Cedar Rapids is a couple of hours away. I could have stopped there instead of Rios, but it’s a much bigger city than I wanted to stay in. When I left Nevada, I promised no more big cities. Small towns only.
“But you have a whole house full of stuff.”
“Nope. We travel across the country for work, so we bring clothes and enough to get by. We all have stuff stored with our parents, but almost everything in this house belongs to the landlord.”
I tilt my head, curious. “Didn’t the landlord need all his stuff?”
Wyatt gets to his feet and crosses his room to the dresser, pulling on a pair of pants. “He lived here with his wife a few years ago,” Wyatt explains, grinning at me when he catches me staring at his ass. “When she passed, he wasn’t ready to sell, and his kids all have families of their own and moved away from Rios. He’s renting for a bit until he figures out what he wants to do with the place.”
“It must have been so lonely for him to live in this big house on his own without his family.” I sit up and wrap my arms around my raised legs as I take in his bedroom, a dark wood and navy blue masculine space. The furniture is a little dated, but it’s sturdy and good quality.
Wyatt hums. “It was, but he’s happier living in town closer to his friends and the stores now.” He stops buttoning the blue button-down shirt he pulls from his dresser to look at me. “He was hesitant to rent the house to a bunch of construction workers, but we met him, told him a bit about ourselves, and made it clear we’d take care of the place and not trash it.”
I smile. “It was his home. And itfeelslike a family home. Did he agree once you’d reassured him you’d look after it?”
“Not at first.” He pulls a pair of black socks from his dresser and crosses over to the bed, sitting on the side to pull them on. “I could tell things weren’t going our way, so I got my mom on the phone. Five minutes later, and the place was ours.”
I arch my brow. “He liked your mom?”
“My mom can convince anyone to do anything,” he says with a boyish grin, turning to wink at me when he finishes pulling on his socks. “A Southern woman can be dangerously charming when she puts her mind to it. Once she knew we wanted this house, the landlord never stood a chance.”
“Like you with me?”
“I’m no charmer.” He tucks a strand of blonde hair behind my ear.
“You charmed me into falling for you,” I tell him. “I went from liking it when you stopped by at the diner to needing to see you or it would feel like something was missing.”
His eyes burn. “Is that what I did?” he asks, his voice husky.
“Absolutely.”
His kiss is frustratingly short. “Time to get dressed, darlin’. I intend to spoil you.”
“Am I allowed to say no?” The spoiling sounds nice, but the thought of spending the rest of the day in bed making love sounds much better.
“You are absolutely allowed to say no.” He kisses me, his expression serious. “But this is important. Youneeda nest. That means it’s important to me.”
“There’s that Comeaux charm in effect. Okay. Let’s go,” I say, taking his hand, and he helps me to my feet.
His eyes drop to my naked body, and he groans. “You are not making this easy, woman.”
Smiling, I step toward him, so light and happy as I slide my arms around his shoulders and tilt my head up for a kiss I know is coming. “Good. I like making every part of you hard.”
Half laughing and groaning, he gives my ass a swat and kisses me long and deep. “Come on, let’s get you a nest you deserve, darlin’.”
He refuses to let me walk to my bedroom, lifting me in his arms and carrying me down the hallway before setting me on my feet in front of my dresser.
Standing with his arms crossed and back against the wall just inside my room, he groans loudly as I step into one of the lacy panties that nearly exploded Elias’s brain.
“Fuck. I shouldn’t have seen that,” he mutters, closing his eyes and tilting his head against the wall as he adjusts himself through his jeans.
“It comes with a matching lace bra,” I tell him innocently.
“I’ll wait for you downstairs.” He turns and walks out, running into the doorframe first and proving he wasn’t lying when he said a very specific thing made him clumsy: me.
Grinning, I slip on my bra and one of the V-neck floral dresses made of light, breezy cotton that I love to wear. After I brush my hair, I apply chapstick and head downstairs. My brown sandals are in the coat closet by the front door, so I’ll put them on before we leave.
Wyatt sets the alarm for the house, closes up his workshop, and we head for his truck.
