Halfway to the barn, I finally processed what he’d said. “The barn?”
“Just now registered that, did ya?”
“How am I supposed to think with your massive body pressed against me like that?”
He looked completely proud of himself. “You aren’t.”
“Why are we going to the barn?”And did he say he wanted to get me naked in there?
“Why don’t you go inside and find out?” He pulled my car as close to the large doors as he could.
He didn’t have to tell me twice. For the second time, I went out into the blizzard, not even paying it any attention, and slid open the barn door just enough to squeeze inside.
The second I did, I stopped in my tracks, practically gaping at the sight that greeted me.
Archer came in behind me, sliding the door shut and stopping at my back. “What do you think?” he asked.
I glanced over my shoulder quickly, before turning back to the room. “You did all of this?”
“Do you like it?”
“It’s perfect.”
“Then yeah, I did it.”
“You did all this for me?” I murmured while looking around the barn, cleared of cut trees, wreaths, and everything else that filled it during the holiday season. Archer’s mint-green truck was parked in the center, tailgate down and facing one of the large wooden walls, which was covered in a giant white sheet.
I walked farther into the space, shoes scuffing over hay, to see the bed of the Ford piled high with quilts and Christmas-themed pillows. On the edge of the bed sat a projector, its light trained at the sheet on the wall.
The string lights that had been used to decorate for Christmas were strung from the rafters over the truck and draped into a glittering arch.
Outside, the wind howled and shook some of the wooden boards making up the structure. It whistled slightly through cracks so thin I couldn’t even see them.
“It’s warm in here,” I observed.
“Turned the heaters on,” Archer said, gesturing to a floor-standing object.
“It’s like our own personal drive-in,” I said, taking it all in once more. “But better.”
“And in the middle of a blizzard.” Archer agreed. “Guaranteed to keep everyone else away.”
I rushed across the distance and leaped into his arms without hesitation. He caught me like it was easy, and my thighs lockedaround his waist. “No one has ever done anything so romantic for me.”
“Because no one will ever love you like me.”
“I love it,” I said, laying a kiss against his lips. “I love you.”
“Do you want to know what movie I picked?”
“No,” I murmured, leaning in again.
Groaning, he tightened his hands on my waist, slipping down to palm my ass. I rocked into him, and he squeezed, sliding his tongue into my mouth. Sighing, I leaned farther into him, opening my mouth so we could explore each other to our hearts’ content.
Still buried between my lips, he started walking, the grip on my ass as confident as his steps on the way to the bed of his truck. Once there, he pulled me back, sitting me on the open tailgate and pushing my legs wide. Stepping between them, he slid the coat off my body and then pulled at my shirt.
I lifted my arms and let him undress me, going as far as popping the button on my jeans. When I was naked from the waist up, his heated stare lingered, making my nipples pucker in the center of my chest. I’d never been overly confident in my skin, knowing I wasn’t terrible-looking but feeling like I didn’t often compare to others. I wasn’t built and defined by physical labor, instead slender and soft from long hours in the clinic.
The first time I’d gotten naked in front of him, I’d been so nervous I was almost sick. I worried I’d never measure up to anyone who came before me. I’d worried his first time with another man would somehow disappoint him. But then he looked at me, the reflection in his eyes so much different than what I’d always seen in a mirror. His eyes held not one ounce of scrutiny or judgment but felt more like some sort of sensual caress. He cast a spell before his hands even touched me, making me believe every inch of me was perfect and he could never want anything more.
