Hero of Mine Read online

  When he found her clit, she twisted and turned, wanting to move closer and further away from the sensations assaulting her. He had switched back to her other breast, sucking her as he rubbed her in fast circles. A steady throb increased between her legs as her orgasm built, her thighs tightening as she came, moaning quietly into her hands, muffling the cries as she flew higher and higher.

  She came down slowly, jerking every time he brushed her swollen clit. She opened her eyes, the lids suddenly so heavy it felt like someone had attached weights to them.

  “Still wanna shower?”

  TYLER WANTED TO strip her down to nothing, to learn every curve and line of her body.

  So, when he got up from the bed and lifted her into his arms, his plan was to do just that under a fall of hot water.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “What do you think? I’m going to make sure you get all those nooks and crannies.”

  To his surprise, she didn’t even put up a fight, just ran her hand along his jaw. “You, too.”

  He sat her on the counter while he turned on the hot water.

  “Get out of those clothes.”

  She laughed while she pushed the robe down her arms, his eyes watching every move she made. When she reached behind and unsnapped her bra, he searched through the pockets of his jeans for his wallet. He kept his emergency condom in the money slot, but when he pulled it open, there was nothing but a few one-dollar bills.

  “Shit!” His hungry gaze shot back up to her, her full breasts free of the confines of her bra and her blonde hair tumbling around her bare shoulders in beautiful abandon.

  It was too cruel, too painful to even utter the words.

  “I don’t suppose you have any condoms floating around?”

  Her face fell. “No. You don’t have one?”

  “I usually do in my wallet for emergencies, but I don’t know what happened to it.”

  Suddenly, she looked furious with him and started yanking her robe up her body. “Maybe you used it and forgot about it.”

  “Hey.” He went to stand between her legs, tipping her face up to his. “I swear, I haven’t been with anyone. Not since that day at the park.” His forehead pressed against hers, and he realized that she had no reason to believe him. He was a self-admitted man whore. Why would she?

  “I don’t want you going into this not trusting me.” Damn, what the hell was happening to him? Mr. Sensitive and shit.

  Her arms looped around his shoulders, her forehead still resting against his. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have immediately gone there.”

  “It’s okay. We’ve got time. And although it kills me to say it, maybe we should tap the brakes until you do trust me.”

  “I trust you, Tyler, obviously. I let you stay with my kid—”

  “Hey, hey, you don’t have to get defensive, I’m not mad. I’m just saying that I get you still have reservations, and I can wait.” He tilted his head to kiss her, his mouth barely leaving hers to whisper, “You’re worth waiting for.”

  And to his surprise, he meant every word.

  She broke the kiss, her hands sliding down his chest and lower over his abdomen.

  “You know, there are other things we can do while we wait.” She peeked up at him from beneath her lashes, and his cock flexed at the heated look and suggestive tone.

  “Yeah? Like what?”

  Dani pushed him back and climbed off the counter. Before he could ask what she was doing she sank to her knees, her hands unlooping his belt.

  “Oh, I think I’ll just have to show you.”

  Chapter Twenty

  TYLER WOKE UP with a start, confused for a second as he took in his surroundings. Finally, it sank in through his foggy brain that he’d stayed over at Dani’s last night. Slept in her bed.

  And he still hadn’t gotten sex.

  Well, okay, he couldn’t say that exactly. Dani had taken care of him so well, his legs were still shaking ten minutes after he finished. Her breath warming his cock as her tongue slipped up and down his shaft, tightening his balls until she fully encased him in her wet mouth.

  Shit, and now he had a boner tenting his boxers.

  Climbing out of her bed, he picked his jeans up off the floor and pulled them on, careful of the hard-on as he zipped. He buttoned them as he started down the stairs, listening to the sound of Dani singing, high-pitched and a little off-key, but Noah’s laughter joining in told Tyler Noah didn’t mind that his mom was tone-deaf. As he reached the landing, Tyler smiled at the sight that greeted him.

  Dani, her hair pulled up in a messy bun, was holding Noah on her hip, letting him stir a bowl of batter. The two of them, with their heads bent close together, were the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  Dani’s gaze jerked to his, her cheeks a bright, rosy pink. Noah squirmed in her arms. “Tywer!”

  Dani let him down, and the little boy ran full speed out of the kitchen, Shasta trotting along beside him. Tyler picked him up and swung him into the air, making Noah squeal.

  “What’s up, little man?”

  He started talking a mile a minute; most of it Tyler didn’t catch, but he did recognize one word.

  “You’re making donuts with Mommy, huh?”

  “Mini donuts,” Dani said, holding up some kind of hot pink appliance.

  “Awesome.” Tyler carried Noah over to stand next to her, and he hesitated, wanting to kiss her so bad it hurt, but unsure. They’d already broken the rules by letting him around Noah and especially spending the night here, but would she shy away if he tried?

  He decided to give her a back pat to be on the safe side, watching her ladle batter into the donut-shaped molds. Finally, she closed the lid and turned to face them with a grin. “And now, we wait. Do you like cinnamon sugar or chocolate dipped?”

  “Chocolate!” Noah shouted in his ear, and he laughed.

  “I’m with him.”

  “Okay, I’ll melt the chocolate. Why don’t you two go watch TV or play?”

  Tyler’s lips twitched. “Yes, Mom.”

  She gave him a playful glare as Tyler carried Noah to the couch. “What do you think we should watch?”

  “Mickey!”

  “Don’t you like anything besides Mickey?” Tyler asked.

  Noah shook his head, his thumb going into his mouth.

  “All right, cool, we can watch Mickey.” Tyler clicked through, searching for the cartoon mouse in the queue, but it wasn’t there. He went to search. Typing the word in, he found the cover but saw that it read unavailable.

  “Sorry, buddy, but it looks like they don’t have it anymore.”

  It was like a volcano erupted in the form of a screaming toddler. Big tears ran from Noah’s eyes as his mouth hung open, spittle oozing down his chin.

  Tyler put his hands up as Dani came running in. “I didn’t mean to!”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “They got rid of Mickey on streaming, and when I told him, he detonated.”

  Dani seemed amused by his discomfort, if the little smirk on her full lips was any indication. Kneeling in front of her son, she took his hands in hers.

  “Noah, stop crying. We’ve got Mickey on DVD, remember? Why don’t you grab whatever one you want to watch, and I’ll put it on for you?”

  Noah still whimpered and sniffled as he got up from the couch and went over to the DVDs, proceeding to pull all of them off the shelf.

  For some reason, Tyler felt like apologizing. “I didn’t mean to upset him; I was just telling him. I didn’t expect that reaction.”

  “Yeah, sometimes he just has a giant meltdown, usually when he’s tired. Don’t worry about it, seriously.”

  Tyler had a hard time relaxing after that, worried about saying the wrong thing and setting off another tantrum. He was just starting to think he’d gotten the hang of dealing with little kids, and now he was back to square one. With his confidence a little shaken, he pulled out h
is phone and saw a text from his mom.

  Hey, honey! Just wanted to make sure you’re going to be here by five. Your dad is pretty upset about having veggie burgers instead of the real thing, so he’s grumpy, but I just keep reminding him about what the doctor said. Looking forward to seeing you!

  Shit. He’d forgotten about his dad’s birthday. Not totally, he had a gift and everything, but he forgot the party was today . . . in South San Francisco.

  He looked over at Noah curled up on the edge of the couch and sucking his thumb as he stared at the TV. And Dani, who was dipping the donuts in melted chocolate and placing them on a plate. For a second, he imagined that this was his life, spending his weekends watching cartoons and playing with Noah and his nights making love to Dani.

  Even with the unnerving tantrums and the druggie ex, it sounded pretty good to him.

  He got off the couch and went into the kitchen, leaning against the counter and watching Dani work. “So, I’ve been thinking . . . ”

  “A dangerous pastime,” she sang.

  “What?”

  A pink blush stole up her cheeks. “Sorry, too many hours watching Disney movies. What were you going to say?”

  “Okay. Today is my dad’s birthday. I was thinking maybe I could take Noah and you to the San Francisco Zoo, and then afterward, we could head to my parents’ house for the party. If you’re ready for that.”

  Tyler wasn’t quite sure what her expression meant. The wide green eyes and almost slack-jawed look was definitely surprise, but was that a good thing?

  “I . . . I mean, we would love to. That sounds like a lot of fun, but are you sure?”

  Without worrying about the appropriateness this time, he reached out and pulled her to him, hugging her against him. She didn’t tense or try to disengage. In fact, she slid her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.

  The trust in the gesture made his heart do a flip in his chest. “Absolutely.”

  SEVEN HOURS LATER, Dani walked on the other side of Noah, smiling as Tyler squatted down next to him, pointing out some kind of exotic bird. Dani was hardly paying attention to what he was saying, she was too distracted by the giddy, happy feeling bubbling up her throat.

  Okay, so it was stupid, and she’d sworn she wouldn’t get like this, but the day had been amazing so far. They’d gotten dressed while Tyler went home to get changed and drop Duke off at his friend’s place. When he’d picked them up, she’d had the diaper bag packed, Noah in a cute polo and cargo pants, and she was wearing a simple green dress, black leggings, and boots. She’d walked out the door carrying Noah, and the way Tyler had looked at her right before he’d leaned over and kissed her lips sweetly . . .

  Well, it had set the tone for the whole trip, during which Noah slept soundly in his car seat while Tyler and Dani talked about everything from music to his family. She knew he had two half siblings that were twelve and ten years younger than him, and from the way he talked about his stepdad, she could tell they were close. The closer it got to three thirty, the more nervous she became. Tyler had wanted to be at his parents’ house early, and now that she was out of time, she kept wondering whether or not his family would have a problem with her. If they wouldn’t like her or would think she wasn’t right for Tyler.

  “What do you think?” Tyler asked, pulling her out of her fretful thoughts.

  “About what?”

  “Ice cream before we take off. Noah’s for it.”

  Her son was dancing and jumping around them awkwardly, yelling, “Ice cream! Ice cream.”

  She smirked. “I can see that. Fine with me.”

  Noah took first her hand and then sweetly reached out for Tyler’s. Within a few seconds, he was swinging between them until he was squealing and Dani’s arm burned in protest.

  “Okay, sweetie, no more. Mama’s arm is going to fall off.”

  When Noah kept trying, Tyler swung him up and put him up on his shoulders. “Hang on tight, buddy.”

  Dani opened her mouth to protest, seeing her small son so far off the ground. Noah held onto the top of Tyler’s head, skewing Tyler’s baseball cap a little. She noticed Tyler’s hands circling Noah’s ankles and took a deep breath. Her dad used to do the same thing to her when she was a kid, and she’d lived. In fact, she’d loved the view from the top of her dad’s shoulders, something Noah had never had.

  She did walk a little behind them, prepared to catch Noah if he started to fall back, but that didn’t happen.

  They stopped at the ice cream vendor, and Tyler swung Noah down. When Dani saw him reaching for his wallet, she covered his hand with hers. “You paid for lunch and admission. I can get the ice cream.”

  He shook his head. “I asked you two out on a date; I’m paying.”

  A date?

  Dani’s vision blurred a little, and she discreetly wiped at her eyes. Would this man never stop getting to her? He surprised her at every turn. Just when she thought he’d call it and run, he would offer to babysit or hold a couple of mini donuts over his eyes and do a monster voice at breakfast . . .

  Or call a day trip to the zoo for the three of them a date.

  Without thinking of why she should keep the public displays to a minimum, she raised up on tiptoe and kissed him. She could tell she’d surprised him, but she just cupped his stubbled cheek as she pulled away.

  Before she could say anything, the ice cream vendor cleared his throat. “Do you still need a minute?”

  Dani broke the contact with Tyler and smiled at the man. “Sorry, yeah.”

  He nodded and stepped back. Noah tried to peek up into the glass case, but he was too short, so Dani lifted him up. “What do you think? Vanilla?”

  “ ’Nilla,” Noah said.

  “Can we get two small vanilla cones?” She turned to Tyler, watching him peruse the different flavors, absently thinking about how sexy he looked in that hat. Maybe he’d leave it on when they finally did it.

  Heat burned her cheeks at her train of thought.

  “I’m just gonna do two scoops of strawberry in a waffle cone.”

  After they got their cones, they sat down at one of the benches, Noah sitting between them. Soon, Tyler stretched his arm across the back of the bench and squeezed her shoulder. She glanced over at him, and the happy grin on his face seriously made her heart stutter to a standstill.

  The splat of something hitting the ground had them both looking down, and Dani saw Noah’s whole face crumble. His scoop of ice cream lay on the concrete.

  “Oh, Noah, it’s okay, I’ll get you a scoop in a cup this time.”

  She got up and went back over to the ice cream shack before Tyler could protest. She didn’t want him buying her son endless ice cream cones. She got the ice cream in a cup with a spoon and walked back over in time to see Noah take a lick from Tyler’s strawberry ice cream.

  “No, he can’t have that!”

  Tyler jerked at her shout, and Noah started crying, reaching out for Tyler’s ice cream.

  Running over to where the diaper bag sat on the bench, she set Noah’s cup down and started rummaging through the pockets, looking for the children’s Benadryl and wipes.

  “He’s allergic to strawberries. Even synthetic flavors, they make him break out, and if the juice gets on his skin, he gets a rash.”

  “Oh, my God, I’m sorry. Is he gonna be okay?”

  She finally found what she was looking for and started mopping away any traces of the pink ice cream from Noah’s face. “You really should have asked before giving him any.”

  The minute the words were out, she wished she could call them back. Not that she was wrong, he should have made sure it was okay, but she didn’t have to sound so sharp about it.

  “I should have asked, you’re right.”

  She gave Noah the chewable allergy tablet and looked up at Tyler. His normally tan skin had a definite pallor to it, and his blue eyes were locked on Noah, teeming with worry.

  The flash of irritation she’d felt toward h
im melted away, and she put her hand on his knee. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. It’s not serious, more of a mild irritation. Really.”

  The skin on the sides of Noah’s mouth were already red and swollen slightly, but it didn’t stop him from picking up the dish of vanilla and going to town.

  “No, you have every right to be pissed at me. It was stupid.” He tossed the rest of his cone in the trash, and Dani wished she had mentioned Noah’s allergy when he’d ordered.

  How could you know he would have been cool sharing his food with Noah? Most people wouldn’t have done that.

  No one except Tyler, who hadn’t thought about sharing germs with her son. They sat in silence as Noah finished his ice cream.

  Finally, when they were walking out of the zoo, Tyler said, “If you want to skip the party and get Noah home, I understand.”

  “No, he’s fine, really. See, his face already looks better.” She swallowed hard, dread settling in the pit of her stomach. “Unless you’d rather just take us home.”

  “If you’re good with it, then so am I.”

  The words weren’t said with a lot of enthusiasm, but Dani didn’t know what else to say.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  TYLER, DANI, AND Noah stood on the porch of his parents’ house, already an hour late to the party after the ice cream kerfuffle, and without knocking, he opened the door and ushered them in.

  “We’re here.” He actually hadn’t mentioned bringing Dani and Noah, mostly because he’d wanted to see the shock on his mom’s face. He knew it wouldn’t be a problem—usually he brought one or more of the guys with him for company on the drive, and his mom had always been a more-the-merrier type.

  However, he wished that things weren’t so tense and weird between Dani and him. The drive south they’d said very little, and he’d turned on Disney children’s radio for Noah, so there hadn’t been anything for him to sing along to for a distraction.

  So many niggles of self-doubt chewed through his brain right now. He should have known better than to give Noah a bite of his ice cream, so why had he done it? Just because the kid had looked so sad and dejected, and he’d felt bad? No matter how much he cared about Dani and Noah, he wasn’t the kid’s dad. Which meant he had no business making any decisions about his well-being without asking Dani first.