I capture her lips with mine. I cup her face and hold her to me. If that’s all I’m getting for now, I’ll take it. My tongue moves against hers in slow movements. Her hands drop to my sides, gripping the waistband of my sweats. If I stand, guaranteed they won’t fall down, they’re tented by the freaking boner I have for her now. I try to move her away from the offender, but she’s not budging. She can feel how much I want her.
I’m not in any hurry to end this kiss. I want to savor every moment so I can dream about her later. I pull away first, reluctantly. I rest my forehead against hers and kiss her nose.
“Want to go grab some lunch after you clean up that coffee mess?”
She looks down at her shirt without making me let her go. Her white shirt has a nice brown stain now.
“I have a shirt you can wear,” I offer excitedly. Seeing her in one of my shirts will no doubt send me over the edge and back into the shower.
“Can we go back to my house so I can change?”
“Of course.”
Now that she’s let me kiss her and hasn’t pulled away and changed her mind, I want to do it more. I take a chance and lean in. She smiles. I smile.
“Mommy?” her smile fades all too quickly for my liking, but I get it.
I move away from her, picking up my t-shirt and putting it on. She watches me dress. I want to tell her that she’s seen me naked and it’s only fair that I see her too, but have a feeling that wall would go right up and I’d be shut out again. So I’ll bite my tongue and wait for drunken Katelyn to return.
She turns the lock and opens the door to a very angry Peyton. She’s standing there in a dark blue football jersey with her hands on her hips.
“What’re you doing?”
“Talking.”
With our lips, I want to add, but bite back my childish comment. The kids don’t need to know what we were doing in the bathroom.
“About what?”
“Adult stuff.”
Peyton raises her eyebrow and all I can think is that Katelyn has got a tough road ahead of her. Peyton is definitely calling the shots right now, and that’s not good.
“We were talking about what you, Elle and Quinn need for Christmas so when we meet with Santa, we can give him the appropriate list.”
Peyton’s mouth drops open and her eyes light up. Katelyn looks at me. I shrug. It used to work with Quinn when he’d get moody.
“Elle, mommy is making the Christmas list,” Peyton yells as she stalks back down the hall.
“Nice save.”
“Whatever works. I’m going to get changed.” I cup her cheek and let my hand linger there for a heartbeat or two. She’s going to have to give me some guidelines because I don’t want to overstep the boundaries that are in place. I know I won’t touch her in front of the kids, but now that I’ve had uninterrupted minutes and feel pretty confident that she’s not running anytime soon, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself when she’s near.
I need to find a resolve.
I keep my hands buried deep in my pockets as I walk side-by-side next to Katelyn. We stay back while the kids run up ahead of us. Her arm brushes mine, making me wonder if she wants to hold my hand. And as much as I want that, I don’t want to put her in a position of being questioned. She has to know there isn’t a woman alive that can hold a candle to her. She has every ounce of my attention and more.
The kids are jumping up and down when we enter the Fun Palace. This place is a mecca for noise and a money sucking machine. I know Quinn likes this place, he likes to play the games and collect tickets to buy some ridiculous toy that only lasts a few days. Both girls look excited, and I imagine this is some type of relief for them – to be in a kid environment with no stress.
The cashier smiles brightly when we step forward. I feel Katelyn step back into me. I want to wrap my arms around her and rest my head on hers, but I don’t. If she needs to be close to me, if she needs to assert herself, she’s more than welcome. I stand behind her and read the menu board.
“What kind of pizza do you want?”
She turns slightly and looks at me over her shoulder. I wink at her, loving this change. God how bad do I want to kiss her right now? The ache is building, more so now that I know she’s willing to try.
“I like mostly everything, but no onions.”
“Oh yeah, are you planning on kissing someone later?” Please say yes and that his name is Harrison James. She rolls her eyes and smiles. “Pepperoni?”
“That’s fine. The girls like cheese.”
I nod. “I figured as much.”
“Can I help you?” the cashier asks loudly, in her sugary-pitched teenage voice, when I step forward. I suppose she has to speak loudly over the noise in this place.
“We’ll have one large cheese, one large pepperoni and five sodas.”
“And what you would you like for tokens?” she hands me a list. My eyes just about bug out of my head when I see the prices. If my life as a drummer ever ends, I’m opening up one of these places. I look over the list and decide to get the most expensive package. All I can think is that this will afford me a little more privacy with Katelyn while the kids are playing. Or she and I can play and for some reason, the thought of playing a video game with her suddenly sounds extremely sexy.