One to Keep (One to Hold 2)

“What?” I swept her back into my arms, and though she tried to push away, I held her tight until she gave in, staying in my embrace, close to my heart. “I want you to have my baby. When you’re ready, I mean.”

She shook her head, but I could tell she was weakening. I took a chance and leaned in for another kiss. She gave me a small kiss back before turning her cheek, and I had to fight everything in me that wanted to take her face in my hands and kiss her over and over, to make up for every day I’d missed.

“Are there any more secrets you’re keeping from me?” she said, still resistant. “Any more men who are really women just waiting to surprise us?”

“God, I hope not.” My forehead rested on hers, my hope rising again.

“I’m serious.”

My arms did relax at that, and I let out a deep exhale. “There is one thing you should know. I was with a call girl just before Scottsdale—”

She stepped back. “Call girl? Have you been tested—?”

“I used protection the whole time, but I didn’t know she was a professional. It was all a setup.”

Elaine’s arms crossed, and her eyes narrowed. “Who set you up?”

All the ground I’d made suddenly felt like quicksand, and I struggled to get us back to that place we’d just been.

My hands went into my back pockets, and I looked down. “Stacy.”

“I thought that was over. Is she still in your life, too?”

“No!” I almost shouted. “After I confronted her about it, I don’t think I’ll ever see her again. I’d better not.”

Elaine’s arms were still crossed, and she turned to the side, looking down. I waited, watching her.

“Call girls, crazy fiancés, babies everywhere…” The list against me sounded pretty awful, but at the same time, I could swear I heard the faintest glimmer of a change in her tone. “I’m not sure how I feel about this,” she said facing me. “Being with someone with so much baggage.”

“Technically, none of those things were my fault.”

Her eyebrow arched. “You didn’t sleep with Kenny?”

“She was on the pill!”

I watched as she chewed her lip, her eyes dropping. “Come here,” I said softly, pulling her into my arms. It was a risk, but I was taking it.

“I don’t know,” she said, but she didn’t resist me. She let me hold her.

Her heart beat against my chest, and I lowered my face so that our mouths were a breath apart. I wanted to kiss her so badly. Her chin lifted slightly, and we were right there. But when she spoke, her voice was still a quiet argument.

“I like nice men.”

Everything we’d done together flickered across my mind, and I smiled. “No you don’t.”

With that, I reclaimed those lips. Her arms went around my neck, sending heat flooding to my core. No distance was between us now. We were back, she was back in my arms. Three weeks of wanting her exploded in my chest.

She didn’t push me away or tell me no as I kissed her again with more urgency. She turned, and I kissed her cheek.

“I’m too weak when it comes to you,” she sighed as I traced the line of her jaw with my lips. “I should be stronger.”

My kisses moved to her temple and into her hairline. She was so beautiful, and I had her again. “You’re incredibly strong,” I murmured. “You held me off for three weeks when everything in me wanted to come here and take you back.”

I could feel her breathing pick up as I kissed her, and the tension below my waist grew tighter. My mouth returned to hers, and it opened quickly, tongues uniting, her fingers now threading in my hair. Her lips were so sweet, but I moved my kisses to her chin, dropping down to her neck, and unfastening the buttons on her shirt, kissing every spot of delicate skin that was revealed as it came apart.

“I just ached for you,” she said. “At night, all I could remember were your hands. Oh,” she gasped as I unfastened her bra and quickly cupped her breasts, sliding my thumbs over her tight nipples.

“What else did you remember?” I leaned down, pulling one into my mouth. She moaned, and I lifted her into my arms, carrying her back to the bedroom. My dick was straining against my pants, and I wanted to taste her, be inside her, have every part of her again. Three weeks was too long to be without her, and my body craved her.