“Hey,” Betty whispers, moving beside me. Her hand is light as it slides across my back, her eyes searching mine.
Dammit, I thought I’d done well enough hiding my emotions, not from her, but from the probing questions that might follow regarding my mother’s prognosis. I don’t want to answer those right now. We’re supposed to have a nice dinner with my girlfriend’s family, full of the same laughter that has always made our stomachs ache sitting around this table. That’s it.
Shifting my body to face her, she’s never looked more beautiful in her baby blue sundress. Taking her hand in mine, I kiss her palm, letting go just in time for Beckett to stalk through the back doors.
“Steaks are done.” He raises the serving dish as if showcasing his work before setting it at the center of the table.
“I’ll grab the salads,” Betty spins on her heel, leaving me alone with her brother.
My palms sweat. I know she’s not ready to tell her family about us, but I’m analyzing every look. Every word. Every movement. I am convinced that they know about us and are just waiting for us to confess.
It’s Betty’s choice. It’s her family, and I don’t want her saying a word until she has confidence in me, in us.
Dinner passes the way it always has, only this time I got to sneak touches along Betty’s bare thigh under the table. My fingers drew tiny circles over her skin, inching higher and higheruntil she squirmed and shoved my hand away. My laughter timed perfectly with another of Beckett’s recollections from our youth, so no one knew but us.
For a guy who barely talks outside of his house or the office, he’s always the ringleader seated around his table. I wonder whether others see me in the same way.
Holding a conversation is not an issue, but standing silent in a corner is my go-to more often than not. Then you put me around the people who mean the world to me, and I can become a different person. I become the man Betty makes me want to be all the time. Loud and playful. Loving and full of life.
“Son, those steaks were done up right tonight, and that chimichurri sauce. Boom!” Mr. Hughes smacks the table.
“Okay, enough, big guy,” Mrs. Hughes scolds her husband playfully.
I watch as she stands and starts rounding up the dishes before I interrupt. “Betty and I will handle that, Mama Hughes. You three head out back, and we’ll join you in a few.”
We need a moment alone. Rather, I need a minute alone with my woman.
“You’re such a good boy,” she grins before taking her husband’s arm and stepping out into the warm night air.
Beckett disappears into the kitchen, carrying three beers back out with him to follow his family. It’s almost a replica of the last night I’d been here, but this time, Betty isn’t scuttling away from me. Her gaze lingers on my face, heat brewing in her eyes. This time we’re different.
Only a few hours have passed since I last had her, but I swear I crave her as much as air. It’s never enough, and my cock is hard every five minutes. It’s really a problem when I’m out there trying to mend fences or wrangle spooked horses, and she’s just standing there watching me in those tiny shorts and her tank tops that expose her cleavage for anyone to see.
She doesn’t say a word as she rounds up our plates, and I gather the glasses. It’s as if this is our everyday life, washing the dishes beside one another as she flicks water droplets at my shirt, only to giggle when I tickle her ribs.
We’d done the same after every meal at the house in Montana and these past few days at her apartment and my cabin. My woman was just as determined to spend as much time with me as I wanted to spend with her, so we avoided the Miller house. We drove separate cars and never left together.
It was awful being stuck watching her from afar and only stealing kisses in the shadows of the barn. Oddly enough, there was only one occasion we almost got caught, and it was by Ward. That was the last time Betty let me touch her in the stables.
“Scoot over, I’m getting water all over me,” Betty chortles.
Her breath hitches as I grab her by the wrist and spin her around, pinning her back to the counter’s edge.
“You know how much I like you wet. My words are a whispered promise against her lips before I drag her lower lip between my teeth.
A tiny sound escapes her. One that has my cock twitching in my jeans, threatening to swell if she so much as makes another peep. Her fingers sink into my hair, pulling my face down to hers, her mouth immediately opening, allowing me access to her.
The taste of her consumes me, our bodies grinding into each other when Beckett’s voice booms behind us. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Chapter 35
Nash
My heart hammers in my chest as I spin around, shielding Betty’s body with mine. My arm extends out to the side, her fingers curling around my biceps. The warmth of her breath on my back calms me as I stare her brother down, but I refuse to move.
“I asked you a question,” Beckett practically growls, stalking toward us slowly, his empty beer bottle in hand.
“Beck, I can explain.” I keep my tone as soft as my voice allows. Yet he still advances on us, his eyes darting from mine to a spot behind me. This is exactly what she didn’t want. Even when I wasn’t trying, I fucked this up.
