“I’ve just never met someone who loved coffee as much as you do. The way you’re moaning and groaning over the mug, a man could get jealous,” he suggested, and suddenly I was warm enough. And it wasn’t the coffee warming my blood.
I tried to redirect the subject asking how bad it was upstairs. When he told me we should definitely stay put for the night, I accepted it but told him as soon as I was done with my coffee, I was going to find a hairbrush.
“Don’t go out of your way on my account,” Chris offered.
And, of course, he would. It’d been days without power, living off sandwiches and bottled water, and the man still looked like he could grace the cover of a magazine. Other than the scruff on his chin that had thickened, he looked exactly like I imagined he would each morning. Sexy and smoldering.
“If I don’t do something with this soon,” I began, pointing to the rat’s nest on my head, “the only way I’m going to be able to fix it is to shave the whole lot off.”
“You can’t shave your head, Mom! You’ll be bald,” Noelle pointed out.
“I don't know, I reckon you could rock the earrings and scarf combo,” Chris countered before standing up and walking over to the door leaving my mind whirling a million miles an hour.
Chris was a riddle I hadn’t quite figured out yet, but the longer I spent with him, the more I found I wanted to.
sixteen
CHRIS
I woke up in agony.
Pure unadulterated torture.
Last night when we’d climbed into bed, one last night on the air mattress, Holly and I had kept our distance, trying so hard to keep to our own sides. Sometime through the night, things changed. Now Holly was curled on her side, her tits pillowed against me, her thigh thrown over my leg, and her head nestled in the crook of my arm.
I wasn’t innocent either. My arm had wound itself around her and my palm was splayed across the top of her ass, holding her to me.
I squeezed my eyes together and took a breath. I tried thinking of dirty carburetors and old Mr. Wilson’s false teeth, but nothing worked. With Holly pressed against me, her scent wrapping around me, my dick was standing to attention and he wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere.
I tried to shift away, putting some distance between us, but when Holly murmured, I froze, not wanting to wake her. As beautiful as she was, even with her hair mussed and her lipschapped, the woman wasn’t completely faultless. I don't know if it was the fact she was still fighting off the last of her cold, but Holly snored like a freight train. It wasn’t those adorable, cute snores either. This was loud, chainsaw snoring.
I glanced across at Noelle who was starting to wriggle. The girl was the spitting image of her mother. Her arm was thrown over her head and she hugged the blanket to her like it was going to protect her from all the bad out in the world.
Quickly, I gave up on the idea of getting up and resigned myself to the fact I wasn’t going anywhere until they were ready.
The next time I woke up, I was alone.
Sitting up with a start, I looked around the room. Everything was packed up and I’d slept through the whole thing. Blankets were folded and piled on the end of the couch. The pillows were stacked, and the games were put away. What hurt even more was there was no sign of the woman and her daughter who’d wormed their way under my skin and given me something I never thought I’d have again. Hope.
As quickly as I could, I climbed off the mattress, almost stumbling as I found my feet and hurriedly put on my shoes. I didn’t bother with the laces, instead, I threw open the door and took the stairs two at a time, blinking as the sun almost blinded me.
I threw open my apartment door, not really sure what I was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn’t what I found. Holly and Noelle were dressed in matching jeans and Christmas sweaters. There were carols pumping from Holly’s phone on the counter, and they were both dancing around the kitchen, singing into wooden spoons putting on a concert. Thankfully, they didn’t hear me come in, so as stealthily as I could I crept into my living area and sat on the couch and watched the concert.
Something about the scene in front of me had me rubbing at that spot in the center of my chest. Something made me ache as I got hit by a tidal wave of sadness. The song ended, and I expected so would the show, but the next one started, and off they went again. Singing loudly off-key into their cooking utensils, dancing and shaking their asses like the world was fun, and for the first time in a long time, I found myself wanting to be a part of it.
When the song changed again, I pushed off the couch and stepped into the kitchen. “Something smells good in here,” I commented, and Holly squealed. It was such a high-pitched sound that I’m sure all the dogs in Evergreen Lake just perked up.
Holly dropped her spoon on the counter and grabbed hold of the edge, her eyes wide as she panted hard. “You scared the shit out of me!” she admonished, not taking her eyes off me.
“Sorry. You looked like you were having fun,” I told her.
“We were just …” Holly’s cheeks turned the most adorable shade of pink.
“Are you going to dance with us, Chris?” Noelle asked, looking up at me with wide eyes I knew it would be impossible to say no to.
“Um …”
“We need to get ready for breakfast,” Holly cut her off, turning away and pulling plates from the cupboard.
