My hand on his arm stops him. “Please don’t apologize for kissing me.”
If he doesn’t want to keep kissing me, or…doing more. That’s one thing, but if he apologizes for giving me my first real kiss, especially after the way I’d reacted to him, I think I will burst into flames of embarrassment.
His lips twitch into a sexy smile and his blue eyes darken. “Sweetheart, make no mistake about it, I am absolutely not going to be apologizing for kissing you.”
He holds my gaze for a moment until the butterflies in my tummy are once more fully in flight, before he moves his hands down the length of my leg and gently palpitates my swollen ankle. “But Iamgoing to apologize for not taking better care of you.” His handsome face is lined with concern. “You’re freezing. Get dressed and I’ll go see if I can salvage dinner. You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Griff’s huge hands rest on my bare thighs as he holds my gaze. “You will be sweetheart.” Moisture pools between my legs and I press my thighs together in a useless effort to ease the ache. “I promise you that.”
Griffin
After that kissI need to slow things down. Thank god the smoke alarm had gone off when it did because if it hadn’t there was a solid chance that I’d have my girl spread out on my bed with my face deep in her sweet pussy at that very moment.
Not that I don’t want that.
I do.
Badly.
But she’s young and sweet and there’s an innocence about her I need to respect and tread carefully with. The last fucking thing I want now that I’ve found her was to scare her away. I’ll only move as fast as she wants me to.
But first things first, I need to take care of her.
The chilli was mostly ruined, but fortunately Ma kept my freezer stocked because she knows I’m a terrible cook and feels bad for William being subjected to my speciality of grilled cheese sandwiches or scrambled eggs on toast night after night.
A new pot is simmering on the stove when Sophie appears a few minutes later. The sight of her steals the breath from my lungs.
She’d found one of my flannel plaids in the closet and was wearing it like a dress. The end of the shirt hits her half way up her creamy thighs. My gaze lingers on her bare legs, my mouth watering with the thought of what’s just beyond the fabric.
I tear my eyes away and scan the rest of her body with appreciation. She’s brushed out her long blonde hair so it hangs in waves over her shoulders.
She’s left the top few buttons undone, so I can just barely catch a peek of the delicious swell of her cleavage.
“You found something to wear.” I leave the chilli on the stove and cross the room.
“I hope you don’t mind.” A blush creeps over her cheeks and she looks away shyly.
“Not even a little.” I bend to kiss her softly on her lips before sweeping her up in my arms. “It looks better on you.”
“Griff I can walk.”
Maybe that’s true, but I like the feel of her in my arms way too much to test the theory. “I’m responsible for your injury and you need to stay of your ankle if you want it to get better.” I deposit her onto the sofa where I’ve already gathered a pile of pillows to prop her foot up with. Before she can object, I gently place an icepack wrapped in a towel on her ankle and hand her a glass of wine.
“Well, I guess I can’t argue with this.” She laughs and it’s such a sweet sound I fall for my girl a little bit harder. How am I going to be okay with taking her down the mountain tomorrow?
Short answer? I won’t.
Even with the brief time she’s been in the cabin, everything feels different.Ifeel different. As if something has been missing this whole time.
A woman’s touch.
Ma has been at me for years to date and bring a woman into William’s life. “A little boy needs a mother.” But I couldn’t do it. Not unless I knew deep in my soul it was the right fit.
Ma understands that. How can she not? She and Pa had been an instant love connection that defied all reason. It was a story they both took joy in telling us boys over and over while we were growing up. The moment Pa laid eyes on her he knew there was no way he was ever going to let her go.
And he hadn’t.
