mind was thinking one thing, but my body wanted her.
Brad’s words reined in my head.
“We should get ready and go downstairs. Showering together will save time.”
She lifted her chin and rested it against my chest. Emerald-green eyes bore into mine. “Nice one.”
She pinched my side, and I jumped, unprepared. When she went in again to pinch me, I grabbed her hand and kissed it.
“Mary is looking for me. I should go.” She inched away, and my shoulders slumped just at the immediate absence of her.
Our eyes locked, and she placed one light hand on my chest. Her eyes flittered to the ground and back to meet my eyes. “What happens now, Charles?”
Such a loaded question, and there was such intensity in her tone that it stilled me for a second, making it seem like a hesitation but it wasn’t because I already knew that I wanted this, a relationship with her.
But she read it as hesitation. “I … I mean … we can talk about this later.”
When she took another step back, I gripped her hand and squeezed. “Hey.”
Her eyes met mine, and I read the slew of emotions swimming in her green irises, the fear.
“I know what this is. This is different for me too.” I swallowed. “Because I haven’t had feelings for anyone like this since … since Nat.” As soon as the words left my mouth, there was no guilt behind them, like there had been with Vivian. And that was how I knew whatever this was, was real, was good. “What happens now is that I tell my brothers, and then we tell the girls that we’re together.”
It’d be an adjustment, but I knew in my heart that Sarah and Mary had grown to love Becky. Hopefully, us together would be a good thing.
Becky smiled, her whole face lighting up. “Okay.” She nodded.
She turned to walk toward the bed and ducked down to reach for her clothes, giving me a perfect view of her ass.
“Are you sure you don’t want to save time by showering together?”
She smirked, then slipped on her underwear and pants. “Mary is already looking for me.”
She plucked her bra from my bed and slipped it on, followed by her shirt. She went on her tiptoes and sweetly pecked my lips. It wasn’t nearly enough, cut short as she turned on her heels. She opened the door slightly to see if anyone was in the hall and slipped out.
I rested one hand on my hip. The conversation with the girls had to happen sooner than later because then I’d be able to have Becky in my life openly, holding her, hugging her, and having her in my bed.
I peered down at the major hard-on I was sporting.
Yep. A shower was definitely needed. A very cold one.
Chapter 32
Charles
Mason looked expectedly at me from in front of my desk. “So, I see that Becky and you …” His voice trailed off.
He was fishing, no doubt for information about us since we’d been close ever since our date. At times, I wished he was like Brad, straight up and honest.
I lifted my head from my computer and leveled him with a stare. “If you have to ask me something, just ask me, Mason. And Becky and I are becoming more serious.”
His gaze flickered to the side, to his iPad in his lap, to the corner of my desk. “So, yeah … since you’ve gotten more serious with her, are you going to tell the girls soon?”
I nodded, rubbing at my brow. “Yeah. I’m thinking this weekend.” The tension was back in my tone. I didn’t know what I was nervous about. I was a grown man, but it felt as though I were bringing a girl home for the first time to introduce her to my parents, which was absurd because my parents were dead.
This was different. Harder in a way. The stakes were higher. Any person I brought into my life and into my heart romantically would involve the girls. If by chance we didn’t work out, I didn’t want my girls to suffer through another heartbreak that I could have prevented.
Problem was, I couldn’t predict the future. Right now, I was sure of us, so sure that I wanted to take a chance on us—together.
“Before you do that though”—his eyes met mine firmly—“don’t you want to find out more about her to be sure?”
“I know everything I need to know,” I said, my tone unwavering.
I knew almost everything about her now that she had