His throat thickened. “You pleased me.” His voice was thick and graveled at the memory. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
She kissed his neck again, and he tipped back his head, a low groan vibrating down his throat. He pulled her closer, until her legs straddled his thighs, her auburn waves cascading down his white t-shirt, his excitement so solid it was almost painful.
“So it’s no to the hole?” he said, bunching her hair in his hand and pressing his lips to the dip in her shoulder.
“Definitely no.” She laughed. “Our landlord would have a fit.”
“I guess we’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. Me knocking at the door.”
“I guess we will.” Her eyes were soft. “How boring.”
“You’re the one who wants to take it slowly,” he pointed out, a smile playing at his lips.
“At least when Isla’s around, I do. We need to play it cool where she’s concerned.” Meghan leaned her brow against his shoulder, and he stroked her hair, the silky strands slipping through his fingers.
“Like the opposite to before when you pretended to be my girlfriend.” His lips twitched at the irony of it. And yeah, there was a part of him that wanted to shout about this thing with her to the world. To rush everything because the feelings rushing through him felt too strong to ignore.
She looked at him through her thick lashes. Damn, she was beautiful. Her high cheekbones were so defined he could cut his lips on them. He could get lost in her eyes if he let himself.
He wanted to bottle up this moment so he could save it forever. When life got shit, he could pull it out, remember how it felt to be sitting on his balcony on a warm Sunday morning, his girl in his arms, smiling up at him, her body warm and soft and so damn welcoming.
“We have an hour before we need to go,” he said, deepening his grip on her thigh. “Anything you want to do?”
Her lips curled. “I guess I could go home and clean my apartment.”
“Yeah, you could,” he agreed slowly. “But you won’t.”
With a single movement, he stood, lifting her up with him so her legs wrapped around his thighs. His hands held her behind, his body surging when he felt the bare softness of her skin beneath her shirt, as he turned on his heels and carried her back inside.
Meghan squealed with delight, tipping her head back with laughter as he kicked open his bedroom door and lay her down on the mattress.
“No cleaning then?”
He shook his head. “No cleaning. Right now I’m all about being dirty.”
23
“You really don’t need to do this,” Gloria said, her brows pinched together as Meghan swept her kitchen floor the following Wednesday. “I’m right as rain now. The doctor said so.”
“He also said you should take it easy,” Meghan pointed out. “Including getting someone to help with cleaning. And while you’re looking for someone I can help out. I don’t mind at all.”
She’d already finished the bathroom and bedrooms, and in ten minutes or so the kitchen would be sparkling as well. Isla was doing her best to distract Gloria from Meghan’s movements by playing a round of crazy eights with her, but Gloria was still frowning.
“I don’t like getting old,” she muttered. “I’m the one who helps everybody else.”
“You do help us.” Meghan smiled. “We’re neighbors, we help each other.”
Gloria looked at her carefully. “Speaking of neighbors…”
Meghan shook her head, looking pointedly at Isla. Thank goodness Gloria took the hint. “Isla,” she said, turning to the little girl. “I have a new postcard from Kevin and Grant. It’s got a picture of a train on it. Do you know what it’s called?”
“What?” Isla asked smiling.
“The devil’s nose. Isn’t that a funny name for a train?”
“Can I see it?”
Gloria nodded, her expression pleased. “Of course. It’s in my bedroom drawer. There are some more in there, too. Why don’t you take a look? I want to talk to your mom anyway.”