Page 123 of The Best of Us

“But I do.” I swallowed hard. “We waited seventeen years. You don’t think I can wait for you a little longer?” Without relinquishing her hands, I went to one knee, then to the other. “I’d do anything for you, for our family. We’re in this together.”

I held her gaze, my voice steady despite the storm in my chest.

“For better or worse, if you want me, you have me.” That almost sounded like a proposal, but if it did, so be it.

She locked our fingers even tighter, then knelt before me. “I think . . .” She tipped her head, exhaling a shaky breath. “I may be falling in love with my son’s father.” She searched my face. “Is that crazy?”

The pain in my chest loosened, replaced by the simple, undeniable truth.

She was here and in front of me.

“No crazier than the fact I am, too,” I admitted. “I’ve felt like a piece of me was missing for a long time. Turns out there were two.”

Chapter38

Juliette

We shiftedinto a more comfortable position—well, for me, at least—with my ass on his lap and my legs wrapped around him. Maybe less comfortable for him since his erection hadn’t received the memo that he’d decided to abstain until marriage along with me.

We did agree to that, right?

While I was aware we were at his parents’ penthouse in the sky and we’d left Colin to fend for himself with his potentially overbearing and overprotective new family members, I couldn’t bring myself to get up and leave this room.

Seventeen years of waiting for this man, and now that our secrets were out of the way, my vow was the only thing separating us.

Sure, that was a pretty bigand,but there we were with me on his lap anyway, and his bulge was as prominent as my panties were wet.

“What are we doing?” I’d meant that as a thought, but now it was a question that’d officially passed between us.

“Well,” he said while threading his fingers into my hair, “from where I’m sitting, I believe what we’re doing is torturing ourselves.”

Like an involuntary muscle spasm, I shifted forward to create friction between us. “And testing our patience?”

“Mm-hmm,” he said through barely parted lips, his hands going still in my hair. “You could say you’re a pro at testing mine.”

I lifted my hips and made a circular motion, and he immediately took hold of my arms as if preparing to tame a wild mustang to keep me in place. All those years of celibacy and now sitting on top of the reason for that decision himself could make a girl a little wild. Who’d blame me?

“We just talked about this.” He was trying to remind himself of all the reasons to behave, while I did the opposite—reciting all thewhyswe should say screw it and make love. Not tonight, of course, but preferably a night (or morning) soon.

“I know.” I closed my eyes, unable to stare into his and not crave him all the more. “In my defense, your arousal wasn’t pressed up against me during that conversation the way it is now.”

“And whose fault is that?” The delicious bass of his voice teased my eyes back open and onto him. “Your ass, where is it?” He lifted a brow. “Didn’t we establish on Friday that I’m incapable of not being hard if you’re on my lap, regardless of what we’re talking about?”

I remembered that moment in my bedroom. It felt like last year, not just this past Friday. “Well, are you asking me to get up?”

He brought his hands down to my hips and buried his fingertips into my sides. “No, I enjoy pain. This kind, at least.” He brought his face closer to mine. “But canyouhandle it?”

The ache between my legs was so intense that maybe I couldn’t. The flush of heat spreading through my body, dampening my panties, was as amazing as it was frustrating. I knew there’d be no relief—not tonight, not down the hall from his family, and certainly not after my confession.

“How far do you allow yourself to go without breaking your vow?” That question rekindled the hope of relief to come.

But I also didn’t want to remind him anyone else had ever set a hand on me because I knew what he’d like to do to those hands. All of two men had done some light “petting” before I shut them down, but still, something told me that was two more than acceptable to him.

“No penetration of any kind.” What a clinical answer.Geez.No wonder it was so easy to stay single over the years.

I bucked my hips forward on reflex, and he pinned my ass back down on his hard length.

His nostrils flared. His eyes were intense and sharp on mine. Emotions charged and thrumming between us. “It should have only been my hands on you. Only you touching me.”

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