The Harder He Falls: 2 (So Inked) (37 page)

“That stinks. Please tell me you’re putting that in the garage.” She sat down at the bar and began rummaging in the paper sack. “You didn’t answer your phone so I got you food too. Hope you’re hungry.”

“Now that you mention it, yeah. I’ll be right back.” He hauled the garbage outside, stuck it in the bins for pickup and returned to the house.

Kellie was already demolishing a chicken finger basket. When was the last time he’d eaten? Had it been at Penny’s? He slid into the empty stool and perched his foot on the lowest rung on hers. He didn’t know if he could eat, his gut was tied in knots.

She’d said it hadn’t been his fault. He wanted details but she needed peace.

“I got you a half-pounder.”

The burger was meat and cheese stacked on top of itself with other fixings topping it off and it smelled delicious. The first bite was heavenly—succulent beef and gooey cheese.

“Damn, you inhaled that,” Kellie said as he licked the grease off his fingers. “When was the last time you ate?”

“No idea.”

She looked at him with an odd expression he couldn’t read.

“So, uh, what do you want to do with your stuff?”

He regretted the words as soon as he’d said them. Kellie cradled her face in her hands and shook her head.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Did you get a hold of Mary? Did you want to stay there? Or maybe the other girls.”

“Can’t wait to get rid of me again?”

“What? No. I want you to stay here. I just don’t know if that’s what you want.”

Kellie groaned and massaged her temples. “I don’t know what I want.”

“How about this, I’m going to go unload the boxes in my truck and put them in this front room here. When you decide what you want, I’ll help you move them where you’re going or staying.”

“I’ll help you.”

“No.” He crowded her back into the chair, blocking her with a hand on the bar and the back of the chair. “Just rest. Go take a nap or something.”

She glared at him and stayed put. He wanted to kiss her, taste her mouth and run his fingers through her hair, but he wasn’t sure she would allow him that privilege despite what she’d said. He left her there and headed to the garage for the dolly. Not having to carry the twenty-plus boxes by hand went faster, and in fifteen minutes he’d stacked everything neatly and Kellie was nowhere to be seen.

He dragged his feet, washing up in the downstairs bathroom and taking out more trash he’d let accumulate in the living room while he laid flooring. It felt as if lead weights were attached to his feet as he climbed the stairs and plodded toward the bedroom. He wanted her to stay but he didn’t know how to convince her to give him a second chance.

Kellie sat propped up at the head of the bed, remote in hand. “There you are. You should really think about getting a couch or something.”

He leaned against the doorframe. “I never brought anyone home to hang out before you.”

She clicked the TV off and put the remote on the nightstand. “One mustn’t lurk in doorways, you know. It’s rude.”

He snorted and slowly approached the bed. “
Little Mermaid
?”

“How’d you guess?”

“I watched some of it with Josie yesterday.” He stretched out on what had become his side of the bed and mirrored her pose.

“How are things with her?”

“Good. I went off the deep end the other day and spent like five hundred dollars on toys because I realized I’ve never bought her a present. Can you believe that? I’m a really shitty dad.”

“You didn’t give her anything?”

“I gave her mom cash to buy her stuff, but I never picked something out.”

“So what did you give her?”

“Some dolls and games and stuff. Her favorite was a stuffed panda I probably paid two bucks for.”

Kellie chuckled and squeezed his hand. When had they done that? Had he reached for her? Or had she?

“Hey, at least she didn’t prefer the box over the stuff you got her.”

“That’s true.”

For a few moments they sat there in silence, simply being together. Part of him wanted to stay like they were and savor the precious moments he had left, but that wasn’t fighting for what he wanted.

Kellie turned and sat on her hip facing him. “What did you say to the doctor? Do you remember?”

“Just that Grandma was a lot for one person to handle and it was rough on you. That I wondered if it was too much for you on your own.”

She frowned. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s not very incriminating. And it’s not okay that you wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

“I know. If I ruined my shot of being with you, I get it. I want another chance, even if I don’t deserve it. I…like…you. I don’t want to be without you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before what happened? Why did you let me find out on my own and then act like you did it intentionally? This whole mess wasn’t even your fault and you’ve been acting like it was.”

“Because I’d told myself that you were going to hate me when you found out and I deserved it, but I’m a selfish bastard and didn’t want you to leave me.”

She stared at him, her brows slowly drawing down and her mouth scrunching into a little bow. She drew her arm back and slapped him across the stomach and chest. “What were you thinking? That’s terrible logic!”

He held his arm up to fend off some of the blows, but he didn’t try very hard. He laughed for the sheer joy of fighting with her. She might be pissed at him, but she wasn’t walking out the door.

Kellie straddled his waist and delivered a teeth-jarring punch to his chest.

“Ow, hey. Stop that.”

He caught a left punch to his stomach and wrenched her arm up, but was vulnerable to a right blow to his clavicle. He’d felt the strength with which Kellie could throw her fists and this wasn’t it. He still wasn’t a human punching bag.

“That’s it.” He flipped her onto her back and pinned her.

Kellie yelped and sputtered, but he could hear a strain of laughter in her voice as she beat at his shoulder with her free arm. He lowered his face to hers and nuzzled her cheek. Instead of punching him, she gripped his arm.

“Doll, I screwed up.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. This cat had claws he would respect.

“I’m not arguing with that.”

“Can I fix things?”

She slid her hand up into his hair, fisting the too long length. “I need to trust you. I want to. I can’t be in a relationship with you if there’s no trust. You have to talk to me.” She squeezed her thighs around him and stroked the back of his claves with her feet. They were wrapped up in each other so tight he didn’t want to come undone. “I like you.”

“I like you too.”

“We sound like fifth-graders.”

He planted a chaste kiss on her mouth. “I think fifth-graders are more mature than we are. Hell, Josie might be better adjusted than we are, and she’s three.”

“I really don’t want to think about your daughter right now.” As she spoke, her lips skated over his skin, tantalizing touches of flesh to flesh as she blazed a path across his cheek and jaw.

He struggled to get words out and think past his throbbing cock. “Oh yeah? You used the R-word.”

“I did, but let’s talk about that later?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I haven’t had sex with you in four whole days.” Her lips closed around the tender morsel of skin at the bottom of his ear. She sucked and flicked it with her tongue.

“I can do sex.”

Kellie watched Quin as he stripped off his shirt and shorts. He was more than a hot body and great ink. She loved him. She couldn’t decide if that was crazy or the product of too much sex and stress.

He put a knee on the bed and reached for her.

Every other time they’d had sex they’d wrestled for the dominant position, and more than once she’d let him win. She didn’t even want to pretend that way now. She sat up and met him, stroking her hands down over his chest.

She’d almost lost him.

“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured, cupping her cheek.

It would be. She had him now. She’d have to figure out how to keep him later.

He carried her back down to the mattress and covered her with his body. Warmth wrapped around her chest so tight her breathing hitched.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” He stared into her eyes, so close their noses bumped.

“I want to.”

He seemed to grasp that something else was going on, and maybe it was different for him too. The Quin tugging off her shirt was not the same one who’d put her through a cheap painting. He dropped kisses along her collarbone. He didn’t stare at her breasts but kept glancing up at her. Was she imagining the soulful look in his eye? That maybe below the surface there was much more going on for him as well?

Quin fumbled with the catch on her bra, but what else was new? She chuckled and flicked it open for him.

“Practice makes perfect.”

He kissed the valley between her breasts. “I’ll work on that. I’m sure you can teach me.”

“I’ve done it a few times.” She tossed the bra on the floor and settled back against the pillows.

He followed her down, stroking her sides and staring into her eyes. Her nipples tightened as if by command. She wanted him in her already, wanted that deep, soul-searing connection that came only from being in love. The silence drew taut between them until he ever so slowly lowered his mouth to hers and gently drew her lower lip between his.

It wasn’t nearly enough. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and opened for him. He answered with a deep kiss that stole her breath. Her breasts chafed against his chest and she curled her leg over his thigh. His fingers began drawing patterns on her skin, sensitizing her with barely there touches. She arched her back, needing to be closer, but his weight kept her firmly in place.

“Quin, please,” she managed to say between kisses. Had she ever begged a lover for anything? She couldn’t remember if she had, but she needed him now.

“Shh, I’ve got you, doll.”

He levered up and tabbed her jeans open, pressing a kiss to the skin above her panties before peeling the last of her clothing off and dropping it over the edge of the bed.

Quin knelt between her legs and she watched his gaze rove over her body. He’d seen her nude plenty of times, but he’d never seen her bare. She’d never felt more exposed to him. Kellie might not have told him how she felt, hell, she could barely admit it to herself, but it changed everything.

She loved him.

He rubbed a hand over her ankles and up her calves. Goose bumps crawled up her legs despite the warmth baking her from the inside out.

She couldn’t take these long, intense looks anymore. If he kept staring at her she was going to tell him exactly what was on her mind. Instead, she turned to the side table and grabbed a condom from the almost empty box. That was a problem for later. Tomorrow if at all possible.

The mattress dipped as Quin crawled up her body to straddle her hips. She ripped the packet open and drew out the prize. He reached for the condom but she pushed his hands away.

“Let me.”

He didn’t say anything as she reached for his cock and rolled the condom down his length. She leaned forward and kissed his chest.

How the hell had he wormed his way into her heart already?

“Come here,” he mumbled and gathered her in his arms.

Quin carried them down to the mattress, settling back over her, fitting so perfectly she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen this the first time. They were a couple of hard-asses, hell-bent on making their own bit of the American dream a reality. Was it written in the stars they would fall in love too?

He began kissing his way down her body but she dug her hand into his hair and hauled him back up.

“No. I just want you. Now.”

He frowned. “You sure?”

“If you don’t fuck me now, I’m kicking you out of here and finding a vibrator.”

One side of his mouth kicked up. “Better yet, could I watch that?”

Despite her attempt to glare at him, she giggled. Damn him. She pushed at his shoulders in a halfhearted attempt. “Jerk. Get out.”

He tightened his hold on her, settling into the cradle of her thighs and rubbing her mound against him. “You’ll have to make me.”

“I will.” Lie. She loved him. She wanted him. And right now she needed him.

He grinned and cupped her ass, tilting her hips so his length slid through her folds. “I’d like to see you try.”

She fisted the sheets and rolled her hips in tandem with his. “Later. Sex first.”

Quin chuckled, his breath hot against her throat where his lips skated over her skin. His tongue drew a trail over the most sensitive spot and she shuddered.

“Quin.”

He just laughed again, but his hands—oh his hands—slipped between their bodies and dipped into her channel. Her muscles constricted around his fingers. He hummed as he stroked her inner walls, coaxing her arousal higher until she was moving her hips, rubbing against him.