Shrinking Violet (Colors #2) (22 page)

“I love it, baby girl,” I told her as I placed a kiss on her chubby cheek, eliciting a squeal from her.

“YAY!” She planted a loud, smacking kiss on my cheek just before she began squirming around, a telltale sign she was ready to get down.

“Love you, Carson!” Bug hollered over her shoulder as she skipped her way back to the main house.

Those three words were a sucker-punch straight to the gut. I never would have guessed that a pint-sized little three-year-old could nearly bring me to my knees without even trying. But as Willow skipped off without a care in the world, I struggled to speak through the emotions that were clogging my throat.

“Love you, too,” I croaked.

In all my life, I’d tried my hardest never to get my hopes up. I refused to let myself envision my future and what it could possibly hold. So if you’d told me months before that I would be spending my days thinking about what it would be like to have a family with Cassidy and Willow, I would have said you were crazy. But staring at the happy little girl as she hopped away without a care in the world, I couldn’t imagine not having either of them in my life.

As soon as she disappeared through the back door, I turned to see Cassidy holding a hand over her mouth, her blue eyes huge and full of emotion.

“Baby, don’t you dare start crying,” I warned her, already feeling like I was teetering on the edge myself. “I’m on serious emotional overload right now, so I need you to try and rein it in.”

At my words, she was overcome with laughter. As she was lost in a fit of giggles, I walked over and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her soft, curvy body against mine.

“Oh, my God.” She sighed once she got control of herself. “That was…do you have any idea how sexy you are to me right now?”

“Is that right?” I leaned down as she stood on her tiptoes, meeting me in the middle for a scorching kiss.

“Mmmhmm,” she moaned into the kiss. “There’s nothing hotter to a single mother than a man who loves her kid. I’m telling you, it’ll get you laid every time.”

My head fell back as a loud laugh burst from my chest. “God, I love you.”

I hadn’t even realized what I said until I felt Cassidy’s entire body grow completely still in my arms.

Her voice was full of bewilderment as she asked, “What?”

I wasn’t going to take it back. Not only would that have made the situation worse, but it would have been a lie. I loved her. Never in my life had I felt for someone the way I felt for Cassidy. I refused to lie about that.

I stared down into her wide, disbelieving eyes and owned everything I was feeling. “I love you, Cassidy. I love how you sometimes come off shy, but you have this fire deep down inside you that you only let some of us see. I love how you live and breathe for your daughter. You’re the best mother I’ve ever met. I love how selfless you are when it comes to helping people you care about. Christ, baby, I just love
you
. Every single thing about you.”

She blinked and two tears trailed down her cheeks. I reached up and brushed them away with my thumb as my heart beat quickly in my chest. As our gazes remained locked on one another, fear flowed through me that I might have just scared her off with my confession.

“No one has ever said that to me before,” she whispered.

That was impossible for me to believe. I couldn’t imagine that there wasn’t a man from her past who hadn’t fallen head over heels for her. “You’re joking, right? What about Willow’s father?”

She shook her head vehemently. “No. No one has ever said that to me, Carson. Willow’s dad, Seth, was a mistake. There was no love between either of us.” Her hands reached up and cupped my cheeks. “I never loved him…not like I love you.”

With those words, my chest swelled. Threading my fingers through her long blonde hair, I pulled her to me, slamming my lips against hers. I poured every ounce of love I felt for her into that kiss. Our teeth clattered against each other, our tongues tangled in the most delicious way as the taste exploded in my mouth. I’d never get used to how perfect my girl tasted.

“You love me?” I asked against her lips, feeling breathless.

“So much, Carson. God, I’m crazy about you.”

“Say it again,” I demanded, pressing my forehead against hers.

“I love you.”

“Again.”

“I love you.” She giggled.

With a deep groan, I went in for another kiss. It wasn’t until Willow’s high-pitched voice called from the main house that I managed to clear my head enough to break away. I could have drowned in my shrinking violet right then and there and died a very happy man.

Cassidy’s voice held a note of sorrow as she pulled back far enough to look up at me. “I have to go. I promised Bug I’d let her help me make cookies.”

I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to keep her pressed against me every hour of every day.

“MOMMY! I want cookies!”

Cassidy let out a grumble before giving me one last kiss. “I have to go.”

“Come over tonight,” I insisted, reluctantly loosening my arms around her.

“You’re not working at the bar?”

“I’ll take off. I just want to feel you against me tonight. Spend the night with me…please.” I was desperate to have her in my bed. I’d never experienced the joy I felt when she told me she loved me, but there was still something deep inside of me that worried Cassidy would somehow slip through my fingers. If there was one thing I’d learned from my past, it was that I couldn’t count on the good things to last. I needed to hold her in my arms. It was the only way I could guarantee what I had with her was real.

“Okay.” She beamed up at me. “I’ll come over after Willow goes to sleep.

“MOMMY!”

I let out a chuckle and kissed her again. I couldn’t help myself. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Carson. Oh, God.”

“Fuck, fuck,
fuck
.”

Jesus, I was so close. I could feel Cassidy clenching against me, squeezing me like a vice. I’d never seen anything as beautiful as my girl riding me. It was the ultimate turn-on and had me so worked up I worried I’d come before she did. I used my thumb to circle her clit at the same time I thrust my hips up, forcing myself deeper and harder, eliciting the most amazing moan from Cassidy as her head flew back.

“Carson,” she whimpered. “I’m gonna come.”

I couldn’t take it any longer. With a quick flip, I had her on her back. Resting on my haunches, I spread her thighs further apart as I buried myself inside her wet heat over and over again.

“Come for me, baby. I want to feel you come all over me. Christ, you’re so fucking beautiful like this.”

My words were just what she needed to send her flying. She tried to muffle her cries of ecstasy with her hands, but I wasn’t having any of that. Leaning forward, I grabbed hold of her wrists and pinned them to the pillow beside her head. My mouth crashed down on hers and I swallowed every cry, every moan, and every whimper as I drug her release out as long as possible. My tongue speared in and out of her mouth, mimicking each thrust of my hips until that tingling at the base of my spine built up to the point of explosion. Burying my face in the crook of her neck, I shouted out as I came. With each jerk of my release, her walls clamped down on me, milking everything from inside of me until there was nothing left.

Utterly spent, I collapsed on top of Cassidy, unable to move my limbs even though I worried about crushing her.

As I struggled to catch my breath, Cassidy’s arms wrapped around me, her fingers skating a gentle trail up and down my back as though she was soothing me.

“I love you, Carson.”

I finally managed to get enough strength to push up on my forearms. “I love you, too, baby. So damn much.”

She smiled up at me, and I couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest man in the world.

“Am I crushing you?”

“Just a little.” She giggled, running her fingers through my hair. “But I loved it.”

“And I love you.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but her smile actually grew even brighter. “Man, I’ll never get tired of hearing that.”

“Good, because you better get used to it. I’m never letting you go.”

All of a sudden, her face grew serious as she asked in a quiet voice, “Promise?”

“I swear.” I reached up to rub the frown lines that had formed between her eyebrows. “Hey, what’s this all about?”

Cassidy inhaled deeply, and I watched as she schooled her features. “It’s nothing.” She gave me a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

I felt a knot of concern forming in my gut as I tried to understand the sudden change in her mood. “You sure? You can talk to me, baby. Whatever it is that’s bothering you, I’m here. You know that, right?”

She gave me an unconvincing nod and quickly changed the subject. “Hey, I brought you something.”

Deciding it was best not to push her if she wasn’t ready to talk, I rolled off her and stepped into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. “Yeah?” I called out. “You brought me a present?”

I finished up and walked back into the bedroom to find her sitting on the bed with my sheet wrapped around her chest. She was a vision with her golden hair hanging around her shoulders, her tanned skin a glowing contrast against the white sheet.

“It’s nothing big,” she answered bashfully. “It’s just something I found out by the pond when I took Bug swimming.” She nibbled on her bottom lip anxiously as she held out her hand. “The color reminded me of your eyes. And the shape…well…it’s kind of obvious.” She laughed timidly.

I took the object she held in her hand. The piece of glass was a pale shade of green and had been broken in just the perfect way to make it look like a heart. From the way the jagged edges were smoothed out, it was obviously several years old. If I had to guess, it was from something as simple as a beer bottle, but the fact that Cassidy saw it and thought of me, believed it symbolized what was growing between us…well, that made the piece of glass something I would cherish.

“Do you…do you like it?”

“Ah, sweetheart. I love it.”

“Really?” She lit up as she asked. “I know it’s kind of lame, but—”

I silenced her with a kiss, cradling her cheek in my hand and running my thumb against her cheekbone. “It’s not lame at all. This is the second best gift I’ve ever received.”

Cassidy’s head tilted to the side as she looked at me curiously. “Second best?”

“Well,” I started with a sly grin on my face. “It’s a
really
close second, but you just got beat out by the picture Doodle Bug made me.”

With that, she let out a laugh and launched herself at me, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck.

At that very moment, there was nowhere else I’d rather be.

Carson had just carried over the last crate of homemade preserves as I started pulling out Navie’s jewelry and arranging them on the left side of my booth. I had the earrings and bracelets set out on deep navy blue fabric and I bought a little wire stand to display the necklaces to make them more appealing. I was no artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I managed to draw up a nice little card with
Navie’s Knickknacks
written in cursive.

“What’s all that?” Carson asked as he set the crate down.