“You’d make a wonderful mother,” I murmur as I lean over and touch my cheek to her temple.

“It’s funny, because growing up, whenever my father did something that I just adored, I would say to myself, ‘I’m going to be exactly like him when I grow up’. I’m so different now than I was then. I’ve learned so much… seen all kinds of ugly. I hope I’ve managed to weed out all the bad I’ve seen my father do and come away with only the good.”

“That is definitely not something you need to worry about,” I tell her as I keep my eyes trained on Sam. “There is nothing but good inside of you.”

“Yeah, well, you haven’t seen me up close and personal when I have PMS. You won’t be singing my praises then,” she teases.

“I think I could handle that. It’s only once a month.”

Holly gives a throaty laugh and pulls away. When my arm falls away from her shoulder, she immediately takes my hand and laces her fingers with mine. Turning to face me, her back to Sam, she looks up at me and the sun causes her green eyes to lighten to the color of limes. She’s absolutely breathtaking… literally steals my breath away.

“I checked up on you while you were in college,” Holly says out of the blue.

My eyebrows rise, not only because I’m surprised by this, but also because this is so far off track from our talk of her PMS. “Oh, yeah?”

She nods… almost shyly, lowering her gaze to the ground. “After I decided to leave Columbia toward the end of my freshman year. When I started getting scholarship offers to other schools. I knew I was going to leave my father and his controlling ways behind.”

Her words trail off… she’s lost in a memory. I take my hand and tuck it under her chin, raising her gaze to me. I look at her questioningly so she’ll continue.

“Remember Bennie… who was dating Sarah Carnes our senior year?”

I nod, vaguely remembering Bennie but having no clue who Sarah Carnes was.

“Well, Bennie went to Columbia and we had a few classes together. Sarah went to Syracuse and was in a sorority there.”

“I remember Bennie… not Sarah though.”

“Well, Sarah was sorority sisters with a girl you were dating your freshman year,” she says.

“Beth Gamble,” I say, remembering the petite little cheerleader I was seeing on and off while at Syracuse.

“Yeah… well, Bennie knew we had dated in high school, and he mentioned Sarah had seen you at a few parties. So, he always sort of kept me up to date on how you were doing. As much as Sarah knew from observing you at parties.”

“It’s why you didn’t try to contact me, isn’t it?” I ask with a dark feeling seeping through me.

She nods and gives a sad smile. “I wanted to contact you. Tell you everything that happened, and that I was going to be free from my father. I don’t know… I wanted another chance with you, but you had moved on. I guess I was just afraid of you rejecting me. So I did nothing.”

I felt anger toward her father for making this mess to begin with. Pure, blistering hot anger for fucking us and everything we had up.

I pull Holly into my arms and hug her hard. Then I dip down and kiss her… softly and sweetly, because there is a five-year-old sitting ten feet away who may be watching.

Sweeping my lips across her cheek, I murmur in her ear, “So much time wasted, baby.”

Holly pulls back and looks at me. “I don’t see it that way.”

“Oh, yeah? How do you see it?”

“I see it as an opportunity for both of us to grow on our own. And most importantly, you had Sam. That wouldn’t have happened if we had stayed together.”

Brave, pragmatic, practical Holly. So fucking sweet and thoughtful.

This time, I pull her in and kiss her a little harder. And yeah, I slip my tongue in between those sweet lips briefly and really pour my emotion into her.

“Ewww,” I hear Sam whine from behind us. “Dad… that’s gross.”

Holly and I break slowly apart, both gazing at each other with smiles before we turn to face Sam. “Trust me, buddy. One day, this won’t seem gross to you.”

Apparently, Sam had been watching Holly with keen interest all day, because right there and then, he gives me an eye roll that has me laughing at the little monster.

Chapter 8

Holly

“I can’t, Tim,” I gasp.

“You can,” he urges me with a growl. “All the way down, baby.”

“You’re too big… it’s too much,” I whine, but damn… it feels really, really good.

“Just a little more,” he pants, bringing his hands to my hips and pushing me down on him some more.

He’s lodged inside me deep… I’m on top and trying to take the rest of him in. But geez… he’s so freakin’ big that I don’t know if I can do it.

But this is our last night together. He leaves tomorrow afternoon and I’ll be working, so this is where I say goodbye to the man that I’ve started spiraling for again. In just a few short days, he’s become an important part of my world once more. Our time together has been limited, between my shifts at the hospital and his need to spend time with Sam and Denise, but we are making the very most of it. He’s stayed the night with me a few times, and I spent another day touring New Orleans with him, Sam, and Denise. He came to see me once more at the hospital, and while we didn’t have sex, we did have an amazing cup of coffee together where he told me all about his life inside the fire department, which included many funny stories about his best friend, Flynn Caldwell.

I want to make the most of tonight. I want to connect to him deeper than I ever have before. I feel an almost desperate need to make him understand… through my words or body language… just how much he means to me. So I’m going to take him in all the way and forge him deeper into my body and soul.

Panting, I push down another fraction of an inch, and Tim shudders underneath me. He slides a hand down between my legs, presses his thumb against my clit, and I jerk hard against the contact at the same time Tim thrusts up into me hard.

And, oh yeah… oh, my holy God… he’s all the way in and it’s the absolute best feeling in the world.

I sit atop him… holding still, relishing the fullness within me. Tim stares up at me, his dark eyes sparkling with lust. Tentatively, I give a little rotating move of my hips that causes him to massage against something deep inside of me.

“You’re killing me, Holly,” Tim groans, trying to literally pick my body up to slide it off his cock.

I bat his hands away and admonish him. “Hands off. I got this.”

“Well, get it faster,” he complains.

I snicker and bend forward to kiss him briefly. “Patience, my love. All good things to those who wait.”

Tim’s hands shoot up and grasp my face, pulling me back for a deeper kiss. His tongue possesses mine, and my hips start rocking against him. When he releases me, his voice is deep with longing. “You called me ‘your love’.”

I push up on his chest so I’m sitting ramrod straight, circling my hips. It’s creating a little friction… just enough to drive him crazy. “I did call you that.”

“Am I?” he asks, his face seriously intent. “Your love?”

I stop moving on him, placing my hands over his heart. “A lot of time has passed, Tim. But my feelings for you never changed. They may have been tucked away deep in my heart, but they never went away.”

Tim just nods… seemingly at a loss for words, so I take that as my cue to get busy. I start to raise and lower myself onto him, slowly at first, but as I adjust to his length and girth, a little bit faster. Then even faster, and faster yet. Within moments, Tim’s hands are back on my hips, helping me to practically bounce up and down on him.

“Fucking gorgeous, Holly,” he mutters, his eyes roaming over my breasts as they bounce along in rhythm.

My muscles clench, tighten, and tingle. My orgasm builds swiftly, and I decide not to hold it back. Reaching behind me, I cup his balls in my hand while I maintain my rhythm, giving them a gentle squeeze. Tim bucks up hard against me, almost throwing me off, and yells, “Fuck yeah”.