He shifted off of me and tugged me close to him. My entire body became lazily warm, happy and sated. I listened to his heartbeat and closed my eyes, enjoying the relaxing pull of his hand through my hair. “Noah,” I whispered. “I thought …” we were going to make love.

He tipped up my chin, forcing me to look at him. “We have forever to work up to that, Echo. Let’s enjoy every step of the way.”

My mind drifted this way and that. Mostly between focusing on his heart, his touch and the sweetest word I had ever heard: forever.

One clear thought forced my eyes open again. “You’re putting me to sleep.”

“So?” he asked a little too innocently.

I swallowed. “I’ll have nightmares.”

“Then we’ll have an excuse to do this again.”

NOAH

The familiar ring tone jerked me awake. My arms and legs were wrapped like tentacles around Echo, my nymph who lay sleeping with her back pressed against me. I released my grasp of her stomach to reach for the cell in my jeans, which had been tossed during our earlier activities.

“Hello?” I cleared my throat.

“Noah?”

“Yeah?” I didn’t recognize the man on the other end. Echo remained blissfully asleep. I edged away from her, tucking the blanket tight around her slender form. Millions of thoughts raced in my exhausted mind. Had something happened to Isaiah or Beth? Were they hurt or in jail? Keesha or Mrs. Collins would have called if it were my brothers.

“It’s Owen Emerson. Echo’s dad.” He paused.

Rubbing my head to wake my brain, I kept my mouth shut as I walked to the other side of the basement. It wouldn’t be a good conversation starter to mention that his daughter lay in my bed, half naked.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but Echo left this morning rather upset with me and she hasn’t come home.” I craned my head to check out the clock radio on the floor next to the bed. Two in the morning. Her dad must be on the verge of a coronary. Oddly enough, he didn’t sound like a rabid pit bull. “She turned her phone off and I’ve called her friends. Lila gave me your number and said she could be with you.”

The blanket rose and fell with the steady rhythm of Echo’s breathing. She’d come to me tonight, trusting me. If I told him, he’d come and take her away, breaking my heart and possibly her trust in me. “Mr. Emerson …”

“Please, Noah, she’s my daughter. I need to know she’s okay.” I’d never heard a man sound so desperate in my life. Almost as desperate as my own need to know Jacob and Tyler were safe.

“She’s here.” My heart stopped beating, waiting for the patented father ass-chewing.

“Is she okay?” He sounded … relieved?

“Yeah. She’s asleep. Has been for a while. I’d hate to wake her.”

He paused again. “When did she fall asleep?”

Best guess? “Sometime near one.”

“And she’s slept through?”

Good thing I knew Echo’s sleep patterns, or lack thereof. Otherwise, I would have thought this an odd line of questioning. “Yes, sir. Not a peep.”

I waited in heavy silence as he debated his options: have me wake her to tell her to go home or let her sleep. “Do your foster parents mind her being there?”

“No.” They were at the lake, but even if they were here and paid enough attention to notice I’d brought a girl home, they’d only remind me that she couldn’t live here once she got knocked up.

“Can I speak to them?”

No. “They’re asleep.”

“Of course, of course. Echo mentioned that you have a foster sister. I’m assuming she’s sharing her living arrangements.”

Technically—”Yes.” When she was here, Beth did sleep on the bed.

“Have her call me the moment she wakes up in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, Noah, thank you for telling me the truth.”

“You’re welcome.” I hung up and crawled back in bed, burrowing into Echo.

I WOKE TO EMPTY ARMS. ECHO had kept her warm body close to mine all night. A vise gripped my chest. Where was she?

My eyes opened to find the sexiest sight in the world. In black bikini underwear and a tank top, Echo stretched out next to me. Her sketch pad lay on the bed, pencil moving rapidly in her hand. A photo of my brothers was propped up on the pillow.

“Hey, baby.”

She gave me a quick glance and a shy smile. “Hey.”

I glanced at the clock. Ten-thirty in the morning. Isaiah and Beth would probably roll in soon, but it would be a sin to see her put clothes on. “How did you sleep?”

The smile fell, but she kept drawing. “Better than usual.”

My heart dropped. I wanted to be the answer to her problems. “You had nightmares?”

She nodded. “Not nearly as vivid, though. Plus I slept longer than I normally do.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because you’re cute when you sleep. See?” She turned the page and showed me the drawing of me sleeping.

“What are you working on now?” I snatched the pad and took her hand in mine when she tried to grab it back.

“Don’t look. It’s a work in progress. Just messing around really. Noah …”

I flipped the page to her work in progress and quit breathing.

“Please don’t be mad. I wanted to give you something. Oh, God,” she moaned. “This was a bad idea.”

I tore my eyes away from the page, cupping her face with my hand. “No. It’s the best present anyone has ever given me.” I wanted to kiss her, but I couldn’t. I had to look at the picture again. “How did you do it?” Somehow, she’d drawn my parents.

She scooted next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. “You talk about them a lot. Not like long monologues or anything, but enough that I’ve been able to create a picture in my head. You told me that Jacob looks like your dad and that you and Tyler resemble your mom. You said Mrs. Marcos reminds you of your mom. I saw this picture of your brothers and, I don’t know … I put it all together.”

I love you. Every part of me ached to say it. I gazed into those beautiful eyes and knew I loved her more than I loved myself. I’d known for weeks, but I couldn’t say the words. Saying the words—it made Echo official. It made the attachment I already knew I had to her real.

But it was real and it was official. I was a pansy-ass for not saying the words. Say them. Just say them. I sucked in a breath, opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. No. Not here. I’d take her someplace nice. Someplace beautiful. Maybe back to my parents’ fountain. “Your dad called last night looking for you. I told him you were here.”

She drew away from me, wrapping her hands around her knees. “I guess I should probably head home.” A bitter smile hung on her lips. “Think he’ll forgive me for breaking the rules for one night?”

I didn’t want her to go, ever. I wanted Echo in my bed every night with my arms and legs wrapped around her. But how? In two months she’d be a free woman. Free of high school and, if she chose, free of her father, but I wouldn’t be free.

Taking care of my brothers wouldn’t be like babysitting, it would be a job. A full-time job that required responsibility. How did I explain to young children the difference between a serious dating relationship and a committed, married relationship when they awoke to find Echo in my bed? Even better, would the judge allow me custody knowing half my heart belonged to someone else?

I wouldn’t be their big brother. Fuck, Mrs. Collins was right— I’d be their dad and Echo … Echo would be the woman I was sleeping with. The words tumbled out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying. “Marry me.”

Her eyes widened and her head tilted with a twitch. “What?”

I brushed my hair out of my face and sat up, putting the sketch pad down. “I know it’s crazy, but after we graduate, marry me. We’ll get custody of my brothers and you can get away from your dad and we’ll be a family. I know you want a family as much as I do.”

Her mouth gaped and her eyes flickered between the pillow and the sheets. “Noah … I … I don’t know. I mean, how would we support ourselves? Where would we live?”

“Frank offered me the day shift manager position yesterday. If you marry me, you’ll get to be on my insurance. I know you’ll nail one of those college scholarships you’ve applied for, so we don’t have to worry about paying tuition. You can get a parttime job and help me take care of the boys. Maybe if things go well, I could take some night classes in a year.”

Excitement rippled through me. Maybe I didn’t have to negotiate. Maybe I could have it all, just at a slower rate than I would have liked. “It’ll be perfect. You can go to classes and work while the boys are in school. I can get them ready and off to school before my shift and you’ll be there to pick them up. There is absolutely no way the judge can tell me no.”

“No.” Echo’s small voice caught me off guard. She grabbed her jeans and rolled off the bed. “No. Is this all I’ve ever been to you?” She shrugged them on and then threw on her shirt. “A pawn to get your brothers back?”

No. She was distorting my every word. I sprang off the bed. “No, baby. You have to know how much I care for you.”

She shoved on her boots. “Really, Noah? You’ve never once told me that you love me, yet you’re willing to marry me. I’m not sure if you were listening, but your proposal sounded something like this. ‘Hey, baby, marry me and then you can take care of my brothers.’”

Everything inside of me twisted and began to shatter. I’d fucked this up. “You’ve got to know how I feel. Please, baby, I …”

She threw a hand up in the air. “Don’t. Don’t cheapen my feelings for you by lying to me. I’m the idiot in this situation. You told me I was yours, nothing more than a piece of property—a body to sleep with. You never promised me anything else. At least you kept your word and made me more than the whores in the backseat of your car. So thanks, Noah, thanks for not fucking me.”

The basement door opened and Isaiah called out, “Coming down, cover up!”

Echo flew up the stairs as he came down. Isaiah stopped at the foot of the stairs watching her leave. “Where’s the fire, Echo?”

“Echo, wait!” I yelled out to her. Isaiah blocked my path.

“What the hell, man?” he asked.

“Let me by,” I growled and pushed past him. By the time I reached the front stoop, Echo had pulled off down the street. I slammed my fist against the house, but my throbbing hand couldn’t match the pain tearing at my heart. I’d lost Echo.

Echo

Lying on my bed, I clutched my tank top to my chest and wished the knife would stop stabbing my heart. Noah’s sweet musky scent lingered on my tank. It had hurt when I’d broken up with Luke, but nothing like this. I loved Noah. I really, really loved him.