One I was certain wouldn’t be broken in this generation or the next.
Chapter Fourteen
Then
Deborah
“I’m sorry about this evening.” Robert’s voice was heavy with concern as we approached my apartment door.
I turned to him, hating to hear that defeated edge in his voice. It was the same tone he used whenever the subject of his family came up.
“And I thought my family was bad,” I joked, but Robert didn’t find it funny. “Hey,” I cupped his face, lifting on my tiptoes even though I wore three-inch pumps, just to be level with his face, and pressed a kiss to his lips, “that was a joke.”
Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to the inside of my right palm. “I know.”
“Then why the long face?”
“Because I don’t want to scare you off with my ridiculous family.”
I grinned. “Scare me off?”
He nodded.
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Are you sure?”
Damn, why do I find him so irresistible?Just when I thought I couldn’t fall for him anymore, he showed me another layer of his vulnerability that made me love him even more.
“I’m sure.”
“Good, because I wasn’t letting you go no matter what you thought of my dysfunctional family.”
I turned my head upward, letting out a laugh.
“I just needed you to see what you were getting yourself into.”
“Getting myself into?”
“Yes, when you marry me.”
“Robert …” I sighed. Not a week went by that he didn’t bring up the mention of marriage and our future together. At first, I thought he was just teasing, but I quickly learned that he was one hundred percent serious.
“I know, us Townsends have our issues. Trust me, I know, and it’s actually selfish of me to ask you to be a part of that, but I’m a selfish bastard when it comes to you, princess.” His hands moved to my waist and he dipped his head, letting his lips graze mine.
I couldn’t respond to his words because his kiss had stolen mine. My arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him to me. Robert’s family had been exactly the level of dysfunction I had anticipated thanks to his many warnings. But if he thought that was enough to scare me off or give me doubts about our relationship, he had another thing coming.
“Keys,” he said against my lips.
I blinked, confused. “Oh!” I suddenly stated, realizing he was telling me to take out my key to my apartment so we could get inside.
As soon as I pulled the key from my purse, he plucked it from my hand, stuck it in the lock, and opened my door, ushering us both inside in a manner of seconds.
The door was barely closed before he pounced on me. My core began to weep with need for him. His hands were pulling at the tucked in silk blouse, searching for the soft skin underneath. As soon as his calloused hands made contact, my body temperature started to rise even more.
His lips were demanding against mine, searching, prodding for mine to open, to let him enter. I moaned into the kiss, allowing him entrance into my mouth, our tongues finding one another’s.
Robert walked us down my short hallway toward my bedroom, pressing the door open and then turning the light on. All without breaking the kiss. His lips began trailing down from my mouth, over the line of my jaw, and down my neck until he reached the sensitive spot that always sent me into overdrive when he kissed it, just underneath my earlobe.
