Whatever It Takes (Second Chances #2) (14 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

tess

R
yan had no idea what his words did to my insides. If he knew how much I wanted him, more than just a casual thing, he’d be running for the door. Tonight had given me a glimpse of what it could be like to be a family, and God, I had no idea how badly I wanted that.

The hard ridge of his cock rubbed between my legs. “There are too many clothes between us,” I gasped out. “Off. Now.”

“Okay, bossy pants.” He lowered my legs and took my hand and then backed up until we were in front of the couch. He reached down and turned on the small lamp. “You first.”

I’d watched the girls onstage long enough to know how they did it and how much the guys loved it. I never wanted to put myself on display like that, but for Ryan, yeah, I would. And he was going to get one hell of a show.

“You want me to strip?” I asked with a grin.

“Hell yes.”

His eyes widened when I playfully pushed him back and he fell-sat on the couch. I hummed a slow song to myself and started to sway my hips. Ryan’s immediate groan shot my confidence level through the roof. I hadn’t felt this sexy in a long time, not like this. Especially not with a guy.

I ran my fingertips up my sides and then back down over my chest. The way Ryan was watching me made my nipples hard. Right now, I wouldn’t bet who was more turned on.

I hooked my fingers under the hem of my top and slowly pulled it upward, revealing inch after inch of skin. I could feel Ryan’s eyes following the shirt’s progress. At the last second, I spun around and pulled it over my head.

When I threw it at Ryan over my shoulder, he choked out a laugh.

I reached back and unhooked my bra, then slid the straps down my arms. All the while I was swaying my hips seductively. Now was the fun part. Just as I started to unbutton my shorts, I felt Ryan behind me.

“Can I help?” His voice was low and rough and goose bumps sprang up all over my skin. “Because you’re driving me insane and I need to touch you.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

His finger traced over my shoulder and down my bare arm. I sucked in a breath when I felt his touch on the small of my back. I arched involuntarily. Ryan’s breath hitched.

“You are so fucking beautiful, Tess.”

He pressed his hot mouth to the back of my neck and sparks shot through my body. My legs weren’t going to support me for much longer, so I leaned fully back against him. Ryan slid his arms around me from behind before slowly turning me to face him.

His eyes were burning with desire, and I lost myself in them.

When he cupped my face, I leaned into his hand. All kinds of feelings were bubbling to the surface, and I swallowed desperately to keep them inside. This was only a casual thing. I couldn’t let myself fall for Ryan again, because I already knew he didn’t do the long-term thing.

“Take off your shirt,” I said.

“Help me,” he answered.

I moved my hands under the bottom edge and slid my hands up and under. His skin was hot and hard under my fingers. His muscles twitched as I moved higher. I loved that my touch affected him as much as his did me.

I wanted to take my time and tease him, but my own greed won out. I wanted to see him. All of him. I lifted and he reached back and tugged the neck up and over his head. My mouth went dry. I needed to know what his skin tasted like.

He groaned when my lips met his shoulder. I made my way up his neck to the same spot he liked to kiss on me. “Christ, Tess,” he panted.

He stepped closer and drove one hand into my hair. The other he slid around my waist and jerked us together, flesh on flesh. His mouth swooped down and took mine in a hot and hungry kiss.

I arched against him, loving the feel of his muscled chest against the tips of my breasts. Heat filled me, restless tension made my limbs ache. Enough playing around. I wanted him so badly I could almost taste it. I ripped my mouth away and looked up into his dark eyes.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to rip off your shorts and bend you over the couch and fuck you,” he growled.

Stars danced in my vision. His words ignited an inferno in my blood. Holy hell, that’s exactly what I wanted. I reached down and popped the button free on his jeans. “Promise?” I asked breathlessly.

“Actually, I’ve got an even better idea.” He reached for my shorts and had them loosened and off before I could blink. “You are so fucking sexy, Tess.” His gaze raked over every inch of my body just as thoroughly as any touch.

Ryan toed off his sneakers and pushed his jeans and boxers down. He stood back up without an ounce of self-consciousness, and he had no need to be. Good Lord that boy was perfect. Working construction definitely did a body good. Hard planes of sculpted muscles covered everything, and next time, I wanted to spend an hour tracing the dips and curves of them.

He hooked his finger under the edge of my panties and tugged me over to the couch. He sat in the middle and pulled me to stand between his legs. Now he had both sides of my underwear in his grip and he slowly pulled them down.

When I stepped out of them, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss just below my belly button. I gripped his shoulders to keep from falling over. Every nerve in my body was strung so tight that I was ready to implode at any second.

All he had to do was touch between my legs and I knew it wouldn’t take long. I rocked my hips, begging without words.

“You want something, baby?” he asked, pressing more kisses along the sensitive flesh of my hips.

“Yes,” I gasped out. I tangled my fingers in his hair and urged his head closer.

He ran one hand along the inside of my thigh and lifted it so that I was standing with one leg on the couch. When his hot mouth moved between my legs, I almost fell. He nibbled everywhere except the spot where I needed him the most.

I whimpered and moaned and moved my hips, but he was playing dirty.

“Ryan, please.”

“Is this what you want?” He ran his tongue up and over my clit and my eyes rolled back in my head.

“God, yes,” I groaned.

He did it again and everything centered on that spot. I rocked my hips back and forth and it was his turn to moan. His tongue moved faster and I forgot how to breathe. So close. Knew it wasn’t going to take much more.

I was lost in the urgency building in my body. My legs shook. I gasped for air. Tension wound tighter and tighter and with each breath I was closer to the edge. “Ryan.” I called out his name.

He dug his fingers into my hip to hold me steady, then moved his other hand up the inside of my thigh until I felt two fingers sliding into me. His tongue pressed against my clit and he moved them slowly in and out as the tension spiraled out of control and light burst brightly behind my eyes.

All that kept me from collapsing was Ryan’s hold on me. My hips bucked and wave after wave of sweet pleasure rolled over me. Somewhere in the haze I heard Ryan groan. He was moving, shifting back and taking me with him.

I heard foil tearing and then he was guiding my knees onto the couch on each side of his thighs. I blinked, tried to regain some focus, and looked into his eyes. They were dark and intense and filled with desire.

“Ride me,” he said hoarsely. “I want to watch you on my cock.”

I shifted up and forward and he positioned himself right at the spot that was still throbbing. I didn’t need any more coaxing. I wanted to feel him inside me. I sank down over him in one long movement.

“Fuck,” he hissed. His fingers gripped my hips and he started to guide me back and forth.

He didn’t need to. Pleasure started building as soon as I moved, and I leaned forward enough to lift my hips until he was almost all the way out before driving myself back down.

The gasps coming from his mouth only spurred me on. He wanted a ride? I was going to give him the ride of his life. Desperate energy built between us. Every time I lifted up and drove myself back down, the pressure grew more intense.

I was so close again. Ryan tangled his fingers in my hair and pulled my head down. His tongue was hot and frenzied and matched the rhythm of our hips. A couple more strokes and I teetered on the edge.

“Fuck,” he growled. “I’m going to come, baby. Let go. I want to feel you explode on me first.”

He didn’t need to ask twice. Only a couple more thrusts and I tightened around him. He swallowed my muffled cries and his hips lifted in his own frantic climb. Then I was drinking in his cries of release.

He stiffened under me and arched up and his whole body shook. I pulled back so that I sat up straight, and zings of pleasure echoed through me when I rocked my hips and rode out his climax.

Movement slowed. The hands that had been digging into my hips softened and Ryan ran them up and down my back. I fell forward against his sweaty skin and pressed my lips to his neck. I could hear his heart pounding under my ear.

We sat like that for several long minutes.

I didn’t want to let him go.

Not now, not ever.

CHAPTER TWENTY

ryan

I
was falling for Tess.

I knew it because casual stopped being casual somewhere along the way and I hadn’t even noticed. Normally, after I was with a woman, that was it. I’d never felt the need to stay, to see if there was something else there besides sex, because that’s all I ever wanted.

It wasn’t just about the sex with Tess, though, because we’d only officially had it once. There was more to it. All day at work I looked forward to seeing her and Noah. To listen to him tell me every single thing they had done that day. And the nights that Tess worked, I sometimes even stopped by just to see how Noah was doing.

Tonight was one of Tess’s nights off, so I was on my way there now with a shiny new toolbox I found at the hardware store today. It had real tools, only pint-size. It was an early birthday present I couldn’t resist. Noah was going to freak. I went through the KFC drive-through and got a bucket of fried chicken and some sides before I got there.

I was balancing everything and trying to get up the steps when I heard an excited voice shout, “Hey, Ryan!”

Over the bucket of chicken I saw Noah standing on the balcony waving furiously. When I got to the top, he immediately zoomed in on the toolbox.

“Is that for me?” he asked.

“Is what for you?” Tess said, appearing in the doorway.

She had her hair twisted up on the top of her head and had on cutoff jean shorts and a tiny tank top. I didn’t really feel like chicken for dinner anymore. I had something much sweeter in mind.

“I saw this”—I held out the red toolbox as best I could, and Noah took it right away—“and thought it might be perfect for a certain little helper I have.”

“Whoa.” Noah had sat down right there and opened the top. “A real hammer.” His voice was filled with awe. “And real nails.”

“You do know he’s almost four and we live in an apartment, right?” Tess asked.

Shit. She was right.

“Hey, buddy. Those tools are only for when you’re helping me on a job, okay?” I handed Tess the chicken, and she narrowed her eyes at me. “What? I figured you guys would be hungry.”

“Ryan, this is the fifth time you’ve brought dinner over. I budget and meal plan for a reason, you know.”

I wasn’t sure if her anger was real or not. I knew she had to be very careful spending money on food, so I thought this would help her out by not eating all her food. Free up some cash for something else she needed.

“I’m used to getting dinner for someone, and since my dad decided to snap out of it, I’ve got no one. Humor me?” I pouted and gave her what I hoped was the biggest puppy-dog face ever. She was back to work tomorrow night, which meant I wouldn’t be seeing her for the next four nights.

And I didn’t want to spend it arguing about food.

“No more food,” she said instead. “I hate having to tell Noah no when you’re not around. Peanut butter and mac-and-cheese used to be his favorite. Now he wants only burgers and fried chicken. I just can’t do that.”

I saw the pain in her eyes and felt like a dick. I only did it to make them both happy, not to make her feel guilty. “I’m sorry, Tess. I wasn’t thinking. Next time I’ll check with you first.”

She glanced down at Noah and his toolbox. “I just . . . I don’t want him to get used to this.” She gave me a trembling smile and went back inside.

I knew what she meant. When this thing between us stopped, but what if it didn’t? I couldn’t promise her anything, but I did know that I had no desire to be with anyone else except her. That had to mean something, because I’d never felt like that with anyone else before.

What if I asked her for more and then realized I couldn’t do it? If we went to shit and I ended up hurting her, I’d never forgive myself. But she was under my skin too deep to back off now.

“You ready to eat?” I asked Noah. He picked up his toolbox and carefully closed it, then carried it inside like it was gold. My heart swelled watching him. Maybe on Saturday, I’d take them back to the house I was remodeling and let him have at it.

Tess had laid out an old blanket on the floor and there were plates and napkins and the bucket of chicken waiting. Noah loved having indoor picnics, and we ate like that a lot.

“Maybe Saturday we can have a picnic in the park, then go by the house I’m working on so Noah can hit some nails?” I asked Tess.

“As long as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are on the menu.”

I chuckled. Damn woman never gave an inch. “You bring lunch, then, and I get to take care of dessert. There’s a great little ice-cream cart near the fountain. Best hot fudge sundaes ever.”

Noah jumped up and did some ninja kick moves.

Tess was going to argue; I could see it on her face, so I reached out and took her hand. “Can I do that for you guys? I’d really like to.”

“Pleeeeease,” Noah said.

“Pleeeeease,” I said.

“You two are very dangerous together. I’m outnumbered now when it used to be a tie all the time. Yes fine, one ice cream on Saturday, but nothing before then, you got it?”

I high-fived Noah, and Tess sighed. Before she could react I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her.

She squirmed and wiggled, trying to get away. “That’s it, baby, keep moving just like that,” I growled playfully in her ear. Pink crept into her cheeks and she stopped moving, but she did lean back against my chest.

“I changed my mind. I think maybe you’re the dangerous one all by yourself.”

I kissed her behind the ear and reached for a piece of chicken without letting her go. “You clearly have no idea how backward that really is.”

If anyone here was dangerous, it was Tess. Because she made me think about things I wasn’t sure I was ready for, and it scared the shit out of me.

“
H
e’s been sleeping with that toolbox right next to him all week,” Tess said.

I watched Noah pounding nails into a board I’d strung up, and he was doing a damned good job.

“Louisa even brought him over a piece of scrap wood so he could practice and impress you.”

“I am officially impressed. Hey, buddy, you need a job?” I asked him.

He looked over his shoulder and grinned. God, he was fucking adorable.

“He hasn’t smiled this much in the past year,” Tess said. “He really likes you.” She glanced up at me through her eyelashes. “We both kinda do.”

I took her hand and pulled her close enough so that I could kiss her. “I kinda like you too. Both of you.”

“Hey, guys, watch this,” Noah shouted. He lifted his hammer and brought it straight down on a nail. Tess and I cheered him on.

“So did your father teach you how to do all this? I mean . . . before . . .” Tess sat down on a stack of drywall and looked around. “It’s amazing. I wouldn’t know the first place to start.”

“I kind of had to learn trial by fire. I’d been on jobs with him since I was about eight, but it wasn’t until after he stopped caring that I made myself learn. It was just small stuff. Putting in a cabinet or laying a tile floor. I guess people liked what I was doing because I kept getting calls that weren’t just to fix my dad’s screwups. It just took off from there. Didn’t have much choice back then, we had to eat.”

“But you love it now,” Tess said.

“I really do. There’s a hell of a lot of pride when you finish something that you did with your own hands. Never thought I’d end up doing too much.” I never had dreams of college or a suit-and-tie job. That’s part of the reason I knew Tess did the right thing when she followed her father’s advice. She had plans; I knew without a doubt she’d do great things.

Even now, with her life on a totally different track, she’d make it.

“What about you? You said you have your two-year degree now. What do you plan to do with that?”

Noah finally got tired of hammering and after he carefully put his tools away, he raced outside to the play set. Tess and I followed and stood on the stone patio watching.

“I’m planning on applying to a few colleges where I can finish up my bachelor’s in business. Community college made the most sense because I could work nights and take online classes. It’s been hard, but now I know I can do it.” She smiled and a burst of pride swelled in my chest.

“I’d never bet against you doing anything you set your mind on. So you still like to look at stars?”

Her smile turned sweet. “You remember that?”

“I’m still waiting to have a new one named after me.”

Her delighted laughter floated through the air. “I can’t believe you even remember that.”

“I remember pretty much everything when it comes to you,” I whispered in her ear.

It was easy to slip my arm around her waist, and she leaned into me without any coaxing. In fact, all of this was easy. Being with her and Noah, hanging out, talking, not talking. There was never a moment where I wanted to run away from her.

I wanted to ask her if she thought we had a shot at another chance, but I couldn’t get the words out. What if she was counting on this being temporary? She was applying to colleges. What if she got accepted to one out of state?

For the first time since we’d starting seeing each other again, I didn’t know what to do.

Or what I would do if she ended up leaving and taking the best parts of me with her.