Fall Into You (Morally Gray, #2)(18)

“Are you hungry?”

“Famished. The girls and I didn’t have supper before we went out tonight.”

His tone turns disapproving. “How old are you?”

“Thirty…ish.”

“Well, Miss Thirtyish, you’re not very good at adulting.”

“Because I didn’t eat supper?”

“Because you went out for a night of drinking without putting food in your body first. You don’t take care of your basic needs.”

I push off his chest and sit up, smiling down at his stern, handsome face. Then I wriggle my hips and lightly scratch my nails over his abs. “On the contrary, cowboy. I’m taking care of my basic needs right this very moment.”

He glowers up at me in that way of his that he thinks is terribly scary. My smile turns into a grin.

Then he’s rolling me over onto my back and tickling me, and I’m screaming with laughter.

The only way this night could get better is if he left me a hundred and fifty million dollars on his way out the door.





Cole





Her laughter is music. Especially this laugh, so different from the one I heard down at the bar with all its sorrow and sharp edges. This laugh is light and bright and peels another hard layer off my heart.

By the time this night is over, she’ll have stripped it bare.

Beaming up at me, she throws her arms around my shoulders. “You give me hope for manity.”

“What the hell is manity?”

“The male part of humanity.”

“So you mean men.”

She furrows her brows. “I have no idea what I’m saying. You just tossed my salad so well, I’m making up words.”

I drop my head, bury my face in her hair, and dissolve into helpless laughter.

“Aha!” she cries. “I knew you were a big softie under all those dark thunderclouds!”

I try to stop laughing so I can scowl at her and prove her wrong, but I can’t. Somehow, she found the bolted door where I keep all my vulnerable things locked behind and kicked it right off its hinges.

Nipping my earlobe, she says warmly, “You have the most beautiful laugh. I’m glad I got to hear it.”

The breath I draw into my lungs burns as if the air itself is on fire. Choked by emotion, I have to keep my face hidden in her hair because I’m afraid of what she might see.

When I’ve gotten myself under control, I say seriously, “Thank you. I’d say something nice about your laugh too except that it sounds like a farm animal getting a tooth pulled.”

She slaps my back. “Hey!”

“Too harsh? I’m sorry. It’s just that I heard this injured donkey braying one time—”

“You did not!”

“—and it was eerily loud and screechy—”

“Cole! You dick!”

“—like it was dying or something, like in serious agony—”

“Okay, that’s it! No more nookie for you!”

She tries to roll out from under me but is unsuccessful. I grab her wrists and pin her to the mattress, grinning down at her as she struggles to get free.

“You’re adorable when you’re angry.”

She stops struggling and glares at me. “Oh yeah? As adorable as a dying donkey?”

I pretend to think. “Well, not that adorable. Maybe more like one of those hairless Chihuahuas? You know, how it’s ugly but also sorta cute in its own scary, repulsive way?”

Fuming, she mutters, “I’ll show you scary and repulsive. Put your dick near my mouth again, cowboy, and watch as I turn it into something that looks like a pit bull’s favorite chew toy.”

I’m setting a personal record for laughs in one month. Hell, one year.

Maybe a whole decade.

To stop her from hurling more threats, I kiss her long and deep. She responds as she always does, melting into me with a little sigh the instant our lips meet, giving herself over to me completely.

I want to fuck her again. But she needs food, so that’s the priority.

Bracing my weight on my hands, I push up and slowly withdraw from her body. She groans a little, her eyelids fluttering. Then she heaves a big sigh and flings her arms out to either side on the mattress as I rise and stand at the side of the bed.

I peel off the condom and throw it in the trash can by the night stand. “I’ll call for room service. What do you want?”

She answers without hesitation. “Steak. Medium-rare. A big one. Baked potato with all the toppings. Something chocolate for dessert.”

“Anything green? Salad, veggies?”

“Blech. Green things are for rabbits. Do I look like a rabbit to you? No, don’t answer that. I already know you think I look like a hairless Chihuahua because you’re gifted with such a poetic way with words.”

We smile at each other.

In another life, I would love this woman. I’d love her so much, I’d burn down the whole world just to spend an afternoon by her side.

I turn away, a band of tightness squeezing my chest.

As I call for room service, I know she’s watching me. Even though my back is turned, I can feel those beautiful eyes. By the time I hang up, she’s sitting upright with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, wriggling her toes impatiently.