He mumbles some shit as he stumbles up but I ignore it and lock the front door as snow begins to fall.
“Well,” Marley sighs, “that was a thing. You sure you want to do this with me? Turns out I have more drama than a high school locker room.”
“Yes,” I say, stepping toward her, my lips landing on her forehead. “I most definitely want to do this again. That guy is nobody. Let’s treat him as such.”
She nods slowly and glances around the store. “Doesn’t look like he had time to do any damage, so that’s good. You get anything from your phone call with Mrs. Robinson?”
I wander to the back and toward the little bakery stand that’s still stocked with treats from yesterday and grab a slice of banana bread for the both of us, then flick on the coffee maker while I say, “I did. She forgot she even had the lot, and she said she’d be willing to sell, assuming I make two more benches for her.”
“Okay,” Marley laughs and grabs two mugs from the stand as we wait for the coffee to brew, “so what does that mean?”
“It means I bought it, honey. I’ve been saving some cash, looking for a good investment. I can’t think of a better way to spend it.”
She wrinkles her brows and looks toward me. “Wait, what?”
I grip her hands in mine. “I want to build something with you. We can start our own little empire. Chestnut Lane Books and Chestnut Lane Crafts right across the street. We can host tutorial nights for locals, get folks into the bookstore, get them having fun, get the town talking. Best part is, we can do it together.”
“I can’t let you do that, Tex. We just saw each other again for the first time in eight years. I mean, Ijustleft my boyfriend. We’re moving so fast. I—”
“I’m not moving fast,” I say, my gaze dialed on hers. “None of this is fast. I’ve thought about you every single day for almost a decade. I know people say that and it sounds so fuckin’ trite, but it’s true. You’re the woman I’ve fantasized about every single day. I think about what it’d be like to have you at the grocery store next to me, in bed with me, what our kids would be like. Shit, I’ve even imagined us with dogs.”
She wipes away a tear and smiles. “What kind of dogs do we have?”
“Dobermans, of course.” I laugh and pull her against my chest. “We have four Dobermans and we attach them each to a kid.”
“So, we have four kids in your fantasy?”
“At least. Honey, I love you. I never stopped.” My chest tightens as I stare at her. “So no, this isn’t fast.This is slow.Really fucking slow. So slow that if you make me wait one more second to make you mine, I might just have to take you.”
“Take me?” She grins. “What exactly does taking me look like?”
“Oh, taking you looks like me tossing you up onto that desk, peeling off those clothes, and making you mine.”
“And what happens when I’m yours?” she whispers, tipping up onto her toes, her breath warm against the lobe of my ear.
“I reckon that’s when that dream you had last night comes to life.”
Her cheeks turn red as she bites back a smile. “What are you talking about?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about. You going to tell me what we were doing in that dream or leave me wondering?”
“Oh my God!” She’s still trying to hide her smile. “Stop! We were just healing each other, I think.”
“Is that what you young people call it now, ‘cause I think we should get on somehealing.”
I pull her close and carry her back into the office, my lips on hers as I shove the wooden Santa and four of his reindeer onto the ground and set Marley on her desk. “I want to do bad things to you, sweet girl.”
She glances down at the ground then up again, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “Remember how you used to tie me up and spank my ass when I wouldn’t listen?”
I nod, my cock hard as fuck, thinking back on the filthy things we used to do. “Remember the blindfolds?”
She giggles. “And that night you rented out a room at the lodge and we fucked in the window? I think it was New Year’s Eve.”
I lean into her neck and nibble gently. “You thought that woman saw us.”
“Iknowshe saw us. I’m confident she stayed and watched.” Marley grins. “She probably still thinks about it. Yaknow… I was going to ask you to that New Year’s Eve party again this year. I thought we could recreate some memories.”
“I’m there.” I lift off her sweater and head in for her leggings, tugging them until she’s naked on the desk, staring up at me with pink pouted lips, her tits full and pert staring back at me.
