Chapter 28
SHARE IN MY HAPPINESS
“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” Dean said when Jonah was in bed.
“What?”
“I said that you’re quiet and not only that, you’re distracted. Is everything okay?”
He hadn’t wanted to bring it up when Jonah was around. When the two of them were cooking dinner together, playing a board game with his son, then when Molly cleaned everything up while he got Jonah in bed.
But it was obvious that something was going on and he just hoped it wasn’t anything serious.
“Sorry. I talked to my mom earlier and it’s still playing in my head.”
“That bad?”
She walked over and plopped on the couch closer to him. He put his arm around her shoulder and yanked her close.
“It feels that way. She just has opinions and they suck.”
“About what? Me? You? Us?”
He wanted her to be open with him.
“Yeah. But it’s mean and rude and hurtful.”
“I’m strong,” he said grinning, his finger trailing down the side of her cheek. “I can take it.”
“You know how she is. She never defended me to my father about the things that were said. Even Erika stood up for me as we got older, but it didn’t matter. It seems once my father died, she turned more bitter. She kind of picked up where he left off.”
“You never made it out to be that way. Why?”
“Because I didn’t see it as much as I see it now. Maybe it’s because I’m so happy with you and Jonah that I didn’t notice it for what it’s worth. But she can’t share in my happiness. Everything she says she thinks is being helpful but it’s not.”
“What is she saying?”
She blew out a breath. “I told you before that she doesn’t really think highly of your job.”
“She thinks I’m at work flirting or cheating on you?”
“Don’t laugh.” Her elbow jabbed him in the side. “It’s not funny.”
“It kind of is. You know me. She doesn’t. Do you think I’ve got time to even do that? Cheat on you? Let alone even want to. You’re plenty enough for me.”
“You’re trying to be cute and make me smile.”
“I am, but I see you’re worried and shouldn’t be.”
“I know. She actually thought me not talking to her or responding to her texts meant I was upset over us splitting or something. I told her this was the happiest I’ve been and I don’t understand why she can’t see that.”
“Some people like to live in misery. Trust me, I know.”
“Your parents?”
“Something like that. But we are talking about your mother. What else did she say so I can ease your mind?”
Her head dropped on his shoulder but she said nothing for a solid minute. “I’m thinking.”
“Thinking because you think it’s going to bother me?” he asked.
“Thinking because it’s kind of insulting and I don’t know I want to even voice it, it’s so ridiculous.”
“Then say it so we can laugh together.”
His fingers went to her side and gave her a little squeeze.
“She asked if you were selling drugs or running money or something else illegal through the bar when she found out where you lived. Maybe I shouldn’t have said you lived by Ruby and in the newer section. Or that you had a nanny apartment. She just ticked me off and I was defending you.”
He stilled but then told himself to relax.
That reacting that way would come off as guilt.
Like the guilt he was feeling over her words.
“I’m not doing anything illegal. I’m managing a very successful bar. I’m smart as we know.”
“True. I should have told my mother that you went to Columbia. That might have shut her up.”
“You don’t need to defend me. I’ve heard a lot worse in my life.”
“I know. But it’s still not nice and I hate even saying it.”
He put his hand on hers. “But it got you thinking, right?”
“Yeah. A little. But your money is yours. That’s your business. As long as you aren’t doing anything illegal, I don’t care. It’s not for me to know.”
He closed his eyes.
She was right with everything she said.
It wasn’t her business.
They hadn’t been together long enough for him to explain any of that.
For years he didn’t want anyone to know who he was so he was looked at as having that kind of wealth.
For being lumped into the same greedy category as the rest of his family.
For being a puppet when he was his own man.
“I’m smart with money and investments. I’ve taken some risks that have paid off.”
“See. That’s a simple explanation and makes so much more sense. I guess I had no reason to let it eat me up this afternoon.”
“Don’t do that.” He stood up and put his hand out. “Just ask me. I’ll be honest.”
It’s not like he feared she was going to ask if he was heir to an almost billion dollar fortune. As if she were going to put Dean Easton with Dr. D.T. Easton.
That was reaching.
“And I did. Are you asking me to go to bed now?”
“I am,” he said.
“I’m not tired,” she said, her finger poking him in the side.
“Neither am I, but I can tire us both out if you want.”
“I expect you to.”
The minute his door was shut, he yanked her into his arms, his mouth crushing hers.
They never went slow.
It felt as if every minute they had alone had to be rushed. As if they had to get to the end before something changed.
But he’d told himself that something changed for him weeks ago.
Maybe the first day he saw her. Then she came back. And came back again.
He almost messed up and wouldn’t do that a second time.
Neither of them deserved that.
But this time, this time, he was going to savor her.
He was going to take his time and make her body tell her what he’d known for a while.
That he was in love with her.
He just couldn’t get the words out of his mouth.
And not knowing how she felt other than happiness kept them locked up even tighter.
He backed her to the bed, her legs hitting it, then her flopping down on top.
He’d known all along that her sexual experience wasn’t the same as his. He never expected otherwise.
And the fact she’d admitted she’d never spent the night with a man only told him it might have been more limited than he could have imagined.
It didn’t bother him though.
It never did. What they shared was much more important.
He reached for the snaps on her light purple pants. She looked fresh to him again. And maybe that is what he needed in his life.
Something almost untouched.
It first started with Jonah.
Something that was all his.
That is how he thought of Molly now.
Her pants and underwear were removed quickly, she sat up and pulled her white sweater over her head and tossed it aside, her bra following.
“You need to undress now,” she said, her eyebrows wiggling.
Didn’t need to tell him twice.
His fitted T-shirt was up and over his head, his shorts undone and dropped.
He got a condom out of the drawer and tossed it toward her, then climbed on the bed and lay on his back, putting his hands behind his head, locking his fingers in place.
She got on one elbow and turned to stare at him.
“Hey, you said you were going to tire me out.”
“I lied. I think you want to be on top. You’re just afraid to say something and I’m not sure why.”
Her eyes stayed on his face. She didn’t speak. Didn’t do anything for a minute.
Then she reached for the condom, opened it and covered his dick that was already throbbing and wanting.
“Maybe you’re good at reading minds too.”
He laughed, a short husky sound.
“I like to think so.”
She lifted her leg over his waist, straddled him but didn’t sink down.
Instead, she leaned forward, her mouth on his, her hands going for his fingers behind his head, then her legs sliding out so that she was lying on top of him.
Their kiss was soft. It was sweet.
It was slow.
“Sometimes it’s nice to just lie like this, don’t you think?”
“I do,” he said, his mouth opening, her tongue sliding in.
He was going to let her set the pace. Let her show him what she wanted.
What she was feeling.
The kiss didn’t deepen more. It didn’t lessen either.
It just…stayed solid. Formidable.
Like she knew she had all the time in the world and wanted to stay right here and enjoy every minute of it.
But when she ground against his dick, there was only so much he could take.
He lifted some, trying to get her to get the hint.
When she didn’t, he unlaced one hand and slid his fingers down her ribs, over her hips, then helped line his dick up in place and lifted.
She inched down at the same time, the two of them one.
So simple.
So easy.
Like everything he wanted what they had to be.
The rest of the world was silent at the moment.
It was the two of them at peace like something he’d never felt before.
He was lifting and lowering, she was pushing him back and rising.
Their tongues were replicating the same motions as their mouths.
Their fingers joined again, multiple parts of their bodies tangled as if one.
She turned her head, angling the kiss more.
This time it was deeper.
This time it was harder.
The same with her hips.
The motion was faster, they were both climbing.
Both feeling the same and ready to reach that peak.
His abs were burning from the workout, his body built a sheen of sweat, but he wasn’t stopping and neither was she.
Not until they got to the end.
Not until they both felt the same release.
A kind that said everything that needed to be spoken without words.
His balls were getting tighter, almost heavy waiting for his release.
Christ, at this rate, it was going to be an explosion.
“I’m so close,” she hissed between kisses.
“Grind harder. Faster. Do what you can. I’m right there with you,” he groaned.
She pressed down on him, rubbed against him, squirming so much that she might not have realized that her inner walls were squeezing him so tight he was barely hanging on.
The way her fingers were crushing his, he knew she was close, so he lifted his hips higher, sending him as deep as he could with her rubbing against him.
Then she was pulsing.
He felt every single one, thrust two more times and he was right there with her, his hips landing on the bed as their bodies released together.
“Wow,” she said, almost with wonder in her voice. “I should be on top like that more often.”
He pulled his hands out and shook them off.
“As long as you don’t break my fingers. I need these, you know.”
She inched down a bit more and put her head on his chest. “Sorry. I always seem to lose myself with you in the moment. Then afterwards…it’s a bit scary.”
He ran his hand down her back. “Yeah, it is,” he whispered. “But we’re strong, right?”
She lifted her head to put her chin on his chest. “I am now. Thanks to you.”
Her eyes were searching his. It felt like one of them needed to say those three words.
But neither of them did.