“And those sounds are… distinctive.” He grinned. “I’ll close them right now. I need to get up anyway.” And just like that, he was out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
Listening to the splash of water in the sink, she pictured him washing up. She considered following him in there and offering to help. That would be fun. She had yet to get her hands on his impressive bad boy.
Instead she stretched out with a deep sigh of satisfaction, luxuriating in an unfamiliar post-orgasm glow. Turned out a considerate lover made quite a difference. She was relaxed and yet energized.
Maybe she would go in there, after all. But as she sat up, Monty came out of the bathroom. Her breath caught. What a fool she would have been to walk out on this man.
He met her gaze. “I’m going to apologize in advance for the times I slip up and ogle you. I’ll do my best, but I’m?—”
“Forget about it. You just earned yourself the right to ogle all you want. I intend to do the same.”
He chuckled. “You’ve got a deal.” With a complete lack of self-consciousness, he crossed to the window and closed it.
She didn’t miss a thing, not the flex of his deltoids or the tightening of his glutes. Poetry in motion.
He turned to face her. “I need to shut the rest of these. Want anything from the kitchen while I’m making the rounds?”
“Water would be great.” If someone had asked her to name her favorite side, she might have to choose the frontal view for obvious reasons, but both had their good points.
“Just water? My little sis decided I needed fattening up and brought me a box of sticky buns from her bakery.”
“Uncle Graham told me about Greta’s coffee shop. I’d hoped to stop in today when we went to—um, to the Raccoon for lunch but we ran out of time.” She caught herself before mentioning the bookshop visit. She wanted his gift to be a complete surprise.
“Then water and sticky buns it is.” He left the bedroom.
Watching him walk around naked had a predictable effect. She’d just been marveling at her level of relaxed satisfaction. A few minutes spent focused on his muscular body in motion and she was ready to rumble, the sooner the better.
But he was bringing them a snack. And she wanted his advice on next steps with the foal and Tex. Now might be a good time to talk about it.
She’d been vaguely aware of pillows during their recent adventure but hadn’t paid them much attention. He’d chosen four regular sized instead of two super-sized ones.
Propping them two-and-two against the curved wooden headboard, she leaned back facing the curved footboard at the end. Interesting that he’d decided on a sleigh bed. Or his grandmother had.
Crowded bookshelves in a matching dark wood sat on either side of the window. Sure enough, he’d made room for Fozzy Bear on the second shelf from the top. A rolltop desk of the same wood, a straight-backed desk chair and an upholstered easy chair in a dark green fabric took up the space on the other side of the room.
Neat, except for his sweats and her pjs lying on the floor. After seeing his efficiently packed medical case, this orderly bedroom didn’t surprise her.
Four framed pictures on the top shelf of the desk looked like they might be family photographs. Three were group shots. In the fourth, a woman in boots, jeans and a long-sleeved shirt leaned against a rail fence. She had light hair.
“Sticky buns time.” Monty walked in carrying a tray loaded with two tall water glasses and a plate piled high with pastry.
She laughed. “Are you trying to fatten me up?”
“No, ma’am. I’m trying to make you glad you knocked on my door.”
“I’m already glad. No need to bribe me with pastry.”
“Good to hear. Want me to take them back to the kitchen?”
“Not now. I can see them and I can smell them. I crave me some buns.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“Don’t I know it.” He grinned, gave her the tray and climbed in beside her. “After I walked away and left you alone, I started worrying those second thoughts might come creeping back.”
“They didn’t.” Setting down the tray, she picked up a glass, a napkin and a sticky bun. “I’ve been absorbing my surroundings. Found your bear. He looks happy.”
“He likes it here.”
“I can see why. It’s a nice room.”
