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She frowns, nodding. "Sure."
Delicacy has never been my strong point, but I try to recount what Lucas told me in the gentlest way possible. Leaning with her back against the counter, Victoria becomes smaller with each word, and I feel like a jackass for making her feel bad, but she has to know.
"That poor thing. I had no idea he feared…. I'll talk to him. Thank you for telling me this."
"Why were you crying? If it's the social worker's fault, just give me his name. I can take care of him."
Unexpectedly, she smiles—and damn, I love how it lights up her entire expression. "You don't even need his address?"
"Nah, a name is all I need to find him. I'm resourceful like that."
"Quite a savior, aren't you?"
"If you want me to be."
"Thank you for the generous offer, but it's not necessary." Her smile falters. "The meeting with him wasn't even as unpleasant as it could’ve been, but child services aren't convinced I'm a fit guardian. They're keeping an eye on us, and it's exhausting to always be afraid that if I make one mistake, I could lose the little ones. But I never mentioned that to Lucas and Chloe, just to Sienna. They must have eavesdropped."
"How can child services doubt you?"
"I was fired from my job two weeks after my parents passed away, and I was running around like a crazy person in the beginning. I was a mess, and I suppose first impressions are hard to shake off. They’re checking in periodically, making sure the kids are all right."
"I don't like to think about you crying yourself to sleep."
"I'm not a crybaby. It's not like I do this every night. It was just a way to let it all out, I suppose." She seems to shrink a few inches as she adds in a low voice, "I felt like a failure."
Almost without realizing, I cup her cheeks, tilting her head up so she can't avoid looking at me.
"You're not," I say automatically. "You changed your life to accommodate everything around these kids. I think you're amazing."
"You're a sweet talker."
"No, this is me being honest." I respected her from the beginning because I usually like people who are competent in their job, but in the meantime, she's shot up to the list of people I admire. Dropping my hands from her cheeks, I place them on the counter at her sides, trapping her. "When I sweet talk you, you'll know it."
"Really?" Looking first down on the left and then to the right, she takes notice that I've completely invaded her private space, but instead of pushing me away, she merely glances up at me, cocking an eyebrow. Right, she's still waiting for my answer.
"Yeah."
"Give me a clue."
"Your panties will drop all on their own."
Inhaling sharply, she tilts her head to one side, as if she suddenly found something interesting to stare at to my left. Her hair slides back with the motion, baring her neck to me. Her skin is almost translucent, and I detect a faint smell of peach, probably her shampoo or shower gel. I could get drunk on the smell of her skin, on her in general. I'm tempted to dip my head lower and trail my mouth up and down her neck, feeling its softness. I grip the counter hard, steadying myself. The smart thing would be to step back, but right now, I'm not smart. I'm taken with this woman.
"You're truly incorrigible, Christopher," she whispers.
"Does this mean you're accepting my general shamelessness and won't scold me for hitting on you?"
"I'm starting to get that it really doesn't make a difference if I scold you or not."
"And you like it."
"Now don't put words in my mouth." She juts her head back in my direction, and our mouths almost collide. She stops short of touching my lips, but she’s so close I can feel her breath, can almost taste the sweetness of her mouth. She smells like cookies.
Walk back, Bennett. Walk back.
Instead, I lean forward until I feel her breasts against my front. A current of awareness zips through us, and my control nearly snaps when her soft nipples press against my chest. She's not wearing a bra. The temptation to cup her breasts overwhelms me, and feeling her nipples turn to hard buds sends a jolt straight to my groin.
"I'd say this is proof enough," I say in a low voice, desperately grasping for some humor to diffuse the sexual tension. I come up blank on laughs but find an unpleasant topic. "I shouldn't be so close to you when I haven't even showered yet."
