Travis scoffed.“Hell no,” he told her.“Playing on the side yard.”He smiled at her and brought her back toward him, wanting to feel her body against his every chance he could get.“Can’t expect me to change stripes all at once.”
Parker chuckled and kissed his cheek.“I don’t expect you to change them at all.I like you the way you are.”As she walked off and joined Kit with the rest of the kids, Travis could only stand and stare after her, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky as to not only find someone who liked him for who he was, but who he liked just as much in return.
Chapter Sixteen
Parker
Chatter and low music washed over Parker as she sat in the family room of Lottie’s house with her bare feet soaking in a portable spa.The warm bubbles and water gently lapping at her ankles was more relaxing than she’d ever imagined it could be.Had she ever done something like this for herself?If she had, the memory of it was long gone.It seemed that all she remembered from life were the good times with Kit separated by long days spent on her feet and long nights wishing there was a man in her bed instead of her daughter.She still wished for a man in her bed, but before he was nameless and faceless.Now, Parker wanted one man in particular in her bed, but now that the possibility of getting him there was upon her, the problem of keeping him there was one she couldn’t wrap her head around.
The kisses Parker shared with Travis reminded her of her favorite Dolly song.While the feel of his lips on hers had lit her body on fire and caused an ache in her core so insistent that she’d snuck into his room and asked for more just to make the pain go away, they had also made her heart feel lighter than air.That rare and gentle feeling Miss Parton sang about was something Parker wanted to grab onto with both hands and never let go of, but it wasn’t just up to her.Travis seemed as though he was interested in more between the two of them, but for how long?Was this just him getting back into the swing of things, or would they be a forever kind of thing?Parker definitely wanted the latter, but again, not just up to her.
Instead of trying to predict the future, should she talk with the sometimes shy Travis?Or should Parker just stay in the moment, try and keep this feeling for as long as she could even knowing it might end?There was always the option of backing off now before anyone’s hearts got too involved, but that wasn’t feasible.Parker’s heart already felt like it was in danger of getting crushed by Travis, but she already knew that what she would feel along the way would be worth it.As she thought more about Travis, how good he looked in his jeans and the way the cotton of his shirt stretched across his chest earlier when she’d said goodbye to him and Kit, and how amazing it had felt to be held in his arms as he hugged her before she left, Parker could feel a dreamy smile coming across her face.
“Oh, she’s either thinking about chocolate or sex.”Lottie’s voice broke through her Travis-induced haze.Parker looked over at the other woman, fairly certain that the heat she felt on her cheeks was from a blush and not the warmth of the foot tub.Lottie had a bright smile on her face as well as an inquisitive look that had Parker on edge right away.
“I don’t know about chocolate,” Nicole said from her other side.“Maybe she’s thinking about caramel, or cinnamon roasted pecans, or cherry licorice.Oh, that sounds so good right now.Did anyone bring licorice?”Parker shook her head as Nicole rose from her seat, presumably to go hunt for some candy.
Parker had met the other women when they were at the farm for a family lunch last week, and they had all been so nice that she’d wished she had joined them just as she’d let Kit.Still, eating with Travis’s whole family felt more serious than with just him or his parents, and she wasn’t sure they were there yet.The group was also still rather intimidating to Parker, even after being invited there tonight by Autumn and her chat about rough pasts with Willa.
Parker was still getting used to who was who but felt more settled with the ladies than she had last week.It was very obvious from taking one look around the room that all of them were beautiful, which was intimidating in itself, being surrounded by a group of people who could have doubled for catalog models when she felt like her looks were nothing to write home about, but they had also been some of the kindest people she’d met on her life’s journey.
Trying not to feel like the ugly duckling in a room filled with swans, Parker ran her fingers through her frizzy curls a little self-consciously, but smiled as she tried to keep the focus off of her.“You know it was chocolate.I was thinking about this cake we had not too long ago.It was chocolate truffle.”The cake had been delicious, but not nearly as delectable as the flavor on Travis’s lips whenever she kissed him.Unsurprisingly, the earthiness mixed with tart apple was like stepping out into the orchard itself, something she was beginning to enjoy as much as the man himself.“I think Aiden made it.”
Nicole wandered back into the room with ropes of licorice in her hand and half of one dangling from her mouth.“Sounds about right,” she mumbled before finishing her bite.Her butter blonde hair was in one of those sloppy buns that looked so effortless but would take Parker at least an hour to try to achieve with her mass of curls.“My fiancé is definitely good with his hands.”Nicole waggled her eyebrows as she retook her seat, earning chuckles from just about everyone but a groan from Willa.
“Please keep the details to yourself, girl.”Willa swiped a coat of polish onto her fingernail and held it up under a nearby lamp.“I do not need to have knowledge of what my brothers-in-law get up to in the bedroom.”Willa was married to Travis’s older brother Beckett.After immediately being so warm and welcoming to Parker as well as seeming like an all-around sweet woman, she could see why the equally affable Kemp brother would marry her.
Autumn snickered from the couch where she lay with cucumbers over her eyes.“Does that mean you don’t want me to talk about this thing Felix does with his tongue?I bet if I ask him nicely he could teach it to Beckett for you.”She laughed, but it was cut off by a throw pillow being tossed at her by Willa.
“Gross,” Willa said, straightening back up in her chair.A sly smile came over her face as she polished another nail.“Beckett doesn’t need any tips on how to please me.Besides, he’s probably the one who taught it to Felix.”
Autumn sat up, the cucumbers falling off her eyes and into her lap.“You know, you’re probably right.”Her brow furrowed for a minute before she was shaking her head.“Ew.I don’t want to know this.”
Willa cackled and threw another pillow at Autumn.“I told you.It’s weird, right?”Nicole see-sawed her head before nodding her agreement.
Lottie took in the group, looking terribly disappointed.“Well, as the only single gal here, each of you can tell me every single detail.The good, the bad, and the kinky.”She shifted on her chair, hiking up her pajama pants so they didn’t dip into her foot bath.“It is rough out there in the dating world ladies, and I need all the spank bank material I can get.”
