Deeper, harder until I was pushing her up against the counter.

“Come on, Honeybear, let’s move to the couch. I need a new batch of bruises on my body so I can scare the neighbors…”

She rolled her eyes at me, at the pet name I’d given her, but she didn’t complain. I had a feeling she liked it, even with its ridiculousness.

I sat down on the couch and found the remote.

“Why is it that you don’t want me to see Andrew, but your fan club can hang all over you?” she asked as she stood in front of me, her legs straddling mine. “That sounds like a double standard to me, Mr. Thorne.”

I reached up and grabbed her waist, my thumbs caressing her skin.

“It’s simple. I have no interest in any of them, and I have never touched, nor will I ever touch, any of them. Andrew, on the other hand, has shared a bed with you, been in a relationship with you, had his cock inside you.” A growl rumbled through my chest, my fingers flexing on her hips. “I know he wants you, and you have every opportunity to go back to him. He wants to take what’s mine.”

“They want what’s mine,” she said. “And how do you know Andrew wants me?”

I sighed and quirked my brow at her. “Delilah, I know you’re naïve in some regards, but trust me, he wants you back. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And, yes, the girls may want what’s yours, but have I ever touched them? Have I ever given any indication I wanted to pursue any of them? I don’t want to pursue anyone.”

“You pursue me,” she said.

I froze as her words sliced through me. It was true, I had pursued her.

“Yes. Against my better judgment.”

“What does your judgment tell you to do?” she asked.

“It says that it’s better for you if we weren’t together, but that line of thinking makes me want to go mad, and I find it even harder to let go of you.”

“So…you’re saying…that your heart pursues me?”

Is that what I’m saying?

Yes.

“Your head rejects me, but your heart wants me?”

For months I’d tried to work Lila out. Early on, I got a generalized overview of her. She was dead on, the same words having gone through my mind before.

I tightened my grip and pulled her close, down to my lap, and leaned my forehead to hers.

“I’m sorry…” she trailed off, her hands smoothing across my back and shoulders.

I pulled her flush and grazed my lips down her neck and across her shoulder. With my teeth, I moved the thin strap of her tank top to the side, letting it drop around the curve of her shoulder.

Time to show her how much my body wanted her.

CHAPTER 23

“Oh, my God. Could you quit flaunting your tits around? I’m getting so sick of looking at yours, I can hardly stand to look at my own. And, by the way, if he hasn’t taken the bait yet, he isn’t going to.”

I was officially a fan of Caroline. She was a badass, take-no-prisoners, can’t-keep-her-opinion-to-herself kind of woman, and the exact opposite of Lila. That made her the perfect best friend.

It was hard to keep a straight face as she chided them. The encounter wouldn’t have happened so epically before she found out about Lila and me. She still would have given it to them in some way.

“Whatever, Caroline,” Kelly sneered as she grabbed Tiffany’s arm and stormed out.

Once they were gone, I let it out in shoulder-shaking laughter. The moment was cut short as Andrew stepped in seconds later, stifling my good mood.

“Morning!” he said with a huge smile.

Fucking boy scout.

I glared at him and was met with a glare of his own before he looked back to Lila and Caroline.

“Did I miss something?” he asked.

“Just Caroline showing the Boob Squad why she rocks,” Lila answered.

“Awesome!” He reached out to Caroline for a high five. “Oh! Hey, Lila, guess who I ran into last night?” he asked, plopping down on the chair in the corner of our office.

“Who?” she asked.

“Teresa,” he said.

I’d never heard the name, so I returned to work, listening on the side.

Lila let out a small gasp, quickly earning my attention back. “I thought she and Armando were still in Europe.”

“Yeah, apparently Joan found another kid that needed a home and, well, you know Teresa.”

“Yeah. She never passed up the opportunity to help any child,” Lila said.

The words caught me and I glanced over, shocked to see a soft smile on Lila’s face.

“What are you two talking about?” I asked.

The three of them looked at each other like they were trying to decide if they should let me into their special club. It seemed that decision rested on Lila.

“Well, umm, Teresa was my foster mom for a little while.”

Foster mom?

In all our talks, in all the times we pulled information from each other kicking and fucking screaming, being a foster was a subject that was never mentioned. My stare must have been powerful, because Lila looked away, which Caroline took as a cue.

“Come on, Andrew,” Caroline said as she slid from Lila’s desk and took hold of Andrew’s arm. “Let’s go get some coffee.”

“Umm, okay,” he mumbled, oblivious as to what was going on.

“What?” I asked once the door clicked closed.

She had her lip between her teeth, a nervous habit, as she seemed to gather herself. A long sigh left her before she began.

“A few months after my sixteenth birthday, I contacted a children’s law center to be emancipated from my family.”

I stared at her in shock. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

I knew she hadn’t told me everything.

“Joan, she was my lawyer… In fact, she was the one who got me interested in law. Anyway, we never made it to court,” she said with a steadying breath. “Child services stepped in. Joan knew of a couple who liked to help out teens in situations such as mine, and so I moved to Indianapolis between my junior and senior year and finished out high school here.”

The abuse she suffered was far reaching both in time and effect. It still wasn’t enough to silence her strength, her will to get away.

She seemed reluctant to tell me more, because the subject was difficult to talk about, but she pressed on. “Teresa is a sweet, loving woman who was very patient with me. She was my first hug.”