“Yeah,” Grant agreed, now nodding his head more vigorously than Penny. “Aunt B made Shepherd’s Pie. It’s my favorite.”
“Pie, you say?” Tripp asked Beth, his eyebrows raising high as a huge grin took over his face.
“Also,” Grant continued, “Sunday is movie night and tonight is my pick. So it’s guaranteed to be really good…whatever it is.”
“Pie for dinner and a movie? You holding out on me, Beth?”
She looked over at him, her stomach doing that whole swooping thing that made her head spin. “Would you like to come to dinner tonight, Tripp?” Shockingly enough, that sentence came out rather steady.
“I’d love to.” Tripp’s grin widened before he turned to the kids. “Hey Grant, can you put the balls and Frisbee away, and show Penny where they go?”
“Yes, s—” Grant cut himself off before he nodded and went off with Penny to collect the balls.
Tripp looked back to Beth. “I’ll walk over with them.”
“Okay.” She took a step away from him before turning and heading toward her house.
“And Beth?”
She glanced over her shoulder, still walking away.
“I would’ve answered Penny’s boyfriend question with a yes.”
Her step faltered as that swooping sensation rolled through her lower belly again.
How it was possible for Tripp’s grin to get even wider, Beth would never know.
* * *
Apparently when it came to Tripp Black, Beth was going to be continually surprised by him. She wondered if that was his MO. Well, that along with kissing the breath out of her every chance he got.
But really, her surprise was warranted. It wasn’t like she’d had a lot going on in the romance department of late. Nor had she had a lot going on in the luck department, either.
During the year that Beth had been guardian to the kids, she hadn’t gone on a single date. Those first couple of months after losing Colleen and Kevin had been some of the worst of her life. She wouldn’t have been interested in dating even if she hadn’t just gotten the pieces of her already decimated heart trampled on by her ex, Mick the Prick.
There was also the fact that pickings were slim. There hadn’t been anyone who’d come along that she would’ve wanted to date. The handful of guys who’d asked her out pretty much fit into one of two groups: guys who would run the second they found out she was now a single mother, and guys who tried to use the kids to get to her…and to get into her pants.
So, clearly they were all real winners.
But then Tripp had come along…and he’d gone and made the boyfriend comment.
Boyfriend…boyfriend? That had been an interesting turn of events, and one she was going to need a whole hell of a lot more clarification on.
Like, what did his definition of “boyfriend” mean? He’d said that he understood she was a package deal—four for the price of one, as he’d put it—but did he really understand all that it entailed?
Beth was a ball of nerves as she sat at the dining room table, picking at her Shepherd’s pie with her fork. It took a bit for her to be able to take normal-size bites. Tripp, on the other hand, was sitting across from her right as rain.
It had taken him absolutely no time at all to win over Grant and Penny; they’d been pretty much fascinated with him from the get go.
Now when it came to Penny, this wasn’t all that shocking. She’d sometimes get a little shy when it came to a large group of adults, something that became even more evident when she wasn’t used to the people or the environment. But usually she was pretty quick to warm up to a new person when it was on a smaller scale, especially when they gave her their undivided attention. And Tripp had the patience of a saint with her rapid-fire questions.
Penny: What’s your favorite color?
Tripp: Blue.
Penny: How old are you?
Tripp: Thirty-five.
Penny: Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Tripp: Nope. Only child.
Penny: What’s your favorite movie?
Tripp: True Grit (the original) and Ghostbusters for a close second.
Penny: What’s your favorite number?
Tripp: Five.
Penny: Why is it your favorite number?
Tripp: Because it was the number on my first baseball jersey.
That was when Grant started asking Tripp all the questions. Her nephew had watched baseball games before, mainly with his Papa Wallace, but he’d never played. And just that fast, Tripp was offering to teach Grant how to play baseball.
As she sat there and watched Grant listen to Tripp in rapt fascination, the desire to nail down the definition of whatever this was with him hit her all the harder. She could already see how quickly Grant would get attached.
It would take no time at all.
In stark contrast to Penny and Grant was Nora…who couldn’t seem less impressed if she tried. Beth was now very much used to her eldest niece’s less than pleasant moods. Well, maybe used to wasn’t exactly the correct way to phrase it, but Beth had learned to deal with it.
Nora had sat through the entire meal without saying a single word unless prompted. But that was pretty much Nora’s MO, speaking only when spoken to. Oh, and adding in as many eye-rolls and sighs as possible.
“I’m sorry about Nora. She’s exceptionally teenager-y today,” Beth apologized after dinner. She stood across from Tripp, fiddling with a dish towel while he leaned back against the counter with his arms folded across his chest.
They were alone in the kitchen. The only light came from the bulb above the stove and the glow from the lamps in the living room. The table was cleared of all dishes, the food had been put away, and water sloshed around in the running dishwasher. The kids had all headed out when everything had been cleaned up: Grant and Penny to put their pajamas on and get ready for the movie, Nora to sequester herself in her room…again.
Tripp shrugged his massive shoulders at Beth’s apology. “I know it’s going to take a little bit longer with her. I’m under absolutely no delusions that she’s going to warm up to me any time soon.” He pushed off the counter and closed the distance between them, pulling the towel from her hands. He set it down behind her before he grabbed her hips and leaned in close. “But I’m not easily intimidated, Beth.”
“No?” Her hands were on his chest, and his heat radiated through his T-shirt.
“No.” He shook his head.
“Earlier, you said you would’ve said yes to Penny’s boyfriend question.”
“I would’ve.” His brown eyes had gone dark and intense as he looked at her. “Didn’t we establish that we’re dating exclusively?”
“We did.”
“Now correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the definition of a boyfriend?”
“I think it depends on the person defining it.”
“Well, for me it is the definition. And I know we’re going to need to take precautions. If I overstep my bounds, put me in my place. I’m a big boy. I can handle it. But Beth, I want to see what this is with you. I want to see where we can go with it.” He leaned down and pressed his mouth to her neck. “Say yes.”
“Yes.” Beth melted against him, wanting his heat and strength. His hands slid underneath the hem of her shirt and his fingers traced the bare skin at her sides as he kissed his way up her throat and to her mouth.
He pulled back a minute or two later, looking down into her face. “God, I missed your lips this afternoon.”
Beth’s mouth quirked to the side. “It was what? Four hours?”
“Four of the longest hours of my life,” he told her before he leaned down, slanting his mouth over hers.
Oh, look at that, he was kissing the breath out of her.
Again.
Chapter Fourteen
Afternoon Delights
Beth’s hands and knees sank into the plush rug on Tripp’s living room floor. The man who owned the rug was kneeling behind her, his hands firmly
around her waist as he thrust forward into her body.
A gasp escaped her mouth as he stretched her, his hips stilling as he let her adjust around his length. One of his hands let go of her hip, moving to her lower back and slowly sliding up her spine.
The moment was more than a little surreal for Beth. If someone would’ve told her a week ago that she’d be rushing home on her lunch break so Tripp Black could take her from behind, she would’ve said they were crazy. Yet here she was, naked and currently wrapped around his glorious cock.
During Mirabelle’s five o’clock traffic it typically took Beth eight minutes to get home from the hospital. When it wasn’t rush hour, it took about five. Today? She’d made it in four.
Tripp had met her at the door and stripped both of them of their clothing before they even made it down the hallway. She had no idea if the living room had been his intended final destination, or if that was just as far as he’d been able to go.
But to be honest, she really didn’t care. What she did care about was how his palm was moving over her skin, how the backs of her thighs were pushed up against the tops of his, how he pulsed inside her.
“Beth?” His voice was rough, no doubt from the restraint of not moving. But he was waiting until she was ready.
And was she ever. “Fuck me.”
His sharp inhale filled her ears, a reaction to her choice of words. “As you wish,” he whispered, slowly pulling out of her before thrusting back in.
She knew this wasn’t going to be a slow and easy lovemaking session, but she didn’t want slow and easy. No, she wanted rough and grasping…desperate, something he emphasized a moment later. The palm of his hand came down on her ass, not hard enough to hurt, but a slight sting that made her moan.
“You like that?” he asked right before he did it again on the other cheek.
“Yes.” She stretched her arms out in front of her, leaning down and pushing her ass further up into the air.
“Oh hell, Beth.” Tripp groaned her name long and loud, his appreciation for the new angle clear. He was moving harder now, his thrusts inching them up the rug. She was going to have rug-burned knees at the end of this.
Totally worth it.
How the man was able to evoke pleasure throughout every nerve and fiber of her being was beyond her. But he did. Hitting every damn spot with each slide, filling her, stretching her. It felt better than anything she’d ever experienced.
And yes, Beth had had good sex. The kind where in the end, all parties were pretty damn satisfied. The kind that gave a person a noticeable pep in their step because they’d had a decent orgasm or two.
But this wasn’t good sex.
This was…something else entirely. Sex with Tripp was so mind-numbingly good it went beyond satisfaction. It was the kind where you weren’t walking with a pep in your step afterward because you couldn’t walk at all.
Beth’s hips undulated, doing her part to make Tripp just as mindless as he was making her. Both of his hands were on her hips again, his fingers tightening around her and pressing into her flesh.
The pleasure built, steadily mounting until she was falling over the edge. Her core started contracting around Tripp’s cock, and she cried out as she came.
“That’s it, baby,” he ground out as he continued to move in and out of her. “Feel it. Feel me.”
Wave after wave of orgasm washed through her, making her legs shake. If not for Tripp’s hold on her body she would’ve collapsed. But he held her up, not letting go until the very end when he had his own release, his cock pulsing deep inside her.
“Fuck…” He groaned, his grip on her hips disappearing as he pulled from her body.
Beth’s legs still weren’t in any condition to keep her upright, and she found herself down on the rug. Tripp was flat on his back next to her, his unsteady breaths filling the air.
Somehow—she had no idea how because her arm felt boneless—she reached over and patted his chest. “Good job.”
He chuckled, his mouth at her ear. “You too.” He kissed a trail from her temple all the way to her mouth. “Don’t go anywhere,” he told her before he pulled away and got to his feet.
“Couldn’t move even if I wanted to.”
He laughed again, the sound echoing down the hallway as he made his way to his bedroom. A minute later water rushed through the pipes behind the wall, then there was the soft creak of a door opening, and bare feet moving across wood floors.
Tripp was back down on the rug beside Beth, grabbing a pillow on the sofa to lay his head on before pulling her into his arms. She rested her head on his chest as she snuggled into his side.
He slowly traced his fingers along her spine. “Think you can call in sick for the rest of the afternoon?”
This time it was Beth who was laughing. “Sorry pal, no can do.”
Before she could blink she found herself on her back. Tripp was between her legs; her breasts were smashed against his chest and her hands pinned above her head.
“‘Pal?’” He raised his eyebrows as he looked down at her.
“Would you prefer buddy? Amigo? Compadre? Chum?”
“No, I would not.” His eyes narrowed and his mouth quirked to the side. “You know damn well what I prefer.”
“I might need a refresher.” She shifted her body beneath his, drawing her knees up and cradling his hips between her thighs. “And you have”—she glanced over at the clock on the wall before she looked back to him—“about another twenty minutes to remind me.”
“What have I told you about challenging me, Beth?”
She grinned as she brought her mouth to his, nipping at his bottom lip as she rolled her hips. Tripp was already hard again, his erection pressing against her belly.
“That when rising to the challenge, there is no think, only know.”
“Damn straight.” And his mouth covered hers as he went about proving it.
* * *
To say that Beth had a very lovely Monday would be an understatement. She’d take two orgasms from Tripp and a grilled cheese sandwich—which he’d made for her while she’d gotten dressed again—over a big lunch any day.
Her time in the office hadn’t been bad at all either; they were fairly busy, which meant a faster day. Before she knew it, it was five thirty and she was heading home. And the sight that greeted her when she pulled into her driveway was the cherry on top of everything.
Tripp and Grant were in the front yard playing catch.
Something in Beth’s chest clutched, and for just a second it was hard to breathe. It took her more than a moment to get hold of herself. This man was…he was…well, he was unbelievable.
She reached over and grabbed her purse from the passenger seat, pulling it over her shoulder before getting out of the car.
Tripp was facing her, eyes covered by his sunglasses. She knew he saw her as his mouth quirked to the side. Grant, on the other hand, was not aware of her. Her nephew had his back to the driveway, and neither the sound of the car pulling in nor the snap of the door shutting made him turn around. The kid was beyond focused on Tripp as he wound his arm up and threw.
The ball curved too far to the left, causing Tripp to lunge to the side to catch it. His glove closed around the ball and he straightened, getting back into position. “Grant, you’re too tense. Drop your shoulders.” He circled his own shoulders before dropping them down. The movement made his gray T-shirt go taut across his chest.
“Oh, right.” Grant mimicked the move Tripp had just made, rolling his shoulders and letting them fall.
“Better.” Tripp grinned before he tossed the ball back.
Grant closed his glove a second too early and the ball hit the very tip before continuing through the air. It hit the ground and rolled, and Duke lunged for it. The dog had been attentively sitting at Grant’s side waiting for stray balls like this one.
Grant turned, watching the dog run off and spotting Beth. “Hi, Aunt B!”
“Hey, Goose.” She crossed ov
er to him. “I see you’re learning to throw a baseball today.”
“I am.” He nodded enthusiastically, holding his hand out for Duke, who’d just come ambling back, baseball clutched in his mouth. The dog gave the ball back to Grant, fluffy tail wagging. “Eww.” Grant wrinkled his nose as he wiped the ball on his shorts. “Dog drool.”
Beth had to bite at the corner of her lip to keep from laughing. She really didn’t understand how this grossed him out, yet sharing a spoon with Duke while eating peanut butter had not. To each their own.
“Can I stay out here until dinner?” Grant asked, looking up at Beth.
“You finish your homework?”
Grant nodded enthusiastically.
“As long as it’s okay with Tripp.” Beth’s eyes moved to the man in question as she raised her eyebrows.
He’d crossed the space to them, now standing only a few feet away. Even through the lenses of his sunglasses, she could feel his penetrating gaze on her. “It is.” He nodded.
“I’m going to go get some water. Then can we start again?” Grant asked Tripp.
“Sounds good.”
“Sweet!” Grant ran off to the shade of Tripp’s garage, where two sweating water bottles sat on the concrete.
Beth pulled her gaze from her nephew and looked up at the man in front of her. “Thank you.”
“For what?” He reached forward, putting his hand on her hip and sliding it around to her back. He pulled her closer, bringing her body flush against his.
“For doing this with Grant. Spending time with him. Teaching him.”
“You don’t need to thank me for any of that. I’m having a good time with him. He’s a great kid.”
“He is.” Beth put her hands on his chest, moving them up to the collar of his shirt. She barely had to tug to get Tripp to lean down and press his mouth to hers. “You’re pretty great, too,” she said against his lips.
“Same goes for you.”
Her hands slid out to his shoulders, his muscles flexing beneath her palms. “You going to join us for dinner tonight?”
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