A short while later, she felt an unusual sense of ease. Theo was playing peek-a-boo with Nora and the strain was gone from her sister’s face as she chatted animatedly to Griff about planting a butterfly garden next year.
‘I hate to break up the party, but I’ve got work to do.’ Griff gulped down the last of his lemonade. ‘I’ll see y’all later.’ At the door he turned and winked at her.
Lyndsey blushed and tried her best to ignore Becca’s satisfied look.
Chapter Twelve
Griff knew he should exert some self-restraint and thoughtfulness and allow Lyndsey to rest longer but leaned in to kiss her cheek, inhaling the intoxicating scent of her velvety skin. Hopefully she’d wake up and they could make love all over again. She’d been irresistible to him from the day they met, and last night cemented it.
‘Oh my, what time is it?’ Lyndsey yawned and stretched awake.
‘Six o’clock.’ He raised up on one elbow and pushed the dark, tousled curls away from her face so he could kiss her on the mouth. ‘After you finished turning that prissy client into putty in your hands, we managed a few hours’ sleep.’
‘I hope I didn’t snore?’
‘Loud enough to make the rafters shake.’ Griff struggled to keep a straight face. ‘Don’t worry, you were your usual quiet, thoughtful self.’
‘Is that how you see me?’ Her brow wrinkled.
‘What’s wrong with that?’
She pulled free of him and sat up, wrapping her arms around her bent knees. ‘You aren’t exactly gregarious yourself, are you?’
‘Believe it or not, I used to be quite the party animal. In my yuppie days, I worked hard and played even harder. I wasn’t a great guy, Lyndsey. These days, I appreciate “quiet and thoughtful” a whole lot. If more people were that way, the world would be a better place.’ He grinned. ‘If it’s any consolation, you definitely weren’t quiet and restrained when we did the horizontal tango.’
‘The what?’ She smacked him on the chest. ‘You’re appalling.’
‘Let’s just say it’s a good thing there’s a good bit of space between us and the neighbors.’ A deep flush spread up her neck. ‘I’m not complainin’. Far from it.’ He slid a hand down to cup one of her breasts, and Lyndsey’s sharp intake of breath made him groan. ‘I love that under all your British modesty and coolness, you’re . . .’ His fingers stroked lower and lower. ‘Insatiable,’ he rasped.
Shifting off her briefly, Griff fumbled around for another condom and mentally urged himself to slow down. He’d always tried to be a thoughtful lover and not rush a woman for his own satisfaction, but this morning’s battle was hard fought.
‘Don’t hold back. I won’t break.’ She gave a sly smile. ‘Unless, of course, it’s too much for your poor injured hand.’ Last night she’d been cautious at first of hurting him, but he’d assured her the cut was almost healed up and made her blush when he insisted she was well worth a little discomfort. ‘Before we came to bed last night I’d no idea how . . .sensualI could be with the right person.’ Her breath came in short gasps and she wound her arms around his neck, kissed him hard and deep and pulled him down.
Griff gave in.
* * *
Lyndsey smiled when he sounded worried and asked if he was crushing her. If she said yes but she loved it, and possibly him too, Griff would probably freak. She usually jumped straight out of bed after sex to shower, not a habit that endeared her to previous lovers. Last night, she’d had no desire to wash off his musky, testosterone-laden scent lingering on her skin.
The desire simmering between them had bubbled away from the moment she entered the house last night. They gamely held it at bay for a while by eating together, a delicious lasagna she’d made following a go-to recipe that hadn’t failed her yet, then by sitting on the porch to drink coffee until the sun went down. They’d talked about everything from the classic Westerns they both enjoyed to the various places around the world they wanted to see one day.
But when they shifted back inside and Griff casually asked if she wanted to take a nap until it was time for the video call back to England, all bets were off. She’d kissed him on the mouth and said three simple words.
‘Oh, Griff, really?’
Now, in his magnificent king-size bed, where he’d made her feel so amazingly wonderful last night, Lyndsey snuggled back into his arms. Her emotions were all over the place today. Normally it was no hardship to push personal relationships to one side and concentrate on work, but over the last couple of months her priorities had subtly altered.The more involved she became — first in her sister’s life and now with Griff — the more she felt constrained by the demands of her business. Last night it was as if he battered down the last bricks of the Berlin Wall, leaving her exposed, ecstatic and petrified in equal measures.
‘Did I tell you the story behind this bed?’ Griff murmured.
‘No, but I’m sure it has one,’ she teased.
‘This is what they call a sleigh bed, and was carved from local white oak by one of the early pioneers in Williamson County. I discovered it at a local antique shop. It’s very special.’
And so are you,she thought to herself.
He tangled his fingers in her curls. ‘Your hair’s so beautiful.’ A lazy smile creased his face. ‘Of course, the rest of you is too.’
‘I used to hate it.’
