“Aww,” Mabel cooed, her eyes alight as she watched Sutton and me. “I justknewyou were a big teddy bear, Atlas.”
Sutton blew out a long sigh. “All right. I’ll tell the kids at school they can’t call you Coach Asshole anymore.” She rested her hand on my stomach, low enough that my troublemaker dick perked up even more at her touch. “At least, notallthe time. But I’ll be honest, sometimes you really do deserve it.”
Mabel cackled. “Right you are, Sutton. I was just tickled pink when I found out you two were an item! I was a little surprised at first, what with Atlas being the big mean one in town, and you being, well, not. But I can see it now. Very Brady and Luna. Have you met the sheriff and his wife?”
Sutton shook her head. “Not yet.”
“I think you’d really get along with Luna. And the sheriff? Well, he’s kind of like this one.” Mabel hooked a thumb toward me. “Grumpy and growly on the outside but protective and sweet when it comes to his woman.”
“Oh, I’m not—” She snapped her mouth shut when I squeezed her hip in warning, having no doubt she was about to slip and say she wasn’t mine.
And I had no fucking idea why the hell a true statement had uneasiness churning in my gut, but I shoved the feeling aside. Bottled it up like every other confusing emotion I felt around this woman, which was turning out to be a whole fucking lot.
A gust of wind shook the trees as the leaves rattled, raining down around us, and Sutton shuddered beneath my arm.
I stared down at her with a frown, already shrugging out of my flannel. “Where’s your coat?”
“In my car.”
“Why didn’t you grab it?”
She lifted a brow. “Someone kidnapped me before I had the chance.”
“Put this on,” I said, already wrapping my shirt around her shoulders. Hating how much I loved how she looked in my clothes.
“Well, isn’t that sweet? I bet he’s a doll behind closed doors, isn’t he?” Mabel asked.
“Oh, definitely,” Sutton said with a heavy dose of sarcasm Mabel didn’t seem to pick up.
“I just knew it! Tell me, what’s the most surprising thing he’s done?”
As soon as Sutton glanced up at me, a mischievous glint in her eye, I knew I was fucked.
“Well,” she said, leaning toward Mabel as if she was about to spill the juiciest gossip. “Before I agreed to move in with him, he showed up outside my bedroom window, holding his phone over his head while it blasted ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine.”
“No!” Mabel gasped, her eyes wide and full of interest.
“Yes,” Sutton confirmed with a nod.
I shot her a scowl. “I don’t think that’s quite?—”
She pressed her finger against my lips, silencing me, her eyes sparkling. “It was, pookie. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. I was the only one who saw your Magic Mikeimpression.”Turning back to Mabel, she said, “It was a little over the top, but I overlooked it. How could I not? When he rolls those hips like that…” Sutton fanned herself like the troublemaking instigator she was. “You won’t tell anyone that, will you?”
“I would never,” Mabel promised, a hand to her chest. “Well, no more than just my dear, closest friends anyway.”
Yeah, her dear, closest friends who had a subscription to theStarlight Cove Gazetteand who subscribed to her social media channels to get alerts anytime she went live. Not to mention everyone in the book club, including my mom. If small-town gossip were a sport, Mabel would take gold every fucking time.
“Well, we’re all friends in a small town, right?” Sutton shot me another evil grin, living up to every bit of her nickname. “There was also the time he?—”
I squeezed her hip hard, stealing her words as I leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Careful, trouble. Or I’ll have to find another way to stop you from running that mouth of yours.”
I didn’t mean for my words to sound suggestive, but from the look she gave me as she rested her hand on my chest, there was no doubt they did. Unable to help myself, I dropped my gaze to her lips, remembering how soft they were. How she’d teased me, her teeth grazing my bottom lip, her tongue sliding against mine. That tiny little moan she always breathed straight into my mouth when we kissed.
And fuck me, but I wanted that again. Wanted to taste her. Wanted to?—
“Mygoodness, things are sure heating up in here! I hope you two are finding some privacy even with Laurel around.” Mabel leaned forward, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “And that you’re getting use of your purchase, Sutton. Toys are always more fun when played with together!”
I snapped my head toward Sutton, who was working awfully hard to avoid my gaze. That alone told me everything I needed toknow. At some point since she’d moved to town, she’d purchased a little something from Starlight Cove’s sex toy dealer.
