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I blush. “Hammer whisking me off my feet and taking care of me when I fell.”
“Wish I’d been here for that.” She giggles. “Focus on these moments. Live in the moment, Frankie. You won’t be disappointed, and even if bad stuff happens, we’ll face it and move on.”
“What did we miss?” Hammer asks as he sets a heaping plateful of food down in my lap.
“Your sister’s words of wisdom,” I tell him.
He looks at his sister and gives her his dimples. “She learned everything from her older brother,” he replies. Izzy nearly chokes with laughter on her first forkful. Saint’s booming voice fills the room with his, and Hammer laughs right along with him. This is real. I’m taking Izzy’s advice: I’m going to live in the moment.
It’s a great night, and sharing it with Hammer’s sister and brother-in-law reminds me of the importance of family. No matter how much money Grandad had, he still put his family first, and he considered all the people who worked with him to be part of his corporate family. I miss him terribly, but I’m also glad that he didn’t bear witness to the unkind words that were spoken about him and our family.
After dinner, Saint practically carried Izzy out to the car. They came on his motorcycle, but Saint said it was too dangerous to ride back with Izzy being pregnant. Then he went on a tirade about how she should have told him before they left because she shouldn’t have been on the back of the bike in her condition. She simply smiled and nodded to appease him.
Hammer handed him the keys to his Explorer and told Saint to pick him up in the morning, laughing uncontrollably at his friend through it all.
“Just wait until it happens to you,” Saint said. “Then I’ll be laughing my head off.”
Hammer’s response surprised me. “When Frankie and I get pregnant, you can have at it, and I won’t give a shit because I’m going to be too busy being happy.” The thought of having Hammer’s baby should scare the hell out of me, but it has the opposite effect. Having a family of my own is something I’ve always dreamed of. I can just imagine a little boy with Hammer’s dimples. I’d never put him down, and he’d be the most loved child in the world.
That’s when it hits me! Oh my God, I’m way past liking Hammer and have fallen in love with him. Panic sets in. How could I have let this happen? I lose the people I love. The mere thought of Hammer walking away would be devastating.
I’m too busy trying not to hyperventilate to notice that Hammer is watching me until he gets in my face. “Francesca, what the hell is happening? You spaced out and have been staring out at nothing with an expression that has me worried. Are you in pain? Do I need to get Saint back here?”
“This won’t work.” I shrink back from his touch as he reaches for me. “It never works out for me. You’ll get tired of me, and I’ll never recover. The longer we do this, the more I’ll fall in love with you. What will happen to me then? We have to stop.” I wave my hand between the two of us. “This has to be over,” I rant, tears streaming down my face.
I can’t look at his pained expression and hide my face in my hands. Hammer pulls my hands away. “I’m not leaving. We’re together because we belong together.” I shake my head, but he presses his hands on either side of my face, forcing me to look at him. “I love you. Unconditionally. We’re doing this together.”
“You l-love me?”
“Baby, what do you think we’re doing here?” he asks, but goes on without waiting for my response. “I’ve had other women, but none that I come home to every night because I can’t imagine not seeing her at the end of my day. You’re who I want to be with when I wake up and the woman I want by my side when we go to sleep. I’ve never had that, never wanted that, until you.”
He sounds so sure of himself. I want to believe him more than anything.
“I’m terrified,” I whisper.
“I’m not. I’ve never been so sure of anything,” he says. “Beat back the fear, because I’m not letting you go.” He moves to sit next to me, puts an arm around the back of the couch, reaches for the remote, and flips on the television. “What are you in the mood for?” he asks.
I stare at his profile for a while before coming to the conclusion that if he’s willing to risk his heart, then I’m willing to risk mine.
“I can go for either one of the raspberry or lemon tarts that I made earlier,” I tell him. He looks down at me with a grin. “I made them earlier, but I can go for one”—I lift a finger, then another—“or two.”
Hammer laughs out loud. Eventually, he goes to the kitchen, coming back with half a dozen tarts. I only ate two. He had the rest, and he put on a girly chick flick just for me.
FOURTEEN
Taking the Bait
HAMMER
I should leave her alone, but I can’t seem to keep my hands off her. I’m careful not to move her ankle, which is resting on the mound of pillows. I nudge her other leg to open the space between her thighs, giving me a glimpse of her pink panties.
The minx was moaning my name in her sleep and curling into me. I spent the entire night listening to her purr and murmur incoherently, but I know what she was dreaming about. It took every ounce of my resolve to let her sleep, while my poor cock suffered. I ached so bad, I was up at 2:00 a.m., taking a cold shower and jerking off to the soft voice I couldn’t get out of my mind.
Now this morning, I find her rubbing up against me, and I can’t take it anymore. I have to have her. Hence, I’m going to give us both what we’ve been craving. I press my mouth over her panty-clad pussy, running my tongue along her core under the silk. In her sleepy state, Frankie lets out a moan and wiggles her bottom half into my face. I pull aside the gusset of her panties, peppering kisses over her core and pulling open her pussy lips, savoring every inch of her.
I’m rewarded with a guttural moan of my name, her eyes flickering open to see me between her legs. I push two fingers inside her and watch as she throws her head back, arching her back and swiveling her hips.
Frankie tries to cock her knees, but as soon as she moves her ankle, she lets out a searing hiss of pain.
