Fuck, this feels so good.
I can’t ignore the flutter in my chest, making me realize there’s no turning back now. We’ve crossed a line that we can never uncross, and at this moment, I don’t fucking care.
I don’t want to hold back anymore.
His hands, strong and possessive, roam my body, finding every sensitive spot with precision. I lose myself in the intoxicating sensations he’s awakening within me. All the tension, all the longing that had been building between us, now finds its release in this moment. Just as he’s fiddling with one of the buttons on my overalls, the door to the shipyard opens with a creak, and he breaks the kiss and leans away from me.
We both look over to the entry to see Tim walking in. North steps back from me, making me let go of the fabric of his shirt, leaving me sitting on the table like an idiot. Tim’s eyebrows nearly reach his hairline as he teases, “Well, guys, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I’m just the first. The rest of the crew is on their way here.”
I hop off the table, causing North to take another step back. I look up at him, but he isn’t moving or saying anything. His face is neutral, but I can see a war raging in his eyes.
The same that is raging inside me.
What the fuck did I just do?
I look down around us at all the tools on the floor, thinking back to how, just minutes ago, I felt so much, and now, it’s like the blood in my veins has turned cold. As cold as North’s expression when I look back up at his face.
Come on, do something. Say something.
When North doesn’t move, I look at Tim, seeking an out, and he understands me without words. “Come on, Tarzan,” he beckons. “I’ll walk you over to the restaurant.”
I glance one last time at North, but he’s still frozen in place, so I turn and join Tim, who puts an arm around my shoulder. I wince, and he immediately lets go of me.
“What?” he whispers, leading me out of the shipyard with a hand on my lower back. “Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
Not physically.
A few minutes later, I’m standing in the women’s bathroom at the restaurant without my top, wearing only my bra. Tally is busy standing behind me, patching me up, and Tim stands just outside the door, talking through the slit that he keeps open to hear us.
“He’s a fucking idiot, Sloan. Tally, you should have seen the coward,” Tim vents, clearly frustrated. “Kissing her senseless only to freeze up when he got caught. He should have told me to fuck off or taken you up to his office, not stand there and look at you like you were a bug under his shoe.”
He did, didn’t he?
“Of course, he’s kissing you instead of making sure you’re fine after you got hit by a fucking crane,” Tally mutters, putting a Band-Aid on my shoulder. “It’s not that bad. I disinfected the small cut. But it’s bruised and will hurt for a few days.”
“Thank you,” I whisper as I get my top back over my head, then I turn and lean against the sink, crossing my arms over my chest.
The door opens fully, and Tim leans against the doorframe, looking at me with pity. “Maybe you should just stop fooling around with them. It seems like they’re not good for you. I mean, I know we said we wanted you to get with one of them, but we’re more than fine to have you around as a single lady.”
“We can be the reason you stay,” Tally states, smiling at me, making my heart ache.
Even you guys will turn on me when you get a glimpse of what is underneath.
“That’s true,” Tim says, pondering. “I mean, Shan’s orourhouse is so big, there are plenty of rooms. We could make one downstairs for you.”
I shoot a glance over to the corner of the room, where Shannon has been standing since we got in, arms crossed over her chest.
I think she likes me less every time she sees me.
“Babe, you’re a genius.” Tally gets all excited before looking at me. “It will take a few months, but why not?”
“I will not barge myself into your family home,” I tell her, knowing that will never be an option, even if I wasn’t weird. “You need space for all the babies you’re going to pop out.”
That earns me a small smile from Shannon.
“One is more than enough.” Tally glares at me, but when I glance at Tim, he winks.
