Chapter 30
THIRTY
SOREN
Soren
She’s awake, and she’s trying to wriggle from my hold.
“Just a little longer,” I say sleepily, content to just hold her. Even after she stabbed me, it’s still where I want to be.
“I can’t. Someone’s here,” she whispers and tries to pull away again. This time, I let her go, even though I don’t want to.
She slips out into the hall, and I hear her say, “Noah?”
“Hey. Oliver and I are just popping by to get his tablet. He was upset that he forgot it.”
“Give me a second, okay? I just need to get dressed.” Cressida steps back into the bedroom and shuts the door. She looks around frantically, then scoops up my clothes and throws them in her closet, and points to me. “You. Under the bed. Now,” she whisper-shouts.
“What? No way.”
“Now, Soren.” The words come out in a hiss. “My son is here. And I told you to go home last night.”
Reluctantly, I get out of bed, and her gaze falls to my very hard cock.
“Go.” She waves a hand, and I lower to the floor and climb under her fucking bed like I’m a teenager hiding from her damn parents.
My cock hits the underside of the bed, and I have to readjust it before I slide completely under.
Just as I get my whole body wedged into the tight space, the door opens, and her son runs in.
He throws himself onto her bed and then proceeds to jump on it.
Fuck.
The bed dips with his bouncing, brushing the tip of my cock.
I swear to God if that mattress breaks my cock…
“Did you find your tablet?” Her voice has changed; it’s now sweet and low.
“Yep. Just came to kiss you goodbye.” He hops from the bed, and I see a pair of small sock-covered feet move toward her.
I hear her kiss him, then she says, “All right. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” The sound of another kiss. “I love you.”
“Yep. I love you, too, Mom,” he replies, then hurries out the door. She follows and shuts the door behind them, and I stay under the fucking bed like some kind of criminal.
A shitty criminal at that.
And let’s be real, I’m no amateur criminal.
She has a brief, muffled conversation with her ex-husband before I hear the click of a door. I listen closely for a couple of minutes, unsure if I should get out from under the bed. My ass is getting cold and sore, and I really need to fucking take a piss.
When my phone starts ringing loudly, the bedroom door opens, and I see her feet before she says, “Oh, I forgot you were there. You can come out now. They left like ten minutes ago.”
I shimmy out, and when I get to my feet, she’s standing there, clutching a coffee cup and trying to hold back her smile. She’s failing.
She glances down at my now-deflated cock. “It’s red.” She points to the tip.
“That’s because it was attacked by your mattress,” I reply as I retrieve my clothes from her closet. My phone continues to ring as I get dressed. But I know that ringtone—it’s my sister’s, and the last thing I want to do right now is deal with her.
“Did you have fun?” I ask Cressida.
She chuckles. “Oh, yes. Having you, this big, scary, rich man, hide under my bed, was priceless.” I grunt, to which she replies, “It was your choice to steal my key and break in.”
“I didn’t break in. I walked through the front door.”
“Give me my key back,” she demands, holding out her hand.
“No,” I tell her with a smirk.
“If you break in again, especially while my son is here, I’ll shoot you.”
Her threat doesn’t scare me. “You don’t own a gun.”
She offers me her coffee, and I take it as she walks to her closet. She makes a bit of noise before she steps back out, holding a small handgun, and points it at me.
“I’m impressed,” I tell her.
“You want me to practice my shooting skills on you? I’m sure they’re better than my fork skills.” She winks.
“I’ll take your word for it.” She lowers the gun to her side. “You know how to shoot?”
“Of course I do. I was raised on a farm,” she scoffs.
“Are you actually any good, though?” I step closer to her.
“I bet I’m a better shot than you.” She grins, and I can’t help but lean down until our faces are only inches apart.
“I’d like to test that theory one day.”
“I’m sure you would.” She chuckles, then goes back to her closet and stores the gun in a safe I didn’t notice before. She walks back out, takes the coffee from me, and waves a hand toward the door. “Goodbye, Soren. Don’t come back.”
“But you’ll miss me too much if I don’t come back,” I tease.
“I will not, in fact, miss you too much. I won’t miss you at all.”
I move in and quickly steal a kiss, the split in my lip throbbing. Fuck, even with the hint of coffee lingering on her lips, she still tastes amazing. When I step back, her eyes are narrowed at me.
“Have a good day, Hurricane. I’ll see you Monday at work.”
She groans, and I step out of her house, closing the door slightly behind me. I flex my hand in the morning light, fingers curling slowly, tracing the faint puncture marks where Cressida’s fork dug in. A small reminder of her edge, which has a small grin tugging at my mouth.
A voice cuts through the quiet. “Soren, right?” I turn to see her ex-husband standing just a few feet away.
His posture is rigid, shoulders squared like he’s bracing for a fight.
His jaw is tight, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes narrow, sharp, and calculating, watching me like a predator sizing up prey.
No surprises here.
He’s been waiting for this moment. Waiting to challenge me.
“Yes.” My voice is steady, cold as steel.
He steps closer, eyes flashing. “You stayed the night with Cressida?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say flatly, with no hesitation.
He studies me, searching for a crack. But I don’t give him one. Inside, I’m already planning how to make it clear this isn’t a fight he wants.
He nods and glances around. “Taylor has told me about you. I don’t know if I feel comfortable with a man like you around my son.”
“I’m not planning to be around your son,” I tell him, then add, “What does it matter who is fucking your ex, or did you forget, you got engaged and didn’t even bother to tell the mother of your child?” I dig in a little further, because why the fuck not? I don’t owe him any explanation.
“That’s between us,” he adds.
“And who she fucks is between us, at this current time,” I throw back at him.
He just stares at me, and that’s when I notice his car still sitting out at the curb.
He knew I was in there. Interesting.
“How did you know I was here?”
“It was a guess.” That’s all the explanation he gives before he turns away and goes back to his car.