Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 by Maisey Yates (free biff chip and kipper ebooks .txt) 📕

He smiled. “Morning, beautiful.”

“Did I sleep in late?”

He shook his head, then bent down to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around him and he inhaled her smell. He moved his mouth to her ear, then her throat and then worked his way down her body.

“Wait. Your parents!”

He had made his way down to her stomach and started taking her pajamas off. “They’re gone. The house is empty. You’re mine,” he growled.

He made love to her slowly, savoring every inch of her body, enjoying the way she responded to him, her moans music to his ears.

When they were done, he lay down beside her and pulled her close. “Well, you can wake me up that way anytime,” she murmured as she laid her head on his chest.

“Can I?”

She turned her head so she could face him. “Can you what?”

“Can I wake you this way not just for the next few days but for longer?”

She sat up, grabbed a pillow and smacked him in the chest. He sat up, startled. “Did I or did I not tell you not to fall for me?” she said indignantly.

He caught the pillow and pulled her toward him. “Didn’t we discuss the fact that I have a knack for falling for unavailable women?”

Her smiled faltered. “You know we’re all wrong for each other.”

He took the pillow from her hand and kissed her. “I know. But that’s why it feels so right between us.”

She put her cheek on his naked chest. “I want to be with you,” she said softly. “Can you give me some time to figure things out?”

It was the best he was going to get, and he was going to take it.

* * *

He took Divya on a riverboat ride in the morning, then dropped her at the main street in Stillwater so she could explore the antiques shops. He picked up his mom at the diner during her break and convinced her to buy a fairly new Honda Accord at the used-car dealer.

Then he went to collect Divya.

“Let’s have lunch at your mother’s diner,” Divya suggested.

“You know what? It’s a great idea.” He’d never brought anyone he was dating to the diner; he usually took them to the fancier restaurants in Minneapolis.

The look in his mother’s eyes when he sat down in her section with Divya made his heart burst. She didn’t have to say it. She’d been waiting for him to make this move for years. His mother introduced him with pride to the regular customers, who had no idea who he was. This was the working class of Stillwater, not the people who lived in the mansions. He shook hands, listened to advice about how to be a good son and admonishments that his mother was too old to work at the diner and he should help out more. He smiled and nodded, and his mother beamed with pride.

“What should we do with the kids this afternoon?” Divya asked when they were done with lunch.

“Let’s not plan anything. We can ask them what they want to do.”

They picked up the kids from school and Jake asked if they could go to Teddy Bear Park. Allie rolled her eyes, but once they got to the park, Ethan noticed her climbing the giant teddy bear while he and Divya chased Jake around the obstacle course. They all climbed on the bear when it was time to leave and had someone take a picture of them.

After dinner, they bought giant ice-cream cones and made a mess trying to finish them before they melted. Ethan savored every second of the day.

When they dropped off the kids, they hugged Divya for a long time. “You’ll come back, won’t you, Divya? You won’t be like that Poo lady?” Jake asked in a voice so sweet that Ethan’s heart lurched.

Divya got on her knees so she was eye to eye with Jake. “I’m going to do my best, little man, but I can’t make any promises. Remember, I live in India, that country far away.”

Tears sprung to Jake’s eyes. “So this is the last time we’ll see each other?” He put his little arms around Divya and buried his face in her neck.

She looked at Ethan helplessly. The kids had fallen in love with Divya, just as he had. “Jake, how about I promise that we will video chat? And I can’t promise when, but one day, I’ll come see you.”

He held out his hand and she shook it. “It’s a deal,” Jake said, nodding importantly.

Ethan’s throat closed. When she didn’t come back, it wouldn’t be just his heart that was broken.

When they got back to his brother’s house, Ethan asked to have a private word with Matt and Heather. Divya volunteered to tuck the kids into bed. He sat with his brother and sister-in-law for a long time, and Divya waited patiently. Once he was done, he drove Divya to the riverfront and they walked along the bank, enjoying the cool air. He held her hand. “Thank you, Divya,” he said.

She turned to him surprised. “What for?”

“For showing me what I’m really looking for in a woman. All my life, I’ve been chasing women who do things the way I do, who think the way I do, who want the things I want. But that’s not what I need. I need someone who tells me what I’m doing wrong. Who shows me a better way.”

She leaned over and kissed him. “Is your plane available tomorrow?”

He smiled. “At your service. Where do you want to go? What’s next on your bucket list?”

“No more bucket list. It’s time for me to return to my family.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

His face crumpled. Should I let him suffer? She leaned over and whispered in his ear. “I want you to come with me. I think you should meet my family.”

“Did I hear you correctly?” he asked breathlessly.

She’d made the decision to go home last night. She’d been afraid of what she’d be facing when she returned, of going back to a life