Waking up together.
Lazy, sleepy kisses.
Watching the sunrise.
Watchinghertake back her life while allowing me to be a part of it.
Even the domestic stuff like making her coffee while she showered (because I was a gentleman and had self-control and could let her shower alone…at least that’s what I told myself).
Speaking of showers…
I heard the water turn off just as the coffee maker sputtered out that last little hiss it always gave when it was done brewing and tried really hard to focus on finding my damn travel mugs instead of picturing her naked in that foggy room. Tried and failed. Images of her flushed, wet skin floated into my mind as I opened my cabinets one by one like I didn’t live here. I think I opened the same cabinet three different times before my eyes landed on the only two travel mugs I owned, and I shook my head with a curse as I pulled them down.
I’d just unscrewed the lid on the first mug and was pouring coffee into it when I heard her soft, bare footsteps behind me. A second later, her arms wound around my middle from behind as her cheek pressed against my spine.
“That smells amazing,” she said, her voice still sounding a little raspy from sleep and…everything else.
“It does.” I grinned, willing my heart to behave, as I set the pot down and tightened the lid on the mug before turning in her arms. And when my eyes landed on her, standing there in last night’s dress with her dark hair all damp and wavy and her skin looking soft and fresh, my heart gave a big ol’fuck youas it took off in my chest like someone left the gate open. I lifted a hand to her shoulder and let my finger slip under that red strap as my other hand found her hip. “But you smell better.”
She let out this cute laugh as her head fell back slightly to look at me, exposing the length of her pretty neck. “I smell likeyou, but I guess I should be thankful for the lack of girlie stuff in your shower.”
My grin widened as I cupped my palm around the side of her neck. “I like you smelling like me.”
“Oh yeah?” she said, raking her teeth across the bottom of her smile.
“Mmhmm,” I hummed, dipping my head to the other side of her neck and nuzzling her skin. “It’s like sending you off into your day with a reminder of me and everywhere I’ve been.”
Andi echoed my hum as her head lolled to the side and into my palm. I pressed my lips to her pulse and flexed my fingers into her damp hair. “Speaking of the day…” Something inside of me deflated with those words and the way her hand slid up my back and patted it twice. “We need to start ours.”
I made a grumbly sound of disapproval against her neck before switching to open-mouthed kisses and moving my hand from her hip to cup her ass.
“Life still exists outside of these four walls, cowboy,” she said on a breathy laugh. “And the last time you were late to your ranching duties, your brother kicked in the door.”
“Let him try that shit here,” I murmured, trying to place another kiss against her skin but her hands palmed my cheeks, pulling me away from her neck so our eyes could meet. Her thumbs touched the corners of my mouth, tugging my scowl into a grin while drawing a bubbly laugh out of her.
“Haven’t you had enough?” Her eyes were bright as they darted back and forth between mine.
A real grin tipped my mouth then as I dipped quickly and skirted my hands around to the backs of her thighs, eliciting a squeal from her lips as I lifted her to me. Her legs locked around me automatically as I walked us back to my bedroom. “Princess…I don’t think I willeverhaveenough.”
Aside from telling her right then and there exactly how gone I was for her, “never having enough” was the second truest thing I could give her. I felt it deep down inside of my soul as our bodies fell together for the… Jesus, I’d completely lost sight ofhow many times we’d done this since last night. What I hadn’t lost sight of, though, was her and the way she…completed me.
I loved her, and as I showed her in ways that words could never touch, something sure and certain swelled in my chest.
Andi Ford may have landed in Tarnation by complete accident, but it was no mistake how she ended up in my arms and in my heart.
“What the hell is taking you so long?” Luke’s impatient whine carried down the hall and to my bedroom as I stepped out of my ensuite—towel slung low around my hips and water dripping from the ends of my hair as I padded across the hardwood floor to my closet.
“Some of us actually broke a sweat today,” I shot back, sifting through a row of pearl snaps and button downs.
“Yeah, well, if you don’t hurry up,” Luke called out as I heard my refrigerator open and bottles clink, “I’m leaving for the Spur without you.”
“Settle down.” I huffed an unamused laugh. “You sound like a little kid hellbent on beating all the other little kids to the playground so you’re first in line to have fun.”
The refrigerator door shut, followed by the distinct sound of a beer being uncapped.
“Brother, Iamthe playground,” Luke said, sounding smug but at the same time amused by his own joke. “I’m just trying to satisfy my curiosity and see which lucky lady gets to slide down my pole tonight.”
Jesus Christ. “You’re an idiot,” I said.
