She’s everything.
“Wow, Jamie.” My name on her lips is like a shot of adrenaline right to my veins. “This is stunning.” She spins to face me, and I wish I could take a picture of her right now. Just like this. Standing in front of the curtains as they billow in the breeze, the angry sky booming behind her. Strong and powerful. Like she is the fucking storm.
I shrug, trying hard not to lose my shit over her very existence inside this room. Being this close to everything I’ve always wanted. Forcing myself to fight every instinct I have demanding I pull her into my arms right now and never let go. To prove to her I’m no longer that seventeen-year-old clueless kid anymore.
Instead, I plant my feet and cross my arms and watch what looks like peace seep into her soul. She seems more relaxed now than she has since she woke up in that hotel. Shaking that thought away, I grin. “Were you able to sleep in earlier?”
“A little. Thank you for that.” She glances over her shoulder at the clouds rolling in. “Where did you go?”
“Kyrie and I stopped by my parents’ house for a cup of coffee and some peach puffies. Have you tasted those things? They’re not bad.”
She drags her teeth over her lip, fighting a grin. “Why were you eating Kyrie’s snacks, Jamie?”
“I wanted to know what they taste like.” I grin, and close the door. “She loves them. So I figured why not?”
“Got it. Peach puffs and coffee. And then...?” She takes one small step toward me. Just one, but the energy in the room shifts like the storm.
“No coffee for her. Just me,” I joke and force myself to stay put. She needs to come to me. I know this woman, and this move needs to be hers. “After that, we hit up The Busy Bee, where we met Jonah?—”
“Who’s Jonah?” she asks, still too far away.
“My little brother,” I tell her as I shove my hands in my pockets, fighting the overwhelming urge to touch her, but thoroughly enjoying the way her eyes threaten to gut me if I don’t explain.
Manifesting violence like always.
Why is that sexy?
Ashton licks her lips and takes another step, bringing her closer but not close enough. Not as close as I want. Not yet.
A frenetic energy bounces between us like the charged air outside, wild and dangerous. The kind you know brings destruction in its wake.
“I know your little brother.” Her beautiful head tilts, and her hair spills over her bare shoulder, like she’s contemplating something I’m not privy toyet. But my time is coming. “And his name is Finnegan Murphy, not Jonah... What is Jonah’s last name?” She shakes her head. “Never mind. Unless your mom has been hiding a baby like mine did, you’re going to have to do a little better than that.”
So fucking sassy.
So fucking hot.
“I volunteer for Big Brothers & Big Sisters.” I try really damn hard to hold myself still. To not reach for her. Not touch her. But she’s right here—in my space. In my room. Like the other end of a magnet demanding we touch.
I give myself one step.
One small step toward her, but that’s all I need for Ashton to be within reach. And just like that damn magnet, I reach for her. Because I can’t not.
With more restraint than I knew I was capable of, I wrap a single lock of silky, dark hair around my finger, and damn... I’m rewarded with the sweetest sigh slipping past her lips. “Jonah’s been my little brother for close to two years now. He’s been bugging me to meet Kyrie, so I took them to breakfast. Our girl loved all the attention.”
“Our girl,” she murmurs, her eyes widening as she reaches up with a shaking hand and runs the backs of her fingers over my cheek. “I like the sound of that, Jamie, but you look like you’re not sure.”
“Oh, I’m sure, beautiful. Just trying to figure something out,” I admit, losing the damn battle and gathering her hair in my hand at the back of her head, forcing her face up to mine.
“What?” She demands, softly.
“Just trying to figure out if I ever stopped thinking of you as mine.”
Fuck. That’s a lie. She’s always been mine.
“That’s funny because I’m trying to decide when exactly I started to like the thought of being yours.” Her teasing tone is soft as her fingertips dance along my jaw. “I’ve never been anyone’s before, Jamie. I’ve been alone for a long time, and I was okay with that. Until you. Until I moved into your house. Until you became part of the rhythm of my life.”
Ashton presses her soft lips to my skin, gently kissing my jaw.Jesus, it’s like she’s lit a match that’s going to blaze throughthe storm, and my entire body burns as the flame fights for dominance. “Maybe it was the first time I realized I liked the way you teased me in the morning.” She replaces her fingers with her lips on my jaw. “Or the first time you made me a cup of coffee with fat free caramel creamer in it because you knew that’s how I drank it.”
