“Yeah. It does. The silliest things make me happy.”
“Nothing about you is silly.” He punches his hand on the gun again. “Nothing at all.” I can hear the smile in his tone, and it has my lips stretching wider. “And I meant what I said about wanting to see your collection. Not just the tapes, but everything. Everything that makes youyou.”
“I want to know everything that makes youyoutoo.”
“Yeah . . .” His voice trails off. “I’m honestly not sure what makes memeanymore, or whomeeven is.”
“Well so far, what I’ve seen I like.” I move close to where I can hear him repositioning the shaking ladder. “You’re sweet, good with your hands, sexy . . .” I find the hilt of his back and run a hand up higher. “You’re a great cook and your narrating skills have promise.”
He laughs, leaning down to kiss me on the head. “You make me sound better than I remember me being.”
“I make you sound like what you’ve shown me. What you’ve been for me.”
“I want to keep being all that for you.”
“Then you will, along with whatever else comes with it.”
“Not sure about the whatever part.”
“I am.” I lock my fingers around the hem of his shirt, tugging it a little.
We converse about other random things, and I hold the lights in place when he asks me to. I take a string and wrap it around the porch railing.
“Uh-oh, Honey. I hate to tell you this, but you put the lights the wrong way.”
“What you mean?” I tug at one end.
“The plug is on the end where the outlet isn’t,” he says in a gentle tone, pressing a hand to my shoulder. “It’s okay. You can just flip it around.”
“I knew I was proud of myself too soon.” My shoulders slump.
He presses his cold lips to my cheek and my skin tingles. “You should be proud. You looped it in each opening perfectly and I probably would have done the same thing.” He chuckles. “Actually, if I’m being honest, I did the same thing. I just didn’t tell you and fixed it in silence.”
I laugh, the tightness in my chest loosening. “Did you really, or are you only telling me that to make me feel better?”
“I’d never lie to you, Honey. Not about anything.”
“Not even little white lies like when someone asks their significant other how they look in an outfit and the other says ‘good’ so they don’t hurt their feelings?”
“Not even those. And you look good in everything.”
I roll my eyes, scoffing. “Yeah, I highly doubt everything.”
“Oh, trust me, Honey, you could be wearing nothing but these lights and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from ravishing you.”
“May have to put that to the test later,” I say lowly, pulling the lights off the railing in one tug.
“Mmm, and you would most definitely be way better to unwrap than any present under the tree.” His lips meet mine,his warm tongue heating me up inside as he slides a cold hand up my shirt. I shiver, my cock twitching in my pants from the mixture of the two sensations.
“Let’s finish up here so we can warm up by the fire a little earlier than planned.”
“Sounds good to me. Skin to skin is the best way to warm up.” I wink and he laughs.
“I like the way you think.” He playfully slaps my butt, but both of our laughter dies when a report on the radio mentions a local robber going around houses he finds to be easy targets.
“That’s . . . that’s here,” I say and go still with my heart racing when the guy the name of the gas station only a few miles away.
“Sounds like they haven’t caught the guy yet either.” His tone tightens. “Good thing I’m staying.”
