His hold on her tightened a bit. “Is that so?”
“Seems that way.”
Chris dragged in a quick breath. “Huh.”
“And just because, your mom is watching Maria tonight, so we have the house to ourselves whenever you get home.”
“Right now, you mean.”
Valeria laughed. “No, just finish your business. I thought maybe I left you hanging this morning, and I didn’t want you going one more minute wondering. I’m fine, and I will be waiting at home as I always am whenever you finish your work.”
“I am finished, Val. Nothing is more important than you.”
And that would forever be the case.
He’d make sure of it.
Pulling her in close, he wrapped his arms around her the same way she did to him. He found the soft, sweet-tasting skin of her neck with a kiss, murmuring, “Let’s go home, babe.”
13.
Valeria
IT was unusual for their home to be so quiet that they could hear the music floating out of the stereo system set up in Chris’s office. The noise he liked to constantly keep going because he swore that was how he focused the best.
Valeria didn’t argue it.
To each their own.
Usually, the house had some kind of noise between them, Maria’s three kittens, someone who was always coming in and out, or even her and Chris. Unless their daughter was sleeping or she wasn’t home—like now—the house had life.
All the lights were dimmed.
Soft music floated through.
Chris watched Val from where he leaned against the kitchen table while she drank her glass of wine, savoring the flavors that reminded her of Abril’s favorite bottle back in Mexico. She wasn’t really a wine fan, but at the same time, it allowed her a bit of nostalgia that didn’t also leave her feeling guilty, or worse, traumatized like everything else about her past did.
Tipping the glass up to her lips, she grinned a bit when Chris tilted his head to the side. “I should enjoy this one more,” she told him, “because I plan for it to be my last for a while.”
His lips split with the sexiest smirk. “Oh?”
She shrugged. “Better safe than sorry, I guess.”
“True.”
Pushing away from the table, Chris strode across the kitchen floor with determined, purposeful steps. Each one that he took brought him closer and closer for Valeria. She swore her heart felt every single one of them, too.
God.
She loved this man.
He would never know how much.
She didn’t know the words to say.
Valeria managed to empty what little wine was left in her glass before Chris caught it with his own hand. He set it to the countertop behind her while the pad of his thumb came up to stroke her bottom lip with a touch that had shivers racing straight down her spine.
Yes.
It was going to be a damn good night.
She could tell already.
He moved in a little closer, the sway of his body and sensual curve of his lips only adding to his appeal when he murmured, “Do you hear the music?”
“It should be illegal to look like you do in a pair of slacks with a dress shirt rolled up to your elbows.”
Chris chuckled. “But what about the music?”
“Yes, I hear it.”
The current song just happened to be something sexier and fast paced. A popular club song that had people moving close to grind and sway to the beat together.
“Dance with me,” he said, putting his hand out palm up for her to take.
This time, it wasn’t a request.
Val wouldn’t deny him.
Couldn’t.
Why would she when he looked like he did waiting for her? The second her palm met his, Chris’s fingers tightened around hers, and he pulled her away from the counter. Somehow, it seemed like the music became louder when he spun her to him. Her chest molded against his, and her palm came up to rest between them while her fingernails dug just a little into his chest.
She wanted him to feel that heat, too. The same heat he awoke in her every single time he touched her. Every morning he woke her up by being between her thighs. Each husky call of her name.
All of him.
She never thought to ask where Chris learned to dance like he knew exactly how to move his body to each and every song played on the radio, but the man did. The way he could move his hips in time with hers while keeping her close enough that he could feel every one of her racing heartbeats while his mouth was attacking her neck made her weak in the knees every single time.
Then again, everything this man did made her feel that way. From the grins on his face in the mornings to the way he took his time stripping her naked in the kitchen after their dance before lifting her up to the counter and stepping between her thighs.
He stroked her awake.
With a dance.
Then a strip.
A teasing touch.
A promising kiss.
“God, I love you,” he breathed into their kiss.
“I love you more than you will ever know, Chris.”
Because she’d not yet found the right way to tell him. God knew she tried time and time again, yet each time she ended up with the same line: I love you.
That seemed to suit him just fine.
Cool air whispered over her naked skin. Yet, all she seemed to be was hot.
Chris made it so much better when he slid inside her, stretching her wide and filling her full with one thrust that took her straight up to heaven.
All she asked for then was more.
He gave her that, too.
14.
Chris
One month later ...
“NO, we’ll figure something out soon, Haven,” Val said. “Yeah, I promise. What’s happening over there, anyway?”
Chris came to stand in the doorway of his office to find Valeria sitting on the edge of the desk with her elbows resting against her knees while she talked on the phone. She caught sight of him instantly, telling her companion on the other end, “Just a sec, Haven.”
Pushing the phone against her chest, she gave him a smile. “Hey, can you put Maria to bed? She wants like a million stories, I guess. I haven’t talked to Haven all week, and—”
He shot her a grin. “No worries. I got her.”
Val blew him a kiss. “Thanks.”
“Make it up to me later.”
Her teasing laughter chased him out of the office doorway and continued even when he heard her say, “Yeah, I’m back, Haven.”
Heading down the hallway, Chris came to a stop in the doorway of a bedroom that had somehow become a pink disaster zone. And right there in the middle of it was Maria who played with a handful of dolls on her bed. At least, she had managed to tuck herself in.
“Teeth and hair brushed, PJs on, and a drink for bed?” he asked.
Maria looked up from her dolls, grinning. “Done, done and done.”
He really should thank Bene for teaching Maria that, but ... no.
“Where’s Mama?”
“On the phone with Haven. Figured I could read you bedtime stories tonight.”
“Okay!”
Chris smiled to himself while Maria rushed to clean her bed free of any toys except for the small pile of books off to the side. Maybe her mother had overexaggerated just a bit. It wasn’t a million books. But it was at least ten.