Page 78 of Single Dad's Christmas Cookie

Nova giggled and reached out to me. I laced our fingers together.

“Well, not just. You made quite an impression when we first met.” Her cheeks flushed.

“Thank you. You made quite an impression yourself,” I admitted. “What’s next for us?”

Nova cast her gaze from side to side and leaned forward, pulling my hand closer to her. I was not expecting it when she wrapped her lips around my finger and sucked it into her mouth. I groaned at the sensation of her lips on my skin.

“That’s not exactly what I was talking about, but I do like the way you think.”

Her lips slid over my finger, and her tongue teased the webbing between my fingers. There was a soft, almost audiblePopas her mouth abandoned me.

“What were you talking about? If that’s not what you meant, what did you mean?

At that point, I had forgotten everything. What had I meant? Whatever future I was concerned with, I no longer cared. I wanted the future where Nova put her mouth on me. I climbed onto the bed and pushed her back against the pillows.

With a low hum, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and I slid my lips against hers. I let my hands roam where they would, touching everything. There was something very sensuous in how the fabric of her pajamas slid over her smooth skin underneath.

“I think your plan is the best idea I’ve heard all day,” I murmured.

“I don’t have any plans,” Nova said with soft, sexy gasps.

“And I thought you were here to seduce me.”

“I thought I was here because you were going to marry me,” Nova teased.

“Why can’t it be both?” I asked with a chuckle.

I skimmed my hand under the hem of her pajama top and touched her skin. I caressed her smooth middle and up her ribs until I could cup her large breast with my hand. My thumbdragged across her nipple. It was just starting to peak with desire. I growled low in my throat.

Nova let out a moan that shot straight to my balls.

“Are you sure we should do this?” She was breathless as she spoke. “Your daughter is across the hallway.”

“Our daughter,” I corrected, “is sound asleep, and there are closed and locked doors between us.”

“If you say so.” Nova let her head fall back as she gave herself over to my touch.

35

NOVA

Bryan’s touch soothed away all of my worries. To be fair, I couldn’t think with his hands on me, and not thinking was exactly what I needed after the day I'd had.

I didn’t want to review everything bad, and that’s exactly what my brain kept doing to me. It would have been one thing if my overthinking kept stirring up the good memories. The way Bryan’s eyes went wide when he bit into a cheesy sausage ball for the first time. Or the way Amelia got sticky cinnamon roll icing all over her fingers.

Instead, as I stared at my ring, it felt like a mental battle to keep thoughts of Veronica at bay. We both got engaged for Christmas, but there would be no wedding planning together, no dress shopping, no complaining about how overbearing our mothers were being or how horrid our future mothers-in-law were acting. It was just as well, I guess. This way, I wouldn’t have to try to reassure Veronica that her engagement ring was pretty when I had a stunning museum-quality piece on my finger.

I had never met David’s mother, so I had no idea what kind of a mother-in-law Veronica was getting. Maybe I should have beena bit more sympathetic. She had been my friend. But Veronica had ripped my heart out. I truly hoped that her future mother-in-law was a bigger witch than Bryan’s mother.

Bryan’s hands ran over my skin and I had to banish the intrusive thoughts that would not leave me alone. He stopped and looked into my face.

“Is this okay? You seem a little… not all here.”

I stretched and tightened my arms around him. “I’m fine,” I lied. “I’m letting myself enjoy.” Damn it, I had wanted to give myself over to his touch, and instead of getting lost in sensation, my brain had started spinning again.

I wiggled and started to pull my pajama top off.

Bryan stilled my hands with his own. “Allow me, please. You are my Christmas present and I want to unwrap you.” His voice was low and gravelly. It sent a shiver through my body.

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