I press my eyes closed and breathe in the flowery scent of her hair, dragging my nose near my favorite spot against her ear. I feel… lighter. Like the rain has cleansed me after all.
“Tell me,” I whisper.
“I like you, George. I like you very much.”
I pull back and hold her face in my hands. My voice grovels with emotion. “I’ve liked you since the first day you pulled up to my produce stand.”
Relief sweeps across her expression before I boldly press my lips against hers, her sweet mouth warm and generous. If there had been a bed in my childhood castle, I’d have taken her right then and there in the middle of nature with the expansive sky overhead.
Nipping at her lips, I resist the urge to rove the curves of her body with my hands. Instead, I step back with newfound boldness.
“Stay with me,” I rasp. “I don’t know how else to say it. Be with me. I’ll make you peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and we can invent new flavors of ice cream. We can sit on the porch, and I’ll tell you about the stars. I’ll make you flower arrangements every day.” My eyelashes hold droplets of water, framing my wide-open eyes.
Madison blinks back tears, and her lower lip quivers.
“Don’t cry,” I whisper.
With tenderness, I comb my fingers through her wet hair. She leans her head against my hand and closes her eyes.
“I’m not sad, George. I’m very happy.” She blinks her eyes open and looks right at me. “You make me very happy.”
I nod, every fiber of my being knowing exactly what I want to do. “Come with me.”
Helping her across the threshold of my crumbling castle, we hold hands and traverse the fields on a path less traveled back to my cottage, away from the prying eyes of the farm workers. It helps that Mother Nature decides to send another deluge from the skies, Madison quickly flipping the hood of her poncho back over her head.
Not saying a word, I palm open the front door of my home and allow her to walk through first. Shutting us inside, I stand there and watch as she slowly peels off her rain-soaked slicker and lifts her T-shirt up and over her head.
My center throbs with want, my chest rising and falling in deep breaths. I grip my cowboy hat with both hands in front of me, entranced by her strip tease, allowing my gaze to drift lazily from her pale shoulders and heaving bosom down to her small waist. Heat floods my core. She is so utterly and profoundly beautiful it makes me want to weep.
Standing in nothing but her underwear and lacy bra, heat flares in her eyes when she notices my desire.
“Do you need some help?” she asks.
I shake my head, drop my hat, and fumble with my belt buckle.
Frankie meows, causing my attention to divert. I freeze for a split second and count to three. I clear my throat, but my mind is unfortunately deflected toward my cat. “I… uh, need to feed Frankie real quick, or she won’t leave us alone. I’ll… meet you in my bedroom.”
“Okay,” she giggles.
Chapter Nineteen
George
I knew the second Madison walked up to my produce stand that she was a remarkable woman. When I saw her, my knees wobbled, and my stomach fluttered with a million butterflies. The atmosphere changed on a dime, the air electrified as if a summer storm had rolled in.
“I want more of this,” she says, her eyes blazing and lifting to meet mine.
We’re sitting at my kitchen table with our fingers entwined together, empty coffee cups, and a half-eaten bag of Jenny’s cookies in front of us. I can’t tell which fingers are hers and which are mine.
“You’ll come back, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Or you could move here. Permanently,” I say.
The air is heavy with rumbles of thunder and the smell of lavender, thick with uncertainty and euphoria, nerves and elation. Between this beautiful woman holding my hand and the roar of hot blood pumping through my veins, my senses are on overload.
“Maybe. If I had a really good reason, I could move here.” She cocks her eyebrow in a playful tease.
