Swatting her fingers away—playfully—I scurried down the bed, stopping at her navel to run my tongue around it. When she lifted her heat to me this time, I didn’t wait. Without a moment’s hesitation, my mouth landed where she wanted.
At first, I took my time, not rushing until her nails ran through my hair and she tugged while saying my name. I picked upspeed, finding her most sensitive spot and not letting up until she splintered. I rode it out until she was limp before making my way to face her, our mouths reuniting, Wren not one bit bothered by her taste on me.
This time, I used my own hand to guide myself home. As a young kid from Scotland, living it up in college in Arizona, I’d never imagined I would call this gorgeous, smart woman in Boston my safe place.
Yet I never wanted to leave.
Wren
It had been a little over a year since Daniel Campbell practically barged into my operating room—it didn’t happen exactly like that, but for effect, that sounded better in my head. After all, I was currently sitting in a movie premiere, waiting for Daniel to return to his seat.
We were in Los Angeles for a few days, a planned vacation at his—our, he kept insisting—house with the most perfect backyard, for the release ofEagle. Just a few moments ago, during the Q and A held for VIPs, Daniel had answered the question, “Why did you change the name of the original movie if this is a remake?”
“Well, I convinced them to do it after shooting the hole-in-one scene. It’s such an epic shot and it really changed the direction of my character’s life. You will see, he had been there before. And while he made the shot, his life went south. The second time, he learned his lesson. There is something about a single perfectshot. You don’t usually get a second chance at that, but when you do, you’d better grab onto it.”
He looked at me the whole time, staring into my eyes, and I knew the words were meant for me.
“Hey,” he whispered now as he slid into the seat next to me. “Anyone tell you that you look hot as hell?”
I laughed to myself. “Yeah, you,” I joked back.
“Good. I don’t want anyone else telling you.”
I’d had a whole day of pampering at the house. A stylist and hair and makeup person arrived early this morning with a whole myriad of dresses and shoes.
His fingers wove through mine and he added, “Thanks for coming.”
“Well, I wanted to be one of thefirststo see the movie,” I whispered.
“I offered a million times to show you at home, on the couch with Rourke and Betty, comfy with popcorn.” He spoke stoically, and I wondered if I said something wrong.
I didn’t think it had offended him, my waiting to see the premiere. “Betty would have stolen all my snacks…”
This had Daniel quietly laughing, and I could feel the rumble in his chest all the way through his fingers.
Betty was a six-year-old, seventy-six-pound chocolate Lab who’d starred as Daniel’s dog at the end ofEaglewhen his character settles down. The dog-man duo fell in love with one another, and then Daniel caught wind that Betty was ready for retirement. One morning I went to work and she wasn’t at our place, and that evening she was. Apparently, Betty flew in with Jerry, who was tying up some loose ends at the club, and Daniel picked her up.
“I would have made Betty her own snacks,” Daniel admitted.
“I know,” I said while squeezing his hand. “But I wanted to see the movie on the big screen, not with Betty’s butt in the way.”
“She would never stick her butt in your face.”
If there was one female I was jealous of, it might be Betty. Daniel adored her and allowed her to do as she pleased. Rourke didn’t seem to mind her either, always snuggling up to her. Whatever she had going on, I should borrow from her—she had all the boys in the yard coming around.
Leaning in, I kissed Daniel’s cheek. “It’s been a great week…I mean, out of the cold.”
“I knew you were using me for the house out here,” he teased right back at me.
“I needed to get you away from Betty…”
“Shh. If she knew we were in this weather, she’d be really mad.”
That was the truth, although both Betty and Rourke seemed to love Sammy, the young college girl staying with them.
Since he’d returned, Daniel and I had fallen into this sort of normal-ish routine with dog sitters and date nights. I sort-of golfed, and Daniel ignored the emergency athlete calls, mostly because he’d had to call in a few favors from me too. He’d found himself involved with the Harvard golf team, who practiced at The Country Club, and it was a really perfect fit. The guys loved Daniel as a mentor, and he felt young working with them.
Two players had needed immediate ortho consults, and I was able to set them up with Smyth, who was thrilled to see them.
