“You don’t look too bad yourself. How does the man of the hour feel?”
“I feel like I want to throw up, run away, and jump your bones in the same breath.”
Teetering to where he stood, my palm rested against his cheek. “Your artwork is amazing. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Except for the fact I trashed five of my paintings and went on a creative bender that produced artwork way out of my comfort zone.”
“It will be fine. You will be fine.”
He rested his forehead against mine as his fingers slid up my bare thigh. I shivered in pleasure. “How bout I cancel and we stay in bed all night instead?” Andrew’s gaze darkened when he realized I wasn’t wearing panties. His thumb brushed my throbbing sex. “Yes I definitely vote to stay in.”
I swallowed the gasp that wanted to tear free. “We can’t do that.” Arching into his touch, my body said otherwise.
“You sure?”
He teased the opening of my folds. My hands clutched his shirt to steady my legs and I squeezed my eyes shut. Lust racked through me.
“You’re playing dirty,” I said roughly. “It’s not fair.”
“So wet,” he murmured approvingly.
His finger slid inside me, invoking a moan from my lips. I titled my head backwards, drowning in a sea of sensations. His mouth found the sensitive spot near my collarbone and lightly sucked. Goosebumps erupted on my skin. The distant sound of the door slamming shut entered through my haze.
“Andrew? Are you ready?” Matthew yelled out. “Andrew?”
Andrew cursed underneath his breath as the moment shattered.
We broke apart, unfulfilled and clothes rumpled.
“I should have never given that fucker a key,” he murmured.
I laughed at the dismay on his face. “To be continued?”
“That’s not even a question.”
He gripped my waist and yanked me into a toe-curling kiss. My arms instinctively wound around his neck. I could get lost in his touch for years.
Andrew placed my feet back onto the ground and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “We are awesome at that.”
“I have to agree. That thing you do with your tongue is mind blowing.”
“Mind blowing? Huh?”
Great, I had inflated his already overblown ego. “Never mind. I take it back; it’s awful, you should never do it again.”
Andrew laughed. “Is that so?” He tickled my sides until tears streamed down my face.
Catching my breath, I swatted away his hands and squealed. “Uncle! Uncle!”
His relentless attack ceased. We looked at each other with silly grins painted on our faces. I don’t remember having this much fun in a long time. Andrew kept me young, which seemed like a weird thing to say when you were only twenty-three years old. However by the time I’d turned five, the weight of my survival had hung like a heavy winter coat around my shoulders. My mom’s sugar daddies benefited my mother and while provided a place to live, did little else for me. I don’t remember having the chance to be a kid.
“There you are!” Matthew exclaimed dramatically when he found us. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?” He took stock of our flushed cheeks and disheveled clothes. “Oh.”
Andrew held out his palm face up. “I want my key back.”
“Fine. It’s not like I want to walk in on you two having crazy monkey sex anyways.” He slapped the key into Andrew’s palm. “Happy?”
“Ecstatic.”
Matthew’s eyebrows bunched together. “Who pissed in your tea this morning?”
Shooting him a death glare, Andrew brushed past him into the hallway. Matthew looked over at me in question.
“He’s a little stressed,” I said.
“A little? The guy looks like he is about to bust a vein.”
“I don’t think blue balling him helped.”
Matthew flung his arms in the air, exasperated. “It’s not like I meant to. Besides, I have been blue balled five times this week and I’m not cranky.”
While Matthew wasn’t a bad looking dude, I still didn’t want to imagine him having sex.
“Thanks for that visual,” I replied, my tone steeped in sarcasm. “Is your family going tonight as well?”
As if on cue, the pitter-patter of kids’ footsteps sounded from the entryway along with a woman’s voice. Matthew’s face lit up, which I found incredibly sweet. I appreciated a non-dysfunctional family more than most people and you could tell Mathew’s family was solid as a rock.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” Matthew said.
A gaggle of adorable munchkins surrounded Matthew’s wife. They were dressed in their Sunday best and the little girls had bows in their hair. My heart melted. When they saw their father, controlled chaos erupted.
“DADDY!”
Matthew’s five kids jumped and climbed on him as if he was a jungle gym. He gave them all equally his love and attention. I inched along the wall to avoid a wayward leg.
Matthew’s wife grinned at my tactic. “It can be dangerous to raise kids. I can’t tell you how many times I have been stabbed by a missing Lego.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Kelly.”
Gold bangles jingled on her wrist as we shook. “Haven. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well. I have heard a lot about you from Matthew.”
I spoke the standard response to that statement. “All good things I hope?”
“Yes, all good things. Although, he didn’t tell me how pretty you are.”
Kelly’s almond shaped eyes scrutinized my dress and white strappy high heels. Unsure whether to take that as a compliment, my lips remained sealed. I didn’t want to get in the middle of a weird married spat.
Matthew plucked his kids off his body, panting. “I need to get in better shape.”
“That’s why you are on a diet. Remember?” Kelly looked at him pointedly. Matthew stuck out his tongue and she huffed an exasperated sigh. “I swear I’m raising six kids and not five.”
Andrew’s cologne announced his presence. It wasn’t his usual kind; this one was smoky and sweet, like s’mores roasting over a campfire. He strode into the entry way as if he was on catwalk. Guess he’d gotten his confidence back. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kelly primp her blonde bob when it hit me. I didn’t threaten her; she was jealous of my relationship with Andrew.
Andrew fiddled with his gold embossed cuff links. “I hate these things.”
Kelly stepped forward and helped him before I had a chance to offer. Her smile was coated in honey as her fingers worked the pin through the fabric.
“You look handsome tonight, Andrew,” Kelly praised. “ I love your suit jacket.”
“And you look beautiful as always.” Andrew winked which sent a rosy flush to heat her cheeks.
Matthew wiped his son’s nose, oblivious to his best friend and wife’s flirtation. His other children were amusing themselves. Based on my short experience in babysitting, it was exhausting raising kids. I couldn’t imagine being a full time mom to five of them. That was why I gave Kelly a free pass to flirt with Andrew. If you could see past the exhaustion that lined her face, she had an elegant beauty about her and didn’t need a stitch of makeup to highlight it.
His cuff links secure, Kelly straightened his tie then patted his cheek. “Perfect.”
There is a limit to how much harmless flirtation I can take, though. Sidling up to Andrew, my fingers threaded through his. Kelly’s gaze fell to our interlocked hands. Recognizing her place next to her husband, she turned on her heels. I couldn’t help but feel as if I’d won.
Matthew placed one of their little girls in Kelly’s arms. The little girl thrust her thumb into her mouth and rested her head against her mother’s chest. Her eyelids fluttered closed. An unexpected ache hit me in the stomach. A family of my own wasn’t something I wanted. Being in charge of a human life was terrifying and had a high amount risk attached. Kids learned from their parents, which meant you had to watch your every move. My mother didn’t and I grew up thinking it was normal to bounce from husband to husband. House to house. With that influence, I was afraid to think how my parenting skills, or lack thereof, would affect my children. Looking at Andrew though, it dawned on me what a great father he would be someday.