“It’s a staircase,” Beckett said softly, coming up behind her.
He wasn’t touching her, but she was so aware of his presence she felt him as distinctly as if he had his hands on her.
The stairs were steep and narrow, only wide enough for one person at a time. As if she conjured them, she felt Beckett’s hands come to rest on her hips. A low hum escaped her throat and his fingers flexed into her hips.
“We’ll wait for you outside,” Evan called down.
“Wait! You have the light,” Gia yelped.
“Beckett’s got another flashlight,” Evan assured her. “Come on, Rora. We’ll surprise them on the other side.”
Above them, Gia heard a click and saw fading daylight filter into the passageway and then it was gone. The darkness stopped her dead in her tracks. Beckett came to a halt on the step below hers. He was still taller than she was. She could feel his breath in her hair.
“Tell me you really do have another flashlight,” she whispered.
“I do.”
His lips brushed her ear and Gia let out a little gasp. She was so aware of him, so ready to be touched.
“The things I want to do to you right now,” Beckett whispered grimly against her neck.
Gia leaned her head back against his shoulder to give him better access. The scrape of his teeth behind her ear drew a purr from her. “Forbidden fruit,” she whispered. It was a reminder to them both.
“Gianna, I need you to get up these stairs before I take you right here.”
“Beckett.” She breathed his name as if it belonged to a deity.
His hands came around her, palms to her shoulders. And while his mouth delicately dined on the skin of her neck, he stroked down to cup her breasts through her sweater. Through the layers of fabric, Gia felt her sensitive peaks harden. Boldly, she grasped his hand and led it under the neckline of her sweater. His palm slid over the thin lace of her bra and she gasped at the pleasure that erupted when his fingers gently tugged at her hardened nipple.
“Red,” he growled in her ear. “Move. Now.” His hand slid out from her sweater and slapped her on the butt.
Gia sprang to life, taking the rest of the stairs quickly even as Beckett fumbled with the flashlight.
She pushed through the door at the top of the staircase and found a grinning Evan and Aurora.
“How cool is this?” Evan asked. “We’re on the third floor!”
Gia barely spared the cavernous room a glance. Guiltily, she put on a cheerful face. “That was pretty cool. Are you guys hungry? The food’s here.”
At her insistence, they trooped back downstairs using the actual staircase instead of the passageway. Gia pointedly refused to look at Beckett until her racing heart beat was under control again.
They dove into the food in the dining room, talking and laughing and staging a mock fight over breadsticks.
She was impressed with how relaxed Evan seemed here. Rather than the sullen, quiet kid who’d moved to Blue Moon Bend, here was the chatty, carefree boy of old. He and Beckett compared teachers at Blue Moon Middle School, finding a number that they had in common. Evan’s comments of “he must be like a hundred years old” were punctuated by Beckett’s advice on how to stay on the good sides of certain faculty.
She hoped it was a sign of things to come with Evan. The reemergence of the happy boy with boundless curiosity.
So many mistakes had brought them to this point, she thought.
But perhaps, in the long run, they wouldn’t be considered mistakes. After all, falling for Paul had brought her Evan and Aurora and she couldn’t imagine her life without either of them.
She hoped she could teach the kids the lessons she had learned from her own mistakes. She would help Aurora grow strong and confident. She wouldn’t get swept away by the thrill of attention from a man who could never fully commit. Instead, she would teach her daughter to wait for someone with a beautiful soul who wanted the same things out of life. A partner.
And Evan. How many times could a child be disappointed and let down before it permanently dimmed his spirit? Evan’s father loved like he lived, carelessly. He had assumed that Gia would take the kids. She’d been prepared to fight for Evan in the divorce. Late night shows in dive bars were no life for a kid, but she’d still been sadly surprised when Paul didn’t even try to change his life to maintain custody of Evan. Instead he’d helped them pack and waved them off.
Gia’s heart broke for Evan, but she was determined to make things right for him. Two shitty biological parents didn’t mean he didn’t deserve a wonderful life.