The two men dropped their hands as Eli approached, a guitar case in each hand.
“Thank you, Eli,” Willow said, grabbing her case as Ash grabbed his.
Eli laughed. “Always happy to escape an awkward situation.” He turned to Colt. “Can I take you home to your wife now?”
Colt nodded.
“I’ll call Jenna, and we’ll have you all over for dinner sometime in the next week. You and Beth and Boone and Casey, too,” Willow added, turning her attention to Eli.
“Sounds great,” Eli replied.
Colt forced a smile. “Yeah, Wills. Sounds great.” He kissed her on the forehead and then said goodbye, following Eli back to his truck.
Willow grabbed Ash’s hand and led him back to the bedroom where they both plopped down on the side of the bed.
“Well, your brother definitely still hates me,andI think it’s safe to say that our after-dark naked pact is a thing of the past.”
Willow stood and lifted his T-shirt over her head so she was very much naked again.
“Are you kidding? Those two areneverknocking on that door again without calling first, and I’m sure they’ll spread the word to Boone. We can be nakedallthe time now if we want.” She pushed him down on his back and climbed over him. “And while you might be right about my brother, I think I know how to take your mind off of your troubles.”
She shimmied out of her sexy little shorts and yanked his boxer briefs down to his knees.
“What troubles?” he asked.
And…naked time was officially reinstated.
Chapter 25
Willow dreamed there was a chicken violently squawking outside her window, so loudly that it woke her with a start. She sat bolt upright in bed. Except, she could still hear it.
She glanced to her left where Ash lay on his stomach holding a pillow over his head.
“Are you dreaming about chickens too?” she asked him.
A muffled groan sounded from beneath the pillow. “It’snota dream.” He sat up, finally, his dark hair sticking up every which way. It would make her want to climb on top of him—after brushing her teeth, of course—if it wasn’t for the incessant squawking that sounded like it was coming from inside her head.
“Is this my new internal monologue?” Willow asked. “Because I can’t live like this.”
Ash sighed. “It’s coming from over there.” He pointed toward the window, which they left cracked open but covered by the shade, and crawled out of bed, striding toward it.
“Hey!” Willow called in the space between squawks. “You want to change out of your birthday suit?” She pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts.
“Nope,” he replied, his morning wood on full display. “If our brothers are going to play this way, then I’m going to make sure they regret it.”
He spun back toward the window, at least leaving Willow with an excellent view of his ass to help make up for the rude awakening at… What time was it? She glanced at her phone on the bedside table and swore. “It’s 6:30 a.m. On aSaturday.”
Ash flipped up the shade without a moment of hesitation, and the squawking was replaced with a mixture of yelps and screams.Female-sounding yelps and screams.
“Oh my god!” Willow cried, staring out at Jenna, Casey, Beth, and Beth’s sister, Delaney.
Ash had the decency to cover his erection with his hands as best he could, but he didn’t budge from the window. “Did your husbands warn you of nothing?” he mused.
Willow threw a pillow at him, but it fell short, landing a couple of feet behind him on the floor. “All right, Greatest Showman,” she teased. “Time to close up the tent and let the viewers collect themselves.” She turned her attention to the audience that had unsurprisingly not yet dispersed.
“Show’s over, ladies!” she called. “Wait for me at the front door, and I’ll be right out.”
“You should get dressed too, sugar,” Jenna drawled at Ash, and the chicken in her arms, Lucy,squawked in agreement. “The boys are waiting for you in the barn.”
