His brain and his heart were both whirling. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this way before—full of so much longing, pleasure, and confusion all at the same time.
All he could latch on to was that tonight, this morning, Paige had fused all the cracks in him, stopped all his leaks. For a few precious hours, she’d made him whole again.
And when she pressed a kiss to his lips, she filled him up completely, in ways he hadn’t known anyone could. In the light, easy parts—but also down in the deepest and darkest.
“What we did was the most beautiful thing in the world.” Her lips curved, a smile of reassurance this time. For both of them. “So let’s just leave it at that for now.”
Her kisses, her body against his, her undemanding words stole all the fight out of him. He couldn’t pull away. Couldn’t block his longing, his desperate need.
“One more time,” he said. Any other words were more than he could manage. He couldn’t commit, but he couldn’t hurt her either. “Make love with me one more time before we go.”
Then he rolled on the bed with her, pinning her beneath him.
And they did the most beautiful thing in the world. Again.
* * *
Susan and Bob’s house was redolent with the scent of bacon and eggs and Susan’s special sweet milk pancakes. Tony and Kelsey were chattering away in the dining room as they set the table. Paige left Evan’s side immediately to talk to them, giving them both hugs.
He’d made love to Paige again in the shower. He couldn’t keep his hands off her. And he didn’t have a clue how the scene would play out this morning when all he wanted to do was drag her back to the hotel and taste every delicious inch of her again. But somehow, just the act of getting in the car and driving over here had shoved a wedge between them that he couldn’t pry out. And now they were walking around each other like the floor beneath their feet was made of glass.
She’d said she loved him.
But he hadn’t said it back.
She’d said she didn’t want to pressure him. And she was certainly following through with that by keeping her distance this morning.
Even as he desperately wanted the closeness they’d shared in the hotel room.
“Hey, big brother.” Kelsey hugged him. Tony clapped him on the back.
It felt good. Real. He liked them. And his gut said they liked him too. How had it happened? That he could suddenly feel like these two were family?
Yet at the same he was still so conflicted about the woman who had given birth to him. He couldn’t reconcile the two feelings.
Just like he couldn’t reconcile his need for Paige, his complete and utter desire for her, with the certainty that he should stay away for her own good.
God, how he wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her. Right there in front of his brother and sister. In front of all his family. No matter how wrong it was. No matter how badly he could hurt her in the end. She deserved a guy who hadn’t left her hanging for nine years. A man who hadn’t picked the wrong sister. Someone whose life wasn’t a minefield littered with an almost-ex-wife—her sister, no less—and a long-lost family popping up out of the past.
“Where’s your mom?” Paige asked.
Tony hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Just packing up. She’ll be out in a minute. Susan and Bob are cooking.”
“They wouldn’t let us help,” Kelsey said, “but we can at least set the table.”
“I better say hello.” Evan skirted around Paige to get to the kitchen door.
She didn’t look at him, but he caught her scent, the shampoo he’d washed into her hair this morning. He’d touched all those curves, tasted all that delicious skin, reveled in the feel of her. And he wanted more. Wanted to wrap his hand around the nape of her neck and drag her in for a long, drugging kiss of need and ownership.
Heading into the kitchen felt almost like running away.
“I thought you were going to make eggs Benedict,” he said, swaying with Susan in a big hug, the spatula in her hand dripping with batter.
Bob swiped the spatula out of her grip before the batter could hit the floor. “The kids wanted her special pancakes after I raved about them.”
The kids. Like they were part of the family now. He didn’t feel an ounce of resentment, only a strange mixture of amazement and pleasure.
“Let me help with that, Bob.” Paige suddenly materialized beside them and grabbed a potholder for the hot plate Bob was flipping the pancakes onto.
Evan looked at Paige, couldn’t help himself. Couldn’t help loving the smile on her face as she bantered with Bob. Or remembering the feel of her in his arms, the taste of her in his mouth. Her gaze flitted to him, held like the brief flutter of a butterfly, then flicked away again. Yet in that quick glance, he read her need, her love. And her desire to give him the space she’d promised. She was so damned loving. So beautiful, sexy. So…
He snapped back to Susan, knowing she would see the look in his eye, the way his gaze followed Paige like she was the magnet to his compass. Bracing for her censure, his gut churning—Jesus, he was lusting after his sister-in-law—all he saw were Susan’s kind, understanding eyes.
And she smiled. A smile that said she knew what he’d done with Paige last night. That she approved. Maybe even that she’d sent Paige with him last night hoping it would happen.
Where his family was concerned, it seemed he had worried for nothing. Like when he was a little boy hiding under his bed, curled in a tense, tight ball, his muscles aching, terrified of the monster who might find him that night. The fear of the beating had sometimes been worse than the beating itself.