Page 39 of The Sweetest Mistake

“Hurry up,” she said.

That was all the invitation he needed, and he made quick work of shedding his clothes. They hadn’t had sex in several days other than when she’d climaxed with her clothes on the other day, and he was rock hard from wanting her.

He’d meant to treat her to a slow and steady buildup, but at this rate, he wasn’t going to last long. And then he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and realized that she’d already gotten started without him.

It was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen, and his desire skyrocketed.

He stood there, frozen to the spot, and watched her pleasure herself, the blood pounding in his head. Hell, he probably could have stood there all night if it weren’t for his throbbing erection.

Damn this woman! She constantly surprised him.

“Connor…” she panted, pleading with her eyes.

“Sorry.” At her urging, he quickly retrieved a condom from his dresser drawer and rolled it on while she continued to play.

As he crawled over her, he almost hated to interrupt. But when she removed her hand and gripped his hips instead, he was instantly glad he did.

Guiding himself inside her slippery entrance, he groaned with pleasure. Then, lowering his mouth to hers, he tangled with her tongue, and the combination was too much. The sexy little peep show she’d given him had him plummeting over the edge after a few hearty thrusts.

He might have felt bad about it if she hadn’t followed him over just as enthusiastically, clinging to his back and strangling his waist with her legs.

Sweaty and sated, he rolled off her and flopped onto his back, his chest heaving.

Leaning her head on his shoulder, Julia said, “You okay?”

“Just a little lightheaded,” he teased, although it wasn’t far from the truth. The visual of her hand between her legs was still stuck in his head, and it wasn’t something he’d soon forget. When he glanced down to see her self-satisfied smile, he suspected she knew as much—the little vixen!

Grazing her hand over his chest, she said, “I’ve never done that before.”

Eyes popping, he said, “You could have fooled me.”

“I meant with someone watching.”

“Oh.” The thought of him being the only one to witness such a sight made his chest puff up, and slinging an arm around her, he pulled her closer. “Well, in case you didn’t notice, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.”

Giggling, she said, “I noticed.”

“In fact, I’d be glad to attend a repeat performance sometime,” he teased.

Instead of responding, she flung a leg over him and snuggled closer. He needed to clean up, but he hated the thought of leaving her for even two seconds.

What’s wrong with me? Since when do I go this ga-ga over a woman? But he’d never known a woman like Julia before—someone so sweet and sexy at the same time. Someone who called him out on his shit and forced him to own up to his mistakes. Someone who lit up the room whenever she walked in, along with the dark corners of his heart. He hadn’t been this serious about a woman—well, since Cam. But that was nothing compared to this.

His breathing had evened out, and Julia’s had too. Glancing down, he saw her eyes were closed, and she appeared to be sleeping. It tugged on his heartstrings to see her looking so peaceful and content in his arms. He shook his head, thinking again that he didn’t deserve her and wondering why she put up with a guy like him. Especially now, with everything that had happened.

Slowly withdrawing from the bed, he left to clean up, but first, he covered her with the sheet. As much as he loved to look at her naked body, he didn’t want her to get cold. Go figure. Finding out that he was a father was turning him into a sensitive guy. He’d gone from only worrying about himself to caring for not one but two girls—Julia and Ava.

After he’d cleaned himself off, he leaned over the bathroom sink and examined himself in the mirror. His hair was tousled from where Julia had scraped her hands through it. His stubble had popped out, and he wondered if he’d left marks on her skin. And then he twisted his body around and looked over his shoulder at his back, where he saw indentions from her fingernails. The thought of it made him smile, but then he quickly sobered.

This woman had freely given him her body, but each time they were together, she was giving him her heart too. He saw it in her eyes, in the way she said his name, in the way she touched him. And while he was starting to feel the same way, it scared him because he knew the risks involved.

He’d opened his heart before, and look what had happened. The one woman he thought he’d loved had cheated on him. After that, he’d guarded his heart carefully, unwilling to let someone else in. It had been easier that way. Better to have a short-term fling and be the one to walk away rather than let someone else stomp all over him. He was fine as long as he was in control. Or so he’d thought before Julia.

When they’d first met, he’d wanted to put her in the same category as the other women he’d been with since Cam. And even though he suspected she wasn’t that type of woman, she’d agreed. But it hadn’t taken long before he’d found himself wanting to spend more time with her, wanting to get to know her better. With each passing day, he found himself caring more about her, and that included wanting to protect her. But protect her from what—him?

It brought a smile to his face thinking how she didn’t want to be protected. She was braver and stronger than him when it came to matters of the heart. Hadn’t she proven that by the way she’d stood by him through this mess with Cam?

He knew it couldn’t be easy, Julia seeing his ex-girlfriend waltz back into his life with his baby. He’d seen the flickers of jealousy on her face, and she’d all but admitted it a few times. It pained him that she felt threatened by Cam even after he’d told her she had nothing to worry about. But how could he convince her of that? His word alone didn’t seem to be doing the trick, and who could blame her? They hadn’t even been together that long, and he didn’t exactly have a stellar reputation when it came to relationships. She was smart to be wary.