LITMIR.BIZ

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She got the feeling her date with Carson would be different from what they’d planned.

      She waited patiently after ringing the doorbell. When Carson finally answered, the expression on his face worried her even more than his brothers’ scheming scowls. He looked heartbroken. His mouth was drawn down into an uncharacteristic frown and his face was flushed. His eyes looked a little red and his brow was furrowed in thought.

      “Hey, Georgia,” he said in a flat tone. “I have to apologize in advance. I’m not going to be very good company tonight. Do you mind if we don’t go out?”

      “We can stay in,” Georgia said and pushed past him into his apartment. She got the feeling he wanted to turn her away, and she wouldn’t let him. He needed someone to talk to, and she was going to be the one whether he liked it or not.

      She set her purse down on the counter beside a half-empty bottle of tequila and three shot glasses. That explained the flushed face and red eyes. Then her gaze ran across the paperwork and the lab logo across the top. He’d gotten the results of the paternity test.

      Georgia didn’t need to read the papers. She could tell by the look on Carson’s face that Sutton was the father he’d never wanted. Turning to face him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into his green eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”

      “Eventually. I just have to forget about everything I know to be true and adjust to a world where a man like Sutton could produce a man like me.”

      “Sutton didn’t produce a man like you, Carson. If he had been in your life, you’d be a completely different person and likely one I wouldn’t date. He might be your genetic contributor, but you were produced by the loving environment your mother raised you in. That’s what’s important. You’re nothing like him.”

      “Oh really?” He pulled away and wandered into the living room, where he dropped down onto the couch. “I’m more of a cutthroat bastard than you might think. We’re going to destroy him, you know.”

      Georgia’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

      “Graham and Brooks want to go after his estate. No holds barred. They think we’re owed something after years of neglect and now is their chance to make Sutton pay the piper.”

      Georgia sat down on the couch beside him and rested her hand on his knee. “You don’t agree with their plans?”

      “I do and I don’t. I mean, I want him to suffer. I want him to spend the rest of his life regretting what he did to my mother and to us. But at the same time, I guess I just don’t have the killer instinct. That’s the one thing I wish I had inherited from him.”

      “Don’t wish that. It’s your conscientiousness that I’m drawn to.”

      Carson looked at her with some of his previous sparkle in his eyes. “You mean it’s not my dashing good looks and rock-hard abs?”

      Georgia smiled wide. She was happy to see a glimmer of her Carson beneath the gloom. “Those certainly don’t hurt.”

      He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and Georgia snuggled in against his chest. “I’m glad you came over tonight. If I was alone, I’d probably stew all evening and finish off that bottle of tequila.”

      “You’d regret it tomorrow.”

      “I usually do. But enough of my parental drama. I don’t want to waste our night together talking about that. But I do have to ask how it’s going with your mom. Hopefully better news than on my end.”

      “Good. Better than I ever could’ve expected or hoped,” Georgia said. She knew that Carson was feeling down, but she was filled with more optimism than she’d felt in years. Maybe even her whole life. The last few days had been amazing. She’d gotten answers to questions she’d never even thought to ask. “We’ve spent hours talking. I’ve learned so much about her and my family that I’ve never met. Did you know I have a brother and sister somewhere?”

      “Really?” He chuckled and slowly shook his head. “That seems to be going around lately. I’ve suddenly got more siblings than I know what to do with.”

      “The hardest part, though, is hearing about her life. I mean, I thought I had it rough growing up in the foster care system, but it’s nothing compared to what she went through. I’m not surprised she turned to drugs. I don’t even know how she gets out of bed every morning.”

      “Where is she now? We could’ve rescheduled tonight until after she went back to Michigan.”

      “No, that’s okay. It actually worked out perfectly. I helped her find a local Alcoholics Anonymous support group that meets tonight. It’s just a few blocks from my place in a church, so I gave her enough money to get herself some authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza from a place across the street from it. That will keep her busy for a few hours.”

      “Are you okay leaving her alone in your apartment?”

      This again. “She’s been alone all day while I’ve been at the office and there hasn’t been a problem. I appreciate your concern, Carson, but I think it will be okay. If I was worried, I wouldn’t be here with you.”

      “Okay. You can smack me for being overcautious. I know I’m being selfish, but I’d much rather you be here with me, anyway. I just wish I was better company.” Carson gave her a weak smile. “I figured I wouldn’t get to see you after work hours until Misty had left.”

      Georgia didn’t want to wait that long to spend time with Carson. At the office, it just wasn’t the same. They kept things distant and professional, the way they should have. Their conversations were about business—planning the charity gala for the hospital was the big task of the moment. She didn’t get to snuggle against his chest and feel his arms around her the way she wanted them to be.

      “Well, I miss you,” she said. Georgia didn’t like the way it felt to admit vulnerability like that, but it was true. Whether or not this fling of theirs lasted through the month, she’d found herself getting increasingly attached to Carson. She wanted to tell him about how things were going with her mom. She wanted to be there to soothe him when he got bad news. “And I’m glad I came over. I wouldn’t want you to be home alone tonight.”

      “You make me not want to be home alone any night.”

      Leaning into her, he pressed his lips against hers. The soft touch rapidly intensified as the taste of tequila and emotion mixed together on her tongue. She drank in his sadness, doing whatever she could to make him feel better tonight. She would use her body like a bandage to cover the wounds his father left without ever realizing it.

      Pulling away from Carson’s mouth, she smiled coyly at him. “I know what will make you feel better.”

      He lifted a curious eyebrow but didn’t question her. Instead he waited for her to reveal her answer. Without speaking, she slipped off the couch onto the floor in front of him. On her knees, she eased between his legs. Her gaze stayed fixed on his as she slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

      Carson didn’t argue. He just took a deep breath and let her do as she pleased. Georgia tugged the shirt out of his waistband, unbuttoning the last of the buttons and opening it to expose his chest. Leaning in, she planted a line of kisses starting at his collarbone and moving down. She noticed how the hair on his belly thickened as she traveled lower, planting one last kiss above his belt and drawing in the warm scent of his skin before she sat back to unbuckle it. Her fingers moved deftly to unbutton his pants and zip his fly open. She could feel the heat of his desire pressing against her hand through the cotton of his underwear.

      Georgia let her palm glide over it ever so slowly before she gathered the waistbands and tugged both his pants and underwear down his thighs. With nothing left in her way, she curled her fingers around the length of him and gave a little squeeze until he hissed and squirmed on the sofa. She let her hot breath blow across his skin before she bent her head and took him into her mouth.

      Her tongue glided along his smooth

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