“I’d say you’re open to disappointment,” she says, licking the custard from her thumb. “On both counts.” Her eyes catch mine, and a jolt shoots through me—through us both. We’re on the same page and thinking the same thing. The hotel. The chair, her body inches from mine. I caught her wrist as she pulled her hand from her panties.Like a good girl, following my instruction.Her fingers in my mouth, that first taste like a drug. I licked and sucked as she watched.
We gravitate closer as I realize, as if for the first time, the effort it’s taken not to touch her. When all I want to do is haul her closer and suck the goodness right out of her.
“I must have some rights,” I murmur, my heart pumping and my cock beginning to throb.
“You think?” She’s all cleavage and sparkling provocation as the tip of her tongue swipes at the corner of her mouth.
“Well,” I begin, capturing a silky lock of her hair. “I did put a baby inside you.”
Her eyes glitter like blue flames, her plump lips pursing as she begins to respond. But that’s as far as she gets—her attention jerking upward. From the floor above, the front door slams loudly shut.
My apology is a quiet groan as I hear my sister’s muffled complaint.Jaysus, Letty. You pick your fuckin’ moments,I think to myself. I begin to pull away, halting when, from the stairwell, a little voice makes itself heard:
“Uncle Matty, how did you put a baby inside the lady?”
Chapter 23
Ryan
This is awkward. On top of awkward. With a side of awkward.
“So what is it you do, Ryan?” Leticia—or Letty, as Matt calls her—has an accent that bears more than a transatlantic hint. Clodagh, meanwhile, sounds as though she’s from the States.
“I’m a trader at a hedge fund.”
“Wow. Interesting.” Her gaze slides Matt’s way. I’m guessing she’s thinking my job makes me perfect for him, like we’re peas in a pod. Or maybe she’s thinking the opposite, like he needs a stay-at-home wife. Or maybe I should just stop overthinking every goddamn thing, because it’s none of my business. “In London or ...”
“Oh. New York, though I was offered a position here a month or so ago. It’s just a pity it didn’t work out.”A pityis one way of putting it. And the other is a plain euphemism. I swear I wouldn’t ordinarily be so laid back about this, but for my life being a kind of take-a-ticket shit show currently.
Do I want to stay?Matt asked. I was so excited to be here. The achievement felt immense.Do I want to go back to New York?Not really. It’s not my home. But then, nowhere is.
“Really?” I’m not sure if that’s pity or consternation pinched between her brows. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Maybe she knows what it feels like.
“Thanks,” I murmur, actively keeping my eyes from Matt. My skin still feels shivery when I look at him after our little interaction. “I must have some rights,” he said. And then that line that made me feel like I was about to burst from pleasure. “I did put a baby inside you.”
Lord, the husky timbre of his voice and the suggestion in his delivery. Was I imagining things? It felt like we were about to kiss. And that’s a whole can of dangerous worms. It simply can’t happen, not if I want to stay. And I do want to stay, I realize. I think it would be a good thing.
Modern families come in all guises, and I want my little bean to have more people in her life than just me.People who love her.I could do it on my own, for sure. I’ve done everything else in my life solo. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best way. So I’ll stay here for now. And if things work out, maybe I’ll give birth here.
“How do you two know each other?” Letty asks as the old-fashioned kettle whistles and Matt moves it from his fancy-looking range.
“We met in Manhattan last year.”Just a few months ago, for one glorious night.“At a wedding.”
Her eyebrows lift as she stares at her brother’s back. “You keep your cards close to your chest.”
“What?” he replies, playing ignorant. This probably feels so weird for him too.
“New York,” she says again. Muses, maybe.
As Matt turns, a whole but silent conversation seems to pass between the two. Like I said, awkward, topped with awkward, with a side of awkward.
What am I supposed to do in this situation? Or even say?
If I’d known his family was coming, I might not have agreed to move in with him right at that moment. If for no other reason than to save us this ... situation. There’s the kid. Clodagh. And her little wiggling ears. Though that feels like a bullet dodged right now as she watches TV. Cartoons seem like a pretty good distraction for a five-year-old. But I feel like an interloper right now. Though Leticia seems nice enough, her reception seemed tinged with a light frost. Or maybe I’m imagining things.
I wonder what she’ll think when she finds out about our little bean. Or the fact that I’m moving in.She’ll probably think I’m a freeloader out to trap her wealthy brother.
