Sea Breeze 04 - Just for Now

curl her hair. . . .” She trailed off and looked down at the floor.
    I hadn’t been awake when she’d woken up, to talk to her about anything. There was no telling what was going through her head right now. But I knew I needed to clear a few things up before I let her walk out of my apartment with that damn skirt on.
    “Daisy May, why don’t you watch a little television while I go fix you some breakfast and see Amanda off to school. Okay?” I told her as I stood up.
    Daisy nodded, and I handed her the remote to the flat-screen on my wall that I’d won last month in a poker game.
    I looked back at Amanda and nodded toward the door. She walked toward it and I followed her out. Yeah, that skirt was way too short in the back. If she bent over, someone would see her sweet little ass. She was going to have to change. No question.
    Closing the door behind me, I moved quickly and grabbed her waist, then turned her around to face me and pressed her up against the fridge.
    “You were gone when I woke up,” I whispered before kissing the corner of her mouth.
    “I woke up early,” she replied.
    “I missed getting to see you all rumpled from sleep, touching you while that sexy, sleepy haze was still in your eyes.” I slipped my hand up her thigh and easily cupped her almost bare butt, thanks to the barely there panties she was wearing. “Manda.”
    “Yeah,” she replied a little breathlessly.
    “You’re gonna have to go change.”
    She went still in my arms.
    “I can’t let you go out like this. It’ll drive me crazy. This skirt’s too short, sweetheart. Guys will be looking, and I don’t want them looking.”
    A slow smile spread across her full red lips. Thank God. She wasn’t going to get all pissy about this, because I really didn’t want to force her to do anything.
    “You’re jealous?” she asked, almost as if she didn’t believe it as she said it.
    “Hell yeah, I’m jealous,” I replied, running my hand over the soft skin of her bottom. “I’m not sharing this. I don’t want to think about other guys looking at you in this.”
    Amanda’s smile got bigger, and I was real close to ripping these panties off and taking her against the fridge. The fact that my little sister was in the other room was the only reason I wasn’t inside her right this minute.
    “I’ll change,” she replied, reaching up to touch my face. She kissed my cheek, then took in a deep breath as if she was smelling me. “So, last night . . . it wasn’t just a onetime thing?”
    I would question how she could think that, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’d had sex with her before and walked away. She had every right to think I was going to walk again. She didn’t realize that I was incapable of pushing her away anymore. We’d gone too far.
    “Last night changed everything,” I assured her before kissing the corner of her mouth. “I’ll never be able to get you out of my system. I don’t want to. I need you, Manda.” I covered her mouth with mine and slipped inside to taste her. This connection with her was the first thing in my life I was scared of. I’d never feared anything else—I could handle it. My brothers and sister I knew I’d be there. I could take care of them. I’d do whatever I had to, and I knew they’d love me. But this thing with Amanda—if I lost it, if I lost her, I would lose it all. In the screwed-up life I’d been dealt, she was my only source of comfort. Just being with her made everything else seem like it would be okay. I’d always be honest with her about everything . . . except the one thing that could take her from me. She’d never understand. Even if she did, she’d never be able to accept it. If she knew I slept with wealthy women for money, she’d leave me. She could never know.
Amanda
Jason: Have you thought about that dinner in NYC yet?
    The text from Jason came during my literature class. I stared down at my phone and tried to think of what I was going to tell him. If the decision was between him and Preston, then it was Preston. I liked Jason, and he was probably the safer of the two guys when it came to protecting my heart. But that was just it. I wasn’t worried about Jason hurting me, because I knew he didn’t have that power. We’d only gone out one time, and that was to my brother’s engagement party. It wasn’t like I’d led him on.
    Tucking my phone back into my backpack, I decided I’d deal with him later. I needed to think about the proper