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“Sunny!”

I laugh. “Understood. Can’t guarantee I’ll remember to avoid using any of those terms, but I’ll try to never use them…what was that word you used…began with a d.”

“Derogatory,” she offers.

“I’ll never use them derogatorially…derogatoriously…derogataciously.”

“Sunny! I got it.” But she’s smiling.

“I might tell you that you have a perfect cunt while I’m fucking it, though.”

“Oh my God.”

I take her hand. “Come on, Indy. Let’s go get whatever you’re here for.”

We walk up the path, and I can’t help but smile. The sun is shining, and I’m on a motherfucking adventure with someone who is fast becoming one of my favorite people. It reminds me of the book she angrily thrust at me. “Thank you for this. I’ll read it. Might take me a while because I’m not the fastest reader. And please don’t fucking test me after, because I’m not the fastest learner either.”

“How about I just point birds out as I see them and tell you what they are?”

I look at her walking quite happily by my side. “I’d like that.”

“Sorry, Sunny,” Tank says as I walk by. “Sorry, miss.”

“It’s Doctor,” I tell him bluntly.

Della’s scowling at him until I say that, and then, she squeezes my fingers.

As soon as we get out of sight, I push Della back against the nearest tree and kiss her because, for all my good intentions, I just can’t wait.

18

DELLA

The bark is rough against my back, but it’s impossible to protest as Sunny kisses me, and my grip on everything else that has happened today fades away a little.

He cups my cheeks way too tenderly for the force of his kisses, but I’m an exceptionally willing participant. Somehow, I even manage to park the worry that my olive linen shirt is getting marked by the tree sap.

“Sorry, tried to stop myself,” he mutters against my lips. “Wanted to kiss you like that the moment I saw you again. But my brain’s decided now is the second-best time.”

He pushes up against me, and I can feel the hard length of him. “Your brain?”

Sunny smirks as I glance down between the two of us. “Yeah. My cock might be driving the train right now.”

It shocks both of us when I grab the front of his shirt, tug him back to me, and kiss him harder. Sunny makes a surprised sound against my lips, and I get a tiny burst of satisfaction.

I slide both arms around his neck, rise onto my toes, and kiss him to escape every miserable thought I’ve had since I left him that morning.

His hands slip down the gap in my waistband, beneath my underwear, to palm my butt. There’s nothing tentative about the way he touches me. And suddenly, I’m pressed against the long, hard line of him, with the scent of sun-warmed cotton, leather, and Sunny surrounding me.

He kisses me like a man trying to win an argument, and God knows I’m persuaded.

“You,” he murmurs against my lips, “are trouble.”

“You pushed me against the tree.”

“Want me to move?” he asks. For all that the question is posed in jest, I know he is looking for consent to do more.

I have no idea how far I’ll let him go, but I shake my head. “No.”