He knew that the first moment he saw her, that was why he’d fucked her.
However, that thought only strengthened with every time he was with her.
He had to fight getting hard when he watched the loving and enthusiastic way she worked with her dog.He had to fight getting hard when she was throwing sass at him, and that was the fuck of it, because she threw sass all the time.He had to be a grouch so he could fight getting hard when she called him grouchy.
And she was not only beautiful, she had great style.
He hadn’t seen her in anything but jeans, wide leather belts, attractive, feminine button-downs or collarless three-quarter buttoned shirts with silver necklaces stacked around her neck, sometimes complemented with long strands of beads.That was if she wasn’t wearing sweaters that hugged her full tits coaxing Hutch’s hands to touch them.
She always wore low-heeled boots, and if he had to make the call, he’d say she’d been a mountain girl since she came out screaming.
And she almost always wore her thick, long, dark hair down so it got in her eyes, stuck to her lips, swayed when she walked, did it more so when she jogged, or it just caught the wind.
He’d seen her workshop.She worked with her hands, which, until then, Hutch didn’t know was a turn on for him when it came to women.
Now, he knew.
And he never showed when she didn’t have something making her house smell insanely good.A candle burning.A cake in the oven.Something in the slow cooker.
This was not good.
He was a man who didn’t struggle with getting himself some if he wanted it.
But that was all it was ever going to be.
He’d learned, since birth.
That didn’t mean he didn’t give it a shot.
He had.
Three times.
Three spectacularly dramatic outs.
He’d hung up his bat two years ago.
Reminding himself of that, he looked at his watch and said, “That’s time.”
She didn’t stop bending or petting her dog as she lifted her healthy, honey-gold tanned face to his, her hazel eyes shining, her pretty mouth smiling.
And yeah.
Hutch was fighting getting hard.
“Okay, but can I ask you something?”she requested.
“If you’re quick about it,” he replied.
She heaved out a big breath and caught herself before doing the full eye roll.
Then she and Tonks came to him.
Tonks snuffled his hand, so he idly petted her as Mabel started talking.
“The paper mill is opening tomorrow.”
He stiffened.
