“You already have.” I cup her breasts, running my thumbs over her nipples, pinching hard until she gasps. I give her a rough, too-short kiss before pulling myself away and climbing off her bed. “Tomorrow.”
Her lightning eyes flash. “Tomorrow.”
I take one more long look at her and then get the hell out of there before I change my mind. I go down the stairs and into the foyer.
Hailey is still sitting in the same chair, reading a book.
I gesture toward the second floor. “She’s all tucked in.”
Her lips curve. “I heard.”
I give her my best chagrined, got-to-love-me smile. “Sorry about that.”
She shrugs her shoulder. “Jessica’s not really a shy, retiring type.”
“You don’t say.” I rub my hand over my jaw and shift my attention to the door. “I’ve left everyone hanging.”
She glances out the front window where the SUV is sitting in the driveway then back at me. She nibbles at her lower lip, tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear.
I’m good at reading people, and she’s pretty much an open book. “Is there something you’d like to say?”
“It’s just that…” She flushes then shakes her head. “Well, just be careful with her. Okay? I know she seems invincible, but she’s not.”
“I will be.” Careful isn’t in Jessica’s vocabulary, but I make the promise anyway.
I want to be the man who will protect her.
I want to be the man she deserves.
Chapter 17
Jessica
“Too bright!” I hold up my hand to cover my eyes from the sun streaming in the large windows that are a highlight of the kitchen. When the real estate agent showed it to us, I’d loved how bright and sunny the room was, but I hadn’t taken a night of drinking games into account.
From the table, Hailey asks, “Does someone have a hangover?”
“I have vampire eyes.” I stumble over to the cabinet by the door, take out my favorite pair of Audrey Hepburn oversized black sunglasses, and put them on to protect myself against the glare.
“What are vampire eyes?” A male voice makes my head snap up, which sends a throb through my temples.
Ryder is sitting at the breakfast table.
I growl. “You again.”
He smiles. “I’m like a bad penny.”
“You certainly are.” I pour myself coffee and go to sit down across from him.
Hailey clears her throat. “Vampire eyes are when you’ve been in a dark room too long, and when you see the light, it hurts.”
“Good to know,” Ryder says.
I take a sip of the coffee, which is thankfully strong and designed to send caffeine shooting through my veins at Mach 10. “I assume you’re here for some sort of brotherly reason.”
He scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Kinda, but not how you’re thinking.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’m not really in the mood for a lecture.” If I stay still enough, maybe the room will stop swaying.