“You might have lost her, but she left behind two of the greatest gifts that parts of her still live in.” Ayla reached for his hand, taking Kong by surprise.
His smoldering eyes looked at her hand on his first before he raised them to hers. There was something so soft, so sweet about this girl that he feared her being around him too long might taint her.
“My turn.”
Ayla caught her breath and picked her head up from the seat.
“Why did you really decide to take this job?”
Looking down at her hands, she fidgeted with them briefly, and bit at her bottom lip before picking her eyes up.
“I don’t know. I could say the money, right?” She tittered, gaining a simper from him. “But… I don’t know. It’s like you don’t perform. Neither do the kids nor anyone else in yourhouse. I can see you all have dealt with some darkness, because I have, too, but you’re not looking to be fixed. None of you. You just… allow me into the mess.” She swallowed slowly, and Kong examined her closely. “Your kids don’t look at me as something temporary either.”
Something fractured in his expression, and he turned briefly, dragging a hand over his face once again.
“That fucking scares me,” he admitted.
“I know.” Her gentle response left his head whipping in her direction.
Silence settled between them, but it wasn’t awkward. More like weighted. Ayla moved a little closer, the soft aroma of her perfume striking his nose and making his dick stretch against his slacks. She hadn’t touched him, but the warmth from her body near his was enough.
“Can I ask one more?” she pried gently.
Hesitant, Kong nodded. “One.”
“Do you believe that you aren’t allowed to want happiness again?” Her voice was so low it was barely a whisper.
Kong’s eyes roamed her frame, lingering on her thighs exposed in her dress as he inhaled deeply. The question hit harder than he expected, sitting right on his chest like an anvil. Closing his eyes, he saw Twyla’s pretty smile flicker through his mind, and when he opened them, Ayla stared back at him with admiration. Women looked at him all kinds of ways, but this was different. She had no idea the darkness that lived inside him, but she didn’t seem to care. It was like she saw him as something no one else did.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.
“From what I see, you’re a good man, Kong.” She reached for his cheek, resting her small hand there as her big doe eyes burned into his. “If nothing else, your children deserve the best from you. It takes a lot of healing. When our parents died, andInari found out she was pregnant, as a kid, there was a lot to process. Everyone told her abortion was her best option if she wanted any kind of future, but my sister has never listened to the majority. It was hard, but we managed to get through it together. I guess that’s why I’m kind of invested in this. I want you and those kids to have the best life together.”
“I guess I need to work on being more of a present father. Not just there,” he concluded.
“And don’t keep yourself closed off.” She admired his lips. “It’s okay to want more. Don’t you think your wife would have wanted that for you and the kids?”
Grabbing the back of her head, Kong pressed his forehead to hers and stole a soft, yet passionate kiss off her lips. Ayla was taken aback, but it was something she’d thought about since the day she laid eyes on him. She wanted to take on all the emotional baggage that came with him, too. Which was scary as her tongue carefully eased into his mouth. The soft moan that slipped through her lips left Kong stiff as a roll of quarters.
Pulling Ayla onto his lap, he allowed her to straddle him as his fingers dug into the flesh of her back. The warmth between her legs was enough to drive him crazy as the back seat heated up from their extreme fervor for each other.
“I’ve never done this before,” Ayla panted between kisses.
Hearing those words startled him, and he pressed his hands against her shoulders to nudge her back. There she was, putty in his hands, ready to risk it all, but he couldn’t.
“Fuck.” Kong sighed and dropped his head against the back of the seat.
“What’s wrong?” Ayla frowned.
“We can’t do this.” He shook his head.
Disappointment crowded her face, and she eased off his lap.
“It’s not you.”
Ayla scoffed, adjusted her dress, and turned away from him to look out her window. She was still reeling from the fuck shit Qassen had done to her. This had to be some knee jerk reaction to it. She tucked her arms across her grapefruit sized breasts and nodded.
“No. You’re right. We shouldn’t.”
