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“And then some. There were definitely pieces I’ve never seen before.”
“And then some.” I took the stubborn pad of her chin between my fingers. “Did you like everything?”
She filled her cheeks with air, then slowly released it, eyes narrowed on me. “You know I did. Nan has impeccable taste.”
“She does, which is why she shops for me as well.”
“It’s too much,” she whispered.
“No, it’s not.” I gave her chin a little shake. “I have all this and want to give you a drop of it. Let me, Catherine. There are no strings or expectations.”
“I don’t know how to accept this.”
“All you have to do is say thank you and wear that green sweater on Monday.”
That finally got a smile out of her. “The green sweater was my favorite.”
I grinned back. “I could tell. You lit up as soon as you stepped out of the dressing room wearing it. But you looked incredible in all of it. I look forward to looking at you in your new clothes every day.”
She curled her fingers around my wrist and jerked herself free of my hold. Then she hugged my arm against her chest, nestling it between her heavy breasts. Unconsciously, I took a step closer.
“Thank you, Elliot, for everything. You’ve been so generous to me and Joey, and I just—” Blinking, she turned her head to the side for a moment before facing me again. “I don’t think many people would go out of their way for others the way you have for me.”
She brought my knuckles up to her mouth and pressed a light kiss there, taking me off guard. When she cupped the back of my neck and tugged me down to her waiting mouth, I wasn’t ready. Her lips slid against mine in a warm, firm kiss my brain was too fucking stupefied to respond to.
Catherine kissed me, and all I did was stand there.
Just stood there.
Unmoving.
Unresponsive.
Un-fucking-able to think.
Her lips fell away from mine, and she was a foot away, covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide with horror.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. That was—won’t happen again. I’m so, so sorry.”
The moment she turned to run, my brain came back online. She was leaving, thinking she had something to be sorry about. That wasn’t even close to the case.
Arm snapping out, I captured her by the nape, spinning her into my chest. We collided with a huff of her breath, her breasts pillowing against my upper abdomen. Not giving her another second to berate herself for reading me, the situation, my feelings wrong, I dipped down and covered her mouth with mine.
My fingers dug into the back of her hair, and hers fisted the sides of my T-shirt. It was all I could do not to crush her against me and drink from her lips now that I had her in this position, but I restrained myself, kissing her slowly, urging her mouth to move with mine with the sweep of my tongue along her upper lip.
I tasted her sweetness, sucking it into my bloodstream. Tangled my fingers in her thick, wild locks. Clamped my arm around her waist, holding her as close as I could in this position.
Catherine kissed me back with timid caresses at first, but soon, she became more sure, snuggling closer, sucking deeper, sighing her breath into my lungs.
Then, she was the first to pull away when I was nowhere near done. I’d had a sample, and now I wanted the entire feast.
She flattened her palms on my stomach and pushed back. “I should really go to bed.”
I had to force myself to release her hair when I wasn’t even close to ready to let her go. Dragging my fingertips down her bare arms, I stopped at her hands, squeezing them in mine.
“Good night, Catherine.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, and every part of me wanted to toss her on the couch and suck that plump lip between mine.
