behind me. Jesus, so it took you five seconds longer to get to school, fuckwad, build a bridge.
Anyway, I shelved the whole Penny and Kane disaster to the back of my mind. I had too much on my plate as it was, I didn’t need two eight-year olds to fuck with my stress levels.
They’re just eight.
They’ll find other friends.
This was just a phase.
Noticing Conor had barely eaten this morning, I stopped at a drive-thru and picked up a sausage English muffin and coffee. He’d been off the caffeine wagon for years, and it was now my responsibility to get him hooked back on the drug.
When I got home, I called out to him. He answered and I followed his voice to my office. Surprised to find him sitting behind my desk in just his briefs and wet hair, I shot him a playful smile.
“Going over my stuff?” I teased at the door. “I promise it’s all safe. Ignore the report cards in the last drawer, Penny was a monster last year.”
He didn’t look like he’d been rifling through my papers. He’d just been sitting there, his hands on the armrests, leaning back. His broad chest called out to me. It glistened from the water he hadn’t bothered to towel off. I swallowed at the tattoos I’d only seen in my dreams. It was hard not to get distracted when I was so freaking horny all the time because of him.
“Just sitting here, dove,” he answered, his voice impossible to read. He looked at me with a soft smile, but his eyes looked reserved.
I walked in, dangling the brown bag of food and coffee in each hand. “I’m back with treasures.”
I bent over and set them on the table in front of him and this time his smile reached his eyes as he looked at the food and then me. “Feeding me like before?”
Setting my palms face down on the table, I leaned over, cutting the distance as I murmured, “Old habits die hard.”
“I’m not a dirty mess this time.”
“No, but we can fix that.”
“Tell me how.”
“We can go to a car auction, and you can buy a piece of junk and fix her up.”
He chuckled, his eyes lapping over my face now. “I think you’re just trying to get me back into those overalls.”
I feigned dismay. “My intentions are innocent, I swear.”
“The last thing you are is innocent.”
“Can you blame me? I’m under the influence of a very sinful man.”
“Hard to be a gentleman when I have eyes like yours pinning me down, dove.”
I wet my lips whilst staring at his, feeling heat rush to my cheeks. God, just kiss me.
He looked relaxed, staring at me, never cutting the distance to kiss me. It was stupid, but I felt a pang in my chest. He’d fucked me stupid for a week straight, and then ceased to give me intimacy the last two days. It was whiplash, and I was struggling, dying for his touch and the reassurance that fed that starved needy hole at the pit of me. The ball was in his court, he needed to figure things out because this must have been overwhelming, I knew that, but I couldn’t resist being human.
Pulling away, I stood up straight and, in an effort to be casual, I showcased my office with a wave of my hand. “I haven’t had the chance to ask. What do you think of my workspace, Conor? It’s not as dapper as yours was, but I like to think it’s pretty chic.”
He didn’t look around, just looked at me heavily when he answered, “It’s very you, Charlotte.”
“Yeah? What does that entail?”
“It’s clinical. A bunch of bookshelves, a desk, and a few nice lamps. You were always a minimalist.”
I shrugged, biting my lip. “I’ve never been much of a decorator.”
“I’m surprised you’re here, to be honest.”
I gave him a questioning look. “How so?”
This time he looked around, but his eyes barely registered the room. “I didn’t think you were a suburban girl. How much are you paying for this place?”
“I’m not breaking my back for it, don’t worry,” I assured him, studying him intently before adding, “I’m renting it, Conor. I don’t actually own the house.”
His gaze snapped back to mine. “You rent it?”
“Yeah, Locke owns the house.”
His curiosity took over his mild expression. “Why would he rent a house to you?”
I kept it light because I noticed he was beginning to dig around. “Because ours burned down.”
Ever since Locke left the house that day he’d