Page 13 of No Regrets

“Oh, okay.” She sat next to them on the bed, watching as the child lay against him, sucking her thumb. “She never acts this way with strangers. I told you she’d be easy to get along with.”

He rubbed Shiloh’s back as if it were the most natural thing to do,and her big emerald green eyes stared up at him. “If only everyone treated me this way.”

* * * *

A week went by, and Brianna hadn’t heard much from Kaden. With him working, and her working, it left little time for idle chitchat. He was gone before she got up and asleep before she went to bed. Crazy as it may seem, she thought their arrangement would be different.

Christmas would be here before she knew it, and she still had shopping to do. Luckily with all the overtime she’d been working, she saved enough money to actually buy presents. Granted, it wouldn’t be much, but at least her child would have stuff under the tree.

She came in early one night, to a quiet house. Her mother evidently had already gone to bed, and she didn’t know if Kaden was here or not. She threw her stuff down on the dining room table only to see Kaden sitting on the couch watching television.

“Hey,” he said, flipping through the channels.

“Hey. What are you doing up?”

“Waiting for you.” He clicked the TV off and rubbed his eyes. The poor boy looked beat, even as he sat in his dress pants and nice blue button-down shirt. Normally he changed when he first got home. “I found a house. Well, actually Dad found the house since I’ve been in court all week. I was going to look at it tomorrow and wondered if you could come with me.”

She was taken aback with the kindness in his expression. “Uh, maybe. I’m off during the middle of the day for about two hours. Can you schedule an appointment then?”

She came over to him, plopping down on the couch. Sitting never felt so good. She kicked off her shoes and yawned a really big yawn. She knew he didn’t like living at the townhouse, and her mother agreed that she’d stay here while they moved into a new house. She wouldn’t have to deal with babysitter issues since Kaden agreed to put Shiloh in preschool, but she didn’t think all this would be happening so fast.

“Yeah, I can make it then.”

He pulled her foot onto his lap and started rubbing her aching insoles. “Do you have a specific time?”

Like she could think with him being this close? “One. I come home around eleven to be with Shiloh, give mom a break, and then go back to work around three. Two hours should be enough time right?”

He nodded, concentrating on her feet. “I also wanted to ask you to go shopping with me. I need to get Shiloh and you some presents.”

He pressed his thumbs into her arches, and she wanted to moan at how good it felt but bit her lip instead. The man was good at what he was doing, that was certain.

“Uh, sure.” Her head fell back to the arm of the couch, her body turning to complete mush. “But you don’t have to, you know.”

“I know.” When he finally looked up, she saw the deep emerald eyes turn almost black. Stubble covered his chin, giving him the sexy, edgy look all women loved. Once upon a time, she loved it too.

“Um, I should get in bed.” She was a chicken. If he made any advances, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to say no.

“Okay.” He slid her foot off his leg, keeping his eyes on hers. The man had been one week celibate and as far as she knew that was a record. For a long as she could remember, he had a woman on his arm, as well as in his bed. Now he was married to her, but didn’t have her in his bed.

“Kaden.” It was as far as she got before he pulled her legs down and covered her body with his. She opened her mouth to protest, but he misread her and took it for encouragement.

With one sweep of his tongue, what little sense she had left went out the door. His body felt hot against hers, his mouth so gentle yet erotic. He had a fabulous mouth that definitely made women scream. Yeah, she knew this firsthand because he had made her scream over and over.

With slick thrusts, his tongue glided against hers, and she couldn’t hold back any longer. She pulled him hard against her mouth and kissed him back. She’d probably live to regret it, but it had been one hell of a long day. She needed a goodnight kiss. Or so she told herself.

“Wait, Kaden. Stop.” He did, though he only stared at her, his body wedged between her legs. “We can’t do this.”

“Why not?”

“Kaden, come on.” She pulled away from him, forcing herself to sit up. “You don’t like me. Not in that way, and having sex would only make our relationship more complicated.”

“Having sex would make our relationship a lot easier.” He sat back, watching her she knew, but didn’t dare to turn around to find out.

“Yeah. Um, I don’t think so.” She stood abruptly and headed for the stairs before she gave in and jumped his bones. “I’m going to bed.”

She all but ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. She inhaled deeply and smelled his cologne. She smelled like him. God, that alone was enough to make a woman’s knees weak. She leaned against the door, realizing her body responded all too well to his mouth. Her nipples beaded underneath the white shirt she wore, and her breasts ached for his touch. Her womb clenched almost unbearably, while her panties were wet with wanting. What the hell had she been thinking, kissing him back? Leading him on and then cutting him off. That was just cruel.

She changed into a tank and boxers—her normal attire for bedtime—and made her way to the bedroom. Kaden had been sleeping on the pullout bed built into her couch, but she wanted him in her bed tonight. Maybe her mother was right. This marriage was bologna because there was no way she’d walk away without a broken heart. It was impossible, because the last time he left her heart shattered, and this time, she wasn’t sure if she could mend it back together again.

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