Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“This isn’t about you, Brady. It’s about Layla and her trauma. All you can do is be here and keep being here for her. Make her feel welcome and wanted and loved. Can you do that?”
“Of course I can.”
I smiled at his indignation. “Then do that, and she’ll come around.” Unable to help myself, I crossed the kitchen to offer him a supportive shoulder squeeze. “She’s emotional and she needs to process her feelings. Give her a few minutes.”
His gaze shifted and darkened as his arms wrapped around my waist. “A few minutes, you say?”
My face flamed with heat and an unstoppable smile as I nodded.
“Thank you, Toni.” His words came out on a low, and then his mouth was on mine, hungry and intense. He kissed me as if he missed me, as if we hadn’t spent all night—for the past week—wrapped up in one another. It was the kind of kiss that made your toes curl, that made your heart pound so loudly you can’t hear anything else.
Brady’s kisses made me feel drunk and I clung to him as my legs weakened and my core tightened, my whole body flushed with heat. I moaned and he swallowed it, pulling me closer so not even a gust of wind could fit between us.
“Wow,” I sighed when he pulled back. “You’re welcome.”
His laughter was deep and rich. It was such a welcome sound and the warmth it produced in me sounded the warning bells deep in my mind. “Anytime, Toni. Anytime.”
The bells got louder because when Brady smiled at me like that, I forgot all the reasons why this was a bad idea.
Chapter 13
Brady
“Are you sure this is the best way?” My brows arched in Toni’s direction, skeptical that such a simple solution could fix the devastated expression on Layla’s face. How long would it take to forget that look? To forget that she still thought this wasn’t her home?
“I’m sure,” she said with a devious smile, holding her phone out with one hand and the tub of ice cream in the other. “Get in here,” she ordered and shoved the tub in my hand. “Now, smile,” she ordered and removed the spoon from the tub, tapping the tip of my nose with the pink concoction. “Perfect.”
“I didn’t agree to that last part.”
Toni looked at me and then burst out laughing. “It’s called improvising. I’m sure as a businessman you do that on occasion.”
I froze at her words. Did that mean she’d looked into me? Had Toni done her own research to find out what I hadn’t shared with her? She hadn’t brought up the fact that she didn’t know me again, so I incorrectly assumed that it was dropped for good, but that one statement had me reconsidering. Did she know who I was and what I was worth?
“I’m not much on improvising. A plan is always preferable.”
Toni snorted in response and shook her head before she turned her attention to the phone as she typed a message for Layla. “Come down now and there might be some left for you. After dinner.”
“How is taunting her going to make her want to come down?”
“It’s not a taunt if I plan to eat the ice cream just to prove that I mean business.” To punctuate her words, she swiped the ice cream from the tip of my nose and licked her finger.
My cock instantly hardened, and when Toni moaned it turned to aching and desire. The need to have this woman was with me constantly. I didn’t know what it was about Toni but I couldn’t get enough of her and I hadn’t felt that way in a long time. Don’t question it, just go with it, I told myself as my gaze heated and I hooked an arm around her waist. “Tease,” I growled and pulled her body against mine. Chest to chest, hip to hip.
She laughed and the sound was low and sultry, shooting another dark streak of lust straight through my cock.
Need surged through me and my lips crashed against hers, hungrily devouring her mouth, the faintest hint of the strawberries and cream ice cream covered her tongue. My tongue explored her mouth as if this was our first kiss, her little moans made me hungrier for her and I switched our positions, pushing my body against hers so Toni could feel just how much I wanted her. Again. Right here.
The feel of her curves under my hands as they slid lower and gripped her ass, bringing her flush against my cock, pulled a moan from both of us. The taste of her lived in my dreams, the feel of her tits against my chest, the faintest thump of her heart against mine was almost more than I could take. “Toni,” I whispered against her lips.
She moaned and arched her hips forward.