“Fear that you’ll say no.”
He took in a slow breath. “You don’t ever have to be afraid of me.” His voice was low, gravelly, sexy.
Kissing him would be unprofessional if he turned out to be Rue’s father.
“Is it okay if I do this?” he asked, bringing his hands up to frame her face. His eyes glistened with something that looked a whole lot like need.
“Yes.”
His tongue slicked across his bottom lip. The man was sexy as hell.
“About that kiss,” he said.
“What about it?”
“I’m going to need your clear permission first.”
“Yes. Definitely yes. One hundred percent yes,” she said.
It was all the encouragement he needed. A small smile toyed with the corners of his lips—those perfect lips. The top of which formed a perfect Cupid’s bow.
In the next second, his mouth pressed so tenderly against hers it robbed her breath and dissolved the last bit of resolve she had left.
Chapter Six
Blaize grazed his teeth across Carys’s bottom lip. The little mewl that escaped her mouth was tinder to fire. He teased his tongue inside her mouth. She tasted like dark roast coffee and honey, his new favorite flavor.
He dropped his hands, splaying them across her back instead. She arched, pressing full breasts against his chest. Pulling back enough to catch his breath, he leaned his forehead against hers.
Her hands came up to his shoulders, fingernails digging in as though she needed to anchor herself.
“Kissing you is the best thing that’s happened to me in too long” came out in a rasp as he tried, and failed, to catch his breath. Need welled up like a rogue spring storm, threatening to devastate everything in its wake.
The moment of pause brought on a wave of guilt. He bit back a curse. A child’s future hung in the balance, and he could scarcely keep his hands off her caretaker. Did that make him a jerk? Or did it make him human?
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Carys asked, as if sensing the mental debate going on in his head.
“It sure as hell isn’t you,” he said, hoping that gave her enough clarification to drop the subject without hurt feelings.
She took a step back; a sudden chill sat between them. She folded her arms and challenged him with her glare. “Don’t bother with the ‘it’s me and not you’ speech. That would hurt my feelings.”
Blaize let out a sharp sigh. “Can I make a confession?”
“Please do.” She shifted in posture like she was steeling herself to absorb a punch.
Dammit.He hadn’t meant for something this mind-blowing to turn into an insult.
“You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a very long time, and I don’t want to do anything to screw that up.” His honesty caught him off guard. “That…and my choices in love haven’t exactly paid dividends.” Should he tell her the feelings he had for her were as foreign as a poetry slam? That he’d loved his wife but never felt this mix of excitement and ease when they’d first started dating?
“You’re a dangerous man, Blaize.”
That was all she said before she turned around and walked off. He heard her voice in the next room as she talked with Kit. And then all he could hear was the TV.
Blaize walked over to the sleeping baby in the carrier. She was an angel with just a hint of dark hair. This little girl deserved a loving home. She deserved the world but was an orphan for the time being.
It nearly broke his heart when she took in a breath. Her face crunched like she was about to wind up to cry again like a pitcher at the plate, but then she settled. Her eyes remained closed. There’d been so much excitement, he’d forgotten to ask for a picture of Stephanie Cross. If the woman named him on her daughter’s birth certificate, it stood to reason he knew her. The name drew a blank. Cross could be her married name. Did he know any Stephanies?
He had to reach all the way back to high school to pull out a name: Stephanie Ambler. Seemed like everyone had a social media page these days. Could he find her? He picked up his cell and pulled up the most popular one, figuring he’d start there.
