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I used to take him to Lake Michigan to watch the sunset over the water. But like so many other things, it had taken a back seat. Sometimes I wondered if Lenny resented me being gone so much and if he wished he were still with Mom.
But would I let him go if he said he wanted to? Because even if he wanted to live with her, I didn’t know if I’d let him.
We got our dinner, Jude insisting on paying, and ate it in front of the TV, watching a show about dinosaurs.
And as I was looking at Jude teasing Lenny about only taking three bites to eat one slice, I realized that I wanted this for the rest of my life. With Jude. He fit into our little family like he’d always been there.
Lenny ate all but two slices, then slouched on his side of the couch in a content food coma.
Jude had been tugging me closer and closer until I was almost sitting on his lap. Not satisfied with the arrangement, he took one of my legs and draped it over his.
“I’m going to bed.” Lenny yawned, then eyed us with a wrinkled nose. “If you’re staying over again, I want donuts for breakfast tomorrow.” He got up, stretching. “My love can be bought. Mostly with food. But I won’t turn away other bribes.”
I narrowed my eyes at my little shithead brother. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “What? You always tell me to be honest.”
Groaning, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Whatever. Go to bed.”
“I was. Until you were getting ready for a lecture before you thought better of it.” He saluted Jude. “You should know she’s a seventy-year-old trapped in a twenty-three-year-old’s body.”
“Lenny.” My outraged shriek was followed by a pillow thrown at his grinning face.
He ducked out of the way and disappeared into his room with an evil laugh.
Jude lightly tugged on a strand of my hair. “Does that mean he’s okay with us being together?”
Turning to face him, I traced his jaw with my finger, loving the way he leaned closer as if he couldn’t help himself. “If you keep feeding him, definitely. But if the food stops showing up, you might find tomatoes in your shoes and your clothes gone.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up. “Tomatoes?”
“He did that to me when he was six. Didn’t like that I sent him to school. Believe me when I tell you, putting your foot in a shoe filled with tomatoes isn’t something you ever want to feel first thing in the morning.”
Jude bellowed out a laugh, and I couldn’t help but lean in and place a kiss on his bicep. Grinning up at him, I noticed he’d stopped laughing. Instead, his molten gaze was hungrily drinking me in.
“Just so you know, I’m staying the night.”
“Just so you know, I won’t stop you.”
He was up immediately, taking me with him and throwing me over his shoulder. I shrieked at the sudden movement, unable to see anything since my hair tie had come loose and my thick tresses were now covering my face.
I found myself airborne before landing on my bed. Jude closed and locked the door, then ripped off his shirt. There was a tearing sound, but it went ignored by both of us because his pants were gone next, leaving him in his boxer shorts and socks.
Tearing my gaze away from his rippling abs, I pointed at his feet. “Don’t even think of leaving your socks on.”
They were gone immediately, and then he was next to me, trailing his hand up my arm. “So soft. So perfect.” His voice was quiet, as if he didn’t want to break whatever spell had woven around us. “Beautiful. You own me.”
I felt a connection to him that I’d never felt before. There was something about Jude that left me spellbound.
The heat I saw in his eyes made me shiver, the words he whispered making me tingle. “I’ve wanted you from the first time I saw you.
A husky chuckle escaped me, followed by a moan when he trailed his tongue over my collarbone. “I’m glad slamming the door in your face didn’t deter you.”
He raised my shirt, his hands tracing every dip and curve of my body on their way up. I sat up, lifting my arms, and he slid my top off.
He found the back clasp of my bra and expertly undid it with one hand. I kissed his neck, then lightly bit his earlobe. “Show-off.”
Pulling off my bra, he kissed his way down my chest. “There’s a lot more I can show you.”
