We got to the hall, and I gently pulled Lane’s door closed.
“No. We were just talking about his dreams the other day, and I thought it might help for him to have a song he could sing to himself at night. You know, to help him feel brave.” She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth like she was worried she’d done something wrong. Her gaze shifted from the floor to the wall to some spot over my shoulder like she didn’t want to look right at me.
“Calla,”—I wrapped my hands around her upper arms—“that was brilliant. I could kiss you right now.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying.
Her gaze jumped to meet mine, eyes widening.
I immediately let my hands fall to my sides. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Of course not.” Her tone changed, became more clipped. She brushed past me in the hall, her shoulder bumping against mine in the small space. “I should go.”
I followed her, needing to fix things but not sure how. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”
She whirled around right in front of me, and I bumped into her. Instinct had me wrapping my hands around her shoulders, so I didn’t knock her over. She tilted her head back, bumping the top of it on my chin.
“Ow.” She reached up to rub her head as I pulled her into my arms.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her cheek on my bare chest felt like heaven. I needed to step away, had to break contact, but I couldn’t.
“I’m fine.” She didn’t hug me back, but she didn’t pull away either. “What are we doing, Holt?”
I didn’t need to ask her what she meant. Both of us had been avoiding talking about that kiss. And now I was standing in the hall in a pair of boxer briefs with my cock getting harder and thicker by the second.
Clearing my throat, I tipped her chin up. A tear trailed down her face and my heart split in two. I was a dick, and it was time for me to be straight with her. I couldn’t keep pretending that I wasn’t out of my mind for my kid’s nanny.
“I’ve been trying to keep my distance, but it’s been impossible. I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve gotten under my skin, baby girl. Every second of every day, I replay that kiss over and over in my head.”
Her eyes finally met mine. “You said it was a mistake.”
I swiped the tear from her cheek with the pad of my thumb. “It was a mistake. I never should have kissed you. But not because I didn’t want to. Because now I know what you taste like. And I’ve been going out of my mind trying not to think about it. To not think about you. I don’t want to do something to drive you away. Lane needs you, and…”
“What?” Her forehead creased and she reached up and cupped my cheek with the palm of one hand.
“Fuck it, Calla. I need you, too.” I searched her eyes for a reaction.
They softened around the edges as she rose to her tiptoes. Then she kissed me.
The room spun as I shoved my fingers in her hair and pulled her closer. I’d been fighting it for so long, something broke free inside me when she made the first move. Her arms circled my neck, and I spun her around to put her back against the wall. My cock throbbed with the insatiable need to get closer. I pressed my hips into hers and hiked her leg up to my waist.
Thank fuck I still had enough working brain cells to realize we couldn’t stay in the hallway. I lifted her other leg and put my hands under her ass to carry her to my bedroom.
“If you don’t want this, tell me now, baby girl,” I mumbled against her neck. If she told me to stop, I would even though I wasn’t sure how I’d survive. We both needed to be on the same page.
“I want you, Holt.” The way she rubbed against me told me she was telling the truth.
Just like that, we were done pretending. We made it through the doorway, and I locked the door behind us before I set her down in the center of my bed. I kissed her like I’d been starving for her for years, because I had. Her body pressed against me, warm and eager. She made a sound when I slipped her shirt over her head, half gasp, half moan, and I silenced it with my mouth.
Her skin was soft under my hands, and her breath caught when I ran my palm along her side. She let me take my time, and God, I wanted to. I wanted to memorize her… every curve, every shiver, every place she melted under my mouth. I laid her back on the bed and followed her down, kissed the hollow of her throat, the soft swell of her breast, the curve of her hip. She arched beneath me, fingers curling into my hair, and I felt her come apart one touch at a time.
“Holt.” She whispered my name like it meant something. Like I meant something to her.
When I finally rolled on a condom and sank into her, it felt like exhaling after years of holding my breath. She was so fucking tight, warm and wet, gripping me like her body had been made for mine. Her mouth parted on a gasp, and I froze, chest heaving, barely holding on as her legs locked around my waist.
“Fuck, Calla,” I whispered, resting my forehead against hers. “You feel like heaven.”
She moaned softly, her hips shifting to pull me deeper, and the thin thread of control I was hanging onto dissolved. I started to move, slow at first, grinding into her, pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in with a rhythm that had her eyes fluttering shut and her fingernails dragging down my back.
“More,” she said on a breathy exhale.
