“Yes,” she snaps then her eyes come to me. “You want me here, right?”

Fuck me.

“Mom, you know you’re always welcome.”

“See? I’m always welcome,” she says, turning her head to glare up at my dad.

“Our boy isn’t going to tell you that you ain’t allowed at his house, Sophie.”

“Kim’s family’s not here, and I want her to know she has people close that are proud and excited for her. Can’t you just entertain me for a few minutes?” Mom snaps as she moves past me into the house. Looking at my dad for help, he shakes his head.

“I’ll try to get her out of here as soon as I can,” he says, patting my shoulder as he follows my mom down the hall toward the kitchen.

Sighing, I close the door and follow behind them.

“Sage didn’t tell me you guys were coming. I would have made more food if I had known.” I hear Kim say as I walk into the kitchen to find her and my mom hugging.

“We didn’t tell him. We just wanted to come by to say congrats. Lilly called to tell me this afternoon that you and Ellie got the loan,” Mom chirps, giving Kim the flowers she brought in. “I also brought cake. Nothing says celebrating like chocolate cake.”

“This is so nice. Thank you,” Kim whispers, giving my mom another hug before giving my dad one. “Maybe I can just add a little more pasta to the water,” she suggests as she starts to move toward the stove with the flowers.

“Not necessary, honey. We’re not staying long,” Dad inserts, and Kim looks up at him as my mom narrows her eyes.

“Are you sure?” Kim asks, setting the flowers on the counter, and I move to her side and wrap my hand around her hip.

“They have plans, babe,” I say quietly, and Kim nods while I feel my mom’s eyes burning into me.

“I’m taking Sophie out to dinner,” Dad states, backing me up.

Mom places the cake on the island next to the flowers before she looks at him and asks, “Really, where are we going?”

“We’ll figure it out on the road,” he tells her, and her eyes squint a little.

“At least stay for the cake,” Kim cuts in, and I fight back a groan.

“You don’t mind?” Mom asks, looking at her, and Kim shakes her head.

“Of course not.”

“Of course not.” She smiles at my girl before looking at my dad and me triumphantly. “Did you hear that?”

Knowing it’s useless to put up a fight, I press a kiss to the side of Kim’s head and move to the cabinet, where I grab plates and forks while my mom opens the box the cake came in. After that, I spend the next hour and a half with Kim and my parents eating cake and drinking champagne. Really, my mom drinks the champagne by herself, so by the time she and my dad leave, she’s half wasted and my dad has to carry her giggling out of the house.

Chapter 12

Kim

AFTER WASHING MY face, I grab the towel off the holder next to the sink and put it to my mouth. I’m nervous, so flipping nervous I can actually see the pulse in my neck thumping away. I know it’s ridiculous to be nervous, seeing how I have been with Sage before and have fooled around a lot since then, but I’m still very, very anxious about the idea of being with him again.

Pulling in a breath through my nose, I drop the towel from my hands onto the counter and take a step back from the mirror to check myself out. I knew when Sage asked me to be here when he got home from work that I would be staying the night, so I made a quick run to Victoria’s Secret when I left the salon. I told myself on the way to the store that I was just going to pick up a few things that needed to be replaced, but really, I wanted something sexy to wear to bed, something that would stop Sage from trying to slow things down when they started heating up. Looking at myself now, I’m pretty sure I succeeded in that endeavor.

The sheer black lace body suit looks good—no, amazing—against my golden skin. The front has a deep V that hits just above my belly button and the back high-cut legs shows off my ass. It has two slim straps that crisscross across my back, holding the straps in place. It’s hot, super-hot. I just don’t know if it’s too much or if it screams desperate.

“Maybe I should just wear my shirt,” I sigh, turning to look at myself over my shoulder and lifting up on my tiptoes to see my bottom.

“Kim,” Sage calls, and I panic, falling forward into the door to make sure he doesn’t come in, causing it to rattle loudly. “You okay?”

“Fine, fine,” I cry out as I stand and attempt to spin around to grab the towel off the counter, but I’m too late. The door opens, and I barely have a chance to hold the face towel sideways in front of my chest.

“You… Jesus.” He steps toward me, and I step back instinctively from the heated look in his eyes, noticing absently that all he’s wearing is a pair of black boxers that are molded to his muscular thighs and his very large erection. “Drop the towel.”

“I—”

“Drop it,” he demands, cutting me off, and a shiver slides over me from the roots of my hair down to the tips of my toes.

Dropping the towel to the floor in front of me, his gaze licks over me and his eyes that were already dark heat up further.

“Christ.” His bottom lip goes between his teeth as he reaches out to run one callused finger from my collarbone down the valley between my breasts to my belly button.

“I….” I don’t even know what I was going to say, but anything that was going to come out of my mouth dies on my lips when his mouth captures mine.

Wrapping one hand around my waist, he pulls me flush against him while his other hand tangles in the hair at the back of my head. Gasping as his tongue sweeps into my mouth, his taste explodes on my tongue, causing a moan to climb up the back of my throat. I grab onto his shoulders as both his hands go to my ass and he lifts me up in one fell swoop. Wrapping my legs around his hips, I tip my head to the side to deepen the kiss as he walks us out of the bathroom toward the bed, where he drops down on top of me.

God, I will never tire of this. I will never get tired of his weight on top of me and his strength surrounding me. Really, I know I will never get tired of him.

“Sage,” I breathe out as his mouth leaves mine to travel down over my jaw, my throat, and then my chest, where he drags the lacy material aside so he can pull one taut nipple between his lips. Feeling his teeth scrape over the hard tip, “Yes” leaves my lips, and my legs wrap tighter around his hips.

“Wet.” His breath blows across my nipple as his fingers slide between my legs over the lace there, causing my hips to jerk.

“Yes,” I agree. But I’m not just wet. I’m drenched, and he hasn’t even really touched me yet. Kissing across my chest, he sucks my neglected nipple through the lace, sending a whole new sensation through my body, which causes my neck to arch and my nails to scrape across the smooth skin of his back. “Holy cow,” I pant as his fingers run between my legs again and his teeth pull my nipple, causing a sharp burst of pleasure to shoot straight to my clit. “I need you,” I say, and his mouth leaves my breast and his eyes meet mine. “Please.”

At my plea, he leans back out of my grasp and flips me to my belly. “Up on your knees.”

“Wh—” My words are cut off as he suddenly pulls me up to my knees, and then he’s behind me and his mouth is on me. “Oh.” My head drops to the bed, and my arms slide out in front of me as he feasts. There is no other way to describe what he’s doing to me. His mouth is everywhere while his hands hold me open to the most exquisite torture of my life. Feeling a knot begin to form in the pit of my stomach, I moan and twist my head side-to-side, trying to fight it back. I want to come, but I know when I do it’s going to wreck me.

“Let go,” he demands against my pussy, and I shake my head. “Fucking let go,” he growls, pinching my clit, and I do. I let go and my body rocks forward as one of the most intense orgasms of my life washes through me, sending me to the stars. Completely spent and seeing white lights dance behind my closed eyelids, I whimper when he flips me to my back. “Again,” he says, burying his face between my legs once more. He licks me from top to bottom, and my legs tighten around his ears and my hands move to hold onto his head.