“Uh, sure. Anything’s fine.”
He nods and walks to his kitchen, and then comes back with two glasses and hands me one before sipping from the other. “It’s orange juice,” he says. “I got rid of all the alcohol in the house when I brought my daughter home four days ago.”
I look up at him over the rim of my glass. “Just her?”
“Yes,” he says, joining me on the sofa. “My beautiful girl, Wren, is the product of a one-night stand. Her mother left her at a safe haven location, with a note naming me as the father.”
“Oh!” Of all the scenarios I’d built up in my head, this is not one of them.
“That night, eleven months ago, is still a little hazy, but I remember meeting a woman and sharing a drink together, then deciding to take the party to a hotel room.” At this point, it’s almost like he’s thinking out loud or just talking to himself, as he has a faraway look in his eyes. “I even remember using protection and waking up to an empty bed. And an empty wallet.”
I snort at that, flushing when he turns to look at me. “She robbed you?” I chuckle, unable to help myself.
“I got Wren out of it so I don’t mind much,” he says, leaning back to look at me. “Took my credit card too, so I figure that’s how she probably knew what name to use on the birth certificate and how DCFS was able to trace me so fast. I never imagined myself as a father, much less a single father, but even after only four days I can’t imagine my life without Wren in it. I have lots of help from the wives of my MC brothers—they’re the ones who set all this up for me…” He gestures around at thepink décor and scattered toys. “But I’ve been trying not to bother them too much.”
“Have you…um, considered looking for her?”
“Who?”
“The child’s mother.”
“And why would I do that?”
Is he closer than he was a few seconds ago, or is it just me? “Well, I mean…she’s the baby’s mother and maybe—”
“Wren is mine now. I’m not letting her go back to a place where she was clearly not wanted.” His steel voice sends a chill rolling down my spine. I want to defend the woman and point out she might’ve had her reasons for doing what she did, but there’s something under Hawk’s tone that implies this goes much deeper than finding out he’s a father out of the blue.
Afraid of souring the mood further, I decide that I’ve overstayed my visit anyway and should leave. I should get to my feet and drag them to the door, down the hall to my own apartment, lock myself in a place where I’m not surrounded by this man’s scent. Where those cool eyes aren’t watching me with so much heat.
“I should go,” I whisper, suddenly conscious of the fact that I’m practically half-naked. My nipples are stiff, have been for a while now, and I’m afraid to look down in case they’re poking through my T-shirt. I squeeze my thighs together, almost moaning as the move causes my shorts to ride up and push against my throbbing clit.
“You’re a lifesaver, Amelia,” he says, his voice raspy and heavy with more than just sleep. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Uh, anytime.”
He’s closer to me now. I wasn’t imagining that earlier. “You play really well. How long have you been playing?”
“I started out with a kid-sized violin, when I was five. I guess it’s been…seventeen years,” I whisper, my eyes dropping to his mouth. When he runs his tongue smoothly over his bottom lip, wetting it, I nearly weep. One move shouldn’t be so goddamned hot, but…
I should leave.
The man has a newborn. He clearly doesn’t have time for a relationship, and I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl. Not that I want to have sex with him or anything. It’s not like I would even know where to start. Yes, I should save us both the embarrassment of this man finding out I’m a virgin. I should leave.
And yet, I stay seated in place, watching him with bated breath as he slowly closes the distance between us. “Amelia, you’re shivering,” he rasps, his eyes dropping to my chest. I don’t have to look down to know that he can see my tits poking through my T-shirt. “Are you cold?”
“No,” I breathe. Quite the opposite. My body is so hot, burning with a fever unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. “I…I’m not cold.”
“I could warm you up,” he rasps, moving even closer until his mouth is so close to mine I can feel the soft caress of his breath against my lips. The promise of a kiss, of something I’ve daydreamed about for a year, and…it’s right there. I’m practically panting now, tightening my grip around the neck of my violin, unsure what to do with my trembling hands.
He leans forward and pauses for a moment, as if waiting for me to stop him. When I do nothing but wait expectantly, he brushes his mouth over mine. I suck in a sharp breath, fingersunraveling as the violin falls from my fingers and lands softly on the carpeted floor that’s only inches away.
“You’re so beautiful, Amelia,” he breathes against my lips before pressing his mouth against mine again in a long, slow pull that sends my toes curling in pleasure. I sigh, pushing up to him for more of…something. More of him. He groans and wraps an arm around my waist before smoothly lifting me to straddle him on the couch. I gasp at the hard feel of his erection, moaning at the pleasure of having that hardness press against my aching sex.
My heart is pounding in my chest when he slides a hand up my back before winding my hair in a fist, and when I gasp, he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue between my lips and tasting me like a starved man. I’m panting when he breaks the kiss to trail his mouth over my neck, exhaling harshly against my skin, and it’s the most tantalizing feeling I’ve ever experienced. I start rocking my hips as he ravages my neck, whining as my nipples pucker painfully, begging for attention. I hold my breath as he moves lower, kissing my collarbone…when a piercing cry breaks through the air.
I blink as it slowly dawns on me that the baby is awake. That I’m on my neighbor’s lap, practically rubbing myself over his erection.
God!
