Wicked as Lies (Wicked & Devoted 3)

Since his bike was in his assigned spot, he had to park a bit farther away. Then he cut the engine and turned to her. “You sure?”

Tessa nodded. “Yeah.”

She didn’t come out and say it, but she was making a conscious decision: him over Cash. At least for tonight.

Zy tried to tell himself it didn’t mean anything, but he wasn’t good at blowing smoke in places where the sun didn’t shine. It meant a shitload—at least to him. It wasn’t right or smart, but even if he couldn’t touch Tessa, he intended to milk this night for every moment he could.

“Then let’s go.”

He jumped out of the truck and grabbed everything he’d stored in the bed while Tessa reached in to lift her daughter from the car seat. The diaper bag followed as she slung it over her shoulder.

Without a word, she followed him upstairs. He led her into the dark apartment. As he flipped on the lights, he was grateful he kept his space organized and tight.

He walked her past the modern gray sofa and the giant big-screen on the wall. “I’m going to drop your luggage in the bedroom.”

She stopped in the middle of his living room and looked around with tired eyes that were killing him. “Okay. Bring the playpen here, though. Please.”

He looked at her three bags. “Which one is that?”

“The black backpack-looking thing.”

Zy dragged it back into the living room. “Here you go. And you don’t have to keep saying please.”

Then he disappeared into the bedroom. Through the open door, he heard her walk through to the kitchen and open a jar of baby food before murmuring something low and sweet to Hallie.

He set her suitcase in a corner and what he guessed might be her toiletries in his bathroom. Then he flipped on the nearest lamp, shrugged out of his jeans and into a pair of shorts, then went to find his girls.

Okay, so they weren’t his. But he could pretend for a night…

Back in the kitchen, he found Tessa feeding a half-awake Hallie, who lazily opened her mouth for some yellowish baby mush. “What’s that you’ve got, little girl?”

“Vegetable turkey dinner.” When Hallie smacked her lips and grimaced, Tessa managed a smile. “It’s not one of her favorites, but it will stick to her ribs.”

“You don’t like it?” He bent to ask the baby, staring into her wide green eyes. Then she stuck out her lower lip in a pout.

“Uh-oh, she’s going to explode. She gets cranky when she gets off schedule.” Tessa scooped the baby off the counter. “I think she’s done eating anyway. Is there somewhere I can give her a bath?”

“I’ve only got a shower.”

“Is it okay if we take one together?”

Instantly, Zy imagined himself wrapped around Tessa as the warm water sluiced down their entwined bodies. It made him harder than hell.

She flushed bright pink. “I mean, um…Hallie and me.”

He knew what she’d meant, so he just nodded. “You two can have the bathroom for as long as you need. Towels are in the cabinet above the toilet. You like omelets?”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to cook—”

“My way, remember?”

To his surprise, she didn’t push back. “Okay. By the way, you have a nice place.”

Then she disappeared, and after a few minutes of scrounging, he found some mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach in his fridge to whip up a quick dish. He toasted a piece of bread and was plating everything when she emerged again in a pink cotton tank with a scalloped strap and hem, along with a matching pair of shorts. And no bra. That was fucking obvious when her nipples poked the fabric. She’d twisted her long hair in a messy bun and her face was bare.

Zy doubted she’d intended to turn him on, but he was harder than fuck looking at her. Hell, just being in the same room with her.

He cleared his throat. “Feeling better?”

She set Hallie on the floor and bent to attack the little black backpack. “Yeah. You don’t want me to thank you, but…thank you. I feel almost human again.”

“Good.” He watched her assemble Hallie’s playpen, line it with a few blankets, then toss in a couple of pacifiers, before she scooped up her daughter and kissed her soft little forehead. “You putting her to bed now?”

Tessa nodded. “It’s three hours past her bedtime. She’s going to crash and probably sleep until late tomorrow morning.”

Which meant Mommy could get some sleep, too. “Your dinner is ready.”

She tucked the baby in the playpen, then covered her up and turned off the lamp on the nearby table. The shadows emphasized the jut of Tessa’s breasts, the whittled indentation of her waist, and the flare of her hips. Zy started to sweat.

“I’m coming…”

Yeah, he wished, just like he wished he was the one sending her over the edge of pleasure.