“Nope. I’m just Matt,” he says with a chuckle.
I punch his shoulder playfully. He pretends to fall to the side, but he pops right back up, getting even more in my space.
“Is this about your boyfriend?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head. I had almost forgotten about Phillip. “No,” I start. But I can’t get the words together. “Never mind.”
He sits quietly, and then he starts to whistle. He’s not letting me off without an explanation.
“It’s just that I never had a family.” There I said it. Now he can pity me. “So when Seth was worried, not just about his sisters, but about me too, it made me feel a little emotional.” I shrug. It sounds even more stupid now that it’s out of my mouth. “That’s all. I know it’s stupid.”
He doesn’t say anything. He just nods.
“I just am having a hard time finding my place in this situation. But I think I’m finding it, and it feels good.”
He arches his brow. “So, that was a good cry?” he asks.
“That was a very good cry.” A grin tugs at the corners of my lips even though I’m still feeling really emotional.
“Okay,” he says with a nod. He pats his shoulder. “You want to cry on me some more? I kind of like having you touch me.” He grins and opens his arms in invitation. “I’m really good at hugs, too.”
I bite my lower lip, trying not to grin.
“I’ll pretend it’s a chore if it’ll make you feel better. I’ll even groan out loud.”
This time I laugh. I can’t help it. He’s so damn sweet.
“Is that a no?” he asks, deadpan.
“I’m not usually this emotional,” I say.
He shrugs. “All women say that. It usually precedes an episode of batshit craziness.”
“Are you calling me crazy?”
He shakes his head vehemently. “Definitely not.” He smiles. “There are a lot of words I would call you. Crazy isn’t one of them.”
Now I’m intrigued. “Do tell.”
“You’re f**king gorgeous as hell,” he says. His eyes drag up and down my body.
Heat creeps up my cheeks.
“And you’re smart. And loyal. And you’ve bit off more than you can chew taking on three kids that aren’t even yours.”
I like that he thinks I’m smart. And loyal.
“And you’re not mine.” He gets to his feet and reaches down to take my hand. “So we had better get out of the stairwell before I do something stupid like kiss you.”
He pulls me up, and I brush off my butt, trying to figure out what to do. “You want to kiss me?” I ask.
“More than anything,” he says quickly.
I grin and look away from him. “Good.” I open the door to the stairwell and walk through it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks my retreating back.
“Nothing,” I toss over my shoulder. My heart feels a lot lighter than it did a few minutes ago, probably because there are about a million butterflies fluttering around in my gut. My belly flips when I meet his gaze. “I’m glad you want to kiss me, is all.” I shrug again.
“So can I?” he asks softly. He’s following me to the street and toward my car now. I beep the locks so I can open the door. I start to pull bags out and load him up.
“Can you what?” I ask.
He grins. “You know what.”
I drop my voice down to a whisper. “You might have to spell it out for me, Matt.”
“I W-A-N-T T-O K-I-S-S Y-O-U,” he spells out, laughing.
I laugh, too. “Good,” I say again. I get out the last of the bags. He’s carrying most of them, so my load is pretty light. I step up onto my tiptoes and kiss him really quickly on the cheek. “Thanks for helping with the bags. And for the pizza. And for rushing over when Seth called you. I’m sorry if he ruined your night.”
“You can make it up to me,” he says. He puckers his lips.
I can’t keep the smile from my face. “You coming up?” I ask.
He holds up the bags like he has no other choice.
“Run while you can, Mr. Reed,” I say, and I try to take a bag from him.
“I don’t think so,” he says.
My belly does that little flip again, and I can’t help but wonder where this is going.
Matt
Her cheeks are a pretty pink color, and she avoids looking at me in the elevator. I let her walk in front of me down the hallway because she has absolutely the prettiest, most perfect ass I have ever seen and I want an excuse to look at it. She’s wearing her business suit again—a pencil skirt, heels, and a pretty top.
She looks over her shoulder at me and draws her lower lip between her teeth, her face growing even rosier. I go hard immediately. If she doesn’t quit it, I’m going to have to hang out in the hall before I can go inside. I take a deep breath and stop looking at her ass. Instead, I look at the bags and bags of clothes she piled me high with. They’re dripping off my arms, and I have shoe boxes stacked in my hand.
“Did you buy the whole store?” I ask as she opens the door.
She holds up four fingers. “I bought out four stores. Little girls are expensive.” She shrugs and says, “I got some things for Seth, too. I just hope they fit. I had to guess his size.”
He’s going to love that. The kid hasn’t had anyone to take care of him in a long time. I have a feeling she could have bought him a pink fur coat and he would have taken it with pride just because she gave it to him. “I’m sure whatever you got will be fine.”