She reaches out to pat Hayes on the shoulder, who barely manages to keep his game face together. Meanwhile, I’m as red as a stop sign. She doesn’t know the half of it.
The drive back to Riverside is oddly pleasant. Hayes invites Don to sit in the front seat with him, and I gladly join Rosie in the back. The men share an awkward but sweet conversation about the best things to do in Chicago, while Rosie and I share an awkward but sweet look of appreciation. He’s trying.
When we arrive, Rosie insists on walking Don back inside. I crawl up to the front seat, a tangle of knees and elbows that sends Hayes diving for cover.
“Why didn’t you just get out and get back in?” He chuckles, brushing some dirt off his shoulder from my shoe.
I laugh, shrugging. “Do you care?”
“No,” he says, a sexy little smile spreading across his face.
He reaches out, his fingers tracing my jawline before he presses his thumb softly against my chin. It’s a simple, chaste gesture, but it sends a warm wave of pleasure through me.
When Hayes looks out the window again, his smile drops like a bag of bricks. I follow his gaze to see Don and Rosie sharing a good-night kiss, and my heart explodes.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, bouncing in my seat. “That’s sooo cute.”
“It’s not cute, Mare. It’s weird. And ballsy, but not in a good way. I don’t know this guy. For all I know, he’s just trying to steal Rosie’s social security checks.”
I angle an eyebrow at him. “Does Rosie have a sizable pension or something?”
He sighs, running a hand through his hair in frustration before mumbling, “No.”
“Hmm.” I lean over, patting him softly on the thigh. “You may not know Don, but I do. So you don’t have to trust him. You can just trust me. Okay?”
Hayes struggles with this for a moment. Truthfully, my patience is wearing thin.
“Tell me what’s really worrying you.”
He sighs softly. “I’m worried about what every man is worried about when his grandmother falls in love with a ninety-year-old man.”
My eyes narrow on his. “Him dying?”
Hayes scoffs. “Him breaking her heart.”
“Relax, babe,” I mutter, wishing we could just skip ahead to the part where everyone’s chummy.
“Babe?” he asks, turning to me with an amused look that overpowers the discomfort that was threatening to set up base for good.
Oops . . . I guess that’s one way to make him feel better.
“Is that okay?” I ask cautiously. Maybe I took it too far.
“No, it’s great.” He gives me a big grin. “Just unexpected.”
“Says the guy who regularly calls me dove,” I shoot back with a sly smile, walking my fingers up his chest.
With a mischievous grin, he catches my hand, bringing my fingertips to his mouth to bite them softly between his teeth. I gasp, snatching them back and clutching that chiseled jaw I’ve spent decades daydreaming about. His eyes glitter in the moonlight, growing darker as he leans in. When he speaks, his voice is wrapped in velvet.
“I thought you liked that.”
“Who says I don’t?”
Our lips are just a breath apart when the back door pops open and Rosie eases herself inside with a satisfied sigh. We pull apart reluctantly, Hayes clearing his throat as I crack the window open for a little more air flow.
“Oh, don’t stop on my account. We didn’t stop on yours,” Rosie says matter-of-factly, humor in her innocent expression.
Hayes shudders, shaking his head mournfully as he starts the car. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Or high-fiving Rosie. Or kissing Hayes.
Lucky for me, there’s plenty of kissing once Rosie goes to bed.
Pressed up against the door of his bedroom, I let him have his way with me, kissing me deeply, urgently. I feel dizzy, drunk on his scent and taste. When his hands wander from my waist to my ass, hoisting me up against his tented pants, I let out a little squeak of surprise. Hayes smiles deliciously against my lips.
“No need to be quiet.” He leans in to nip at my neck, and I gasp, my back arching and breasts pressing against his chest. “We’re all alone on this side of the apartment. Besides, Rosie takes out her hearing aids every night.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” I say softly, trying to focus despite the molten heat in my core, pressed against his rock-hard erection.
“That’s what I said. What if the fire alarm goes off?” He sighs, his fingers slipping under the hem of my romper to play with my cotton panties, which are already damp. “Doesn’t matter to her. She says she can’t sleep with them in.”
My eyes widen.
“Let’s stop talking about Rosie.” With that, he spins me around and deposits me on the bed with a gentle whump.
My heart rate accelerates as I watch him unbutton his shirt and gaze down at me with hungry eyes. “I’ll bet you’ve got this down to a science,” I say, blinking up at him.
“Got what down?” he asks, pulling the tie of my romper slowly undone.
“Having sex . . . here.”
He pauses, his eyes flickering up to mine. “I’ve never brought anyone else here.”
“Really?” I ask, equal parts shocked and touched. That doesn’t seem possible.
“Nope,” he murmurs, lowering himself over me to pepper soft kisses along my collarbone.
“You’ve really never brought a hookup here before? A girlfriend?”
Hayes sighs, sitting back on his heels and running a hand through his mussed hair. “No one but you . . . and you’re not a hookup, dove.”
I pull myself up until I’m level with him, wrapping my arms around his neck to kiss him hard on the mouth. He groans against my lips, his hands settling tightly around my waist as he grinds against me. When we part, we’re both breathless.
“You’re killing me, sweetheart,” he murmurs.
He reaches around me to pull my ponytail down, allowing my hair to spill over our shoulders. With his fingers tangled in my
