To Love a Player (11 page)

"What are you thinking about?"I asked her, then placed a soft kiss against her mouth. She kissed me back hungrily and whimpered as she tore herself away, closing her eyes briefly. I brushed a stray strand from her face, tucking it behind her ear and her eyes focused on mine as she smiled softly.

"I better get back to Mara and Elly," she whispered, pushing herself away from me. Okay, that wasn't the response that I was looking for. I watched her walk down the hall, pause at the top of the stairs, and look over her shoulder at me. She grinned at me, making my heart pound wildly in my chest.

I didn't know what was going to happen next and I didn't care. I was excited I had this beautiful girl smiling at me.

14

Mollie

I finally got Jace asleep. He was being Mr. Chatty this afternoon, but as soon as I started singing, he stopped talking and just stared at me in wonder. I smiled down at him, his lips were formed in a soft smile and I carefully stood up to put him in his bed. After rubbing his back for a few minutes, I carefully and quietly made my way out of the room. I was surprised to see Callen stepping out of the bathroom across the hall at the same time. I looked at him curiously and he gave me a sexy grin.

"Hey," he whispered, placing his hands on my waist as he pulled me closer to him. My skin tingled from his gentle touch and I rested my hands on his strong arms. When our eyes locked, I instantly knew what was about to happen and I was surprised at how completely okay with it I was. Thoughts of Ben and Sophie flew out of my mind and I only focused on Callen's soft lips.

It felt like the world was waiting for us to make a move. I saw Callen's eyes close as he let out a deep sigh, was he really going to do it? I bit my lip in anticipation. His voice was shaky when he asked, "Mollie, can I kiss you?"

"Yes," I whispered back, so soft that I wasn't sure that I had even said it. I mean in my mind I practically yelled it, so I was surprised that it was so soft when the simple word came out. Callen's eyes flew open in surprise as he searched them for something. I could feel my heart pounding as he wove his hand into my hair, gently pushing our lips together. I was slightly disappointed when he stopped and his eyes flashed with worry. Was he having second thoughts? Maybe he didn't want to kiss me after all. I swallowed silently, preparing myself to back away until he said with a serious look, "You do know that we can never go back if we do this, right?"

I nodded silently and he searched my eyes again before breaking out into a soft genuine smile. He cupped my face with his free hand and with the softest touch, placed his lips over mine. Just that brief touch sent electric currents through my body as if I was touching a live wire. The kiss was so quick, but it left me wanting more. I was happy that Callen thought so, too. His lips came crashing back down on mine immediately.

The world around us disappeared as our lips came crashing together over and over. I slipped my hands around his neck, tangling my fingers in his dark blond hair as the kisses deepened and I arched against him when his finger sent shivers down my spine as he lightly ran his hands over my back. I had to bite back a small moan that was threatening to escape as his tongue danced around with mine. He pulled out of the kiss, leaving a long a trail of sweet fire as he kissed down my jaw line to the soft spot just below my earlobe. The small moan finally escaped as he licked along the area and I heard his breath catch in his throat. His voice was a husky whisper as he said, "Do that again."

He licked along my earlobe and I responded with more soft, breathy moans as I arched against him. My skin felt like it was on fire and only his mouth could cool it down, it was an amazing sensation. His voice was soft as he whispered in my ear, "Oh Mollie, you have no idea what you do to me. How long I've wanted to just do this and this and this."

For each spot he kissed, he murmured, "This," and every time he kissed my skin, a moan escaped my lips. His mouth moved over mine again and I felt him smile against my lips as I opened up eagerly. He had no idea how alert my senses were to his mouth and I instantly wished that we were not standing in his sister's hallway. I wanted to be home with him, on the couch, in our beds, anywhere but here. The sudden awareness of our surroundings came into focus.

We needed to stop, despite how much I was enjoying it. We could be caught by one of his nieces any minute now. I slid my hands down to his chest and gently pushed back, enjoying the sound of our breath panting in sync. I leaned my forehead against him, smiling when I felt him kiss the top of my head. His fingers softly touched my chin as he tilted my head up, gazing into my eyes. His voice was soft as he asked, "What are you thinking about?"

My thoughts escaped me when he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss against my lips. My brain went blank as I deepened the kiss hungrily like it was my last meal. Suddenly, I remembered that we were in Lacey's house, so I tore away from his wanton mouth, my own letting out a soft whimper in protest. He seemed to understand as he brushed a stray strand from my face, tucking it behind my ear. My eyes focused on his warm blue eyes and I gave him a soft smile.

"I better get back to Mara and Elly," I whispered, gently pushing away from him. I saw a slight look of disappointment in his eyes as I walked away from him. My body was screaming for me to get back to him, but I ignored it. I touched my lips, remembering his kiss and smiled. When I got to the top of the stairs, I looked over my shoulder to see him leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching me. His face brightened when our eyes connected, sending my heart into overdrive. I gave him a small wave as I descended down the stairs.

I straightened myself up quickly before walking into the den. Elly looked over at me, an amused smile twitching on her lips. I knew that she had sent him up to me. I sat down on the couch next to Mara and Elly smiled over at me, "Did Uncle Callen leave?"

"Uh," I sputtered. My brain was still having a hard time comprehending, it was still blown away. I heard a voice behind us say, "Nope, I'm leaving right now."

I felt my face blush slightly when he leaned over and gave me a lingering kiss on the cheek. He whispered in my ear, "See you later."

I gave a curt nod as he kissed me quickly again before kissing his nieces. As soon as we heard the door close, Elly said, "You're welcome."

The afternoon went by way too quickly because of my good mood and as usual I was glad to be going home to Mollie, only this time I couldn't wait to make out with her all night. I couldn't wait to fall asleep holding her in my arms and then doing it all over again tomorrow. I was even mentally preparing what I was going to cook to bring her breakfast in bed.

I stopped by a stand on my way home and did something that I hadn't done in a long time, I bought flowers. In fact, they were the most beautiful lavender colored flowers I had ever seen. I didn't know what her favorite flower was, so I picked some that were her favorite color instead. That had to earn me some points, right?

When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed a red Nissan parked there. I stared at it intently before I realized Mollie's trip to Boston with Marnie was tonight. I secretly hoped that after what happened earlier today she would change her mind about going. I was hoping to spend all weekend with her before I had to fly to New York early Monday morning. I was already not looking forward to not being able to see her every day.

When I walked into the house, Marnie greeted with a teasing smile as she said, "Aw, Callen, you didn't have to bring me flowers!"

"Uh, they're not for you," I said quickly and looked around for Mollie. Marnie held up something and said, "She'll be here in a few minutes."

I looked at her and asked, "How did you get in?"

Marnie gave me a casual shrug before looking back down at her magazine and said, "Mollie gave me a key. Lacey gave her permission."

"Ah," I replied and Marnie got up to follow me into the kitchen where I looked around for a vase. She watched me silently and gave me a knowing smile when I began to fill up the vase. She touched the flowers lying on the counter and said, "She loves Forget-Me-Nots, but these are nice—just for future reference."

"Thank you," I smiled genuinely at her.

She winked back as she said, "No problem."

I placed the vase on the counter and started to grab the flowers. Her soft hand touched mine and held onto it with a firm grip. I looked at her questioningly and she said, "Be good to her, Callen. She doesn't deserve any of the BS that you pull with other girls. If you're even thinking about hurting her or stringing her along, I will kick your ass."

I nodded and said solemnly, "I promise to always be good to her, Marnie."

She pointed her finger at me, while still holding my hand with a firm grip that was surprisingly strong. She gave me a warning smile as she said, "I mean it—I will kick your pretty ass to next week."

"You have my word," I said, placing my free hand over hers, giving her a serious look. "I can't hurt her; I don't know that I have that in me. I'm feelings things for her that I have never felt for anyone, ever. It goes so much deeper than the surface and this was before we kissed today for the first time."

Marnie's eyes widened and a beaming smile crossed her face. I echoed her smiled, feeling very giddy, and said, "It was amazing, definitely blew me away and I think I'm falling for her."

"Oh my goodness!" Marnie gushed, releasing my hand to bring her hands to cover her mouth. "Does she know you feel this way?"

"Ah…no, we haven't really talked about it." I said, taking a deep breath. "I was hoping to talk to her tonight, but then I remembered she has to go to Boston to see Ben."

Marnie's face fell and I knew she felt sorry for me. I didn't want her to go, but he was still her boyfriend. I planned on ending things with Sophie as soon as I talked to her. In the end, it wouldn't be fair to her and she deserves a chance to find someone who feels about her the way I do about Mollie. I knew that it wasn't going to go over well, but that was the good thing about her being in Australia until next weekend. Hopefully, she will have taken the time to process our breakup. She can be a bitch when she loses something she wants.

"Well, we just won't go tonight," Marnie shrugged and I raised my eyebrows at her as I said, "You're kidding, right?"

Marnie shook her head as she said, "Nope, you are going to tell her how you feel so that she can break up with Ben and you two can hook up."

I sighed, shaking my head as I smiled at her. I slipped the flowers in the vase and said, "I wish it were that simple."

"Why isn't it? It's a pretty simple plan," Marnie stated obviously and I said, "I have a girlfriend."

Marnie's mouth dropped open in both shock and confusion as she asked, "You have a what?"

"I'm dating Sophie Willis," I explained and her eyes widened at the name. "We've been dating off and on since high school. Now that I think about it, it's never been all that serious of a relationship."

"You are dating Sophie Willis? THE Sophie Willis?" Marnie asked, grabbing my hand and shaking it. I chuckled softly.  I had a feeling that Marnie's reaction would be different if she only knew how Sophie really was.

"Wow, talk about hard to compete with," Marnie said, sitting back down on the barstool and stared off into space. "Poor Mollie."

I snorted, "Seriously, there is no comparison. Mollie is way better than Sophie in every way. Sophie is conceited, vain, and bitchy."

"Then why are you dating her?" Marnie asked me with a simple look. I felt the sharp intake of my breath and I shrugged, knowing that I couldn't answer her. Sophie hadn't always been that way. In fact, she started out a lot like Mollie and once she got discovered, it went to her head. Whenever she was back in town, it was hard to break the habit of being her boyfriend, despite how crappy she treated me on occasion.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I heard the door open and Mollie stepped in. My face instantly brightened and I wanted to run over, sweep her off her feet and kiss her hungrily. I would have if Marnie hadn't been sitting right there with a smile saying she already knew everything.

Mollie looked from me to Marnie and her eyes narrowed curiously. Marnie jumped up and hugged her, whispering something in her ear and then departed for Mollie's room. Mollie stood there stunned for a moment, looking in the direction her friend had disappeared in before she looked at me. Her face lit up with a gorgeous smile when she saw the flowers, her eyes were wet when they shifted towards mine.

I couldn't wait anymore, I needed her in my arms. I came around the counter and swept her up into a hug. She slipped her arms around my neck and I leaned in to plant a long kiss on her pale pink lips. She responded by parting them so I could deepen it, feeling the electricity shoot through my veins.

"Hi," I whispered when we gently pulled out of the kiss. I lowered her back to the ground and she smiled, "Hi."