Page 40 of Refuge for Cherilyn

“Please what?” he whispered back to her.

“Please? I want to be with you however you’ll have me.”

He chuckled against her skin. “I thought we were going to take it slow.”

That made her laugh quietly. “I told you I don’t want to!”

“So what do you suggest?”

He looked down into her eyes, and what he saw there startled him. Gone was the frail, timid woman he’d seen before, and in her place was a passionate, hot-blooded vixen who knew what she wanted. “I’d suggest we be very, very quiet.”

“Uh, I can do that.”

“I bet you can’t.”

He pushed himself up on his hands. “I bet I can. You watch me.”

“Oh, I want to. I really, really want to.” Cherilyn braced herself up on her elbows and looked up into his face. “I hope me being this direct doesn’t scare you off.”

“Scare me off?” Shaw laughed quietly. “Girl, I’m so turned on right now that I couldn’t run if I had to. I’ll barely be able to walk to the bedroom with this tree trunk in my jeans.”

“Well, then, we’d better be quiet, huh?”

He sat up on his knees, then stood from the sofa and reached down for her hand. When she was standing, he wrapped his hands around the back of her neck and kissed her again. Pulling back, he stared down at her. “You can use the bathroom first. My room. Go on.”

“Okay. Out in a flash. Oh, I’d better get a gown from my room. I don’t want the girls to walk in and find me, uh, you know…”

“Yeah. Good idea. Get going. Be there in a minute.” She disappeared into the room she’d been sleeping in, then hustled across the hallway and closed his bedroom door.Oh holy hell, I’m getting laid! Is this awesome or what?

He checked the doors to make sure they were locked, set the alarm system, and turned out the lights. When he stepped into his bedroom, he could hear her puttering around in the bathroom, so he found a pair of lounge pants and tossed them onto the chair before sitting down on the side of the bed. They’d be good enough to pull on over his boxer briefs.

The bathroom door opened and she stepped out into the bedroom in a cotton gown trimmed in lace. It was a pale mint green, and it complimented the tone of her skin and hair while making her eyes look even bluer. “Not very sexy, right?” she asked as she glanced down at the garment.

“Very sexy because of the woman in it.” He stood and brushed his knuckles over her cheekbone as he passed her on his way to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.” She didn’t answer, just smiled.

He stood there in the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. How old was she? She said she married Frankie because she was pregnant, Maya was fifteen, and Aaron had said her driver’s license showed she was thirty-six, so she was well within his age range for a relationship. He was no kid. Forty had been kind to him, but forty-one had left him doubting himself. Still, he worked out as often as he could, tried to eat right, and stayed busy. His hair was still thick and pale chocolate brown, his facial hair was always neat, and he had great teeth. The teeth thing was his mother. She was a stickler for oral hygiene. He only had one tattoo, and it readExpectans Casus, Latin for “adventure awaits.”He and his buddy Rick had almost made a terrible mistake on that spring break. The original phrase they’d wanted wascasus expectat, until they discovered that it literally meant “accident is expected.” They’d been lucky to find a tattoo artist in Panama City who actually knew Latin or that particular accident would’ve been on their skin forever.

As he stared at himself, he was struck by how ordinary he looked, like a million other guys in their region of Kentucky. Just your average guy with light brown hair, a strong, square jaw, and hazel eyes. Nothing unusual, nothing that would make him stand out in a crowd. Then he realized… Cherilyn was the same way. She looked like a million other women in their end of the state.

But there was a defiance in her eyes that pulled him in, and he wanted to know more about it. She wanted more for her kids, something they could be proud of, and he could give them that. Even as an ordinary guy, he could provide an ordinary woman with an extraordinary life, not filled with monetary wealth, but with love and family and needs met and happiness. Shaw squared his shoulders and straightened his spine. He was an ordinary man, but for an hour, he planned to be the most extraordinary lover Cherilyn had ever had.

CHAPTER6

It was terrifying,waiting for him to come out of the bathroom. He’d probably take one look at her naked and run for the hills. Why would he want her? Her hair was like straw, her skin was paper-dry, and her nails were a mess. Dark circles hung from her lower lids, and every bone in her body was visible through her flesh. She was hideous and pitiful, and she decided he must’ve been very, very hard up to want her.

But she wanted him. There was no denying that. Shaw was the kind of man she’d always wished she was with but never found. Frankie had been the best she could do, which didn’t say much for either of them, and after that, she’d just given up. If she couldn’t even manage a relationship with him, why would she think she could do so with anyone else?

Something about Shaw made her want to try. It was his kindness, his goodness, his even temper, and his patience. He hadn’t gotten ruffled no matter how much noise Lara made. He’d been sweet to Maya, giving her first choice of the bedroom the girls would share, and every time he looked her way, the girl beamed. She wanted a man in her life, a father she could depend on, and Shaw seemed like that man.

That made her wonder why he didn’t insist on his daughter being there. Maybe he did, and she just wouldn’t come. It was sad. She had a great dad, and she didn’t even bother with him. He hadn’t said it, but she’d watched him wince as she asked him about the girl’s picture. Candace? Wasn’t that her name? She was a pretty child, but it sounded like her mother had allowed her to become a spoiled brat.

There was a sound from across the room, and the bathroom door opened. Shaw made his way across the bedroom floor, and there was no doubt about what was on his mind. His manhood stood tree-trunk stiff inside his boxer briefs, and she was impressed, really impressed. He lifted the covers and slid under, then turned to her. “Is there anything you need to tell me?”

That question surprised her. “Uh, like what?”

“Like, anything that you really don’t like? Or anything that really turns you on? Anything. Anything at all.”

That question had never been asked before, and she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Uh, nobody’s ever …” The burning sensation on her cheeks told her she was giving away her discomfort in a very visible way. “I mean, like…”

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