“What if it’s your boss?”
Okay now, that’s a fair point. Keenan expects the men of the Clan to answer when he calls. Grumbling, I head to the bedroom to get my phone. But when I reach it, it isn’t Keenan that’s on the other line. And it isn’t my regular cell phone that’s ringing, but the burner phone I use.
Stone City calling. I look to the door. Bloody hell, if Megan knew who I was talking to… if any of the McCarthy family knew. I can’t believe I left the damn ringer on. I’m getting sloppy.
“Hello?”
I take the call. It’s one that I’ve been waiting for.
I make it quick and keep the door shut during our conversation. When it’s done, I tuck it in my drawer and join Megan and Breena in the kitchen again. She can’t know who that was, what they wanted. Nobody can.
“Who was that?” Megan asks.
“Ah, no one,” I say. I take the tea she offers me with a grateful smile. Hell, but it’s good to be able to talk to an adult around here for once. I love every inch of little Breena but parenting a toddler alone can get fucking lonely.
“Not no one,” she says, her brow furrowed. “You can’t tell me?”
I take a long pull from my mug and hold her gaze before I answer. “You’ve been part of this family for how long now, Megan?” I ask sharply.
“Oh, my whole life,” she mutters, before smiling at me.
“Then you ought to know some things don’t get discussed.”
She rolls her eyes, and it makes me want to spank her again.
The phone rings a second time, then a third. God. This isn’t going as planned at all. Bloody hell, I didn’t have a plan.
“True,” Megan mutters. “Well, then. I ought to be going,” she says. She turns away from me awkwardly, as if she doesn’t know where to look or what to touch or what she should say. She glances at the time on the microwave. “I’ve got a shift at the hospital later.”
I look at the clock along with her. “You have time?”
“Aye,” she says. “Do you want to go get ready first? And I’ll watch Breena a bit.”
“I’m good, thanks.”
Why is everything that was so perfect so bloody awkward now?
“Well, then,” Megan says. “I’ll just… go get my things.”
She puts her mug in the sink then walks to my bedroom. I give Breena a tight smile, then turn and follow Megan. She turns to face me when I enter the room. Her eyes are wide and bright, her cheeks flushed pink and her hand’s up to her throat.
She keeps her eyes on me as I walk toward her. I don’t take my time, but in three large strides, I’ve got her in my arms. I shove her up against the wall and pin her wrists above her head. She moans when I drive my knee between her legs and part them, pressing my leg against her barely-clad pussy.
“Carson,” she whispers, when I take my mouth off hers. “Bloody hell.”
My sentiments exactly. I’ve been with enough women to know, this attraction between us is fucking combustible. I’ve never felt anything like it, even with… no. No, I won’t think of that now.
I rake up her shirt and marvel at the soft, silky feel of her skin beneath her top.
“Fucking gorgeous. We shouldn’t do this… we shouldn’t be…”
But she places her finger to my lips. “Who cares?” she whispers.
I’ll tell her who fucking cares. Keenan, Cormac, and Nolan, that’s who.
There’s no denying the way things are between us, the erotic attraction that pulses and hums like a plane ready for takeoff.
“I have to go,” I tell her. “Maeve said she’ll watch Breena today, but I’ve work to do that can’t wait.”
She sighs and presses her forehead to my shoulder but doesn’t respond at first. Finally, she nods. “Alright, then. I know my cousin, and Keenan isn’t a patient man.”
She doesn’t want to leave, but hell, she has to. We both do. We can’t do this, and she knows it. If she finds out what I’m doing in secret…
She goes to leave the room, but I can’t help myself. I take her hand and yank her back to me. I can’t let her walk away.
“Not yet,” I tell her. The need to control, master, and dominate floods me, all-consuming and powerful. I need this woman. I need just one more taste of her before I do the fucking work that has to be done, that steals a bit of my soul every time I go.
“But… Breena…” she says in a husky whisper.
“Her favorite show’s on,” I tell her. “I’ll get her situated and you wait right here for me. When I come back, I want you waiting for me.” I give her a series of instructions, and she nods.