Naked (16 page)

“What about Mom?” He shook his head. “This is really bad timing, Paige.” His eyes were focused between Violet’s legs.

He licked his lips and she wondered if he was thinking about eating her while he spoke to his sister.

“Fine,” he spat out the word. “I’ll be there.”

He dropped the phone to the stair. “I’m sorry. I know I promised you a day in bed, but I have to go.”

“Go?” But they’d just begun. She’d bought crotchless panties for the occasion.

“My sister’s stuck and I need to watch my nieces and nephew.”

So he had a big family. She was an only child and would never have nieces and nephews of her own.

He groaned, letting his head fall forward, his cheek resting on her thigh as he just stared between her legs.

She laughed, petting his head.

“I’ll come back tonight.” He looked up without removing his cheek from her skin. “We can pick up where we left off.”

“Well…” She didn’t want the day to end. She liked Noah for more than just his body. She liked spending time with him and the way he made her laugh. Go figure. Him leaving meant another day all by her lonesome. If he left, she’d just go right back to stressing about work and her inevitable dismantling of a multimillion-dollar company. “Maybe I could go with you?”

He lifted his head from her leg and cocked it to the right. “Really?”

Nice way to invite yourself, Violet. Maybe he wanted to spend time with his family alone.

“I know I said no baggage, but…well, I don’t have anything else to do today, so…” She closed her legs, doing her best to minimize her vulnerability. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

“No, no.” He smiled, his shoulders dropping away from his ears, now parallel to the floor. “I’d love for you to spend the day with me. The rug rats are a good time.”

She loved how much he loved his family. If she knew nothing else about him, that would be enough to make her—

She shook off the thought.

He stood, pulling her up. He reached around and placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her closer, letting his chin rest on the top of her head.

“So what should we do with them?” he asked.

That was a good question. She didn’t spend much time around kids. Not only because she was too busy, but because none of her friends had any just yet.

Except for that one girl in university who got pregnant her third year, dropped out, and was never heard from again. The rumor was that her parents shipped her off to live with her grandparents in Europe.

Maybe to entertain children, she needed to indulge her inner child with something she’d always wanted to do.

She craned her neck and he had to move his head so she could look up into his eyes. “I’ve always wanted to go to an aquarium.”

Toronto now had an aquarium. Between its location, the big red letters of its signage, and the pictures she’d seen online, it looked like a good time.

He smiled down at her. “Brilliant idea.”

With an excited flutter, she pulled away from him and turned to go up the stairs, but he caught her hand and pulled her back.

“Where are you going?”

She looked down at her clothes. “To change.”

His hand tightened its grip on hers and he stepped closer, pressing his pelvis against her stomach. He was hard again. She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of the feel of his length against her body. With his other hand, he tipped up her chin. “You’re not changing.”

“Noah, I can’t go to the aquarium in crotchless panties.” It was a family place.

“Oh yes, you can.” He kissed her, a soft graze of his lips, which he’d barely pulled away from when he said, “And you will.” He flashed those dimples. His smoking gun. “I like knowing I can slip inside you at any time.”

Mercy. She’d never get used to the way his words excited her. She didn’t want to. Every look. Every touch. Every syllable had her nerve endings dancing. And if at any point his hand were to slip under her skirt and touch bare skin, she knew she might combust on the spot.

They made their way to the city, choosing to park at the north end of the subway line and travel downtown on public transportation. They stopped off in Rosedale to pick up the kids and Violet met his older sister. She looked just like Charlotte but with brown hair and a more present personality.

The munchkins, as Noah liked to call them, were rambunctious. Sam, Ariel, and Trevor were sweet, considerate, and hyper as hell. It didn’t help that as soon as they left, Noah pumped them full of candy, which he’d stolen from Paige’s kitchen.

The aquarium was packed, and Noah spent most of his time making sure the group didn’t get separated. But when he wasn’t concerned with the kids, his hands were on her waist, her shoulders, and sometimes his fingers were threaded with hers. He gave people no doubt that they were together. And to her surprise, she loved every moment of it.

They visited three different galleries, admiring sharks and other types of fish, but Violet was mesmerized by the fourth.

The lighting was dim and the walls and ceiling were full of different species of jellyfish. The displays were backlit, coloring the jellyfish psychedelic pink and blue.

“This is so awesome!” Trevor yelled as he ran to the closest glass wall.

“There’s fish on the ceiling.” Ariel’s eyes were so wide they looked like they were going to pop out of her head.

“Jellyfish,” Violet corrected.

You should never have children. What kind of mother corrects their kid?

The three kids split up, each of them exploring in their own ways, leaving Violet and Noah alone for the first time since they’d arrived.

“It’s dark in here.” Noah sidled up behind her, his hands sliding against her top until he wrapped them around her pelvis. “Do you know what I like to do in the dark?”

She knew exactly what he could do in the dark. “Sleep?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of fucking.”

“Noah?” She tensed. “There are children all around us.”

“They can’t hear me.” His fingers curled against her stomach inviting the burn between her legs that seemed to always smolder whenever he was around.

He played with the bare skin under her shirt. Like he was playing a symphony with his fingers. He was dangerously close to scar territory, but his touch was so overwhelming that she hadn’t the strength to tell him to stop.

“And if there weren’t any children around…” He nuzzled her neck as best he could. The scarf was in place to prevent him from coming into contact with bare skin, but this time, she didn’t make a point of moving him away. “We’d be in the closest dark corner with my face between your legs.”

She gulped. As he rubbed, excitement shot through her body with the intensity of an orgasm.

“Kids…” The word came out on a groan. She cleared her throat. “Time to go home.”

He snickered behind her.

“Uncle No-No, can we buy something?”

Trevor barreled into Noah, wrapping his tiny arms around the man’s legs. Noah gently brushed his sweaty hair away from his forehead. How the kid was sweaty from walking around an aquarium she had no idea.

“You know I’m not an ATM, right?”

Trevor looked up, his chin resting right on Noah’s junk. “But you always buy us something.”

By this time, Ariel and Sam had made their way over and were now waiting with bated breath for Noah’s answer.

“All right fine. We’ll hit the gift shop on the way out.”

The three kids jumped up and down. Ariel even hugged Violet with excitement. These kids had just met her and they were already hugging her. Holding her hand. Involving her in conversation. She was uncomfortable yet oddly intrigued by this dynamic.

The kids raced out of the dark room and Violet looked over at Noah with a raised eyebrow. “Uncle No-No?”

“I never say no.” He shrugged. “No ‘no’s. It’s sort of an inside joke.”

She laughed. “Makes sense.” He had no idea how warm and fuzzy it made her feel to now be on the inside of a joke. “You’re great with them. I can tell how much your family means to you.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I like that about you.”

“Family is important, and they’re great kids.” He smiled wide, pride rolling off him in waves. “They are so inquisitive. So smart. You should see Trevor. I swear he’s going to be an architect one day. The way he plays with Legos.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they walked out of the gallery to catch up with the kids. “He once built a replica of the Toronto skyline, even used battery-operated twinkle lights for the Rogers Centre.”

The kids waited for them at the gallery entrance, knowing not to get too far ahead.

“I was never that smart,” he continued. “I was just good with my hands.” He turned his head, his eyes now boring down on her profile. “I bet you were valedictorian.”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t, but I
was
smart. Top of my class in business school.”

Not that it mattered. Any smarts she might have had in school didn’t translate to the real world. Education meant nothing when staring down the faces of the board of directors.

When they reached the entrance to the gallery, Sam walked in front of them and Trevor had latched on to Noah’s other side. Ariel grabbed Violet’s hand. She looked up at her and smiled. That sweet, gentle face warmed her insides. She was so innocent. So happy. Everything in the world was about one thing. Having fun. There was something to learn from these kids. Something she’d forgotten once she’d gotten old enough to realize the expectations that came with her last name.

“You just revealed something personal.” Noah’s voice whispered in her ear. When she looked over at him, he said, “Business school?”

She smiled. “It’s the least I could do now that I’ve met your friends and family.”

“So you’re just throwing me a bone?”

She tilted her head to the left, unable to stop the grin from spreading across her face. “Something like that.”

“Violet, can I wear your scarf?” Sam’s voice was like a bucket of ice thrown at her.

“Oh…” She clasped the pink fabric around her neck. “It’s…I’m sorry. It’s attached to this shirt.”

Her severe insecurity about her body was forcing her to lie. To children. And Sam knew it. She frowned and nodded her understanding, but the tiny glimpse of defiance in her eyes told her she was treading on thin ice.

“Are we ready for the gift shop?” Noah said. He was trying to change the subject. And for that she was grateful.

When their little hearts were satisfied, they made their way back to Paige’s house. They still had a few hours before she’d be home so they watched a movie with the kids on the biggest television she’d ever seen outside of a movie theater.

With two kids passed out between them and the oldest quietly watching the television, Noah placed his hand at the back of her head. “This was the perfect day,” he whispered, his thumb rubbing against her jaw. “Thank you.”

It
was
perfect. It had been a long time since she’d felt a connection with a man, and even longer time since she’d felt completely immersed in someone’s life. Maybe this was the first time ever.

She simply smiled at him, enjoying the feel of his hand against her skin. His really large, rough hand that knew exactly how to play her body until she was a sweaty, quivering mess.

And she had every intention of becoming that mess once again.

Chapter 13

The subway train clacked over the tracks, the rumble vibrating though Noah’s body. Or was that his desire?

He’d been strategic in his decision to walk to the far left of the platform and find two seats at the end of the train facing the window into the tunnel.

He let her take the inside seat, closest to the window underneath the personal injury law firm advertisement.

“That was a great day.” Her words came out on a sigh. “Tiring. But good.” She rested her head on the window.

“They’re rowdy. You should see them at Easter and Christmas when they have unlimited access to chocolate and candy. They’re flying monkeys.”

And he wouldn’t change them. He loved those kids. Wanted to have his own someday. Until then, he chose to sufficiently spoil his nieces and nephew. “I usually feed them sugar an hour before Paige and Philip get home. That way when I leave, the kids are up for hours.”

“That’s just evil.”

He laughed. “It’s payback for all the times Paige beat me up when we were kids.” She’d only won in the early years. “Even when I got old enough to knock her on her ass, I couldn’t retaliate.”

“That’s because you’re a good man.”

He tried to be a good man. He always felt like he fell short in that department. But having Violet on his arm today, walking around that damn aquarium like they were some kind of couple, had changed things. She’d opened his eyes to the possibility that his future could include a woman who wanted nothing more from him than unconditional love. But he feared it was only because she didn’t know anything about his past, about what his work-roughened hands truly made him.

“You don’t really know anything about me, Violet.”

“I know enough. I know you love your family and friends and that they are the most important things in your life. I know you’re hardworking, even if I have no idea what you do for a living.”

It meant a lot that she’d acknowledged how much his family meant to him. It meant she understood him. It meant maybe she could—

“Not to mention, you’re really good with your hands.”

Saved by the innuendo. He didn’t want to think about what her words had meant. “You mean carpentry and home renovations–type things, right?”

“If you say so.” With a grin, she turned away and looked out the window at the dark tunnel.

He liked innuendo. Innuendo was an opening. The perfect timing for him to do what he’d planned since they’d first stepped onto the subway platform.

“And how exactly am I good with my hands?”

She was still wearing the skirt and crotchless panties. It was the perfect outfit for easy access. His cock had been one accidental touch away from being steel-rod-straight the entire time they were at the aquarium. It took willpower he didn’t even know he possessed to keep it flaccid.