In This Life
Page 51

 Cora Brent

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“Where’s Roxie?” Emma demanded. “I want to show her Roxie Jr.”
Nash pointed to the stuffed dog in her arms. “Is that Roxie Jr.?”
Emma nodded. “I love her less than Roxie but I love her too.”
He laughed. “Roxie’s been in the backyard most of the day. I know she’s been waiting for you to come back though.” He held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s go see her.”
Emma slipped her little hand into Nash’s large one and they walked toward the wooden gate that led to the backyard. For a second I couldn’t move. I just stood back and admired them; Nash carrying Colin in one arm while Emma trustingly allowed him to lead her with his other hand. I wanted to imprint the vision in my mind forever.
Nash unlocked the gate and looked over his shoulder. “You coming?”
I nodded. “Where else would I go?”
Roxie was so happy she cried and darted from person to person in search of affection. Emma allowed her face to be licked and then ran everywhere in the grass while Roxie zoomed all around in circles. A near tragedy occurred when Roxie grabbed Roxie Jr. around the neck but Nash intervened in a flash, returning the toy to Emma, who was very forgiving.
“You don’t know how much she loves that dog,” I laughed when he returned.
He sat down on a cushioned patio sofa. “I have an idea.” He looked me up and down, setting off another involuntary chain reaction in my body. “Sit down, Kat.”
I plopped down right beside him. The light was fading fast now. Emma was a short, pale tornado in the grass, Roxie a hairy whirlwind.
“Long day,” I commented and rubbed at the back of my neck.
Nash balanced Colin on one knee and reached over to massage the spot for me. I let him. He was so much better at it.
“Tell me,” he said.
“Later.” I wanted to talk about something else first. “How come you decided to do this today? To clean out the house?”
“I told you. It was time. They would have wanted it this way. They would have wanted life to keep moving.”
“Chris and Heather?”
He nodded. He was staring out at the backyard shadows, watching my daughter and his dog.
“Besides, I needed to make room.”
“For what?”
“The new residents.”
“Are you renting out rooms or something?”
“Or something.”
“I don’t get it.”
He stopped massaging my neck and turned to me with a penetrating stare. “We have to talk.”
I swallowed. “About what?”
“I’m no longer satisfied with our arrangement.”
I looked down, not sure if I wanted to hear this or not. “Is that right?”
“Yes.” He pulled me close and softly brushed his lips over mine, sending chills through every inch of my body. No one else had ever done that to me. No one else ever could.
“I want more from you, Kat,” he said and curled his strong arm all the way around me. “I want more from you and I have more to give you.”
“You told me you don’t like hassles,” I whispered. “Or complications.”
“You are neither.”
I touched his face. “What am I?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Mine. You’re mine.”
He’d just uttered the words of my dreams. Maybe that’s why I found myself unable to talk.
Nash was watching me. “Kat?”
I blinked.
“I love you,” he said.
This moment is everything. He is everything.
But now he was looking a shade worried because I’d become catatonic.
“I love you,” he repeated. “Live with me. You and Emma. You said you’d have to find a new apartment soon. So live here with us. Kat, this old house could use some happiness. We all could.”
Colin waved his arms in the air. Maybe he was imitating Emma as she pranced around in the grass. Maybe he was trying to weigh into the conversation.
“Nash,” I said and closed my eyes. There were so many thoughts racing through my head and yet I had no words. I’d always been great with words and now they’d deserted me when I needed them the most.
Suddenly I found the words I’d been searching for. They weren’t hard to say at all.
“I love you too.”
She was right on time. Of course.
Kat strolled through the door of Hawk Valley Gifts with her laptop bag on her arm and those rowdy curls contained in a loose bun. Her long navy blue skirt would have looked modest on another woman but on Kat it highlighted the shape of her incredible ass and beckoned to me like an invitation to that luscious back door.
“Are you ready for our meeting, Mr. Ryan?” she asked and from the way she smirked I could tell she guessed the trajectory of my thoughts.
I cupped my hand over my dick and rubbed just enough to make sure she understood what I had in mind. “I’m ready.”
Kat set her bag down, unfastened the first two buttons of her white blouse, then released the front clasp of her bra. God bless her. And those tits.
She watched me while I walked around her and locked the door after ensuring the CLOSED sign was still out. We wouldn’t open for another half hour and the college student who would be running the cash register this morning wouldn’t be here until then.
“Not so careless anymore,” she remarked, referencing the fact that I hadn’t always bothered to lock the door. Kat set her hand on her hip and I got a tantalizing peek of a nipple.
“I just don’t want any interruptions,” I said, closing in. I was ready to get my hands on her. I ran my palms over her hips and around to her ass so I could press against her hard. I wanted her to feel how hard I was. That breathy little sigh escaping her lips told me she was getting all kinds of hot and bothered. If I slid my hand down into the waistband of her skirt and went exploring I knew I’d find some damp panties and eager flesh.
And, lo and behold, that’s exactly what I did find.
“Fuck,” she moaned, straining against my hand, trying to get my fingers to go deeper. I liked her like this; needy and dirty. Ready to let me finger her or fuck her in the middle of an aisle full of coffee mugs and cheesy Hawk Valley t-shirts.
But I was in the mood to take my time so I didn’t do either one. I withdrew my hand from between her legs and wordlessly led her to the back office. I barely had time to shut the door before Kat dropped her skirt.
“Shirt too,” I demanded because I always demanded that.
She finished escaping her clothes and sat down on the plush sofa I’d recently bought for this room just for this reason. Kat smiled at me then reached up to set her glorious hair loose. It spilled in riotous red waves past her shoulders and she looked so sexy it was sick. Then she took it a step further, leaning back and opening her legs while touching her tits.
Meanwhile, my dick was conducting a major tantrum over all this torture so I did us both a favor and yanked my pants down to my knees. I’d been brooding about today’s planned meeting ever since we kissed goodbye just after breakfast.
Our mornings at home were blissfully chaotic these days, a hectic hurricane of diapers and preschool plans and barking dogs. There was no time for fun and games while all that was going on. But moments like this more than compensated.
Kat was ready for me, lying back on the sofa and widening her legs so I could fit between them. I hooked one of her knees for leverage and two seconds later I was buried in heaven.