“I will. Thanks… Piper.”
I hang up. It’s strange how I had the urge to call her Mom. My head slumps into my hands, knowing at twenty-eight years old, I’ve never needed one more than I do now.
After going on a ride to clear my head, I return home. The sun is setting when I go inside. The first thing I notice are candles on the table. Quinn comes from the kitchen. “Good,” he says. “You’re back. I made supper.”
“You made dinner?”
“I boiled pasta, threw on some sauce, put a loaf of frozen garlic bread in the oven, and opened a bottle of wine. Voila! Supper.”
I glance toward Josie’s room. “How is she?”
“Woke up when you left. Took a bottle. We played until she crashed again.”
“And the rash?”
“It looks a little better. It doesn’t seem to be bothering her like it did before. Don’t worry about her. She’s fine.” He pulls out a chair for me. “Sit.” He pours two glasses of wine.
I’m served a hot plate of pasta and garlic bread. When I’m a few bites in, he reaches across the table and swipes my chin. He licks his finger. “You had a bit of sauce there.”
I use my napkin. “Thanks.”
“There’s more.”
I touch my face. “Where?”
Before I get what’s happening, he spoons up some sauce and flings it on my neck. “There,” he says.
My mouth opens in surprise. “Did you just fling sauce on me?” I pick up my fork and fill it with food, ready to fire back.
He holds out a hand. “Wait a minute. You’ll get your turn.” He gets up, moves around the table, leans over, and tilts my neck back. Then he licks the sauce off me.
I moan.
“Mmm,” he says. “Amber marinara. My new favorite dish.” He pulls my shirt up and over my head, then dips a finger into the sauce and runs it down my cleavage. His tongue laps up every last speck of it. Next, my pants and underwear are removed, and more sauce is drizzled on my lower belly. He licks it up as I squirm on the chair, longing for his lips to go lower.
He reaches for a piece of garlic bread. When he puts it near my crotch, I wonder what the heck he plans on doing. “I love the taste of garlic,” he says, then smears the bread all over my upper thighs and between my legs. He licks, then groans. “Holy shit. If I could put this on a menu somewhere, we’d make a killing.”
I giggle. “If you put this on the menu somewhere, we’d be arrested.”
He works his tongue around my thighs, driving me wild. “It’s just as well,” he says. “I don’t share.” He nibbles on my skin. “This is mine. You’re mine.”
It’s the second time he’s claimed me. They’re words I didn’t know I wanted to hear.
I’ve been thoroughly cleaned except where I need to be. He’s teasing me by not touching my clit. I go to do it myself. This time he lets me. His eyes are laser-focused on my finger as I rub slow circles. Him watching me is a huge turn-on. I slip a finger inside. The bulge in his jeans is massive. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast, cowboy.”
He slips his jeans down and palms himself. My insides tighten. This just got a whole lot better. I watch him pump his cock while he gapes at my fingers as they move in and out.
“You look so hard,” I say.
“Hell yeah, I am.”
“Want to stick it inside me?”
“Fuck, no. This is the hottest thing I’ve ever done.”
I smile and open my legs wider. I’m drenched and my fingers glide easily. His eyes half-close, letting me know he’s as close as I am. I move my other hand in position and rub my clit at the same time as my fingers are working inside me. His breathing is quick and rough. He grunts and spurts his hot creaminess all over my thigh. Watching him come sends me over the edge. I stiffen as my insides coil and I explode, shouting through my orgasm.
When I open my eyes, Quinn is staring at me like a prize stallion. “Ho-ly shit, Amber.” He scoots close. “Please tell me you haven’t done that with anyone else.”
I giggle. “You’re the first.”
“Thank God. Score one for me.”
I pull him close. “You know you’re the only one I want to score with from here on out, right?”
Josie’s wails echo through the house. I glance at our mostly uneaten dinner. “Guess this will have to wait.”
We wash up, get Josie, and play with her until she calms. Then we finish our cold pasta (neither of us complain) and take Josie to bed with us.
Chapter Thirty-three
Quinn
When I turn over in bed, Josie is nestled next to Amber, and they’re both fast asleep. They look peaceful. I fight the urge to reach for my phone and snap a picture. It might break the spell. I lie here and commit what I see into my memory. Every curve of Josie’s face. Her soft blonde tuft of hair that’s starting to grow longer. Her tiny fingers. The way Amber’s arm is over the top of Josie’s head and down her other side, as if protecting her in her sleep.
This is one of the moments I’ll want to remember when she’s gone.
Amber’s eyes open lazily. Her gaze travels from me to Josie. She tucks her arm under her pillow and stares at her for the longest time. That’s it. I can’t take it anymore. I carefully roll away and get my phone. It makes a clicking sound when I snap the picture.
Amber’s finger touches her lips. “Shh.”
“I couldn’t help it,” I whisper. I peek at the photo. “It’s beautiful.”
“Me or her?”
“Yes,” I say.
She smiles.
“I needed a picture to remember her after she’s gone.”
Sadness washes over her face. “I must have a thousand,” she whispers. “But I won’t need them to remember her. I’ll never forget her face.”
I brush a stray hair off Amber’s forehead. “Do you think they’ll find a good home for her if Michelle won’t take her back?”
“I hope so. I wish we could interview prospective parents like we did nannies.”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“The father will be tall and strong,” she says. “He’d always be there to protect her.”
“The mother will have an incredible voice. She’ll sing to her.”
“He will know exactly how to make her smile. And when he walks into a room, her face will light up.”
“She will like horses, and she’ll introduce Josie to them by name.”
“He won’t be afraid to make silly faces and noises that make her belly-laugh.”
“She will take a million pictures. Every milestone will be documented.”
Josie starts fussing. I retrieve the pacifier near her side and plop it into her mouth.
“He will know exactly how to calm her,” Amber says, smoothing Josie’s messy tuft. “And he’ll know the difference between all her cries.”
“She will be the most important person in her life.”
She shakes her head and tears fall. “They both will be.”