Like you love me. Like this could work. Like this means something.
He shifts closer, propping himself on one elbow. Snow falls from his jacket onto mine. “Desiree—”
“Got it!” Bella races back with a phone in her hands. She stops short, looking down at us. “Are you gonna kiss?”
I scramble to my feet so fast I nearly kick Enrick in the process. “No! Nobody’s kissing. We were just... talking.”
“But Aunt Gina and Uncle kiss all the time,” she informs us. “And they live in the same house. You and Daddy don’t even live in the same house, so you should kiss more to make up for it.”
Five-year-old logic strikes again.
“Let’s go inside,” I say, brushing snow off my borrowed jacket. “I’m freezing.”
“Hot chocolate’s ready!” Gina calls from the door, because of course she’s been watching. “You all make the cutest little family.”
The kitchen buzzes with chaos as the kids gather for cookie decorating. Gina has truly outdone herself—every surface overflows with cookies, icing, sprinkles, and colorful decorations.
Thirty minutes of cookie decorating and I’m already drowning in sprinkles and kiddie chatter, hyperaware of Enrick across the island. He keeps looking at me, and I keep pretending I don’t notice.
“Desiree, can you grab us a couple of bottles of wine from the wine cellar?” Gina asks. “I should have offered before now.”
I freeze, my mind racing. I’d mentioned the lack of wine here to Cassidy last night, and now, less than twelve hours later, the offer appears. Is the house bugged? The thought unnerves me, but I nod and escape gratefully, craving a moment away from the noise and Enrick’s gaze.
The wine cellar in the basement is a walk-in wonder, its shelves stocked with enough bottles to host a party through an apocalypse. I stretch for a bottle of red that looks promising, rising up on my toes.
“Need help?”
I whirl around to find Enrick in the doorway, his broad frame blocking my exit. “I’ve got it.”
“Do you?” He steps inside, closing the door behind him with a soft click. The space suddenly feels tiny, intimate. “Because from where I’m standing, you need help to reach.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Following my daughter’s advice. Kissing to make up for not living together.”
“She’s five—”
“And the most intelligent little girl I know.” He presses against me, and I feel how hard he is through his jeans. “God, Dez. I’ve been like this since you arrived on my brother’s doorstep. Do you know what you do to me?”
“Enrick...” It comes out as a moan when he kisses my neck. “What if Bella comes downstairs?”
“Then tell me to stop,” he challenges, his hand sliding under my sweater. “Tell me you don’t want this.”
I can’t. Because I do want it. Want him. Have wanted him every second since I arrived.
“Okay,” I breathe, and his eyes darken with hunger. “Fifteen minutes”
He kisses me hard then, his mouth claiming mine in a hungry clash of lips and tongues. I wind my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
His hands roam, pushing my sweater up and over my head in one swift motion, exposing my bra. He breaks the kiss, his gaze devouring me, before he dips his head and tugs the lace down, freeing one breast.
“Enrick.” I whimper as his mouth closes over my nipple.
He sucks gently at first, then harder, his tongue swirling in teasing circles that send sparks of pleasure straight to my core. I arch into him, my fingers threading through his hair, holding him there as he moves to the other side, lavishing it with the same attention.
He sinks to his knees before me, his hands working the button of my jeans. He slides them down my hips along with my panties, letting them pool at my ankles.
His thumbs trace the darker lines that web across my brown skin, and he presses his lips to the faint scar that brought Bella into the world. “So fucking beautiful,” he murmurs against my skin.
