It’s the reason I haven’t told Lily how I feel about her yet. Haven’t labelled this thing between us. Haven’t told her everything. Because when I do, I’ll hurt her. She’ll finally see that I’m not the guy she wants me to be.
“I get that.” Cal smiles softly, no doubt thinking about Hayley who is home with their daughter Luna. “If you need an ear, you can bend mine any time.”
“Thanks.” I might need it at some point. It’s not like I can talk to my best friend about my love life. Nerves fill my belly. Dread settles like a weight in my chest. “Don’t tell Hud. I’m going to tell him. I just need a little more time.”
“All right,” he says, putting his hands up. “I’ll keep this to myself.”
“Thanks.”
“But all the time in the world isn’t going to stop that crazy bastard from trying to kill you.”
“I’m aware,” I say as Hud and Fleetwood head in our direction. “I hope when I do tell him that he’ll be able to come to terms with the idea.”
“What idea?” Hud asks.
“That one of those babies is mine,” I quip. Christ, I’m blurting out the first thing that comes to mind now like Lily does.
“In your dreams, bud.” He claps me on the shoulder. “You’re going to have to find your own baby momma.”
“I might just do that,” I say.
Cal shakes his head and calls me an idiot with his eyes.
***
Violet Queen: Knock. Knock.
Cap’N Crunch: Who’s there?
Violet Queen: I’m at your door.
“Hey.” She tucks a strand of her violet hair behind her ear with a white-satin-gloved hand. One red heeled shoe comes up to rub her calf. There’s a glimmer of a thin gold headband across her forehead.
“Hey yourself.” My gaze drifts over the cream trench coat that covers her to mid-thigh. “Are you cold? Or are all my dreams coming true?”
“Are you going to invite me in?” She curls her fingers in the cotton of my shirt and presses her lips to mine. “Because I’m feeling a little awkward, actually, standing out here.”
“Get your sexy ass in here.” I grab her waist and lift her off her feet. Claim the mouth I craved so fucking much while we were apart. Her taste. Her tropical summer scent that I missed so badly I went and stocked up on her expensive bath products and washed my pillow cases in them. Yeah, I’ve got her under my skin now. Lowering her to her feet slowly, I slide her over every inch of my body because I don’t want to let her go for a minute.
“You missed me, Captain?” She giggles.
“I fucking missed you, Lil. So much.”
“Good.” She steps back with her hand to my chest so I can’t automatically close the gap.
I take the hint. Give her the distance. Barely. It’s been a long week without her. Now that she’s here all I want to do is touch her.
She fidgets with one of the buttons on her coat.
I narrow in on that button like it holds the secret to the universe. Or at least one hell of a view. “What are you wearing under that coat?”
“Why don’t you undress me and find out?” She spins one end of the jacket’s sash like the tempting little tease she is.
I growl like a feral animal. Lurch and grab her by the belt. Tug the ends apart and pull the lapels of the coat wide. Reveal the form-fitting Sailor Mars costume underneath with its little red frill and big blue bow. It barely covers her.
She curls her hand around my jaw and shuts my mouth. “You’ll catch flies.”
“That’s it,” I say. “You really are trying to kill me. I’m going to have a stroke or a heart attack, because you look…” I shake my head. I can’t believe that I can be so lucky as to be with her. “Incredible, Lil. Sexy. Beautiful.”
She shrugs off the coat and discards it on my couch. Her tits press against my chest as she twines her arms around my neck and kisses me. “Less talking. More action, please.”
“On it.” I scoop her up and hoist her onto my shoulder.
She laughs as she spanks my ass. “Take me to your quarters, Captain.”
“You’re getting a real kick out of that, aren’t you?” I toss her on the bed and shed my T-shirt.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” She crawls toward my bedside table. “Condoms?”
“In there.” I catch her ankle once she’s grabbed one and pull her back down the bed. Flip her onto her back and lift her heeled foot onto my shoulder. Press my lips to her ankle as I catch sight of the red satin between her thighs. “Your panties match your outfit.”
“Hopefully not for long,” she says.
I skate my palm along her satiny smooth calf, down her thigh. Her skin flushes under my touch.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Is that someone at your door?” She blinks up at me as she pushes up onto her elbows.
“Fuck whoever is at my door.”
Bang. Bang. Bang.
She tugs her leg free of my grip. “Someone’s here. Do you want to get it?”
“Nope.” I bend over and capture her mouth. “They’ll go away.”
“Okay,” she says between kisses.
Scary Spice’s voice belts from my phone. “Fuck. It’s your brother.”
There’s no chance he’s going to go away. He knows I had plans to stay home and work on a coding project. Which wasn’t exactly false. I was working while I waited for Lil to show up.
“Hud’s here?” She crawls out of my reach, her eyes growing round like saucers. Her breath is a little shaky. “Oh no. We’re not ready for this.”
My phone stops ringing, and I release the breath I was holding. Perhaps if I crawl into bed and pretend he isn’t there I won’t have to deal with him, and Lily and I can pick up from where he interrupted.
The Spice Girls start up again. “Shit.”
“You’re going to have to see what he wants,” she says.
“Yep.” I heave in a breath and expel it through my mouth as I pick up my T-shirt and yank it back on. “Okay. I’ll find out why he’s here and get rid of him as quick as I can.”
“Hurry back.” She blows me a kiss as I head toward door.
I catch it and shove it in my pocket. “Stay right there. Just like that.”
“You don’t want me naked in your bed instead?”
“I…” The image of her on my sheets, just the way she is, already has my erection made of steel. Now all I’ll be able to think about the whole time I’m talking to her brother is whether she’s naked in my bed. “Fuck, Lil.”
She wiggles her fingers at me as I shut the bedroom door behind me.
“Took your time,” Hud says when I open the door.
“What are you doing here?” The tension leaks into my voice despite my attempts to quell it.
He holds up a six-pack. “Thought we could have a quiet beer.”
“What about Jane? Shouldn’t you be home with her?”
“Honestly, I think she wanted a break from all my good intentions,” he says. “Harley and Joan are with her.”
“I’m kind of busy.” I scratch the back of my neck.