Chapter 27 #2
His hand leaves my hip and lands on my center. I feel his thumb on my swollen bud as he teases me while I ride. Every thrust sends currents of electricity through my body, building up my core with a deep, simmering spark ready to ignite.
“Miles…” I rasp out his name, letting him know I’m close. Biting my bottom lip, I try to get ready to stifle my sound.
“I’ve got you,” he pants, pulling me to him and burying my face in his neck. My cry is muffled as I feel myself shatter around him.
“Fuck,” he growls into my hair before releasing inside me. My walls squeeze him tight as we pulse together. I hold him as close as I can get him, wanting to crawl inside him if I could.
Tremors shoot through me as I breathe in his smell deeply. I feel his hands on my back as he fists my hair and holds me just as tight, like we are both afraid to let go.
We stay locked together in each other’s arms until our breaths finally return to normal. His hand rubs my back in a soothing motion, and I just want to curl up and stay here forever.
“How does omelets sound in the morning?” I ask softly, letting him know that it’s okay if he stays the night.
“It sounds perfect,” he whispers, throwing the covers over us and keeping me locked in his arms. We lie there just feeling each other's heartbeats sync together until we eventually let sleep take us under.
“Momma!” The sound of my daughter’s voice wakes me up from my slumber with a jolt. I immediately panic and cover myself with the sheet. My eyes frantically look for Miles next to me, wondering how I’m going to explain why I'm naked in bed with Charlie’s, Uncle Miles.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the bed empty beside me. Bee jumps up and tackles me. Laughing, I brush back her wild bed hair out of her eyes.
“Someone is excited this morning.”
“Miles came for breakfast again and woke me up for a secret surprise for you! We’ve been working on it all morning!”
“What time is it?” I glance at the clock on my nightstand and see it’s almost nine. I can’t remember the last time I got to sleep in this late.
Miles walks in with a breakfast tray loaded with food. He’s wearing the same pants and tee from last night. I can tell his hair is still messy from sleep, and he’s also barefoot, but to Bee, there’s no reason to think he came straight from my bed.
“Surprise! We made you breakfast! I helped stir the eggs, and Miles even let me cut up some strawberries with a knife!”
“Butter knife,” he corrects quickly. “And no fingers were hurt in the process,” he smiles, and sets the tray down on the bed.
Three plates are filled with an omelet and strawberries.
“I came over this morning to check on Gizmo and thought it would be fun to surprise you with breakfast in bed. It was Bee’s idea to add the strawberries.
” My heart swells at how much he includes my daughter and how their relationship is growing.
“Cause you love strawberries, Momma.” She reaches over and plops one in her mouth.
“I do love strawberries.” I hug Bee to my chest and kiss the top of her head. “This is the best surprise ever.” I smile over the top of her head and silently mouth thank you .
He winks at me and grins before sitting on the bed next to us like he belongs.
“It’s a picnic in bed,” Bee giggles, taking a bite of her eggs. I noticed he scrambled them just how she likes them.
“Yes, it is,” I smile. “I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick, and I’ll be right back to eat with you,” I tell Bee. She nods and takes a drink of orange juice .
Wrapping the sheet around me, I head to my dresser to grab some clothes before walking to the bathroom. I quickly get dressed in a t-shirt and shorts before freshening up a bit. Feeling more put together, I walk back out and join them for breakfast.
Miles’s eyes widen when he sees me.
“What?” I ask, looking down to make sure I don’t have anything on me.
“You know that’s my band, right? Or used to be.”
I glance down at my worn black t-shirt with the band logo Southern Tides across the front. I got this tee at one of Mark’s concerts. They were the opening act at the time, and I loved them so much I got one of their shirts while I was there.
“You played with Southern Tides?” I ask, shocked.
“I was Southern Tides. I started the band when I was in high school.”
“But they're famous.”
“Yeah, I know,” he laughs. “We worked our as..” He stops and looks briefly at Bee, who’s giving Gizmo a bite of her egg. “Butts off for the past fifteen years.”
Dumbfounded, I sit on the bed. I knew he was a drummer in a band and had been on tour for a while, but in my mind, it was just local bars, not sold-out arenas.
“I have your songs on my Spotify list,” I whisper. “They’re amazing.”
“Glad you think so,” he grins and pops a strawberry in his mouth. “Those are our older designs,” he motions to the shirt. “I think we were still the opening acts back then.”
“Yeah, I uh went to a concert and loved you guys so much that I got a tee.” I glance at Bee, and she’s still playing with Gizmo.
The last thing I want to do is get into a conversation about her dad in front of her.
She’s asked me a couple of times since she’s gotten older why she doesn’t have one, and I’ve managed to keep it vague by telling her he travels a lot for work, which is sort of the truth.
“What concert?”
“Hmm?” Miles pulls me out of my thoughts, and I miss his question.
“I asked what concert it was?” He chuckles, taking a bite of his omelet.
“I can’t even remember. It was so long ago, and I went to a lot back then.” Which is also sort of the truth. I went to a lot of Mark’s concerts that year. I just didn’t know I wasn’t the only girl doing the same thing.
“Well, tonight's your lucky night,” he grins. “The band is getting back together for the locals.”
“Southern Tides is playing tonight? At your opening?” My mouth drops open in surprise. “But that’s not the band you’ve been advertising.”
“They are still playing, but the boys are stopping by for a few songs to surprise everyone. I didn’t advertise it because I didn’t want to deal with the press and the hordes of fans, plus I’m trying to live a life out of the spotlight now.”
“Your groupies will find you eventually. A quick internet search is going to bring up your bar now.”
“Well, obviously not everyone uses the internet. My biggest fan didn’t even know what I looked like?” He grins and lifts the glass of orange juice to his lips.
“I’m on social media for work so much that I don’t even want to look at it when I’m done. I didn’t even think of looking you guys up when I added your songs to my playlist. And your biggest fan ?” I arch my eyebrow. “I said I loved the band. The drummer is okay too,” I say, hiding a smile.
“I think someone needs a repeat of last night,” he says quietly. “You’re being very bad. You’re also doing that thing again that tells me you're lying. ”
I slip my lip out that I had been fidgeting with and grin. “I guess I need more repeats to fully learn my lesson.”
“That can definitely be arranged,” he says with a gleam in his eyes.
“And next time, you are wearing that t-shirt.” He points to his logo across my chest, “ and I’m going to get you a Montgomery’s one to wear too.
” Suddenly, I feel giddy at the thought of wearing his shirts and knowing I’m his.
It’s also very hot to know it turns him on to have me wear it.
“I’ll wear your shirt. That’s what GF’s do, right? They wear their BF’s name?” I talk in code, so Bee won’t catch on to the words girlfriend and boyfriend .
“It’s exactly what your BF wants, so yeah, it’s an unspoken rule that you have to wear my shirt.”
“Then I better do what my BF wants.”
“That’s the best thing I’ve heard in years, and don’t ever forget it,” he grins, spearing a bite of egg with his fork.
I giggle at his gorgeous face, and take a bite of my omelet. “This is really good. Did you use Miss Beth’s veggies from her garden that were on the counter?”
“Those were the ones I used,” he chuckles. “Remind me later to tell you about the conversation I had with her the other day.”
“You know Miss Beth? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised in this small town.”
“I know her all right. She used to babysit me.”
“Oh God,” I laugh. “I can’t wait to hear this story.”
“It’s definitely one I’ll never forget,” he chuckles.
We finish eating the rest of our breakfast before he heads home to shower and get everything ready for tonight.
I’m dropping Bee off at Jake and Lyla’s later this afternoon.
They have a babysitter lined up, and we promised the girls they could have a sleepover tonight, which means I have Miles all to myself for the whole night and most of tomorrow morning .
Walking into my closet, I rummage through my clothes for something to wear tonight. I want to look extra good for his grand opening, and nothing seems to be giving me the wow factor that I want.
Getting an idea, I reach for my phone to text Savi.
Olivia
Feel like shopping today? Nothing in my closet is screaming my name, and I’m thinking a new outfit is in order for tonight.
I grin when three dots immediately appear.
Savi
God, yes! I could use some retail therapy right about now. Come pick you up in an hour?
Olivia
Perfect! See you then. :)
Walking back out into the living room, I smile when I see Bee coloring at the coffee table.
“Want to go shopping with Aunt Savi and me today before I take you over to Charlie’s house? You can help me pick out a new outfit for tonight.”
“Okay,” she smiles and goes back to her coloring. I hesitate briefly before I sit down on the couch next to her.
“So what do you think about Miles? Do you have fun with him?” I’ve never had a conversation with Bee about someone I like, but I want to feel her out and maybe plant a little seed that she will see more of him.
“He’s so much fun, and he told me I could share Gizmo with him. So that makes him my dog, too.”
“That was nice of him to share,” I smile.
“Is he going to be your boyfriend?” She asks out of the blue .
“What made you ask that?” I blink in surprise. I didn’t even realize she knew what a boyfriend was.
“Charlie says that when a boy is nice to you, he likes you. Miles is really nice to you, so he must like you a lot, and when you like someone a lot, they get to be your boyfriend. Like Mason. He’s going to be my boyfriend someday.”
“Mason?” I try to rack my brain on which one Mason belongs to. I’m also trying to wrap my head around the fact that my daughter is already into boys. “Which one is Mason?”
“He’s Ryland’s brother. He’s six, but I don’t care that he’s older. He lets me play with his cars and always lets me use the pretty blue one.”
Dark curly hair comes to mind as I picture him with his big blue eyes, remembering he’s Ryder and Eve’s middle child.
“I’m glad you are making new friends. He seems really nice if he lets you play with his special car collection.”
“He’s going to be a race car driver when he grows up and go real fast around the tracks.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I laugh softly, knowing Ryder and Eve both love their fast cars. I pick up a crayon and start to color with her. “So you would be okay if Momma had a boyfriend?” I ask casually to gauge the situation.
“Only if it’s Miles, cause he likes you a lot and would get his feelings hurt if you had another boyfriend. You like him a lot too.”
“Okay,” I say, trying to hold back my laughter so she knows I’m taking her seriously.
“I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings.” I bite my lip as I debate whether to ask the next question, but curiosity gets the better of me.
“How do you know we like each other a lot?” I’m getting relationship advice from a four-year-old.
It’s sad it’s come to this, but my daughter is probably wiser than most adults .
“Because you both look at each other like you look at me. With love,” she adds with a smile before going back to coloring.
I swallow down the emotions that come brimming to the surface. Even my daughter sees what I’m so desperately afraid to admit…
That I’ve fallen just about as deep as you can go.
Whether I’m ready to admit it or not…
I’m in love with Miles Montgomery and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it except pray that my heart remains in one piece.