We have to talk.
I meander through the house until I find him in the laundry room sorting clothes into piles. He’s no longer dressed for work and is comfortable in a pair of sweats and T-shirt. The material of his shirt stretches over his hard-earned muscles. At his age, I know a physique like his doesn’t come naturally. It’s something to be honed and refined. He works hard at it, and I, for one, appreciate the finished product.
“Do you regret touching me?” I croak out, voice barely audible.
Owen drops a towel and then drags his eyes over to me. “What?”
Since I know he heard and he’s not stupid, I cross my arms over my chest and wait for an answer. His eyes briefly skate over my body before settling at my lips. How a man can manage to set me on fire with just a heated look is beyond me.
I shiver under his intense stare. “You promised me hugs. I’m cashing in.”
At this, he softens and opens his arms to me. I all but run to him. As his arms wrap around me, I inhale his scent and bury my face against his chest. He rubs his hand up and down my back until I melt in his arms. Just when I think things might progress, we hear footsteps. Both of us jerk away from the other. Rhett passes the laundry room without so much as a hello, but the moment with Owen is gone.
“Mei,” Owen says, voice rough and pained. “We should forget what happened last night. It was wrong.”
His words dig into my flesh and then rip through me, flaying my heart open to him. Rather than tenderly taking it like I want him to, he sighs sadly and continues with his laundry sorting.
“Right,” I murmur, voice wobbling. “Night, Owen.”
It takes everything in me to keep the tears at bay as I go to find Addison. She reluctantly passes my sister to me, sensing my emotional stress, and starts to say something. I force a polite smile before ducking out.
Penny grunts when I squeeze her hard to my chest. I relax so I don’t make her angry, and pat her back to calm her. I’m almost to her and Mom’s room when I hear my mother’s voice through the door.
“You promised,” she hisses. “Why would you do that? You know people can’t see us together. It’s too risky.”
I can’t hear the response, but whatever was said, Mom huffs in frustration.
“I know. I want to freely see you, too, but we have to be discreet for now.”
Penny cries out and smacks the door my ear is leaned toward. Mom ends the call before opening the it, regarding me with a tired gaze.
“Who were you talking to?” I ask softly.
Her expression hardens. “Bed time, Penny. Let’s go.”
I pass off my little sister to our mother and try not to let it affect me when the door is closed in my face.
At this point, loneliness is my only friend, lover, and parent.
And I hate it with every fiber of my being.
Chapter 9
Owen
The guilt is eating me alive.
Guilt from touching her by the fireplace? I thought that would be the problem. Turns out, the pain I feel is for abandoning her when she clearly needs me now more than ever.
I’m sorry, Mei.
I’m really fucking everything up.
Why can’t I be a normal man in a stepfather role? Mei is so different than Addison. My daughter will always be a little girl whom I take care of. Though not much older, Mei is all woman to me. It’s as if my brain and heart are at odds when I’m around her. The sane part wants to comfort her and the horny part wants to strip her naked.
I’m an animal.
No other way around it.
