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‘No, you will,’ Sarah ordered. She dropped her voice to a gentle tone. ‘Everything will work out fine, Bear. Good luck tonight.’
‘Thanks, Shrimp.’ He ended the call and pocketed the phone, feeling slightly lighter, as he often did after talking to his sister. He hoped she was right.
Easing back against the cushions, Matt recounted his plan in his mind. Convincing Hannah that they really could be a family wouldn’t be hard. He could barely keep his hands to himself; chemistry like theirs couldn’t be faked and it couldn’t be hidden. Tonight’s dinner would be fine. He would make sure of it...
Seven months ago
Rays of light beaming on his face woke Matt up. Blearily, he peeked one eye open, squinting against the bright morning sunshine. It was nearly blinding. He turned his face away, seeking the shadow that fell on the pillow. Slowly, he blinked, finally able to see clearly, and his lungs ceased working.
Hannah was fast asleep, curled towards him with her head resting on his shoulder, lips slightly parted, red lashes fanning over her cheek. Her red hair was draped over his arm like a waterfall of silk. This close, undisturbed, he could see the light freckles across her skin, an entire constellation over her shoulders and her chest.
Light and shadow fell over her. Never in his life had he seen anything so beautiful.
Her naked breasts pushed against his side and the taste of them flashed across his tongue. They had left the club in a hurry to get back to her place. From the lift to the cab, even up to her apartment, they had been locked in what seemed like one embrace until they’d tumbled through the door in a tangle of limbs and lips.
A moan escaped those lips now and she shifted, her leg resting over his. Her sex brushed against his thigh, instantly making him hard.
Even in her sleep she was a vixen. Beautiful, perfect and sexy as hell.
He threaded his fingers through her hair, watching a frown form between her brows. He wanted to smooth it away, knowing just how soft her skin was. More than anything, he wanted to kiss her, but how could he wake her? That would be entirely heartless.
Matt knew he should wake her, get out of bed and head back to Alex’s penthouse. But he just couldn’t. He wanted to lie in this bed watching Hannah for hours. Feel how she clung to him. Watch how her lashes fluttered as she dreamed.
He wondered what she was dreaming about. A strand of bright-red hair fluttered onto her face, making her nose twitch. A deep chuckle escaped him as he brought his other hand up to brush her hair back. Had he ever seen anything more adorable?
Matt had no intention of waking her. But he couldn’t stop his hand from caressing her cheek, running over the curve of her neck and down her arms until his fingers threaded in hers. He had had her several times the night before, but he was nowhere near satiated. He ached to claim her again and, when they were done, do it one more time.
As if she sensed the need in him, her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him, with an open expression full of warmth and a hint of vulnerability, before she smiled and it was gone, replaced by that focussed look she’d had just before they kissed.
If anyone had asked Matt what his favourite colour was before, he would have said that he didn’t much care. This morning, if he’d had to answer, without having to think the answer would be brown. But even that was too simple a word. There wasn’t one he could think of to adequately describe the rainbow of amber, caramel, cognac and honey in her eyes as it reflected the morning sun.
She was so beautiful, it was as if something in him cracked.
‘Looks like we forgot to close the blinds.’ Hannah yawned.
‘Oops.’ Matt smirked. They’d both been too far gone to care about anything other than each other. Just as he didn’t care right now. He tilted her face up to his and claimed her lips, urgently, powerfully. He felt her small hands on his chest as she raised herself towards him. Her lips parted on a gasp when he squeezed her arse and he swept his tongue into her mouth, tasting her sweetness.
‘Do you have to get back?’ Hannah asked against his lips.
He let out a laugh somewhere between a huff and a moan. ‘I can’t think of a single place that could pull me away right now, Hannah. I’m all yours.’ He pulled away from her, folding his arms under his head as he rested back on the pillows. A teasing smile curved his full lips. ‘Do with me what you will.’
Her smile was devilish, making excitement course through him. Matt watched her hand slip under the covers. Her fingers trailed over the hard ridges of his abdomen, tickling as they went lower and lower, until he felt her grasp his hardness and his body automatically thrust into her grip.
‘I like the way you think,’ he said, voice rough and raw. He closed his eyes, the image of her victorious smile burned into his memory. Hannah really was the most perfect thing he had ever seen...
* * *
Matt opened his eyes, the memory squeezing his heart. For a moment London had dissolved into nothing and he’d been back in that flat with Hannah, when things had been simpler. His arms missed the way her body felt in them. He still wanted her, but he had to be so careful. He couldn’t allow himself just to lose control with her, like he had on holiday. Life outside that bubble was different. It wasn’t all about lust now. It was about duty and being the man his child deserved. If he had his way, the man a proper husband should be.
Matt sighed quietly into the warm, still air of the summer’s evening. It was nearly time for them to leave. Convincing himself one more time that everything would go to plan tonight, Matt pushed to his feet and stepped inside.
It was quiet. The voices of the hair stylist and make-up artist were completely absent. Matt supposed that meant Hannah was ready. Quietly, he made his way to her bedroom as he slipped on his jacket, buttoning it as he walked. His hand raised to knock on the door frame, but his body ceased as his gaze landed on her in front of the mirror.
Her eyes were cast down as she swished the skirts of her flowing emerald dress. One of her hands travelled up the satin fabric to land on her belly. A delicate smile was in place on her face. Red hair, so soft Matt could still feel it on his skin months later, curled and fell in waves down her back. Straps of striking colour against her light skin fell off her shoulders, and his gaze followed them to the neckline that met in the dip between her breasts.
And then he caught the reflection of her face in the mirror. And, oh, her face! It wasn’t so much the make-up that made her breath-taking—because the make-up artist had done a fine job—it was the open expression. She thought she was alone. None of her barriers was up. All he saw was happiness and love as she looked down at the evidence of their growing child.
The Hannah he had met in Melbourne had smiled often, broadly. She’d laughed hard and without care. He had glimpsed a different side to her back then, a softer side, where her smiles were gentle and had somehow punched through him more powerfully. Where her breathy chuckle had seemed like a secret. That Hannah only came out in unguarded moments. That was the Hannah at whom we was looking now.
