I straddled him while Stella meowed.
Colton chuckled. “She’s demanding.”
I rolled my eyes again. “You have no idea. But you’ll learn I can be too. Now kiss me.”
His tongue dove into my mouth, taking everything he could, as if he wouldn’t have a chance later on. But I had no doubt he would have all the time in the world to do whatever he liked. Because if I was moving, I was asking Colton to come with me.
We were tangled together until I heard Nan coming up the stairs. Then I resumed my spot with Dad’s computer in my lap, as if we hadn’t almost stripped each other naked.
“Hey, I’m making spaghetti. It should be ready in about an hour. Colton, would you like to stay for dinner?”
“I would love to,” Colton said.
Nan’s face lit up. It was the first time all day the stress had disappeared. “Did you send an email to your dad’s lawyer?”
“I’m just about to.” I got into his email account once Nan left, and Colton slid down, then turned on his side, propping his head in his hand and watching me.
“Colton, please don’t worry. If I know Nan, she will make sure I stay.” In that moment, a rush of confidence blanketed me. I had to think positively or I would make myself sick.
“I can’t say I won’t. But I’ll try not to.”
That was fair. I had to do the same. “One more thing. Please, please, don’t ever think you have to take your own life. Ever, Colton. Anytime you feel like you can’t make it through the day, talk to me or Grady or someone. Deal?” Nan had given me a similar message about talking to someone, and Colton definitely needed that same advice. I couldn’t lose him.
Stella jumped on his lap. “I promise, baby doll. It was stupid of me to even consider doing something like that. I see that now. You and Grady helped me. My mom did too. And I think to a certain extent, my old man.”
“I saw a therapist after my mom passed.”
He petted Stella. “Did it help?”
I nodded. “Talking to someone other than my dad helped me deal with her loss. I mean, I was still depressed, but she told me to celebrate Mom and find an outlet. That’s when Dad got me the skateboard.”
“Is that why you wanted to skate the other night?”
I picked at something hard that was stuck to the computer screen. “Yeah. I know I fell, which was your fault, by the way. But the sport helps me clear my consciousness. And I’m finding you help in that regard too.”
He grinned as Stella mewled. “My mom wants me to see a psychologist.”
“It can’t hurt.”
Silence hung between us. He seemed to dive inward, and I hoped he would take his mom up on it. I vowed to help him as much as I could, but I could only go so far. Someone who was removed from the situation saw things differently.
I scrolled through a string of emails between Dad and his lawyer, giving Colton time to think.
One email caught my eye: Randall, I’m still in the process of finding out more, but here’s a recent photo of Skyler’s biological mother. See attached.
Curiosity gripped me, and I opened the file.
Colton adjusted himself so he was looking at the screen with me. “Who are those ladies?”
It was the same pic I’d found one night on Dad’s computer screen. “I guess one of them is my birth mom.”
I flicked back to the email and finished reading the rest aloud.
“‘The woman in the middle is Ashley Perry, Skyler’s biological mother. Since we opened up the case, Ashley will be informed. I have an investigator who is digging into her whereabouts. I should have more on her soon.’”
I read the other emails from the lawyer but didn’t find any more info on my birth mom, so I clicked back to the picture.
“I see the resemblance.” Colton touched the screen, his finger landing on the woman in the middle, who had light-brown hair and eyes to match, along with that cool charm necklace.
I zoomed in on the picture, trying to read the inscription on her necklace rather than the resemblance, which I didn’t see. Sure, I had light-brown hair and eyes like her, but that was it. Maybe I took after my biological father. “Where?”
Colton looked at me then at the screen. “Here.” He traced the woman’s nose. “It’s small like yours, and like you, she has a little dimple on the right side of her mouth when she smiles.”
Mom had been the one to make a big deal of my dimple when she’d been alive. Since then, no one had commented on it until now. The more I studied the woman in the photo, the more I agreed with Colton. “If my hair was longer like hers, we could pass for sisters. She looks young in this photo.”
“I would guess thirty-something,” Colton said. “Do you think your mom lives in town?”
“Not sure. I know my parents moved here for my dad’s job, and they adopted me after that. So I assume she lives here.” She could be anywhere in the world.
“Are you going to find out more about her?”
I chewed on a nail. “I think I’m ready.”
He took the computer out of my hands and set it on the other side of him. Then he lifted me up and set me on his lap. Once again, I was straddling him. “I’m ready.”
I could feel his growing erection. “Nan is home, so we can’t.” I lowered my gaze to his groin.
He let out a frustrated sigh as he pouted. “I know, but I’ve been thinking about something and wanted to talk to you. You asked me this morning what happens next with you and me.” He rubbed my bare legs. I’d been lounging in my pajama shorts all day, but I was wearing a bra and stretchy camisole that showed my cleavage.
Intrigue had me biting
