband.”
Our eyes lock, and at that moment, something binds us together.
We move at the same time.
The sliver of space between us vanishes, and our mouths press together. I kiss him deeply, every concealed thought I’ve ever had about us showing itself in each stroke of my tongue.
“Kissing you messes with my head,” he says in between kissing. “Makes me want to say things I’m afraid you don’t want to hear.”
I take my hands from around his neck and pull on his wrist to pull him back to the bedroom.
The door latches behind us, nothing but the moon and stars lighting the way to the bed.
Malaki’s large hands reach up underneath my oversized tee where he grips me by the waist. He edges me toward the bed until the backs of my thighs hit the side.
“Do you want to hear them?” he asks.
The rasp in his voice sends a shiver down my spine.
He slowly peels the shirt off my body, and I’m surprised to find him still gazing into my eyes instead of taking in my naked body.
“I won’t say them if you don’t want to hear them.”
“You think you’re afraid?” I whisper.
He squints, like he’s trying to figure me out.
“I’m terrified, Malaki.” I slip my fingers beneath the waist of my panties and push them past my hips until they fall in a pile at our feet.
“What are you terrified of, Dimples?” His voice is so low I hardly hear him.
With shaky fingers, I do the same to Malaki’s pants and boxers, slipping my fingers beneath his waistband to shove them to the floor. He kicks them off to the side and wraps his arm around my lower back.
Our naked bodies are flush, and he stares down at me, waiting.
“I’m terrified I’ll believe you,” I finally say.
Malaki grips my thigh to haul it up around his waist. Heat builds between my legs. Malaki’s warm breath fans against my skin as his nose skims my neck. I shake in his grip, and when his mouth hovers over my ear, I’m a goner.
“You never have to be afraid when it comes to me, Reese.” He peppers faint kisses against my jawline until his mouth hovers right over mine. Butterflies fill my stomach, and my heart races so quickly I can’t breathe. “So believe every single word I’m about to say to you…because I mean them.”