Family Ties

Twelve - Sophie

I was tossing and turning again, this time in the spare bed. I made Justin taken his bed back, since the kids were staying with our parents. I talked to them before going to bed and they were having the time of their lives, getting spoiled. They didn't ask about their dad, and I didn't volunteer any information. Bill had been full of threats since I'd left him, but he hadn't once asked about his children. My newly hired attorney said that was a good thing. His lack of interest should help me in a custody battle. I grew sick to my stomach thinking about losing a custody battle to Bill. There is no way I could leave my children with that man. I had to win. The fact that there might be a battle at all was ridiculous, after he just held us at gunpoint and tried to ram us off the road.

Bill was currently wanted for questioning after we turned the video over to the police. To cover our bases, we'd texted that video to my newly hired attorney, my dad and Justin's two best friends. At this point we didn't trust the police not to "accidently" lose or delete the video. My dad had gone postal, after watching the video, wanting to track Bill down himself. I made him promise to stay put and to focus on keeping my babies safe.

I'd also had my attorney start divorce papers. I wasn't asking Bill for anything. My attorney tried to talk me out of that, but I was adamant. I knew that if I asked Bill for anything it would come back to bite me. I didn't want alimony and didn't want child support, because then that would give him rights to the kids. I didn't know how I would survive, considering Bill didn't let me work, so I had no money of my own. He'd made it seem like he wanted to spoil me. To take care of me. Now, I realized he just wanted me completely dependent on him.

The kids and I would find a way to survive without his money. I had no doubt my dad would help, and I knew Justin would too. Justin. I sighed. I'd finally kissed him and shocked the hell out of him. He'd been such a good sport about it, not making a big deal, but I was mortified. He hadn't even kissed me back, not really. What would it have been like if he had? Would it have stopped at just a kiss? What was I saying? Of course, it would have. I was still a married woman and Justin was an honorable man. He'd never take advantage of me.

He wouldn't have been taking advantage though. I would have gladly given myself to him. Gosh, I'd become a hussy where Justin Carter was concerned. Giving up on sleep, I slipped out of bed and opened the door as quietly as I could. Then, on bare feet, I padded out to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and bent to take in the contents, unsure what I was even looking for. I needed something to settle my nerves. Maybe alcohol was the way to go, I decided, spotting a bottle of wild-turkey whiskey.

"Babe, you really need to start wearing pants around me."

Justin's quiet tone sounded like a boom in the, otherwise, quiet house. I gasped and spun around, finding him wearing only a pair of sweatpants that rode sexy-low on his hips. My eyes ate up his bare, muscular chest. It was clear that he regularly logged some hours in a gym. Then his words penetrated, and I snapped my eyes up to his, but he wasn't looking at my eyes. What to do here? I felt like we were treading on thin ice, but I also felt an almost uncontrollable urge to break that ice and dive in headfirst.

Finally, I decided on sass. I put a hand on my hip and snapped back, "Well, you need to wear a shirt around me!"

His eyes snapped to mine and then he smirked. Holy hell I felt that smirk all the way to my toes. He was the sexiest man I'd ever laid eyes on. He was also coming toward me. I yelped and backed up until I bumped into the counter. Then he simply placed a hand on either side of me, boxing me in, as he stated, "We seem to have ourselves a situation here. I had not realized this was mutual."

My eyes widened. Did he mean...he was attracted to me? Holy shit? How long had he been attracted to me and what in the world did I do with that information? I know what I wanted to do, but I also knew what I should do. I nervously wet my lips and then tipped my head back, so I could look him in the eyes, "My attorney said, with that video proof of how dangerous Bill is, my divorce could be final within a couple weeks."

"Yes, that is what he said." His eyes dipped to my lips.

"So...I think we should...explore this situation in a couple weeks."

Justin's eyes snapped back to mine, and I could see that he got my message. He knew that I wanted him, but he also knew I wasn't comfortable acting on those feelings while I was still married. He nodded, "Ok."

"Ok?" I asked, watching him back up. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"

Justin chuckled, "Babe, I respect your decision. In fact, it's the right decision. I'm not going to say it isn't going to be hell for me the next couple weeks. Now that I know the attraction is mutual, it's going to be pure hell."

I sucked in a breath as he bit his lip and took in my bare legs. Shit. It was going to be hell for me too, but I also knew it was the right thing to do. I needed to go back to bed before I did something incredibly foolish. With that plan in mind, I headed back to my room. I was just about to close the door, shutting me inside, when Justin came to his bedroom door, across the hall from mine. He paused in the doorway and the naked hunger in his eyes made my legs weak.

Then he smirked at me, "So, you should probably know though. I'll keep my hands to myself until your divorce is final, but my mind is going to be consumed with thoughts of you, all day, every day. Oh and, when I say my hands to myself...I mean, a hand...to...myself."

With that he shut the door and I blinked. Did he mean? Surely not. I gulped. I think he meant he would be touching himself and thinking of me. Holy shit. If I hadn't already been hot and bothered the thought of Justin taking himself in his hands, with naughty thoughts of me, would have me panting. Hell, it did have me panting. I reluctantly closed my bedroom door, even though I really wanted to go in and tear his sweatpants off. I wanted to take him into my own hands. I sighed. That would have to wait. In the meantime, maybe I'd take myself into my own hands to tide me over. If he could do it, so could I!