He moved next to her and covered her mouth with his. She was on his lips, in his mouth, and hopefully protected somewhere in his heart.
After a long kiss, he stood and dropped his pants. That hungry look in his eyes grew fiercer. "What do you like, Mercy?"
She had no idea. She certainly liked what she'd experienced so far. "Do you have a menu?"
He pulled a condom from the nightstand drawer and rolled it on. "Do you want me to make one?"
She reached and tugged him on top of her—his heavy length pressing between her legs.
"No, I'm feeling a bit greedy tonight. How about you give me all that you got?"
And in one swift thrust, he did. He filled her in places she didn't know existed. It wasn't just body to body; they were soul to soul. If this was how the night started, she was sure there would be no sleep in their sleepover.
Chapter Seventeen
Alex called Louise to let her know he'd pick Maddie up and take her to breakfast.
"Did you two have a nice night?" Louise asked.
Nice didn't begin to describe what the evening was like. He had plenty of marathon nights in his past, but none left him feeling like he wanted more. His life was changing faster than his brain could process.
"Thanks for watching Maddie."
Louise laughed. "I like a man who doesn't kiss and tell. Not sure how hungry Maddie will be since the kids polished off two cereal boxes, but she'll be happy to see you."
"Did she do okay?"
"Something tells me Maddie's done a lot of sleepovers somewhere else."
He knew it was true in the back of his mind, but it unsettled him to think that she'd been carted around and slept in strange places so her mom could get a fix or check off another bucket list person.
"I'm sure you're right. Again, thank you."
"Anytime. We loved having her."
Hands slipped around his waist from behind, and a glorious set of lips kissed his bare back.
"We've got thirty minutes to shower and get Maddie."
She moved in front of him, and God did she look sexy wearing his shirt. Seeing her in his clothes was almost as good as seeing her wearing him.
"A shower will only take fifteen minutes." She gave him that look that said she was ready for more.
He lifted her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist. "You are my kind of woman."
She leaned in and whispered. "Ready and willing?"
"No, although I like that you are, you're so much more than that."
"Tell me."
"Lord, have mercy on me."
"You've got about fourteen minutes to make that happen."
He moved to the bedroom in a flash.
They were five minutes late picking up Maddie, but she didn't seem to mind. When she noticed them at the door, she ran with open arms and went straight to Mercy. At first, it pricked at his heart, but one look at the two of them hugging, and he was sure if the tables turned, he would have run to Mercy too.
"Are you hungry?"
Maddie looked at him. "Can I have a pancake with chocolate chips?" She pronounced the L carefully as if making sure she got it right.
"You can have anything you want."
"Then, I'm hungry."
He took her from Mercy and hoisted her to his hip, then turned back to Louise.
"Thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you watching Mads."
Louise waved him off. "It wasn't anything we wouldn't do for another Aspen Cove family member."
Was this what family was like? "I'm a little rusty on the family thing. I've never had one."
She touched his arm. "They're a little like plants; you talk to them, water and feed them, and make sure they're taken care of. Some are prickly, and some are pretty and sweet. Some are downright poisonous, but they all have a place in our lives."
Between Doc and Louise and Mercy, he was being schooled. He used to think he had it all figured out until he came to Aspen Cove, and they taught him that he didn't know squat about anything.
When they got to the diner, he was starving and knew Mercy could eat a few blue-plate specials on her own with the calories she burned. Anyone that said he couldn't lose weight making love was crazy.
Maisey came by and took their order. With her glasses perched low on her nose, she studied the three of them.
"Looks to me like you've got a nice little family started here."
Alex looked at Mercy, whose jaw had dropped.
"It's not like that." Mercy blushed. "I work for Alex, and we're friends."
If she'd picked up her knife and stabbed him, it would have hurt less. Hadn't last night proved they were more than friends? He'd never let a woman spend the night because that was far too risky. His father had warned him early on that if they stayed the night, they remained too long. Then again, his father was an asshole.
"Hmm," Maisey hummed and looked straight at Mercy. "I learned long ago to stop lying to myself." She tapped her back end. "I'll never lose that last twenty pounds, and no matter what products I use, I'll never have the skin of a twenty-year-old, but the biggest lie I used to tell myself was that I didn't need love because I could love myself and that was enough." She glanced over her shoulder to see Ben sliding an order across the pickup window. "That man there proved I was wrong."
She waited with her order pad and pen.
Alex paused for Mercy to order, but he ordered for all three of them when she didn't. "Two blue-plate specials and a chocolate chip pancake." He winked at Maddie. "Extra chocolate, please."
She bounced in her seat. "Thank you, Daddy, I w … love you."
He reached across the table to tap her button nose. "I love you too, squirt."
"See, love is special. You can't buy it, and you can't make it, it just is. When it's right,
