Free Lust Thy Neighbor by Emily Snow Page A

nose. "You actually want to come?"
    "I think I was invited, right? Your—.” He cleared his throat and waggled his eyebrows wickedly.  “—plus one.”
    "Well ... yes."
    He paused and decided to be upfront with her. "I like you, Violet."
    She smiled—a sweet, shy turn of her lips—and his chest clenched. "I like you, too."
    "I want to be honest; I'd like to spend some time with you. But I don't know if I'm ready for something serious. That probably makes me sound like a dick, but I have Jacob to think about, and he's already having a rough time. I really doubt me dating his teacher is going to help him adjust."
    She moved her head up and down. "Yeah, I understand."
    He tilted her chin up and kissed her lightly. She molded against him perfectly, sighing deeply. "If it weren't for Jacob, I'd be all over you right now." He pulled away, giving her a pained expression. "But he's a big part of my life and I've learned that unless I'm ready to get serious with a woman, I shouldn't be parading them around in front of my kid brother. I have to set a good example and all that shit now. Plus, I want to make sure Jacob is settled before I think about dating again."
    She wrinkled her nose at him and laughed. "Adulting is the worst, huh?"
    "Fuck yeah, it is." He leaned his bronze forehead down to hers and drew in a harsh breath. "But seriously, I have to do what's best for him, and I’m worried adding a relationship into the mix might be too much for him. He's already having a tough time transitioning to high school. I don't think he's making friends yet and most of the time, I just screw up with him." Declan's face scrunched at that thought.
    "Hey.” She gripped his hip. "You're doing the best you can. And I see you're really trying. Not a lot of guys would uproot their lives all for their kid brother."
    "Well, I wasn't there for him growing up. And now, I'm all he has. This situation sucks for him too. He lost his parents, home, and friends all because of one drunken asshole. At least I had my parents for twenty-nine years. He only had them for twelve."
    Declan tried not to choke on the guilt, but it was hard shouldering all the responsibility for one kid. A few years ago, he had been looking forward to a promotion and going to the hottest bars in New York. Now, he was learning how to pack school lunches and fumbling through geometry and French homework.
    "Look, I'm not looking for anything serious either. I ..." Violet trailed off but she dragged in a deep breath and continued, “My last relationship was a messy, epic disaster. Well, at least the tail end of it was. I'm not ready for anything major, but I am attracted to you."
    He stroked her arm with his forefinger, feeling goosebumps rise on her soft, smooth skin. "So, what do we do, Miss Kelly?”
    "I don't know." She lifted her slim shoulders. Who would have thought telling a fib to Alexandra would open up such a possibility? "I really don't."
    "Neither do I.” He smoothed his palm across her cheek, feeling the harsh ache of desire when she turned her face against his hand and shivered. Moaned. He could get used to hearing this woman moan over and over again. “But I also can’t deny that I felt things I haven’t felt in a long, long time when I kissed you.”
    "What if we took things slow?"
    He liked the sound of that. At least it was something. "How are you proposing we do that?"
    "You're concerned about Jacob, which I totally understand. I’m concerned about him, too. And, to be honest, I'm still sorting my feelings with my ex. So why don't we just spend some time together, get to know each other first and be friends? You know, the kind of friends that go out on dates occasionally."
    Declan considered it. And as selfish as it sounded, he wanted so much more from Violet Kelly than friendship. But he nodded. "Sounds doable. But I'm going to talk to Jacob first. I don't want him to find out from someone else or, god forbid, if he ever walked in on us kissing. I'm going