pounding deep. Fuck, the feeling was intense. He’d never felt anything like it.
His orgasm hit him, thrust after thrust of near-painful spasms as he emptied so completely inside her.
And as he finally came down, with his head in the crook of Emerson’s neck, their limbs wrapped tightly around each other, he realized that not only did he have her, but she had him.
Chapter Eleven
Connor pulled up outside his mom’s place and killed the engine. As expected, Derek’s car wasn’t in the driveway. He wanted to catch his mom alone.
He jogged up the steps and knocked on the door. Alyssa answered a few moments later, wearing a paint-smudged apron and a streak of white paint across her cheek.
“Connor, what a pleasant surprise. What are you doing out of work so early?”
He kissed her cheek as he stepped inside the hallway, cluttered with coats and shoes. “I wanted to see you…well, I wanted to talk to you.”
She closed the door. “Of course, head on into the kitchen. I just brewed some coffee. Help yourself and pour me one while I go deal with my painting stuff.”
Connor wandered into the kitchen. The mottled marble counter was spotless, a complete contrast to the hallway. The cups were still in the cupboard above the toaster, and he grabbed them before pouring two mugs of steaming hot coffee. They took it the same. Black and strong.
Alyssa wandered into the kitchen wearing a pair of slim jeans and a bright yellow sweater. “You don’t look old enough to be my mom,” he said, and Alyssa blushed.
“Okay, what did you do that you need to kick it off with compliments? Do you need bail?”
Connor laughed. “If I needed bail, I wouldn’t be here asking you in person. And can’t a son compliment his mother once in a while?”
She fluffed her hair. “Fine, yes, I don’t age. I’m Denver’s very own Dorian Gray.” She took the cup he offered and sat on the stool on the opposite side of the kitchen counter. “What’s up?”
Man, where to start. He’d tackle the easiest part first. “I met someone,” he blurted.
His mom reached across the counter and grabbed his hand. “You did? Tell me about her.” Excitement lit up her face, and he decided to let her have her moment of enjoyment before he told her the bad news.
“Her name’s Emerson. She’s brunette, but it has hints of red and gold if it catches the light right. And pretty brown eyes that crinkle when she smiles. She hates my meal prep food but doesn’t mind when I disappear to swim or bike or run or whatever.”
“I’m not going to swoon over the way you noticed the colors in her hair even though that’s the cutest thing ever. Do you have pictures?”
Connor pulled out his phone. He’d taken some pictures of them, of her, when they’d been hiking. “Here.” He pushed the phone toward his mom.
“Oh, Connor, she looks lovely. But more than that, the way you look at her…” She put her hand over her mouth, and he couldn’t decide if she was in shock or about to cry.
“Okay, Mom…it’s not that big a deal.”
“It’s a big deal, Connor. Does she make you happy?”
He rolled his eyes at that. “Do you think I’d be telling you about her if she didn’t?”
His mom grinned. “Right. Yes. Of course. How did the two of you meet?”
He told her about the flight, about ending up in the same seat.
“Kismet,” she declared. “I always thought you’d find the woman you were meant to marry when you weren’t looking.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just leap straight to the M-word.”
Alyssa gestured with her hand as if brushing him away. “Oh, shush. What does she do?”
Connor paused, and momentarily the joy he’d felt at telling his mom slipped. “Her name’s Emerson Dyer.”
“Oh, what a lovely name, and she does what for…oh. Oh. Like the Dyers?”
He nodded. “Yeah. And after Paul Dyer’s death, she’s the Dyer.”
Alyssa cupped her mug and took a large gulp. “I’m taking it that your father has no idea about this yet?”
“That would be correct.”
For a moment, they were both silent.
“Do you love her?” his mother asked.
“That’s the easiest part in all of this. Yes. Yes, I do.” After her bathroom declaration forty-eight hours earlier, he’d never been more certain of anything. His feelings for her had been growing at such a strong and sudden pace, he’d struggled to articulate it. But when he’d come home from the gym to find her in bed, in