“Where’s Way?” he asked, those blue eyes searching for her.
Damn it.
That stupid golden glow was back and threatening to burst out of my chest. The man had spent the day giving homeless men and women haircuts. Then he’d brought me coffee and was now on alert, making sure Waylay was safe. He was as protective of her as he was me.
I was a goner.
“She’s over there with Shirley,” I said, pointing in the direction of the playground where Waylay was pushing a little girl on the swings while Shirley led some kind of game.
Waylay spotted us watching her and waved.
I waved back, that glow in my chest refusing to budge now.
I needed to get out of here. Away from those strong arms so I could remind myself why we wouldn’t work. Why we weren’t really together.
Because Knox didn’t want to be. Because when it came down to it, no one ever really chose me.
That mean little voice did the trick, popping my pretty little balloon of hope like a dart.
Knox tensed against me, his hold tightening.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Got yourself a girl, Knox?” a thin, reedy voice asked.
I turned in his arms to see the man who’d been in Knox’s chair earlier. Now rather than looking like a lost soul, he looked years younger. A silver fox with his hair cut short and swept back from his face. His beard lay neat and gray along his strong jawline.
Knox’s arms tightened around me, holding my back to his front.
“Two actually,” I said with a smile, pointing over to where Waylay was giggling at something a boy her age said.
“Pretty,” the man said. “Just like her mama.”
Technically, I could have corrected him. But since Waylay’s mom was my identical twin, I decided to just pocket it as the compliment it was intended. “Thank you,” I said.
“Aren’t ya gonna introduce us?” the man asked Knox as he scratched at his forearm. There was a subtle unsteadiness to his movements.
There were a few beats of awkward silence, which I was compelled to interrupt.
“I’m Naomi,” I said, holding a hand out to the man.
“Naomi,” he repeated. “I’m—”
“This is Duke,” Knox interrupted.
Duke nodded, looking down at his feet for a second.
“It’s nice to meet you, Duke,” I said, my hand still extended.
“Then the pleasure is mine,” he said finally. He accepted my hand, his palm rough and warm against mine. He had striking eyes the color of sterling silver.
“Take good care of ’em, Knox,” he said finally.
Knox grunted in response and pulled me back a step, my hand sliding out of Duke’s. The man shuffled off in the direction of the big commercial kitchen.
“We’re leavin’，” Knox announced. “Go get Way.”
Something had crawled up Knox’s ass. Good. It would keep me from falling head over heels for the man.
Wordlessly, I picked up the coffee he’d brought me and headed outside to collect Waylay.
I coaxed her off the playground, telling her that it was time to go home. As we were saying our good-byes, I spotted Knox by the truck with Duke.
He was handing over a backpack that looked as though it was stuffed full. They were having some kind of discussion that looked intense. Duke kept nodding while looking at his feet and scratching absently at his arms.
He didn’t look up until Knox held out a white envelope and said something.
“Who’s Knox talking to?” Waylay asked.
“A man named Duke. He cut his hair earlier.”
“Is he okay?”
I didn’t know if she meant Knox or Duke. “I don’t know, honey.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
F.I.N.E
Knox
I’d fucked up in so many ways already, I couldn’t stop myself from making it worse. Even knowing what I had to do next.
“Knox,” Naomi moaned, her voice muffled by a pillow. This time she wasn’t screaming in frustration. She was doing her best to stay quiet while I fucked her in my grandmother’s house. In the bedroom I’d grown up in.
She was on her hands and knees in front of me.
I thought it would be easier if I couldn’t see those eyes. If I didn’t get to watch the way they went glassy under heavy lids when I made her come one last time.
I was fucking wrong.
I tightened my grip on the back of her neck and hit the brakes on my thrusts. It cost me. But holding there, sheathed to the hilt inside her, was worth it.
She shuddered against me, around me, when I pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her shoulder blade. My tongue darted out to taste her skin. I wanted to breathe her in. To commit every second of this feeling to my memory.