And he understood her so well because he felt the same. It was what brought him back to the mountains. And now, she was the one place he didn’t feel hunted by his own thoughts.
He tickled Navy again, then she kicked her legs to be set down and shot off toward her toys again.
He didn’t pause. He just veered straight for Felicity.
She pushed to her feet and met him in the middle of the big room.
His body angled toward her. “You okay?” he asked quietly.
Her eyes were tender, foggy blue, but tired. “It’s been a long day.”
He pitched his voice lower. “Want me to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out?”
A laugh bubbled out of her, drawing looks from Honor and some of the others. “That might be a little too much.”
“You think so? Didn’t Kent fromI Dream of Youdo that with Marianna?”
Her eyes widened. “You read that too?” A flush of pink, as subtle as a sunrise, coated her cheeks. “I never guessed you were a women’s fiction fan.”
“Not sure I agree with readers saying they couldn’t put it down, but it was okay.”
She laughed again at his personal review, and his fingers twitched toward her. From the corner of his eye, he saw Carson’s focus lift from his infant son in his arms to him and Felicity.
Suddenly, she twisted away from him and moved toward Honor. Whatever she said to her sister had Honor nodding and touching her arm lightly.
Felicity faced the room with a smile. “It’s been a long day. I’m heading to my bed in the library. Goodnight, everyone.”
Wishes of a good night’s sleep and calls of goodnight followed.
Felicity drifted to his side. “Walk me to the library?”
“I’d do anything for you.” He meant it. He’d slay dragons for her.
The glint in her eyes was too much like the one he saw a split second before she’d kissed him back in the bookshop. A heartbeat before their mouths collided and they ended up in each other’s arms on the floor of the cookbook section.
He looked over her head at the rest of the family. No one was paying any attention to them.
Good. Because Felicity was looking at him like she remembered every second of it…and wanted a repeat.
They stepped out of the living room but didn’t take two steps before they reached for each other. She slipped her hand aroundhis, and his heart flexed at the gesture even as he smoothed his thumb over hers.
The voices faded behind them as they moved toward the library. At the door, he paused to allow her to enter first. When he stepped in, he closed the door behind them with a quiet click of the latch.
On the mantel sat a tiny cup holding the flowers he left on her pillow earlier.
She stepped closer. Slow and deliberate. Her body heat washed over him. Her breath brushed his jaw when she tipped her face to his.
His pulse throbbed. The slow burn? Yeah. It was done. Gone. Burned itself out into a wildfire.
“Felicity.” Using a fingertip, he eased a lock of hair off her brow. “Christ, you’re beautiful.”
She cut her gaze over his face, his chest and back up. “I want you.”
His throat clicked as he swallowed. “You sure?”
She slid a hand up his chest, fingers curling in the fabric of his T-shirt. “I’ve been sure.”
That was all it took.
