Her Marine Next Door - Aliyah Burke Page 0,12
of the numerous women who were here? Then again, perhaps that’s what she is, and that’s what got you into this to begin with. That man-whore behavior.”
She hated the fact that he’d slept with that woman while all she got were forbidden fantasies.
His eyes glinted. “I’m using anything I can to keep her at arm’s length. If he is my son, I don’t want him in a hotel. He needs something more stable than that, regardless if he’s mine or not.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Despite whatever is going on between us, Skylar, I know I can trust you.”
Dammit. He trusted her. Fact was, she trusted him as well. “You said a lot of things, always trying to borrow things for your party.”
Another wicked smile turned her insides to knots, melting that big ball of ice. “Really? So, you’re telling me that you don’t remember me mentioning how we’d discuss us? I know you took your meds today, but they’re not as strong as what they gave you in the hospital. Skylar, do you recall that? About both of us coming? Multiple times?”
Her knees trembled. She shook her head. “We don’t get along. Period. If you have a son, and right now you have to assume you do, how is it best that you’re here? In my house with me.”
“You’re right. And if I know Gemma, she’ll be over soon. I mean, I don’t know her, but she strikes me as the type who would be.” He sobered and backed up a step. “We can get along, though. I’m positive.”
While not much, she still missed him against her. Foolish, Skylar. Don’t fall for this. This man wasn’t going to be anything but heartache.
Still, she couldn’t say no, even when every single self-preservation instinct screamed at her to do so to protect her heart. Losing her son had been incredibly painful. And this little boy could just as easily wrap around her heart—how would she manage when he was no longer in her life, either?
Yet, bottom line, it had to do with the kid. He was the innocent. The adults could fight all they wanted, but he didn’t deserve that. If she could help one child, maybe it would begin to heal her deep-as-shit guilt for her inability to be there for her own.
He hadn’t thrown the baby momma and the kid out on the street; he just didn’t want to live with them. He was willing to figure out if the boy was his. That alone made him fucking heroic.
And…she’d always had a thing for single dads.
“I can’t do the parties like you have. If you stay here, those are out.”
His grin was nothing more than a patented design to have women toss their panties at him.
There went her lady parts again, right on cue, swooning.
“Done.” He pulled out his phone and placed a call. As it rang, he laid the phone flat between them in his palm and put it on speaker. His fingers continued to drift through her hair.
“Talk to me,” a thick, cultured voice said without a simple hello.
“No more parties, Ioan. Tell the others, find another place.” He didn’t look away from her.
“The fuck, man. What’s going on?”
“It is what it is. I mean it. Later.” He hung up. “Anything else?”
“You’re sleeping in the guest room.”
His eye color deepened, and he moved his gaze from her eyes to her lips and back again. “We’ll see.”
Her throat went dry. How was she supposed to remain furious at him for inserting himself into her life when he was so damn sexy? And trying to do right by Cullen?
“What do you have to eat around here?” The shrill voice of the woman called Gemma splintered the small bubble around them. A flash of irritation moved over his face, but he didn’t drop her gaze.
“Like I said, I spend my time over here. No real reason to have a lot of food over there. Why don’t you go shopping and get what you need?”
Skylar shook her head. This was going to be difficult. “Go meet your son.”
“You’re coming with me.”
This time, she caught a hint of uncertainty in his words, and the wall around her heart softened.
God. She was going to be nothing more than a slimy pile of goo if he kept getting to her like that. She carried a hell of a lot of baggage, but she couldn’t say no.
“Not like this.” I need more time.
His heated gaze had her double-checking if she even wore clothing.