Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
BILLIE
Wrapped in a fluffy white towel, I’m halfway to the bedroom after taking a shower when my intercom buzzes.
I pad past Blake, who’s still asleep in her bassinet—she hasn’t been sleeping well the past few nights—and I head down the stairs toward the door.
“Hello?” I half yawn into the receiver.
“It’s Emmett.” His deep voice wraps around me, softer than the towel covering my body.
An automatic smile creeps across my face. It’s been a few days since our text conversation got caught short by Dad’s visit, and I’ve missed him.
“What brings you to this side of town?”
His voice grows a touch sultry. “You, mainly. Along with your beautiful baby girl. Can I come up, or do you have another guy keeping you company?”
I snort at the thought. “I think my life is complicated enough as it is, don’t you? One second. Let me release the door.”
Replacing the receiver, I hit the button and wait for Emmett to climb the stairs, a delicious excitement fluttering low in my belly.
Less than a minute later, he’s standing in front of me, eyes fixated on my face.
“Did you just finish morning skate?” I ask, unable to resist exploring his physique.
The last morning we were together, I got to appreciate how perfect he is beneath the training gear that he’s wearing today.
Bottom lip pinned between his teeth, Emmett takes a small step toward me. “My schedule says that I should be completing a light session in the gym, but somehow, I ended up driving over here.”
I can tell he wants to touch me, both hands sliding into his pockets.
Tipping my head to one side, I feed on the palpable tension growing between us each time we’re in the same room. “And what were you hoping to find when you arrived?”
His grin only confirms that he feels the same way over the charged atmosphere. “A beautiful girl, half naked and smiling at me.” His eyes drop down my body. “Some might say that I hit the jackpot.”
So many times in the past couple of months, I’ve wondered what it would be like to kiss this man, although none more so than in this moment right now. I think post-practice is how I like him most—his freshly showered scent filling my senses, a backward cap doing something to me I can’t explain.
When he closes the space between us, cupping my face in his palms, I feel sure that this is where we’ll take another step into the unknown.
“It’s a beautiful day outside, bright and sunny with spring flowers lining the roads.” He strokes his thumb under my left eye. “Spend the day with me, Mama. You, Blake, and my Aston Martin DB5.”
As a teenager, I thought it was the coolest car I’d ever seen, and he looked like a god when he drove it. I thought the same thing when he drove me to the hospital in it too, even though I was having one of the worst days of my life.
“Do you remember losing that bet when we played Monopoly and giving me and my girlfriends a ride to the mall?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “I remember. You talked about James Bond the whole way there, and I recall being surprised that you even knew about a movie filmed in the 1960s.”
My eyes drop to his lips. “You underestimate me and my taste in music and movies, Mr. Richards.”
Emmett pushes out a thoughtful breath as he examines my face.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Miss Quinn. You’ve always fascinated me.
Your quirks, big heart, and love of sports made you one of the coolest people I knew.
Someone I wanted to be friends with.” He pauses, fingertips massaging behind my ears.
“And today, you’ve turned into an incredible woman that I can’t get enough of.
Even if I should stop indulging myself in you. ”
I never want him to stop.
“We won’t fit the stroller in the DB5, but I could bring Blake’s baby sling,” I suggest, eager to spend as much time with him as possible.
“Sounds good.” He smiles, mouth hovering over mine.
I stare up into his eyes. “Where do you plan on taking us?”
He rests his forehead against mine, and my heart settles into a steady rhythm, like we have all the time to enjoy each other.
“Somewhere discreet, but equally beautiful and a place where no one can disturb us.”
We’re fifteen minutes into our drive, and I’m still none the wiser as to where we’re headed. All I know is, it’s out of town, the roads growing quieter and more rural.
Emmett switched up his regular glasses for prescription sunglasses, his attention fixed solely on the road.
“I think Blake likes the luxurious car lifestyle.” I chuckle, eyeing my baby daughter in the rearview mirror.
He rests his forearm over the steering wheel, briefly turning his head to look at me. “I think she likes any life where her mommy is at the center of it.”
Warmth fills my chest as we pull up at a stoplight, the road drenched in spring sunlight.
“How many cars do you have now?”
Emmett doesn’t immediately answer, lifting the fingers planted on his steering wheel to count. “Six, if you include this one.”
I practically choke on my saliva. “So, basically, one for each day of the week?”
His smirk is panty-melting as he shifts into gear. “Almost.”
It’s another couple of minutes before we speak again. Blake’s eyes intermittently droop as she gently falls into a deep sleep.
“If Blake stays asleep in the back, it will be her first decent nap in a while,” I say, a yawn threatening to break out. “If you can’t already tell by the dark circles under my eyes, this girl right here has had less than three hours of sleep for the past four nights.”
We’re driving along a quiet road when Emmett pulls into a rest stop, keeping the engine running as he unclips my belt.
With Blake seated directly behind me, there’s enough room for him to slide his seat right back.
“Come sit in my lap, Bill.”
“I thought we weren’t going to touch each other?”
Something in what I just said urges him on, and he reaches across to interlace our fingers and pull me over the center section.
I don’t resist, burning anticipation growing strong when I plant my knees on either side of his thighs and feel how crazy our close proximity is driving him.
Pushing away a few strands of hair that have come loose from my bun, Emmett pulls off his cap and sets it on my head, admiring the way it looks on me.
“There isn’t a day, hour, or minute that passes where I’m not thinking about you and Blake.
When I gear up to hit the ice, I’m wishing you were in the family box.
When I’m making my morning protein shake, I’m thinking about what you’re having for breakfast and if you managed to get enough sleep that night.
You’re constantly on my mind, and my obsession is only growing stronger. ”
My fingers find the toggles on his blue hoodie, and my eyes drop to where I’m fidgeting with it.
“Eyes on me, Mama.”
I drop the toggle and do as he commanded.
“I think about you all the time,” I confess. “It’s like when we aren’t physically in the same room, we’re still somehow connected.”
Emmett lowers his lips to the underside of my jaw, setting a gentle kiss against my skin.
I close my eyes at the sensation, imagining what it would be like to feel his mouth against mine or even between my thighs.
I’m not exactly experienced when it comes to guys, but I know that he could—and would—rock my world all night.
It’s impossible to harbor these kinds of feelings and them not translate into the bedroom.
“I’m so fucking scared,” he confesses, voice trembling with genuine fear.
“Of what?” I whisper into his soft hair.
Truthfully, I don’t need an answer. The dangers we’ve been facing have been apparent since the second I walked into my parents’ living room that fateful day in February.
He pulls back, eyes full of angst. “When Scott stopped by my apartment the other day, he started talking to me about you and Blake, and I wanted to tell him everything. Holding out on my best friend like this feels like the worst form of betrayal, but knowing that all hell will break loose the moment I confess to my feelings leaves me with no other choice.” He pulls a deep breath into his lungs before releasing a warm puff of air against my needy lips.
“I’m going out of my mind here, Bill. I’m putting you in danger and being selfish every time I make excuses to see you. ”
I shake my head at his last few words. “You aren’t being selfish; you’re being a human.”
His hands circle my hips, just like they did in my parents’ kitchen.
“If circumstances were different, do you know how many times I’d have made you come until you saw stars?
” He moves his hand to the waistband of my leggings, skirting his fingertips across the top.
“Over and over, just so I could feed my addiction.”
Every muscle contracts, pleading for him to go further.
“Touch me, Emmett.”
Guiding his hand further, he dips his fingers lower, teasing the thin fabric of my panties.
I drop my face into the crook of his neck, silently wishing for his hand to swipe through me.
“I’m in the battle of my life here.” His voice is thick and heavy, heart beating hard enough for the both of us. “I’ve never wanted something so much in my life.” He brushes a finger over my pussy, feeling how damp I am. “You’re so fucking perfect for me.”
“You’re perfect for me too,” I breathe out, pulse racing.
His fingers travel to the edge of my panties, sliding gently beneath the seam, but still too far away from my pussy.
I know he can feel my needy heat and hear the low moan as it escapes from my throat.
Blake is still fast asleep, and we have all the time to explore each other without fear of being caught.
“Touch me.” I try once more to coax his fingers to where I want them.
He throws his head back, and I know if it wasn’t for Blake, he’d allow his frustration to break free.
“Why?” He speaks to no one in particular. “Why couldn’t this whole situation be different?”
Wrapping my palm around the nape of his neck, I gently guide his gaze back to mine, tears pricking my eyes.
When we set out on this drive, I expected Emmett to take us to another secluded park. In reality, I don’t think he had any particular destination in mind; his main objective was to steal some more time with me and my daughter.
And while I selfishly want to be around him all the time, I can see the way this is tearing him up inside.
If Emmett was going to put his hands on me, then he would’ve done it already.
There’s only so many times we can be in this position—torturing each other over a fantasy of what could be.
Emmett’s the kind of man who takes what he wants, and I’d gladly hand myself over in a heartbeat.
Yet despite all of the above, it feels like we’re no further forward, as the barriers between us become increasingly insurmountable.
Words I never wanted to whisper rise in my throat, and acid burns a track directly behind them.
“If you need to back away for good, then I want you to know that I get it. Blake and I both get it.” My fingers brush through the soft strands of hair at the back of his head.
“I also want you to know that I’m eternally grateful for everything you have done for us these past couple of months.
The past decade of my life, to be honest. When I arrived back in Brooklyn, I was a broken girl—lost, scared, and without any friends.
I’m where I am right now because of you, fighting another day because of the strength you’ve given me. ”
I bite on the inside of my cheek, desperate to finish what I set out to say.
“If putting your hands on me means that you’ll go on to regret it, then I don’t want that to be our legacy.
I want the memories of you holding my hand in the scanning room, tickling me until I couldn’t breathe, buying me ridiculously overpriced steak and late-night pineapple pizza to be happy and without you feeling guilty because we took things too far and couldn’t accept that, no matter how much we wanted it, we could never be more than friends. ”