Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

Chapter 17

Calland

I pulled in and parked, ready to get inside and spend the rest of the night with Dani. Kaden was asleep in his car seat and I knew that he was probably down for the night. But I’d still have Dani change him because she’s good at that shit, getting it all done without waking him up. Guess I’ll need to practice that…as long as things remain status quo.

It surprised me just how much I wanted them to. It’d not even been three weeks yet, but I found that I liked having her there when I came home from work. I liked seeing Kaden’s face light up when I talked to him, and how he cuddled in to me at night before bed.

Things I never imagined I’d be feeling like this ever, let alone in such a short period of time.

I walked into the house and saw Dani sitting there, her face once again looking like she’d been crying. I crossed to her side, carefully sitting the baby, still strapped into his seat, on the floor beside me as I knelt in front of her.

“Dani, what’s wrong?”

She gave me a tremulous smile and shook her head “Nothing, I’m fine. They’re good tears, I promise.”

I searched her face, looking for some hint that she wasn’t being truthful, but seeing none.

She leaned forward and tenderly kissed my lips. When she sat back again, she glanced over at Kade. “Aww…was he good for you? Did he have his last bottle?”

I kept my eyes on her, perplexed by her emotional state, but unwilling to pry since I’d given her my word about it. “Of course he was good,” I answered. “And yeah, he had it about half an hour ago and started to fall asleep then, but I woke him up putting him in the car seat.”

She stood, slipping past me enough to bend over the car seat and begin unstrapping him. “I’ll just go put him down, okay? And then you and I can discuss that bubble bath, yeah?” she whispered, her eyes gleaming as she shot me a sly wink over her shoulder.

Like I was gonna turn that offer down…

***

I stretched my arm out, reaching for Dani, but my hand encountered nothing but the cool sheets where her body should have been. I blinked my eyes open and looked around the room, noting the weak morning light barely peeking around the edges of the curtain.

I yawned and got up, throwing on a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt before making a pit stop in the bathroom, and then went to find her. I glanced at the clock as I left the bedroom, yawning again as I realized it wasn’t even seven yet, but I figured Kaden must have had her up earlier than usual.

Yet, when I passed Kaden’s room and peeked into see if they were in there, I noticed that Kade was still asleep in his crib. I backed back out of the room, trying to be quiet so I didn’t wake him, and went in search for Dani.

I didn’t see her in the living room or the kitchen, but movement out the back door caught my eye. She had her back to me, standing outside the door. I had my hand on the handle of the door, ready to push it open but I hesitated when I heard her speak.

“Alex, do we have to go through this now? I told you I’d call you again when I knew for sure what was happening.”

She was silent again for a minute, then ended the call sharply, biting out, “Fuck you, Alex.”

I stood frozen, watching as her shoulders slumped briefly, her head shaking. She looked so defeated, something I hadn’t seen from her before. I shoved the door open and she whirled, her mouth opening with an ‘Oh!’ of surprise.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” I replied. “Everything okay?”

She nodded and swallowed so hard it was audible. “Didn’t want to wake you when my phone rang.”

“Ah. So, you coming back in now?”

“Yeah,” she said, but she didn’t move.

“Dani,” I started to say, but she finally slid past me through the door and into the kitchen.

“Who’s Alex?” I asked her back, then watched as her footsteps faltered.

She looked at me over her shoulder and replied, “Someone I used to know back home.”

“Should I be worried?”

I’d asked the question softly, because I knew I didn’t have the right to. Not really. She’d made no promises, and neither had I. Not beyond the scope of letting the chips fall where they may, though I’d been thinking lately that I’d like to know exactly where my chips were falling. With Dani, here with me. And Kaden, too.

I’d begun to think that maybe she wanted that, too.

Was I wrong?

She turned to face me fully, but stayed where she was. “I hope not.”

It took me a second to realize that she was answering the question I’d asked out loud, not my internal one. I stalked towards her, jerking her against me as I lowered my face to hers. “If you’re in some kind of trouble, you need to tell me. Let me help you, Dani. That’s all I’m asking.”

She stared up at me, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. “You have helped me, more than you know. And I’m not in trouble. I just…I can’t say anything, yet. Some secrets just aren’t mine to tell. I just need you to trust me.” She stepped closer to me, her head tipping back even farther, offering her mouth up to me.

I knew she was trying to change the subject, but I still took her mouth, molding my lips to hers, slipping directly past the chaste good morning kiss I knew she’d intended to a fervent plundering, tasting and teasing and taking. I groaned when she met me move for move, breath for breath, giving everything she had.

She finally broke the kiss, her smiling lips glistening and swollen, gazing up at me with those gorgeous eyes of hers, and I knew without a doubt that I’d do anything she asked of me, including trusting her blindly about the secrets she held so close.

***