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Affection bloomed in my chest, a full-body glow, and my teeth raked my bottom lip. “I like your idea of spoiling.”
His mouth tweaked, those honey-kissed eyes gentle. “It seems we have some sort of understanding, then.”
“I guess we do.”
He drew me closer and nuzzled his face in my neck. “Good.”
Joy expanded and pressed, and I could fight it all I wanted, but I was pretty sure there would be no escaping this.
Such a foolish girl who was dreaming about waking up like this each morning.
The one who believed in his care last night.
One who held it like an oath that he would help me find my sister.
Ezra spread a palm over the small of my back and plastered me against every bare inch of him. I gasped when I felt him hard and pressing against my belly, though it was a tease that was rolling from my tongue. “And you call me the needy one.”
“Oh, Savannah, get used to it, honey, because there’s never going to be any not needing you.”
Giddiness flew while a rush of desire tumbled through.
His big palm drifted lower, palming me by the bottom—
The front door suddenly crashed open, and the clatter of little footsteps and a twine of excited voices reverberated from the main room. “Dad…Dad…Daddy! Where is you?” My eyes went wide, and we both flew upright.
“Shit,” Ezra rumbled. He barely had time to fumble out of bed, snag his jeans from the floor, and pull them on before his bedroom door burst open. He’d moved so fast that he was already there, grabbing it and holding it partially shut, doing his best to shield the opening.
“I found you!” Owen sang just as Olivia’s sweet, eager voice filled the air. “We woke up really early and Grandma said we had to wait until eight so you could sleep in but then we could come over here and make breakfast so we could have a special family morning.”
“I wike bweakfast!” Owen shouted it like someone was asking for a volunteer.
“Breakfast is the most important meal we gotta eat,” Oliver added.
“All right, give me a minute and I’ll be out,” Ezra rumbled.
“Miss Savannah?” Surprised curiosity coated Olivia’s voice when she suddenly caught sight of me from where she peeked around Ezra’s waist.
Crap.
I held the sheet tighter to my chest. Ezra moved to the side and tried to block her view, only to have Oliver poke his head through the other side. “Did you have a sleepover, too, Miss Savannah?”
Mortification burned my cheeks.
“Hey, I asked you all to give me a minute.” Ezra’s voice had gone stern, and the kids reluctantly retreated, Olivia grumping, “I only wanted to say hi. That’s the neighborly thing to do, and I needed to see if she had a good date.”
An amazing date, Olivia, an incredibly amazing date, but I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t tell you about it while I’m naked.
The second the door clicked shut, I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “Oh my God, your kids are going to be scarred.”
A heavy sigh filled the air, and I peeked his way to find him with his back to the door scrubbing a hand over his face. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m the one who should be apologizing.”
I should have gotten up and went to my own bed early this morning. Hell, I probably should have skulked back to it sometime in the night. Too bad the thought of losing that time with Ezra felt like losing a limb.
Besides, he’d asked me to…stay.
I’d wanted it. God, how much I’d wanted it.
Barefoot and shirtless, he eased back my way, his big feet amazingly light on the floor. Reaching out, he took me by the chin and tipped my head back, forcing me to look at him. “You don’t have a thing to apologize for. But I do need to get out there and put out some fires that I’m pretty sure the news of you has started.”
Disquiet billowed through my bloodstream. Talk about horrible impressions to make with his mother.
His mother.
Nausea tightened my stomach in a fist. Old discomfort and distrust bled through the bliss I’d found myself in last night.
Like he’d read every thought that had gone through my mind, Ezra tipped my chin higher. “It’s fine. I promise. Get dressed and come out.”
He dipped down and pecked a kiss to my nose, then snatched his tee from the floor and pulled it over his head.
One second later, he was walking out the door.
Slumping back onto the pillow, I stared at the ceiling as I tried to gather up the disorder.
I contemplated hiding out in Ezra’s room for the next two hours or maybe jumping out the window and sneaking back to the guest house.
Coward.
What was that going to solve?
So, I tossed off the sheets and hurried to dress in the same jeans and sweater I’d had on yesterday. I used the bathroom then rinsed my mouth with mouthwash I found under Ezra’s sink, before I ran my fingers through my matted hair, doing my best to tame it.
