And he had the most random assortment of spices I’d ever seen. Apparently, he was an experimental cook. But he hated almost all of it and ate sandwiches instead of whatever failed meal he’d attempted.
“You feel incredibly turned on and are fighting the urge to jump me,” he replied, crawling up the bed on all fours until he hovered over me.
“She asleep?”
As his lips pressed behind my ear, I moaned and turned my head so he could kiss my neck.
“Yep. She was almost out before I finished the first page of the book.”
“Thanks for putting her down. Your bathtub is amazing.”
“That’s because you’re small. I tried to get in there one time and I swear my heels were touching my ass. I instantly regretted the garden tub upgrade the builder had sold me on.” He kissed my neck again. “At least, now, I can consider it money well spent.”
I rolled over underneath him and slid my hands up his chest. “How long have you lived here?”
“Three years. When Maggie first moved in with me, I had a little two-bedroom apartment. But, let me just tell you, that shit got small. Women are a nightmare to live with.”
I bit my bottom lip. “You do know I’m a woman, right?”
“What?” He feigned surprise. “No way.” He shifted his weight onto one arm, using his other to pat down my breasts. “Well, what do you know?”
I glided my hands around to his ass and dragged his hips down to rest between my legs. The friction of his denim against my barely covered core lit my system up. “I promise not to be a nightmare—all the time, anyway.”
He kissed me chastely and whispered, “Liar.”
“Probably,” I murmured back, seductively rolling my hips off the bed.
He pressed down against me and cussed, but then he suddenly shifted to the side and propped himself on an elbow. “Before we get to that, I need you to talk to me. And I need you to be honest.” He arched a sexy eyebrow. “Can you do that?”
“I can do a lot of things,” I replied breathily.
He grinned. His large, callused hand brushed my damp hair off my face. “You gonna be able to sleep with her in the other room tonight?”
I cut my gaze over his shoulder as a bucket of ice water doused my mood. “Um.”
No. No, I wasn’t going to be able to sleep a single wink with her in the other room. But he didn’t make me admit that.
“That’s what I thought,” he said. “So listen. Me and you, we’ll hang out. Do our thing. And when you start to fall asleep, I’ll go get her and put her in bed with you. I’ll sleep on the couch. My dick might shrivel if I sleep in that neon-pink room of hers.”
My heart lurched. I didn’t want him sleeping in another room, either.
Sure, I was playing the part. Putting a brave smile on and pretending I wasn’t scared out of my wits. But the fact of the matter was we were somewhere new, and only a week earlier, Walt had killed a good man in order to send me a message. I trusted Heath implicitly, and I believed with my whole heart that we’d made the right decision by leaving Roman and Elisabeth’s. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t still worried.
“It’s a king-sized bed, honey. We’ll all fit,” I said.
His face turned soft. “Clare, I love you. And you gotta know by now that I love Tessa too, but I don’t think it’s in anyone’s best interest for her to wake up in a bed with me and her mom. Yeah, she’s seen us hugging and kissing, and I’m okay with that because I want her to know that love can be gentle. And I want her to see how much you trust me because then she’ll trust me more too. But, a couple of months ago, you were in Noir’s bed—the man she called daddy.”
I opened my mouth to object, but he talked over me.
“I know you didn’t want to be there. And I know you were mine even back then. I’ll be damned if she ever calls him daddy again. But she doesn’t understand that shit. I think we need to give this thing between us a little more time to grow before she wakes up in the morning snuggled into my chest.”
I sat up and crisscrossed my legs between us. “Because that’s exactly where she’d be. Snuggled into your chest. Heath, I love you for the way you make me feel. For the way I come alive under your touch. I love you because you’re smart and funny and thoughtful. You’ve gone through hell and even sacrificed your own job to be with me. You look at me like I’m the only woman you’ve ever seen. And hold me like you never want to let go. You laugh with me. And challenge me to be a better person, but at the same time, you remind me that there is nothing wrong with the person I already am. But that’s why I love you.”
He cupped my face and lazily trailed his thumb over my cheek. “Jesus, Clare.”