Page 24 of Make Me

“I’m serious.”

“Laces, come on. Can we talk about this another time? Actually, can we not talk about this at all? What kind of man charges his woman rent?”

My eyes nearly pop out of my head when he says that. I’ve never been called someone’s woman before, and it does something to me. It wipes away all the irritation I had with Cooper, and I turn into an emotional wreck. Tears fill my eyes and fall down my cheeks. Cooper misunderstands, curses under his breath, moves his chair closer to mine, and takes me in his arms. He kisses my temple and tells me it’s okay.

“Oh, Cooper,” I say between sniffles. “You’re so sweet, but I swear to God, if you don’t cash that check, I’m going to kick your butt in the middle of Main Street during rush hour.” He lets out a loud laugh, and several people turn to look at us. I pull out of his embrace and grab his face. “It’s very important to me that I support myself and Ivy. Very important.”

He stares at me for what seems like an eternity and slowly nods. He kisses my temple again before pulling away. He steals another spoonful of my ice cream, breaking the tension between us. I make sure to lift my cup from the table and hold it as far away from him as possible.

We leave soon after that. Instead of holding hands this time, he wraps an arm around my waist while we take the short walk back home. We walk right past my house and into his. He offers me a seat on the couch and tells me he’ll be right back. He grabs the leash and whistles for Sam.

A few minutes later, he returns, getting food and water for his dog before sitting next to me. The minute his butt hits the couch, his lips are on mine. It’s not a slow, gentle kiss like the ones I’ve gotten used to this week. This kiss is deep and desperate. He pulls me on top of his body, his large hands roaming my back and landing on my butt. He starts to rub, pulling me closer to him and letting me rub against his hard dick.

A moan escapes, but I find myself tensing on top of him, suddenly insecure about myself and my body. Especially my ass, but he can’t seem to stop touching it.

“You’re so beautiful, Laces,” he says against my neck. “And you don’t even know it.”

Chapter 15

Cooper

She triesto move my hand from her ass, but I hold on tighter and kiss her deeper. My cock throbs in my basketball shorts, practically begging me to let it out and sink into what I know will be the tightest, wettest pussy I’ve ever been in. But I remind myself that we are doing this at Laci’s pace. She says when.

Her hand slides up my shirt and hovers right at the elastic of my shorts. I’m screaming in my head for her to slide her hand down my shorts and touch me, but she doesn’t. At least she doesn’t touch my needy dick, which only gets harder when I feel her soft hand gliding up my stomach and to my pecs.

Unable to take it anymore, I stand up. She’s shocked by my sudden movement and wraps her legs around me for support.

“I want to take you to my bedroom,” I say, my voice strained. She pulls away and looks down at me. I quickly add, “But only if you want to. And if you do want to go, we won’t do anything you’re not ready for. I only want more room to kiss you. To touch you.” She slowly nods, and I expel a breath and practically sprint to my room. Sam tries to follow, but I slam the door in her face.

I toss her on the bed, and climb in next to her, covering her mouth with mine again. Her hands return to my stomach, and so desperate for her to explore my body, I break the kiss only long enough to take off my shirt and toss it across the room.

Her eyes have darkened, and my breath comes out in shallow pants while I wait for her to touch me again. She hesitates, leaving her hand in midair, but I take her hand and put it back on my chest, right above my beating heart.

She relaxes and her lips return to mine. Hungry for more, I pull her on top of me and slide my hand up her dress, cupping her full ass. She moans into my mouth, surprising me when she grinds slowly on top of me. My hand slides underneath her cotton panties, and my hand touches the soft skin of her ass for the first time. I push her into me, and we both moan at the same time.

She breaks the kiss and rolls off my body. Her dress hikes up, revealing smooth, brown thighs. Thighs I can’t wait to get between.

“I’m sorry.” As soon as the apology leaves my lips, I jump off the bed and give us as much space as possible. She lays there frozen, looking directly at my crotch. I look down, curse, and adjust my hard on. The same one that was pointing directly at her.

She lies on her back and puts a hand to her heaving chest. “I’m sorry, too,” she says softly. “I want you, Cooper. I want to be with you more than I’ve ever wanted to be with anyone.” She stops talking and covers her face with her hands.

I lie back on the bed but make sure our bodies don’t touch. I don’t know how I’d be able to stop myself. Even the gentle brushing of her arm against mine would drive me crazy.

“I feel the same way about you,” I pant.

She gets up and props herself on her elbow. “Yeah, but believe it or not, I don’t have a lot of experience. I’ve only ever been with one person, and…” She leaves the sentence unfinished. I roll my eyes to the ceiling and say a silent string of expletives, cursing her dead husband to hell for all eternity.

“And what?” I reach for her and pull her to my side. “You can tell me.”

“And he told me I was a horrible fuck. Not after the first time, but afterwards. After we,” her eyes fill with tears, and she looks away. I sit up and pull her closer. I want to hug her, but I can tell she needs to get something out. “After we got married,” she says quickly, almost as if it pains her to utter those words. “We were only intimate a handful of times. My pregnancy was rough. I was sick a lot, and he would tell me I was so fat his dick couldn’t get hard.”

I take another deep breath, and I thank the powers that be that this guy is already dead. If he weren’t, I’d find him and kill him myself.

“Laci, look at me.” She does, and the haunted look in her dark eyes nearly guts me. “You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. And by far the prettiest.” I take her hand and place it on my still very hard dick. She gasps, but she doesn’t pull her hand away. “This is what you do to me. What you’ve been doing to me since you came back to Oak Bend. I don’t care what that asshole said—you are not fat. You’re beautiful and sexy. You’re perfect. And best of all, you’re mine. You deserve so much more than what you had with that piece of shit.” She bites her bottom lip, and two fat tears escape, but she sighs and wraps her arms around me. She surprises me when she straddles my lap.

“You’re biased, though, Cooper Stevens.”

“I am, but it’s the truth.” I kiss her temple and hug her tighter. “I’ve never been as turned on as I am whenever we’re together.”

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