Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“I get cold when I’m reading.”
“I kind of do too. What’s up with that?” I asked.
It was then that I noticed we weren’t as alone as I thought, that Christopher was leaning against the doorjamb, watching us talk, a soft smile on his lips, and a warm, gooey look in his eye that made my belly go liquid.
“We also have dinner if you guys want to eat it while it’s hot.”
The kids didn’t need to be reminded twice.
“How about you? You want to eat in here, or are you feeling like an outing?”
“An outing. To the living room,” I scoffed. But I slid my legs off the bed. “They’re really good kids,” I told him. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah. I was worried about Liam for a while, but he really seems to have come into his own since moving here. I’m glad this wasn’t a big mistake.”
“Charlotte, too, seems happy.”
“She was always a happy kid. But she is very, very excited about all the bookstores, food places, and pigeons here. You okay?”
“I’m a bit of a lightweight when it comes to meds,” I admitted. “I’m a little woozy.”
“Well, one way to make sure you don’t fall.”
Before I could object, I was swung up into his arms again. And I let myself be. I may have even rested my head against his chest. But just for a second.
When we made our way out, Charlotte and Liam were already at the table. The former looked at us with a bright gleam in her eye. The latter gave us a little smirk and a head shake as Christopher deposited me onto a chair.
“Fair warning,” I said as we all started to unpack our meals, “I will fight someone over that one last garlic knot.”
“Think you might get Char to let you have it if she can have the extra brownie,” Liam said.
I glanced over at the girl, seeing a pleased look on her face. “Deal?”
“Deal,” she agreed.
It was a meal full of talk about books, school, the city, and Tuna—who took advantage of both Charlotte and Liam’s empathy and got himself table scraps he wouldn’t normally get.
Dinner melted into a movie night on the couch with brownies and coffee (and tea for Charlotte) until Charlotte passed out and had to be guided to bed.
Liam offered to take Tuna for a final walk for the night.
Christopher got up and started to clean up after dinner.
It was all just so… natural. Domestic. Comforting.
I turned on the couch, watching Christopher’s back as he rolled up his sleeves and started to rinse plates and cups before stacking them in the dishwasher.
I had no frame of reference for this kind of thing. So I was surprised to find that, apparently, watching a man do chores could be a kind of kink. Because I swear to God, something in me went from a flickering flame to an inferno when he sprayed down the table and started to wipe it clean.
It was from that position that he finally glanced over and saw me.
“You okay?” he asked, brows pinching.
“Yeah.” That totally didn’t come out squeaky or anything.
“You sure? You’re flushed.” He tossed his rag in the sink, washed his hands, and made his way over toward me. With his slutty rolled-up sleeves that were doing something to me. “Do you have a fever?” he asked, pressing the inside of his wrist to my forehead.
“No.”
“No, doesn’t seem like it,” he said, moving his hand to the back of my neck. “You’re a little warm, though. Want me to turn the heat down some more?”
“No. It’s cool enough in here.”
“But if you’re overheating…”
Maybe if he hadn’t sat down at the edge of the cushion with his body all pressed against my legs, I wouldn’t be overheating.
“I’m okay.”
“Maybe you just need to get some rest. How about I bring you to the bathroom to wash up, then you head to bed? It’s been a day.”
It was probably evidence of something fundamentally wrong with me mentally, but I overall had a pretty nice day. Sure, there’d been pain and some guilt about Tuna not being taken care of when I’d been spaced out. But I had Christopher storm into my life to take charge. He got Tuna sorted, saw to cleaning me up, helped me get dressed…
The memory that had been buried somewhere beneath all the craziness of the day sprang back to the forefront of my mind.
Christopher. On his knees. Sliding my panties up my legs. That look in his eyes I knew was heat, even if he would never admit it. Like his mind was exactly where mine had been right at that moment.
“You’re getting even more flushed. Maybe I need to take your temperature.”
Before I could object (as if I was going to do such a thing), he had me scooped up in his arms and was walking me into the bathroom.