“Hey,” I said before I did something stupid like jump him. His handsome face turned, taking me in from head to foot, and I could literally feel his gaze on my skin. How the hell is that even possible? How does he do that?
“Good morning.” His deep voice did things to my insides. What are you doing, Annie? John could do so much more damage than Blake ever had. This thought was forefront in my mind and, unable to shake it off, I had the urge to retreat.
“Let me get her and I’ll get breakfast started for you,” I started to say as I walked towards them, but he just shook his head, a smile on his lips as I fought to keep mine from trembling. Panic hit me. I liked him. No, I liked him. Like, a lot.
“Don’t worry about that. Come here. I’ll get you coffee,” he said, but I didn’t move towards him. If anything, I was sinking. Everything on my mind suddenly took over, and by the expression on his face, he saw it. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m still your housekeeper,” I blurted out, closing my cardigan. Breathing wasn’t as easy all of a sudden, and I had no idea why my heart felt like it was deciding whether to fall to my feet or jump out of my chest. As the words escaped my mouth, he leaned back slightly, staring at me.
“Okay,” his voice rumbled, but I didn’t pay attention to it. Too many thoughts in my own mind were running a million miles an hour. Memories of Blake and his anger, and of the heartache I’d felt at knowing I’d been so wrong when it came to him. What I’d felt before paled in comparison to what I felt for John, and every day it was only getting stronger.
“I…. I think Zoey and I should go back to staying at the guest house,” I blurted, not knowing why, but the panic surging through me made me unsteady.
“Okay.” He stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “I should get ready to go to the office.” I nodded, ignoring the way my chest was hurting, my mind and heart at war with one another.
“I’ll get your breakfast started.”
“Don’t worry about me, Anne. I’ll …” his eyes met mine and they were expressionless. No, that was a lie. They weren’t blank. They were mad. He was angry and I didn’t blame him. “I’ll grab something on my way to the office,” he shared, and I looked away from him. I felt the tension radiating off of him as he walked around me, going the long way out of the living room so he didn’t have to come near me. What did I do? I’m such a coward!
Breathing in deeply, my shoulders slumping forward, my hand touched the back of the couch he’d just been on. I closed my now stinging eyes. John wasn’t Blake. He made me feel safe and cared for.
Shit. Shit! I had messed up.
I’d freaked out and made it a point to push him away. Him! A man that I was sure had never been pushed away, ever. Shit.
Deeply immersed in my own thoughts, I didn’t realize the mood in the living room had changed. With my eyes closed, I could hear Zoey’s chattering and giggling, but I couldn’t feel him. If I’d been paying attention, I would have seen him at the doorway. Watching me. Lifting my head, I rounded the couch, grabbed Zoey, and gave her a watery half-smile that I hoped she wouldn’t remember as sad. My mind muddled as I tried to distract myself, I ran right into a very solid John. His arms wrapped around both of us as a gasp escaped my lips from the impact.
“Crap,” I whispered, afraid to look up.
“You’re more than just my housekeeper,” his rich voice vibrated. I held Zoey in one arm and had one hand on his solid chest. I could feel the rumble of his voice and my eyes closed slowly. He pulled me in and just like that, the anxiety I’d been feeling started to dissipate.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into his chest while his lips rested on the top of my head.
“Nothing to be sorry about,” his voice rumbled, and I let my own hand wrap around his waist. After a while, he pulled slightly away, mostly so that he could look at me. “Let’s go out and do something. What do you say?”
I was done with hiding and being scared.
“Yes.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
John
“I’ve never been here before!” She smiled brightly, her beautiful hazel eyes glittering in the sunshine as I pushed Zoey in the stroller towards the front entrance of the Los Angeles Arboretum.
“I’m glad I can be the one to bring you, Kitten.” She rolled her eyes at me, but when she took my hand in hers, my heart rate picked up.
I was so damn glad I’d gone back into the living room after I’d walked away, and she’d let me hold her. I’d reacted to her pushing me away without thinking what had spooked her. I wasn’t going to ask, not right now. Right now was about the three of us having a good time.
“When I moved here, I found this place. It’s kind of where I come to think, just don’t tell anyone,” I confided in her, and she glanced at me.
“You like to think in a garden?”
“My grandmother used to have a garden that I found rather peaceful. I found this place and just seem to keep coming back.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as the company, but almost everything else pales in comparison,” I told her smoothly, and she laughed when I winked at her playfully.
We walked around, holding hands, taking Zoey out to look at the peacocks and different flowers. We even took pictures together with my cell phone. We ate lunch at the Peacock Cafe and afterwards, we went to Sprouts to buy a couple of things for dinner before we headed back to the house.
Instead of going to the main house, we went to the guest house and ate dinner there. When Anne took Zoey for her bath, I shut down the place, making sure all the windows and doors were locked then engaged the new alarm system. Stepping into Zoey’s cozy room, I watched Anne read what looked to be a worn-out Dr. Seuss book to her. Her little eyes were heavy as Anne’s soft voice rang out soothingly in the silence of the small room. I looked at her sitting in a dining room chair and made a mental note that she needed a recliner. She needed something more comfortable for her to be able to read to Zoey at night. Anne’s eyes met mine, and she smiled without missing a beat in telling the story. I nodded and walked back to her bedroom, my heart racing at the thought of what the night might bring.
***
It might make me an asshole, but all night the thought about her joining me in bed had been driving me crazy. She was taking her time, too. She read another book to Zoey and then came into the room, grabbed clothes, and went into the bathroom, giving me a shy smile and not saying a word.
I wanted her hands on me so fucking badly my own trembled. My back was against the headboard of her bed. I breathed in deeply, but her soft scent hung in the air of her room and didn’t help very much in calming my body down.
Even if we didn’t do anything tonight, I was going to sleep next to her naked. I was dying to feel her, to touch her. My dick twitched beneath the white terry cloth towel that was loosely wrapped around my waist. My hand moved to tug on it slightly to give myself a bit of relief. I hadn’t been with anyone since a week before I’d met Anne. My body throbbed at the idea of sinking into my kitten’s sweet wet heat, of feeling her warmth sheathed around me as I worked in and out of her body.
Closing my eyes, I squeezed my cock a little tighter before letting go. I moved my hand to lie flat on my stomach. My free hand was behind my head as I tried to keep my shit together. She was in charge here. I’d take this at her pace. I sat up as I watched her enter the room, her eyes not directly on me. Quietly, she closed the door behind her, the sight of her making my dick jerk as if reaching for her.
Seeing her in the same cotton candy pink nightgown she’d put on for me the night that I’d found the door open, made my skin warm even more. I fisted the edge of the towel to find some kind of control. I watched as she reached to turn off the light.
“Don’t,” I warned her.
Even though I was in the mood for her to come to me, I still couldn’t seem to give her full control. Her back was to me, and I was dying to see what she was wearing below that sweet getu
p she had on. Would it be something lacy? Cotton? Silk? Or heaven help me, would she be bare? Biting my lower lip, I tried to remain calm.
“I like the nightie, Kitten.” Looking over her shoulder, she smiled shyly, and I patted the bed next to me. “Come here.”
“But the light—”
“I want to see you.” Her eyes heated and they freely roamed down my body. I was more than comfortable in my skin, always had been. Yet with her eyes on me, I hoped that she still reacted to me the way she had the first night we’d spent together when I’d gone to apologize to her for being an asshole.
“You’re in a towel,” she remarked and my lips twitched.
“I am.” Her eyebrows rising as her eyes caught sight of the obvious tenting underneath, she licked her lower lip, then went in for the kill, and I watched as her teeth sunk into the puffy flesh of that damn lower lip that drove me crazy. Her legs hit the end of the bed and she stood there, holding her hands together, nervous energy radiating off of her.
“Come here, Kitten,” I smiled as I watched her. I wanted to make her feel at ease with me.
“John.” Her voice was soft. I reached my arms out to her, the way her face went soft and sweet doing something to my heart. I liked that look on her face. I was afraid of what I’d do to have her look at me like that all the time.
Slowly, she crawled onto the bed with me, and I helped her settle her head onto my bare chest. That soothing feeling I got when she was close filled me up, and I swallowed hard, trying to blot it away. Just when her body was about to reach around my thighs, she stopped and sat. Her eyes on me, she tilted her head, something working behind her eyes. That was when she surprised me.
“How was your trip?”
“What?” I fought the frown that was forming on my face and she smiled at me.
“Your trip to New York? How was it?”
“You want to know?” I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice.
“Of course.” She smiled even brighter, and something about that look on her face broke me open like a cracked dam.
“It was New York. Noisy, tons of traffic, great food, and massive numbers of people rushing everywhere.” Her soft laugh lightened something in my shoulders. “The people I work with over there are very competent, but they could learn a lot from Bernadette.”
“She likes to be called Birdie.” My kitten’s voice was soft. Her lips twitched, and I playfully scowled at her.
“Yeah, baby, she’s mentioned that.” My lips started twitching, too, and she surprised me once again by scooting up the bed. Instead of settling in at my side like I expected she’d do, she straddled me, her sweet ass resting on my thighs, and I knew she did it on purpose. She was getting brave, but not fully going to where I was sure we both wanted her to be.
“Did you go anywhere good to eat?” Her hands on either side of my towel-covered thighs made my body feel tighter than before.
“What are you doing, Kitten?” I asked, wondering what the hell she was doing and not knowing if this was something I could do.
“Talking,” she simply explained, her hands now at my waist where the top of the towel hit my waist, all the while avoiding my erection. I closed my eyes at the smoothness of her fingertips. “Are you falling asleep?” The evil little wench asked, a clear smile in her voice.
“No,” I muttered, missing her hands as they went back to my thighs.
“So?” She pushed again, and a light panic seeped into me.
“What?” I clipped, my voice slightly cold.
“Did you go anywhere good to eat?” She was like a dog with a bone, and I opened my eyes. Her smiling face was clearly amused by my reaction, and if it would have been any other woman, I would have kicked her ass out of my bed and sent her right on home.
I don’t do this. Ever.
I didn’t share about my day-to-day, what I did any time I was out of town. That was a part of me I kept to myself. Not a part of me that I shared with anyone. Not ever.
“John?” Her face tilted slightly, curiosity and worry mixing in her eyes. I couldn’t help myself.
“I hit up Papayas,” I blurted out. “Every time I go to New York, I go there at least once, or maybe twice.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened brightly and I liked it.
I liked sharing this, even if huge red flags were waving at me in the back of my head. Before I could retreat, push her away, and think about what it meant that I liked sharing this shit with her, she smiled that smile of hers I liked so much at me. The one that bared straight white teeth and was so damn honest and open and big that it made her doe eyes half their normal size. It pushed the quickly rising doubt down, almost making it vanish from my mind.
“Yeah. Then I come back to LA and the first thing I eat here is Tommy’s.”
“Wow. I would never have guessed you for a hot dog guy.” Surprise was clear in her voice. I shrugged and smirked, enjoying the easiness of talking to her.
“What about you?” I asked her, and she smiled her shy smile, the one that seemed to make her get deeper under my skin somehow.
“Well, Nick came by, gave me a bunch of work, which I finished and sent back to him. He seemed pretty impressed. I guess he thought it would take longer. Zoey had two more bad nights of teething, and yesterday I swear she almost took a step,” she shared, and I cupped her face.
“Her birthday’s around the corner, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” her voice softened, “Three weeks, she’ll be one.”
“She’s a good baby, Anne. You’ve done a great job.” Her eyes met mine, assessing, as if they were trying to see if I was being genuine. Judging by the smile on her face, she believed me.
“Thanks.”
“Let’s have a party,” I blurted out. First a BBQ and now a party? Even she seemed shocked.
“No. We don’t have to do that. She’s only turning one. I was thinking of asking Birdie for dinner at the guest house if that was okay with you, and if you’re free of course. Maybe cut a cake?” She suggested, a blush on her cheeks.
“Kitten, she needs a party,” I told her, my hands on her thighs now.
“I just think it would be better to keep the money I’ve made aside, just in case,” My hands stopped stroking her smooth thighs.
“In case of what?” My voice was stern, and I took a deep breath, waiting her out.
“I just think something small…” Her voice softened, her gaze going down to the sage-colored comforter on the bed, and I put my fingers under her chin so she had to look at me.
“What did I tell you?”
“John…” sighing loudly, she fought looking me in the eyes, but I didn’t let her.
“I asked you to trust me. I’ll take care of Downey. I already have the ball rolling.” Her eyes widened at my words, the worry in them transparent as she opened and then closed her mouth.
“Let me hire Sabrina to plan a party,” I pushed a bit, not really understanding myself.
“What if we just do something small?”
“That’s fine, just let me hire Sabrina to plan it.” I didn’t give up and she stayed quiet for a bit. Why am I pushing a birthday party for Zoey? I knew why. I just didn’t want to let myself think about it.
“Okay,” she gave in, and I wanted to give her something for doing so.
“I went to a bakery this time, too.” I shared with her and she smiled at me.
Not thinking about it, I settled her on the side of my body, taking her off my lap and tucking her close in next to me. If someone had told me that I would take a beautiful woman off my lap willingly so that we could talk about our days away from one another, and would enjoy it completely, I would have laughed in their face. But that was exactly what I did. She fascinated me. I asked her about the work she had done for Nick, and the way her eyes brightened told me that she really enjoyed it. Then, between talking and just touching one another, we fell asleep, her head snuggled on my chest, her hand wrapped around my middle, and a stupid grin on my face.<
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Chapter Twenty- Three
Anne
Opening my eyes, I liked seeing John in front of me. My head was still on his chest and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. Glancing towards the alarm clock on the nightstand, I relaxed knowing it was still early.
My hands roamed lightly over his chest, moving the haphazardly placed towel that had come undone in his sleep. Licking my lower lip, I let myself explore. His skin was warm and soft, yet had hard muscle underneath. I followed the treasure trail of dark hair a little lower to the tenting that was going on under the towel. My hands stopped at the edge of the towel. Should I?
“Touch me, Kitten.” His voice was hoarse with sleep. I looked up at him. His dark eyes were slightly hooded as he looked at me with an intense stare. “Keep looking at me just like that when you touch me,” he demanded again and I swallowed. I shifted slightly so that I could have a better look at him.
“Hi,” I whispered and his lips twitched.
“Touch me,” his deep voice repeated and I smiled, my fingers touching the coarse hair under the edge of the towel.
“Good morning,” I kissed his bare shoulder, not taking my eyes off of him, my hand moving lower until I touched the base of him.
“Touch me, Anne.” His nose flared this time just as his jaw twitched, and I nodded, slowly wrapping my hand around his thickness. “Anne,” he warned, and I slowly stroked him up and down, making sure my grip wasn’t too tight. Judging by the way his head fell deeper into the pillow, I thought he liked it.
Something came over me when he groaned. Something unlike anything I had ever felt. A need surged through me to make him feel as good as possible. I kissed and licked and nipped his chest as I stroked him, trying my hardest to keep my eyes on him. I flicked my tongue against one of his nipples then did the same to the other, enjoying the deep sounds that escaped him. Moving completely off of him, I urged him to open his legs wide so I could settle between them. He tugged on my nightgown.
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