One good thing will come of this, me getting to run my hands up and down those legs…
“In my bathroom-”
I was already walking in the direction she was pointing. It only took me a few minutes to find it in the cabinet. Meeting her back out in the kitchen, I set it on the counter. “This should help.” When she reached for it, I gently pushed her hand away. “I’ll do it.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t protest, so I slathered some in my hands as I squatted down in front of her. Her eyes were a little darker gray right now. I wasn’t sure if that was from nerves or excitement. I sure as fuck hoped the second. She jumped as my hands touched her right thigh.
“It’s cold,” she said, but her words were a little breathy.
Smiling, I focused on my task, enjoying the feel of her silky skin beneath my roughened palms. It wasn’t a hardship to stare at her sexy legs. I let my gaze drift upward and found her looking down, watching me. The look on her face was…hungry. But I wasn’t a complete dumbass. Part of taking it slow meant not jumping right back into bed with her. My dad had said to woo her. Still didn’t know what the fuck that meant exactly, but I knew enough to make this a fun time. Okay, notthatkind of fun time. Easy. Light. As much as I could anyway, considering just looking at her turned me on.
Touching her like this? It was a good thing I was squatting because otherwise she’d get an eyeful of what it was doing to me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to hide it once I stood up, but I’d figure that out.
“Thanks,” she said, her eyes darting away as I finished up. I’d put the aloe on from thigh to mid-calf on both legs. The rest had been dunked in the river and didn’t look too bad. “It’s already feeling better.”
I took the opportunity to readjust myself as much as I could as she was looking away. Stepping over to the counter, I washedmy hands off. “No problem. I’d offer to take you to dinner tonight, but you look tired.”
She gave me a weak smile. “What is it about the sun and water that makes you want to just lay down for a nap?”
“Not sure, but I could use one too.”
She hesitated. “Oh, um-”
“At home,” I added. “Why don’t I load your fridge up with some of this food Camila gave us? Then you won’t have to cook and she won’t be upset we didn’t eat all of it.” Though I’d eaten a lot, I’d left the stuff that looked like it would be easier on her stomach so that she’d have some leftovers.
“Oh I appreciate that. It looks wonderful.”
I quickly went out to my SUV and hauled the cooler upstairs. I handed her the tub of candies Kilo had given me, explaining what they were, and she tried one as she stood and watched me put everything away.
“Thank you for the day,” she said as I completed my task. “I had a really good time.”
“Good, so did I,” I told her. I should just give her a hug and walk away, but fuck that. I’d already stolen a kiss on the river and I wanted another one now, if she was receptive to it.
Cupping the back of her neck, I pulled her into my arms. I was watching her closely so I didn’t miss the way her breath caught. The way her eyelids fluttered a little. She didn’t fight me, or say no, so I dipped my head and kissed her. The little moan she let slip out when my tongue delved past her lips nearly made me lose it. But I kept a firm grip on my control. I wasn’t going to ruin this by rushing.
By the time we broke apart we were both breathing harder. “Have a nice nap, Dev. I’ll text you later tonight to check in.”
“Okay. Thanks again,” she said as I picked up the cooler and walked toward her door. She seemed hesitant again, trying todecide if she should invite me to stay or not, so I shot her a smile and left.
I wanted to make this as easy on her as possible. We’d spent a great day together and even though I’d be happy enough to lay down next to her for that nap, she needed time to herself. And sleep. Besides, she probably wanted to take a shower before sleeping and I wasn’t sure my self-control was strong enough to hold out against that.
There was no containing my grin as I packed the cooler back up and got into my ride. Things were going smoothly. I just hoped they kept going that way.
* * *
Shifting,I crossed my arms over my chest as OD shot me another scowl. I shrugged when he lifted his eyebrows at me. Music was playing and Rue was getting ready to walk down the small aisle that we’d made in their backyard with flower petals of some kind. I’d pretty much just thrown down whatever Camila had handed me.
OD was currently losing his shit because Relay wasn’t here. For some reason they all thought I had some kind of control over my brother. I didn’t. No one did.
Motion caught my eye as Relay slipped around the chairs for the guests and slid in beside me. All of us were standing up beside both Rue and OD’s side of the altar. I gave Relay a dark look.
“Not my fucking fault,” he muttered.
“How hard is it to bring a dog to a ceremony?” I asked in a low voice.
“Now that we’re all here,” Priest said, biting back a smirk, “we can get started.” He was a friend from The Viking’s Rampage MC, an ally club based out of Tucson. He also performed all ofthe weddings for their guys so OD had asked if he’d perform the ceremony today. The chairs were filled with guys from Tucson and Wyoming as well as our own families.
Rue didn’t have family, other than her brother Ryan and his friend Teddy. Now she was stuck with us and our friends to fill that role. We’d been happy enough to welcome her and her teens into our fold.
