White Lilies (A Mitchell Sisters Novel) (34 page)

My eyes fly open just in time to see her wet her lips before they reach mine. Our mouths crash together, but we smile more than we kiss. I hear cheers around us as she pulls just barely away from me, stretching up to speak into my ear. “Thank you. That was . . . wow. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear you say those things. I’d be honored to be your girlfriend, Griffin.” She tilts her head and smiles up at me. “We’ll take it slow, okay? One day at a time?”

Girlfriend.

I hope the shock I’m feeling is not registering on my face. My hand releases the death-grip I had on the box in my pocket as if it burned me. I wonder if she knew I was going to propose. Maybe her dad tipped her off. I search her emerald eyes for answers, looking for any trace of guilt that simply doesn’t seem to be there.

I glance over at my best friend. Mason raises his eyebrows in question. I don’t have any answers. I merely shake my head at him in disappointment. The moment is over. People have gone back to their conversations. The crowd is bustling around us. It’s not going to happen tonight. Hell, now I’m wondering if it’s going to happen before Aaron comes only a month from now.

Take it slow
. Her words echo in my head.

“Everything okay?” she asks, still beaming at me.

No, she didn’t know. I can read her like an open book. She had no idea I was about to fall to a knee and ask her to be my wife.

I pull her to me once again, kissing her softly on the lips before I whisper, “Everything is perfect.”

“I love that song, you know,” she says.

“Oh? I didn’t know you were a big Britney Spears fan.”

She giggles. “Not
that
song.”

I laugh and kiss the tip of her nose. “I know. I hear it every time you blare it through your earbuds. I hope I didn’t ruin it for you.”

“Are you kidding? It was wonderful. I’ve never had a song with a guy before. I guess that one will be ours.”

“Absolutely.” I rub her belly, for the first time feeling comfortable doing it without asking permission. “A lot of things will be ours soon.”

Someone clears their throat behind us.

I don’t have to turn around. I know exactly who it is. The party-crashing food guy.

“Give me a minute?” she asks, her eyes begging me not to make a scene.

I bring her hand up to my lips, placing a kiss on the back of it. “Yeah, okay.”

I make my way over to Gavin and Mason who give me sympathetic pats on the back. “It just wasn’t the right time,” I say.

Gavin hands me a beer. “It’s the stubborn Mitchell trait. I think they’re pre-programmed to make us sweat it out. Don’t worry, it’ll happen, brother.”

I nod, never taking my eyes off Skylar and John over by the door. He tries to pull her to him but she resists. I’m focused so intently on him that I can see a muscle in his clenched jaw spasm. I’m sure he’s trying to convince her why he’s better for her than I am. She keeps shaking her head and I think I see ‘
I’m sorry
’ fall from her lips more than once.

He puts a hand on her cheek and her eyes quickly flash to mine. Her head shakes ever-so-slightly in a warning for me to keep out of it. I swear if she was wearing my ring, I’d take the asshole down for laying a single finger on her. But she just became my girlfriend two minutes ago and I don’t want to screw this up. Still, I stand here watching every move, ready to swoop in and wipe the floor with him if he does anything remotely inappropriate.

She hugs him and my blood starts to boil. My eyes are glued to his hand on her back while I pound the rest of my beer. But before I can reach for another, a defeated-looking John walks out the front door and Skylar smiles over at me.

Griffin – 3

John-the-food-guy – 0

I win.

In two seconds flat, I’m standing before her. “Everything okay?” I ask, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Everything’s perfect,” she says, throwing my own words back at me. “I told him I owe it to the baby to give us a chance.”

My heart sinks into the pit of my stomach. Of all the things I imagined her telling him, that wasn’t one of them.
‘Screw you, asswipe, I’m in love with Griffin Pearce,’
or
‘I can’t deny my feelings for him any longer,’
were more along the lines of what I was thinking.

She reaches over and grabs my hand as we walk back to our friends. I lift our entwined hands, my right with her left, and look at her still-empty ring finger. I try to bask in the victory I should be feeling over her breakup with John. But all I can think about is how much I want her to be mine.

Mine
. I’ve never wanted anything so badly in my life.

chapter thirty-one

Skylar plops down on the couch, tired from the party. I run upstairs to get my present for her. I didn’t want her to open it in front of everyone. I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be.

I put it on the coffee table and sit next to her on the couch, pulling her feet onto my lap, massaging her arches like I’ve done so many times before. But never as her boyfriend.

Maybe I was stupid to think I could go from roommate to fiancé in one night. She’s right. We need to take this slowly. Neither of us is going anywhere. We’re about to have a baby. We have all the time in the world.

With her eyes closed, she moans as I knead the tension from her feet. The noise does nothing to squelch my libido that hasn’t been fed in far too long. I move her foot to the spot where she’ll feel exactly what she’s doing to me with her throaty sounds.

Her eyes snap to mine and for the second time tonight, she blushes. I shrug and nod my head to the gift on the table. “Open it.”

“You’ve done so much for me already,” she protests. “The party was wonderful. I can’t believe you got my dad to dance on stage wearing a pregnancy belly.” She laughs, her stomach bouncing up and down with every breathy giggle.

“It was my pleasure. I’m glad you had a good time.” I reach for the gift and hand it to her. “It’s not just for you. It’s for Aaron, too. And me, if you’ll let it be.”

Her brows come together and that adorable wrinkle creases her nose. She takes the package from me. It’s the size of a small shirt box. Her eyes keep flashing to mine as she rips the paper off.  My heart rate increases exponentially, hoping she’ll be okay with it.

She pulls out the contents of the box—brochures and vouchers. She examines them and then gasps. “Paris? You want to take me to Paris?”

I put my hand on her belly. “I want to take you both there. The vouchers can be cashed in for plane tickets at any time. When you’re ready. When
we’re
ready.” I motion to the mantle across the room. “I thought maybe we could spread Erin’s ashes there.”

I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately; where to spread them. She always wanted to go to Paris. When we were at the Imax before she died, Skylar promised her she would go there someday and do everything that Erin dreamed of doing.

Skylar nods, trying unsuccessfully to keep the tears pooling in her eyes from spilling over. “It’s the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten. It’s the perfect place to spread her ashes. Thank you.”

I reach over to catch one of her tears with my thumb. I wipe it away and lean over to kiss her. As I draw her face closer to mine, I realize this will be the first real kiss we share as a couple. I stop short of her lips. “Is it okay if I kiss my girlfriend?”

She smiles. Then she seductively bites her lip before saying, “Your girlfriend would like that very much.”

I brush her hair back, holding it up with both my hands on either side of her head. We stare into each other’s eyes for five seconds. Ten. There’s no awkwardness. Just feeling. Emotion. Passion. Her eyes darken and become lidded right before our mouths touch.

When my lips reach hers, an electrified pulse courses through my entire body. My breath catches. My heart skips a thousand beats. My hands tremble. And I would bet my life the same exact things are happening to her.

She weaves her hands through my hair, deepening the kiss. We devour each other’s tongues and lips until they’re numb and we gasp for air. She climbs on top of my lap, straddling me, leaning her head into me, pressing the baby hard between us as she finds a spot on my neck to suck on.

I grow harder beneath her as she grinds down onto me. I reach out to touch her breasts, unable to contain my groan when I feel how full and supple they are through her thin shirt. I run my thumbs over her erect nipples, drawing sexy as hell noises from deep within her.

Her lips find mine again. Her tongue forcefully enters my mouth, taking control of our demanding kisses. She captures my tongue with her lips, sucking on it erotically. I pull the V of her shirt aside and push her bra down to give me better access to one of her breasts. She squirms hard on my lap when I pinch her nipple between my fingers.

“Oh, God . . . Griffin.” Her words are laced with carnal need, driving my want for her even higher.

She throws her head back, moaning. I take the opportunity to pull her bare breast into my mouth. I support its weight with one hand while I lave her nipple with my tongue. Licking, sucking, nipping at it as she rides my crotch until she thrashes around, gyrating on my lap, shouting my name through her prolonged orgasm. I watch every twitch of her body. Every emotion that crosses her beautiful face as she rides wave after wave before finally settling down, her head falling to my shoulder.

She takes a sharp breath, pressing her hands on her belly.

I look up at her, concerned. “Are you okay?”

She smiles. “Pregnancy orgasms are the best. But they wake up the bean.”

I put my hands on her stomach, mesmerized by how he’s moving around inside her until I absorb the full weight of her words. I eye her skeptically, not entirely sure I want to know the answer to my question. “Just how many orgasms have you had while being pregnant, Skylar?”

“I don’t know . . . hundreds?”

My jaw drops and my entire body stiffens.

She laughs at my shocked expression. “It’s not what you think.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Exactly what am I thinking?”

“That I was sleeping with John.”

“You weren’t?” The corners of my mouth curl upwards in anticipation of her answer. Relief rockets through every blood vessel in my body as I realize what she’s saying. My imagination goes wild. My smile gets huge.

She shakes her head. “No. You’re the only man that’s invaded this body in a long, long time.”

I look at her in disbelief. “Hundreds . . . really?”

“What do you think I was doing down on that couch with your pictures?” Embarrassed by her words, she buries her head into my shoulder.

I try to wrap my head around her admission. Hundreds. On the couch in my studio. Looking at pictures of me. I’m tempted to throw her off my lap and beat my hands on my chest. I’m goddamn Tarzan.

I pull her away from my shoulder and force her to look at me. “We are never getting rid of that fucking couch.”

She giggles. “Don’t say fuck.”

I belt out a laugh. “That’s my line.” I bring her mouth closer to mine, breathing my words into her. “Does it make you horny, too, Sky?”

She climbs off my lap and starts to unbutton my pants. “What about you? How many orgasms have
you
had since that night?”

She takes my dick into her hands and I have to try really hard to remember the question because when her small hands encompass me, it feels like pure heaven. “About as many as you,” I say. “And for the very same reason.”

She smiles so big I can see tiny creases beside her beautiful eyes. “Do you want to have sex with me, Griffin?”

For a moment, I almost forget that her hand is stroking me.  My jaw goes slack as I replay her words in my head. I’m tempted to scream out ‘
hell, yes
,’ but instead I joke, “Is this us taking it slowly?”

She removes her hand from me and self-consciously looks down at her belly. “It’s okay if you want to wait until I get my body back. I would totally understand.”

I grab her hand and place it around my throbbing shaft. “Does it feel like I want to wait, Skylar?” I take her head into my hands and lock eyes with her. “I want to make love with you right now more than I ever want to hold another camera in my hands again.”

Her yearning eyes tell me everything I need to know. I find the hem of her shirt and pull it up and over her head. Her wavy locks catch in her shirt and then fall back down around her breasts, one of which is still spilling out from the cup of her bra. I pull down the other cup, leaving her trussed up as I reach out to fondle her bare flesh, extracting throaty moans from somewhere deep inside her.

She tugs at my shirt and I quickly reach behind me and pull it off. Every inch of my chest is devoured; first by her eyes and then by her wandering hands.

I slip off the edge of the couch and position myself between her legs, leaning over her protruding belly to place kisses along the sides of her lips, down her neck, and all around her breasts. I slide off her skirt and panties, getting my first view of her very pregnant body.

In a thousand years, I never thought I’d be turned on by such a sight. She carries the baby so well you wouldn’t even notice she’s pregnant if you didn’t actually see her stomach. Her thighs and calves are perfectly toned. Her arms are firm and strong. Her heart-shaped face doesn’t hold even an ounce of extra weight. But, then again, I’m so blinded by my love and want for her, I’m positive she would look incredible to me no matter what her appearance.

I grab her hips and pull her to the edge of the couch. I lower my head, getting ready to place my tongue against her center and make her come even longer and harder than before.

She grabs my shoulders and I snap my eyes to hers to see that her heated eyes have been replaced with trepidatious ones. “No way, Griffin.” She shakes her head vehemently. “I haven’t been able to see my crotch for over a month now. I have no idea what’s going on down there.”

I glance down, barely able to see even a hint of soft curls peeking out from under her belly. I could care less if she’s waxed or plucked or shaved—or whatever the hell girls do down there. For months, I’ve dreamed about tasting her again. About feeling her fall apart under my tongue. I run my finger up her leg, right up to the apex of her thighs. I feel how wet she is. Drenched with desire. I easily slip a finger inside her as my erection presses against her leg that is braced on the table behind me. “Skylar, you’re beautiful. Every inch of you.”