Beyond Repair (21 page)

“Yes!” I screamed, as he thrust in again.

“Fuck, I love being buried balls deep in you. I love you so much, Brooke. How the hell can you feel so good? Oh,
God
.”

With those words, I knew he had finally stopped worrying about me and was enjoying himself. And that was exactly what I wanted. I let myself go with him. Our sweaty bodies moved together, kissing and breathing heavily as Chris whispered a combination of dirty and sweet words in my ear that made my body crave more of him, moving in a way that was desperately seeking relief.

He reached between us and grazed my clit. I moaned, my body clenching in surprise. Chris groaned and his fingers started rubbing me harder and faster, his thrusts becoming even rougher as his eyes seared mine. His voice was tight, with the slightest tinge of awe in it. “You keep pulling me in more.”

I moaned in reply.

“I can’t wait. I can’t fucking wait. I want you to come so bad, baby. I can’t even put into words how much I want to make you come and feel you wrapped even tighter around me.”

“Oh, my God.”

Chris inhaled, dropping his head and resting his forehead against mine. “Baby, you have to come.
Please.
Shatter under me and clamp down on my dick so hard that you take me with you.” Unrestrained lips crashed against mine, his mouth devouring my own. “I have you, Brooke. And you have me.” He thrust deep as he whispered against my lips. “I can tell you’re close, baby. I can’t wait to feel you—”

And my gasp stopped him from speaking. My world was Chris building pressure as he moved inside of me, and everything exploded in a tsunami of pure ecstasy. I clung to him like he was my anchor, my body tightening as the most extreme pleasure ever flooded over me, all centered around the man I was in love with.

“Fuck, Brooke. I love you so much,” he gasped, slamming into me again. “God, you feel so good.” He gave another hard thrust, and his face tensed as I realized he had gone with me.

When we came back, he buried his head in my shoulder, staying inside of me. He didn’t put much weight on me, but I could feel his body tremble. “You’re everything,” he muttered in my ear. “You’re my world. My forever.”

“I can’t wait for forever with you,” I whispered back.

His pushed up on his arms and stared into my eyes. “We’ve already started,” he said, leaning down to kiss me.

Chapter Nineteen

R
ING … RING.

My heart sped up as the heavy arm wrapped around me tightened. I sighed, shifting closer to the warm body behind me.

Ring … ring
.

I opened my eyes, blinking for a moment as they adjusted to the sunlight filtering through the blinds. Chris mumbled something incoherent, and my world became incomplete when he moved away from me. Deciding to make the best of the situation, I turned over and enjoyed the view of his bare back as he reached for his phone. He rolled toward me, pulling me against him as he started talking.

“Full price? That’s great.” He paused. “Yeah, that’s fine. Can I sign them tomorrow, or later today?” He paused again, and traces of disappointment filled his voice. “Yeah, I can be there in a half an hour. Bye.” He tapped the screen and looked at me.

I smiled at him. “One of your houses sold?”

“Yeah, but they want me to sign the papers this morning.” He sighed and rubbed my arm. “I have to go meet my realtor. It won’t take too long, but I hate missing time with you.”

I traced his jaw with my fingers. I loved seeing him in the morning, with the lazy eyes, messy hair, and the faintest amount of stubble before shaving. “We still have a good part of the day. They’re not going to be back until after dinner.”

“Yeah.” His lips brushed mine. “I better get in the shower. I told them I’d be there at nine thirty.”

“It’s after nine already? I haven’t slept this late in years.”

He buried his head in the crook of my neck. “You had a busy night.”

I ran my fingers through his hair, tingles rushing through me as I remembered the night before. His mouth everywhere, his wonderful mix of sweet and dirty words, and his love-filled eyes gazing into mine as he rocked inside of me. Then falling asleep with his warm body against my back and his arms around me.

Yeah, I was in deep. And I was happy about it.

I really wanted to kiss him again, but I knew if I did, then he would never make it to his meeting on time. “Go get ready, so you can come back.”

He kissed my forehead and stood up, sporting a major erection as he headed to the bathroom. “If you want coffee or anything, help yourself,” he called over his shoulder.

I did not want to leave this bed. I wanted Chris to come back and for me to spend the entire day in his arms, my lips fused against his and our bodies joined.

Later
, I told myself, getting out of the bed and stretching. I couldn’t help the big smile that filled my face when I felt how sore I was. All day long, the soreness would be a wonderful reminder of Chris loving me.

After throwing on my clothes, I padded down the hall and into the kitchen. I wanted to cook something for him, but he didn’t have enough time to really eat anything, so I settled for making him coffee instead.

He came in just as it finished brewing and hugged me toward him. “I shouldn’t be long.”

“Take your time. I’ll go back to my place—”

His face dropped. “Really?”

“Just to take a shower. Then I’ll come back when you’re home.”

“Okay. Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?”

I would have rather stayed in with him alone, but I said, “Sure. We’ll just have to go early, senior-citizen style. Mia’s going to be home around six thirty.”

A smile filled his face. “Okay.” He lightly brushed my lips with his and took the travel mug of coffee I handed to him. “Love you. Bye.”

“Love you, too. Bye.”

I felt like I was in a sitcom from the fifties, the wife sending her husband off to work. Maybe we could have something like that someday. I could kiss Chris good-bye in the mornings, drop Mia off at school, go to work, and he could pick Mia up on his way home. The three of us could spend time together, and then I could fall asleep in his arms every frigging night.

It sounded like a dream. I hadn’t dreamed in so long.

I kept daydreaming as I threw on my jeans and headed back to my place. We could go to Disney World together. He could come with us to Zoey’s for Thanksgiving. He could help me put Mia’s Christmas presents under the tree.

By the time I took a shower and dried my hair, he was already back, unloading huge pots of flowers from the back of his truck.

I willed myself to pull my head out of the clouds, slipped into my flip-flops, and went outside. “Need help?”

He lit up when he saw me. “I had these for staging. You know, to make the house I just sold look nice? And I thought since Mia wanted a garden, she could have them.”

My mouth dropped open. “How did you even know that she wanted one?”

“You told me that first night we hung out. When Ryder was here and you guys came over?”

I stared at him. I didn’t remember telling him that.

He frowned. “Are you mad? I thought this would be perfect. They’re in the pots so you don’t have to really worry about weeding them and they’re so easy to take care of …”

“I’ve killed bamboo.”

He laughed. “I’ll help you. I just had these, and I knew she would like them, so I figured—”

Chris’s words were lost as I pulled him toward me and started kissing him. He broke away, looking stunned. “What was that for?”

“For doing the nicest thing ever for Mia.”

He rubbed the top of his head. “I just …” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Where should we put them?”

We found a good spot in my yard, and Chris moved the pots over, arranging them so the large pots looked like their flowers were spilling over into the smaller pots in front of them. The rainbow of colors combined with the height was really beautiful. I was surprised flowers in clay pots could look so pretty. “She is going to be so excited.”

He grinned at me. “You think so?” He put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to him, but then said, “Oh! Almost forgot,” and ran back toward his place.

He came back out a moment later and held his hand out as he reached me. I looked down, trying to make sense of the shiny, colored rocks.

Recognition hit me as I kept looking. He had put some sort of sealer on all of the rocks that Mia had painted for him. “I thought we could put these in there. I bet Mia will love that.”

I just stared at him, shaking my head. “I can’t believe you.”

He looked worried and glanced down at the rock. “Do you think she’ll be mad that I sealed them? I thought she’d like it because it made them shiny.”

“No, Chris. Of course, she’ll love it. This garden, the shiny rocks, the fact that you cared enough about her rocks to keep them and use them.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. “Thank you. For everything.”

He turned an adorable shade of pink and nodded, putting the rocks in with the flowers. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” I said. He laced his fingers through mine, and we walked back to his place.

When we got inside, Chris led me to the kitchen and nodded at a barstool. “Have a seat. Do you like eggs?”

“That sounds so good. I haven’t had eggs in forever.”

A few minutes later, we each had a plate of eggs with toast, and I took a bite.

“How are they?” Chris asked hopefully.

“Mmm … they’re …”
Gross, like rubber, and wayyyy too salty.
“Good. Really good.”

Chris took a bite and his eyes opened wide. “I fucked them up. Too much salt.”

“They’re not that bad.” I took a bite of toast. “The toast is good.”

He laughed. “Great, so I can make spaghetti with sauce from a jar and toast.” He shook his head. “That’s what I get for attempting something other than cereal.”

“What do you usually eat for dinner?”

He nodded at the freezer. “Whatever looks good in the frozen aisle. Or takeout. Oh, I can make mac and cheese, too.”

I laughed, thinking of Mia’s request for dinner tomorrow night, her real birthday. “Well, just wait until tomorrow night. That’s what we’re having.”

“Awesome. Hey, I can cook for you guys tomorrow night.”

“Well, I make it from scratch—”

“Okay, never mind. But speaking of Mia’s birthday, I need your opinion on something. Come with me.”

I followed Chris down the steps and into his basement. The opposite of mine, his was neat and didn’t have boxes or junk anywhere. Just a stack of wood against the wall, some power tools set up, and a workbench.

On the bench sat a little bed, exactly like the one Mia saw in the doll catalog. There was also a small table and with two chairs. “You made this?”

“Yeah. I figured I might as well. She wanted it and building stuff is kind of my thing. Though I’d never made a doll bed before. And then I made the table because the bed didn’t take me long to make. She’ll like that, right?”

“Of course, she’ll like it. She’ll love it. I can’t believe you made this for her.”

“Well, not everything. I ordered the blanket that goes with the bed online. I like Mia, but I’m not going to sew. But anyway, I wasn’t sure if I should paint it yellow like the one in the catalog, or if I should do purple.”

“God, Chris. Can you be any more perfect? I’m just waiting for something to be wrong with you.”

“I’m not perfect. I just worked on it a few nights after I came home; it’s really no big deal.”

“Stop saying that the things you do for Mia are no big deal. Because they are to me.”

Chris rubbed the top of his head, but finally said, “Mia is a great kid. If I can do something that will make her happy, then I will.”

I could feel myself flushing at his words. “Well, trust me, she’ll be very happy.”

“Good.” He smiled at me. “Now, purple or yellow?”

* * *

Chris linked his fingers through mine over the center console of his truck. “I’m having trouble figuring out how many dates we’ve been on.”

I started laughing. “Yeah, does Pizza Castle count?”

“I’m going to say no. That was Ryder and Mia’s date. We were just chaperoning. Does the time I ambushed you for lunch count?”

“I think so.”

“Great, so on our first date I stuttered when someone asked if we were together.”

“Yeah, and I had a panic attack. On our second date, too.”

He squeezed my hand. “They’re justified. But remember, I’m never going to let him get near you or Mia. I promise.”

“I know you won’t.” I sighed. “I haven’t had one since we went to Parked. Hopefully, I won’t have another one tonight.”

“If you do, then we’ll just work through it.” He raised my hand and brushed his lips against my knuckles, turning into a parking lot.

I did a double take when I saw the sign. Chris had asked me if Italian food was okay, and I assumed we were going to one of the chain restaurants. Not the super fancy, expensive restaurant. “Whoa. This place is classy. Kyle proposed to Zoey here.”

“I wanted to take you someplace nice. We don’t get to go out too often.”

I nodded. “This is really sweet of you, but you know I don’t need that, right? I’m happy getting Chinese food and watching a movie.”

He smiled. “I know. But it’s good to do stuff like this once in a while. Besides, I had Chinese food three times last week. I’m kind of sick of it.”

I laughed, and we went inside. The restaurant was beautiful. Dark beams of wood crossed the white ceiling, and globe lights floated down. Windows peeked out of gray brick walls, and yellow flowers were everywhere.

We sat in a corner, at a little table that had a stark white tablecloth and a yellow lily in a vase with little candles surrounding it. Though I wasn’t really a romantic person, I was digging the vibe. But thank God there wasn’t an accordion player going table to table or any dancing. That was where I drew the line.

“Well, you’re right. It’s nice to be in a restaurant that doesn’t have placemats you can color on. This is gorgeous.”

He grinned at me. “Good. I’m glad you like it.”

I bit my lip as he stared into my eyes. Really sweet, but if he kept this up, I was going to jump across this beautiful table and start kissing him. I needed to be classy in this restaurant. To distract me, I played with my napkin. “So, are you going to get another house now that this one sold?”