Page 39 of Entrapped
I couldn’t help but smirk, the tension in my chest easing a bit. “You mean you want to get your ass kicked again?”
He laughed, a rich, genuine sound that echoed in the quiet kitchen. “Oh, my ego,” he said, clasping his chest dramatically.
Easton was the least egotistical of the siblings. He took after his mother, all warmth and light, while Simone and Vaughn were more like Colson—calculated, driven, and often distant. I glanced out the window, noticing a shadow moving along the path. My heart skipped a beat when I realized it was Logan, hurrying toward the driveway with a sense of urgency. What was he doing out there?
Before I could dwell on it, Easton’s voice pulled me back to the moment. “So, a game?” he asked, a playful challenge in his tone.
I tore my gaze away from the window and smiled at him. “Sure. Let’s see if you can redeem yourself.”
“I’ll get the case,” he said, jumping up from the table with a grin. He shoveled the last forkful of pie into his mouth and bolted up the stairs two at a time, his energy infectious.
While he was gone, I stood up and rinsed his plate, my mind wandering back to Logan’s hurried steps. By the time Easton returned, holding the worn leather backgammon case like a prized possession, I had already placed the plate back in the cabinet, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that something was amiss.
But for now, I pushed it aside, focusing on the game and the easy company of Easton, grateful for the distraction.
After five rousing games of which I won three, I slipped into bed at 2 a.m., exhausted from the day. Colson had closed the office for black Friday, and we had a four-day weekend. I stayed to my side of the bed, putting a large chasm between us until Colson reached for me.
“Meet me halfway,” he said.
I sighed but moved to the middle of the massive bed. He cuddled me, wrapping his arm around my waist.
“Are you ready to tell me what’s wrong?” I whispered.
“Nothing. I have a bunch of situations I’m dealing with. It has nothing to do with you.”
I turned in his arms, facing him. “Colson, when you treat me like a whore, it has to do with me. I thought we were past this.”
“What’s going on with you and my son?”
I frowned. “We were playing backgammon downstairs. There’s nothing further going on. Easton is my…”
He cut me off. “Not Easton – Vaughn.”
Had he seen Vaughn following me to the kitchen and assumed something happened between us?
“Nothing,” I said softly.
“My son has too much of an interest in you. Do you realize?”
I was more than aware. If Colson only knew how aware I was of his son’s obsession with me.
“I am but he won’t act on it. He has Serena.”
He laughed sarcastically. “Sometimes men can’t control their obsessions. They let them get the better of them.”
“He might be obsessed with me but he also respects you. He wouldn’t cross that line.”
Colson ran his knuckles across my cheek. “And suppose I wasn’t here? Could you protect yourself?”
I gasped. “Don’t say that. You’re not going anywhere. You’ll probably live until you’re a hundred.”
He was silent until he pressed a kiss to my lips. It was passionate and insistent. His tongue glazed over mine and I dug my fingers in his hair. He was jealous of his son which would account for hispossessive behavior. Colson pulled away and, in the moonlight, I caught his gaze.
“I want to give you a baby.”
I sucked in a breath. “We agreed no children.”
“I’m allowed to change my mind, and I have. I’ve taken your feelings into account. You deserve to be a mother.”
