The kiss goes from sweet to molten in half a second. His hands are on my hips, and he’s got me crushed against him, his hard manhood pressed against my core. My whole body is on fire, and the only reason I stop is the bar breaks out in chaos with whistling and hooting. Yeah, Dawson and I just kissed in front of everyone in the bar. It will be all over Whiskey Run by the morning.

I pull away, and as I do, he sways on his feet. I grab on to his waist. “I’m going to take you home.”

He reaches for me, threading our fingers together. I look down at our entwined hands, loving the way his larger one is holding on to mine. I wave at Malcolm, who just rolls his eyes at me. It’s a lot of jostling, but I finally get him to my car. He doesn’t say a word the whole way from the bar to his house. His breathing is heavy, and I almost think he’s sleeping, but as soon as I pull into his driveway, he turns to me. “Are you coming in?”

I know I shouldn’t. I should make sure he gets inside and leave, but I’m nodding my head. I go around and help him inside, digging his keys out of his pockets and unlocking the door. He goes straight to his bedroom, so I go to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water and find Tylenol in the cabinet. Just as I’m walking in, he’s stripped down to his underwear and climbing into bed. Leave, Emily. You need to get out of here.

But against my better judgment, I go farther into the room and put the water and pills on the nightstand. “You need to take these, Dawson.”

He leans up and downs the two pills and sets the water bottle back down. He lays back, throwing his arm over his face. “You okay?” I ask him.

He’s quiet for so long, I give up on him answering. I’m about to leave when he stops me. “No. No, I’m not okay. I can’t breathe when you’re around, not without smelling that damn flowery perfume you use. My house even smells like it now. I can’t work, I can’t do anything because all I think about is you.”

I freeze, not daring to move a muscle, hoping he will continue.

“I don’t want to feel all these things. I wish I could just fuck you and let you go, but I know it wouldn’t be like that with you. I’d want to keep you...I’d want you to have my babies.”

I gasp but put my hand over my mouth to stall the noise. Did he just say he wants to have my babies?

He rolls to his side, his words slurred. “But I can’t... I can’t get involved with you, Emily. Not now, not ever. You’d leave. Just like my mom did. Women don’t stay... no matter how much you love them.”

He’s quiet then, and I want to reach for him. I can hear the pain he’s in, and it breaks my heart to hear him talk this way. I move closer to the bed and peek at his closed lids. He starts to speak again, and I stay rooted to the spot. “And I can’t chance it with you... because when you leave me... I wouldn’t survive it.” He frowns as if he’s feeling the words as he says them.

My hand is on my heart now, and it feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. I feel like I’m eavesdropping on a conversation that I shouldn’t be hearing. I stand here for a long time, taking it all in, trying to recall everything he said and wanting to commit it all to memory.

When he rolls in his sleep and softly starts to snore, I finally move. I tiptoe out of the room and shut the door behind me. I don’t make it far. I make it to the couch and sit down with my head in my hands. He likes me... if anything, he more than likes me... but he’s scared. That’s why he’s being an ass.

My thoughts are all over the place, wondering about his dad and where he was at, wondering how a mother could leave their child. And his house... I look around the house and it all comes together. He even has the fuckin’ white picket fence. He may have not had a home, but he made one here. None of it is good, but it makes so much sense on why he’s been acting like he has.

Now I just have to figure out how I’m going to handle it.

I lie down on the couch and sleep off and on. I get up a couple of times through the night to check on him, and even though he seems restless, he seems to sleep throughout the night. I’m up bright and early, making coffee when he comes out of his room, holding his head.

Tags: Hope Ford Whiskey Run Savage Ink Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net