Page 21 of Moore to Love
“How about you start by crying it out?” he suggested, stroking his palm down my spine. “I used to be horrified by my mom’s tears until she sat me down one day and explained that sometimes a person needs a good cry to get the bad feelings out of their system. That it’s the only way to purge it all so you can start fresh.”
“Your mom is so smart,” I sobbed, burying my face against his chest as I cried.
“The smartest person I know.”
That was the last thing he murmured that I understood. Everything else was a blur while I bawled my eyes out until I felt as though I’d wrung myself dry. I hadn’t let myself cry like that since the night Thad had told me he wanted a divorce. I’d put on a brave face for my children, and I hadn’t felt safe enough to let it drop until now. Until Finn sheltered me in his arms and helped me purge so much of my anger, sadness, and frustration.
When my tears finally stopped, I took a step back and whispered, “Thank you.”
“It was my honor.” He brushed some of the wetness off my cheeks with his thumbs. “If you ever need a shoulder to cry on in the future, I hope you’ll come to me.”
11
FINN
Ellie’s expression was so tortured that I couldn’t stand it. Without stopping to think about the potential repercussions, I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against hers, kissing her with an intensity that didn't surprise me, considering how often I’d thought about it before now.
Ellie sighed and melted against me, her arms sliding around my neck, fingers fluttering at the collar of my shirt before burrowing in my hair. I slid my arms around her waist and clasped her hips, pulling our bodies closer until I could feel every subtle shudder of her body, every hitch of breath, every fiber of her muscles contracting and releasing in pleasure.
She tasted like coffee with a hint of mint, and I drank her in until she pulled away for another breath filled with the same tension that flowed through my veins. A current of electricity we both seemed to want to discharge by tugging at each other’s clothes like we were in a bedroom, rather than my veterinary practice.
Hungry for more, I locked my arms around her waist, holding her close, and swept my tongue across her bottom lip, silently asking permission for more. Ellie opened for me instantly with a soft moan of encouragement. I kissed her, slow and deep, savoring the sweet taste of her on my tongue.
Her phone chimed in her back pocket, and she groaned. Reluctantly, I broke our kiss and pulled back, sucking in a ragged breath as I rested my forehead against hers.
Ellie shifted her weight uncomfortably, glancing at me. “I need to get that.”
“Since your ex actually has the kids this morning, I’m assuming you need to make sure it isn’t an emergency,” I replied as smoothly as I could, not wanting her to feel like she had to choose between spending time with me and checking on the welfare of her children. I would never, ever make her choose between me and her kids.
“As much as I don’t want to check my phone at this particular moment, you’re right. I need to.”
I nodded and moved to step back, but Ellie gripped the front of my shirt and shook her head. “No. Stay, please?”
“Of course. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”
“Thanks, Finn.” Ellie turned slightly in my arms, resting her cheek against my chest, then she pulled her phone out of her back pocket to check her texts.
“Seriously?” She snorted, tipping her head back to look up at me and rolling her eyes. “My ex seriously just sent me a message to ask me how to make our children toaster waffles. I honestly don’t know how he managed to get through dental school. The directions are on the back of the box, for Pete’s sake.”
“Is he for real?” I raised my eyebrows, finding it hard to believe that a grown man was too stupid to follow the directions on the back of a box of toaster waffles. Then again, that same man was idiotic enough to leave Ellie for a younger woman. When I put his lack of intelligence in that context, it wasn’t terribly difficult to think of the guy as a bottom-of-the-barrel mouth-breather who overslept and stayed home on the day God handed out brains.
Shaking her head, Ellie tapped out a text telling him that the directions were on the back of the box, then pocketed her phone and faced me again, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“Now… where were we?”
“I believe I was enjoying the hell out of kissing the living daylights out of you. Did you want to pick up where we left off when we were interrupted?”
“Mmm…yes, please.” Ellie pushed up on her tiptoes, lightly brushing her lips against mine.
I pulled back a little and dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose before looking her in the eye. “Before we go any further, though, I want to make something perfectly clear.”
Ellie’s eyes flew open wide, and her nostrils flared. The look was a familiar one I’d seen many times, but usually on my patients. Nervousness edging toward panic. I dipped my head and kissed her again until I felt the tension leave her body, then rested my forehead against hers and tried to catch my breath.
“What I meant is that I want this—I want you. But I don’t want to take advantage of you when you feel upset or vulnerable. And I want to make sure that you know your job is safe, no matter what happens between us.”
The corners of Ellie’s lips tipped up in a small smile, and she nodded. “It’s sweet that you’re worried about not taking advantage of me, Finn. Just the fact that you’re worried about it tells me everything I need to know right now.”
“You sure, baby?”Holy shit.Did I just call her baby? I’d never really used endearments like that with any women in my past, but it just slipped out.
