“Hey.” She twisted her torso to look over her shoulder. Surprise and maybe a hint of expectation lit up her gaze. “You can have the beanbag. I’ll stretch out on the sofa.”
Seth wrapped an arm around her waist. “No, I like you here.” With the roundness of her arse pressed snug against him.
Her mouth dropped open and then snapped shut. “Well,” she huffed.
She looked like an angry kitten denied her piece of string.
Again, with the cuteness.
Seth pressed against her back as he leaned over to grab a cookie. “So is there a special way I’m supposed to do this dunking and drinking thing?”
“Yes.” Rebellion still glowed in her eyes, but as he took a bite of the cookie, that spurred her into action. “No, don’t eat it all yet.”
“Okay,” he mumbled through a mouthful of the white chocolate and macadamia nut treat.
Harper adjusted so she sat sideways between his legs and lifted both glasses, handing him one. She grabbed a cookie of her own and held it and the milk in front of her like she was a hostess on a quiz show displaying a prize. “There’s two choices. Dry cookie or dunk in the milk. And just so you know, making the wrong decision is the kind of thing that can kill relationships. Maybe even split families.”
His lips twitched at the seriousness of her tone. “Right. And you’re on the side of...”
Her expression grave, she answered, “Dunk. Absolutely, you’ve got to dunk.”
Seth swallowed his laughter. “Gotcha.” He leaned back, lifted his cookie, and wet it in the milk. Under her scrutiny he shoved the warm treat in his mouth.
Tasted awesome. Whether or not the dunking made any difference he had no bloody clue, but he kept that to himself.
Harper nodded in satisfaction and then followed her own advice with the dunking and eating. As she started chewing, her moan of pleasure teased his cock like a feather light kiss. “Eating the cookie when it’s still warm and slightly soft is the key to cookie eating greatness.”
“I think I’ve found a weakness of yours.” He reached for another cookie, dunked it in her milk and held it up to her mouth.
Slowly, she opened her mouth and took a bite. A large crumb broke off from the uneaten portion and dropped onto her T-shirt, right on top of her nipple. She stopped eating, her whole body now frozen in place.
Seth dropped his gaze to the crumb then back to Harper’s face, now with a faint blush staining her cheeks and eyes wide with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty.
So pretty.
“We can’t let that go to waste.” He licked the tip of his finger, pressed it on the crumb and lifted it to his mouth. Dropping his gaze back to her chest, he noted with satisfaction the pebbled bud pushing hard against the soft peach fabric of her T-shirt. Oh, and the fact her grip on her glass of milk was hard enough to turn the skin around her nails white.
Seth placed his glass on the coaster and gently settled her back against his chest. “Choose your movie.”
Harper got busy clicking through the blinding array of choices available, finally settling on the first installment of the Die Hard series. “Is this okay for you? I know it’s not Christmas time, but…?”
“Any day is a good day for John McClane. You like action and thrillers?”
She gestured with the remote toward the wall separating the kitchen to this living area that was covered in shelves filled with books. “I’ve got hundreds of murder mysteries and thrillers. My favorite genre.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Do you enjoy reading?”
“I do.” Books had been his one avenue of escape from the harsh reality of living with a prostitute drug addict mother. After her death, he and his little brother, Lincoln, had been begrudgingly taken in by his grandparents. The old crone’s voice filled his head. ‘Always reading. What help are books to the likes of you? Read your Bible. That’s the only thing that can save a soul created from sin.’
But he had ignored the sour bitch. Wondrous tales written by the likes of Terry Pratchett opened a fantasy world for Seth. He had devoured them. Had read them to Lincoln. His kid brother’s eyes would turn huge at the vivid descriptions in each adventurous tale. ‘Come on, Seth. Just one more chapter. Please?’
Lincoln. A heaviness invaded his chest, crushing deep until he had no breath left.
He and Lincoln had been the best of mates. Seth, the oldest by two years, was his brother’s protector. They’d stuck together, had each other’s back.
Until that day that had changed everything.
“Seth?” Harper asked softly.
“What?” At her questioning stare, Seth shook his head. “Sorry, I was” Reminiscing over a time best forgotten? “admiring your library. That’s a heap of books you’ve got there.”