“I hate how good you are at this,” she panted brokenly as she sagged against him, her arms wrapping around his neck even as she continued to tremble with aftershocks. He wrapped both arms around her waist, securing her against him, and she pressed her cheek against his chest, listening to the cadence of his heart where it beat beneath her ear. His mouth pressed against her forehead, trailing kisses along her hairline.
He chuckled and she pressed closer against him to listen to the sound of it rumble in his chest.
“Good thing you already planned on taking a shower,” he laughed, pushing her away. “You’re a little… sticky.”
“I wastryingto put it somewhere else–”
He kissed her before she could finish the sentence.
THIRTY-THREE
“I am perfectly capable of going to the store by myself, Kasey,” Shaun argued, standing in front of the door, arms crossed over her chest.
Dangling her truck keys in front of her face, he waggled his eyebrows. “Yes, I am aware. But I’d like to go. There are a few things I need, anyway.”
Swiping in the air for the keys, he barely pulled them out of reach before she could grab them. She growled in frustration, and he grinned down at her.Damn she was cute when she was riled.
“Nice try. You’re stuck with me.” Pointing toward the door, he smirked. “Let’s go, darlin’.”
“You’re not driving,” she muttered sourly as they exited her apartment, walking toward her truck.
“For once, can you please just not argue?” he asked, pushing her up against the side of the truck and curving his body over hers. “I’m not trying to protect you, or save you, or turn you into a passenger princess or whatever you called it. I am a driver, Shaun. Driving is what I do. I enjoy it. It’s like…breathing for me. A necessity. Even if it’s just driving to the store and back.”
She glared up at him and he tilted his head to one side, one eyebrow rising, waiting for her response. Finally, she rolled her eyes and muttered, “Fine.”
“Good girl,” he whispered before kissing her soundly.
Releasing her, he stepped back enough to open the passenger door for her to climb into, and then rounded the hood of the truck to climb in behind the wheel. “You might have to point me in the direction we’re going. I’m still unfamiliar with the area.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she smirked over at him. “If you’d have let me drive, you wouldn’t need directions.” He sent a pointed glare over the console at her.
She guided him through the snow-covered streets of Petoskey, along the frozen bay that lined the highway, and then into the parking lot of a local grocer. She didn’t wait for him to come open her door, climbing out before he could. They walked side by side into the market and she stopped for a grocery cart.
“Wanna race?” he asked, pointing to the carts with cars attached to them, the kind that little kids rode in to keep the basket of the shopping cart open for other things. She rolled her eyes, but the laugh she couldn’t stifle made his chest warm.
Stopping first in the produce, he watched as Shaun picked through until she found what she needed.
Kasey was content to follow, watching her as she moved from one item to the next. She had pulled on a pair of cock-teasingly tight black leggings that hit high on her waist, and her feet were covered in thick winter boots. A loose, cropped sweater in a seafoam green color covered her chest and stomach, but as she reached for a produce bag over her head, the cropped hem of the sweater rode up, baring a couple inches of her midriff, at which Kasey couldn’t tear his eyes away. Her long, spiral curls had been left down after her shower, and they’d dried in riotous ringlets down around her shoulders and back. She’d pulled on a simple, brown leather jacket, but hadn’t zipped it, so it hung open as she moved.
The sun had been especially bright as it reflected off the white snow, and she’d pulled a pair of Aviator sunglasses from the center console of the truck, sliding them on her nose. Now, inside the store, she’d pushed them up to the top of her head.
When she caught him staring, she gave him a lopsided grin and shook her head. He stepped forward, stalling her hand as she spun the plastic bag that held two giant zucchinis. She gazedup at him with those damn insanely blue eyes of hers, and in that moment, he knew he would never get enough of this woman.
He’d gone and fallen head over heels for Shauntelle Kendall.
“You are so beautiful.”
She rolled her eyes and set the zucchini in the cart, then glanced back up at him. “You already got me into bed, Kasey. You don’t have to say stuff like that.”
His eyebrows pulled together in a frown, and he opened his mouth, but then she glanced over his shoulder and her eyes widened, and the smile he knew she reserved for those she wasn’t particularly fond of pulled at her lips.
Turning, he saw a middle-aged woman approach them, a wide smile on her face. She stood nearly the same height as Shaun, plus sized, with ashy blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Well, my gosh, hi Shaun!” the woman said as she stopped beside their grocery cart with her own. “I don’t think I’ve seen you since you and Dustin broke up!”
Kasey’s brows pulled together again, jealousy rampaging through him at the thought of some other guy with Shaun.
“That was what, way back in high school?” the woman continued, and he watched as Shaun nodded, then the woman’s gaze turned to him. “I’m Karen. And who is this handsome thing?”
