“And now?” Her voice was curious, not condescending.

“Now I miss her like fucking crazy. Jake talks about her, tries to fill me in on the things I’ve missed. But it’s not the same.” I took a deep breath, hoping it would calm me. “Do you ever get to hear how your son is doing?”

Her hand tightened around mine and a genuine smile lit her face. “He’s amazing. I actually get to see him three times a year: on his birthday, on my birthday, and at Christmas. We talk a couple of times a month now that he’s older.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “It was an open adoption?”

“Yeah. The Joneses insisted on it. The day he was born, Kathy came into my room and sat with us. She said I was giving her the best gift anyone had ever given her, that I was making her dreams come true, and promised that she would never take him for granted. She insisted that we were family now and that we would always be connected. She swore that if I went through with it, if I let them adopt him, that I would never miss a moment of his life.”

The smile dropped a little and she turned away. She rubbed her free palm up and down her thigh before reaching into her pocket for her phone. Releasing my hand, she scrolled through her pictures until she found the one she was looking for and offered it to me. An adorable toddler with dark black hair and his mommy’s eyes grinned cheekily up at the camera.

“His name is Bryant.” I could hear the happiness as she told me about her son. “He’s ten, a big brother to a very rambunctious four-year-old. He knows I’m his birth mom because his parents didn’t want to hide anything from him, but he says I’m his best friend by choice.”

She smiled, showing me another picture. This one was of the two of them, playing in what looked like Lego nirvana. They were laughing at something, and the pure joy I could see in their faces was heartwarming.

“He is such a good boy.” The pride on her face was that of a mom who loved her child. “I sometimes lie awake and wonder what life would be like for us if I hadn’t let go that day. Would he be as happy? Would he be as carefree? Or would he be sad and miserable?”

“Don’t do that. Don’t ask yourself questions that have no answers. You’ll drive yourself crazy.”

“I can’t help it. He’s not mine anymore, but I love him. I don’t think I could love him any more if he was still mine. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that his mom loves him just as much, but that doesn’t make me stop wondering about the what-ifs. Does that make sense?”

It made complete sense. “I wasn’t there when Jake was born. I didn’t get to meet him until he was almost a year old. I loved him before I ever met him. I’d look at the pictures Julie would send and be amazed at how perfect he was. The moment I held him in my arms the first time was pure magic. He was my boy and we were bonded by so much more than blood.

“But for Janet, I was there every step of the way. I got to cut the umbilical cord, I gave her her first bath, and she spent her entire first day in this world wrapped up in my arms while her mommy slept next to us. She wasn’t mine, but you couldn’t have convinced me that day. Our connection was so strong I never could have given her up, never in a million years. Knowing she’s not mine doesn’t change how I feel.”

Molly stood up again, walking back to the screen in front of us. “It’s been eleven and a half years Mike, and I still don’t know if I made the right choice that day. I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am because I want him to be proud of me. But what happens if he grows up and thinks the way Roxy does—that I gave him up so I could have my career? What happens if he resents me for the choices I made?”

I stood, closing the gaps between us. Pulling her into my arms, I tucked my chin into her neck. “Not gonna happen, Mols. It sounds like he hit the lottery. He didn’t get just one set of parents who would do anything for him, he got two. He’ll never see it that way.”

She melted back into me. “How can you be so sure?”

The sadness and doubt in her tone wrecked me. She’d done this amazing, selfless thing, and given her son a chance to have a great life, as well as given a couple a chance to be parents. Molly Ray was the whole damn package: smart, sweet, beautiful, kind, and sexy as fuck. She didn’t see any of that though, because all she saw were the flaws.

“Because he loves you. Because he’ll see you the way I do, for who you really are,” I whispered before kissing her ear. She sighed, moving into me, and I moved my lips in a path down her neck. When she turned, her lips finding mine, I didn’t pull away. Instead, my palms cupped her ass and I lifted her until she wrapped her legs around my waist.

A million warning bells went off in my mind, as the rational part of my brain tried to tell the rest of me that what I was about to do was a bad idea. I ignored them all. I’d probably kick myself in the ass tomorrow, but right now, I needed to take our minds off the melodramatic bullshit that seemed to follow us both around.

I needed to do what I’d been trying to avoid for days. Being with her was inevitable. I needed to make her forget, to take her mind off her life. I needed to make her mine, even if it was just for a little while.

Chapter Fifteen

~ Molly ~

Good God the man could kiss. I didn’t know what he was doing that was so different, but his lips ignited my body everywhere. I wasn’t drunk, and my buzz was long gone, but when he kissed me the way he did right now, it made me lightheaded and woozy, and unable to focus on anything but what he did to my body.

So much for making him beg for it. Screw that. If he stopped now, I’d be the one on my knees, praying to the gods to change his mind.

His hands groped my ass roughly, pulling me flush against him, leaving me no option other than to wrap my legs around his waist and hold on. He left the doors open as he carried me to the bed, climbing up onto it from the bottom. I clung to him as tightly as I could, my mouth moving against his as he lowered us carefully to the middle of the bed.

He didn’t do more than kiss me, but good Christ, when you were as talented as he was, that’s all it took. Forget the foreplay I usually needed to get me turned on. And fuck those clueless assholes who had spent what seemed like hours trying to get me hot and still needed instruction.

How many women has he had to kiss to perfect that talent? The unwelcome thought hit me hard, making me stiffen against him. No. I would not sabotage this night like I had so many others. I wanted him and I was going to have him. I wasn’t going to think about his past.

Mike, feeling the change in my body, pulled away, pushing his weight off me and holding himself above me. His eyes searched my face, his own looking serious. “Mols.” His voice was low, gravely, and sexy as hell. I needed to record it and sell it to an adult toy store. They’d make a killing; it was enough to set any woman’s panties on fire.

A finger traced my bruised cheek gently, pulling me from my absurd thoughts. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” I shook my head.

“Hey.” He spoke again, this time, his tone was softer, worried, and I met his eyes. “Want me to stop?”

The question surprised me and I shook my head again. There were a hundred things I wanted him to do, but none of them involved him stopping. Or staying in his clothes.

“Tell me this is what you want.”

I nodded as furiously as I could against the mattress.

“Molly,” he growled as he pushed his lower body into mine, “tell me what you want.”

“You. That is the only thing I want right now.”

A slow, contagious smile moved over his lips and he cocked an eyebrow, moving his eyes back to my lips. “That so?”

I nodded just once, smiling back. That was all the encouragement he needed, lowering himself back down so damn slowly I was sure he’d never get there. Instead of kissing me, he nibbled down my neck and back up to my ear, avoiding my lips as I tried to lock them onto his. He repeated the movement, nipping into my skin gently every few inches before sucking the bottom of my ear into his mouth roughly. After he’d tormented me, he moved back to my lips, nipping my bottom lip roughly before soothing the ache with a quick lick of his tongue.