Sliding the diced cucumbers into the bowl, he walked around me, carrying the board and knife. He placed them in the sink and then turned around. Taking one step with those long legs of his, he was right in front of me. He lifted his arms, and his hands curved around my cheeks, tilting my head back so that our gaze met.
“I’m the lucky one,” he said, his eyes searching mine. “You didn’t make a decision about this baby without involving me. You didn’t take that choice away from me. And this is something I know you don’t know, but I never thought I’d have a child. Not because I didn’t want one, but because I just . . . I just never thought it would happen. I wasn’t screwing around when I said I didn’t do relationships, but with you—with this—this is different. Yeah, it was a big damn surprise.” His thumbs smoothed along the line of my jaw. “But there’s not a single part of me that doesn’t realize how lucky I am.”
I lowered my gaze, willing the stupid wetness to go away. “There you go again, being all great about this.”
“It really isn’t that hard to be this awesome,” he teased.
My lips curved up, and when I raised my gaze, I figured it was time to really figure out what we were doing, what both of us expected from this. “Can I ask you something?”
His gaze dropped to my mouth, and the tense, hungry look that settled into his features was hard to ignore. “You can do whatever you want.”
Reaching up, I wrapped my hands around his wrists. “Is it true that you haven’t hooked up with anyone since you met me?”
Those heated green eyes flew to mine. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Roxy’s been very chatty lately.”
“Actually, it was really Katie.”
“Girls,” he murmured, and then he laughed softly. “They’re right. I haven’t been with anyone since I’ve met you.”
The relief from earlier resurfaced. “Why?”
“Why?” His brows rose. “I don’t know.”
“You really don’t?”
Nick’s forehead wrinkled as he seemed to seriously mull my question over. He dropped his hands but didn’t step away. “I just . . . there’s been opportunity . . .”
“I’m sure there has been,” I replied wryly.
A quick grin flashed across his face, but it didn’t dampen the confusion etched into his features. “I just haven’t been interested, and I . . .” Trailing off, he closed his eyes. “Fuck it.”
My head jerked back as I blinked. Fuck it? That was not the response I was looking for, but before I could say anything, his hands had clasped my cheeks and he’d tilted my head back again. He lowered his mouth to mine.
And he kissed me.
Chapter 18
The first contact of his lips against mine was a shock to my system. It had been so long since I’d been kissed, really kissed, that I’d seriously forgotten how it felt, but even with the lack of memories, I knew this was going to blow every other kiss out of the water.
His lips glided over mine once and then twice, as if he were mapping out the layout, committing the feel to memory. When he tilted his head to the side, I felt his tongue sweep across the seam of my mouth. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation on my part.
I opened for him, and he took that kiss deep. My hands settled on his arms and my body sank into his. The kiss branded me, dug in below the skin and muscles, and wrapped around my bones. I didn’t think I’d ever been kissed like this. Not that I could remember.
Not that it even really mattered.
Clutching his arms, I kissed him back. I chased after him, staking my own claim. A soft groan rippled out of him, and I knew he was also branded. Our tongues tangled, and the touch of his mouth against mine increased. Raw. Fierce. Those were the two words that came to mind as he started to back me up. My hands slid down his taut sides, reaching the low hanging jeans. One of his hands slid around to the nape of my neck, tangling in my hair as—
The one minute warning went off in the oven, breaking us apart. Both of us were breathing heavy as we stared at one another. My lips were pleasantly swollen and I felt thoroughly kissed.
“That’s why,” Nick said thickly. “That right there is why I haven’t hooked up with anyone else.”
“A kiss?” My chest rose and fell sharply.
“Not just a kiss.” He shook his head as he dragged his thumb along my lower lip. “It’s the way you feel against me—the way your body just softens right into mine. It’s those tiny sounds you make when you’re liking what I’m doing. It’s the way I get as hard as a baseball bat if I even think your name. And it’s been that way since I saw you in those damn little shorts.”
My mind zoomed back to the day I was moving in. “Those were some little shorts.”
“No shit.” His voice dropped a level. “I’m going to be honest. After we hooked up, I wanted to get right back inside you, and it was real hard not to accidentally run into you again in those days afterward. I didn’t think it would happen again. That’s just my practice, but when you tore into my ass in the middle of the bar, you caught my attention, and it isn’t going anywhere.”