Starcrossed Colorado (Hart County #1)

19. Ashford

NINETEEN

Ashford

Waking up next to Emma was better than I could’ve imagined. It had been way too long since I’d woken up next to a woman. But this wasn’t just any woman.

Emma’s mouth was a pink rosebud in sleep, and I was dying to kiss it. Her dark eyelashes splayed over her olive-toned skin. My sheets smelled like lavender-vanilla, and I hoped it would be a long time before that scent faded.

I didn’t want to be thinking already about her leaving. But it was there. Never leaving my mind. Even though I’d decided, to hell with it . I was tired of letting fears drive me. In my classes, I taught my students to overcome fear. What the hell was wrong with me if I couldn’t do the same?

I couldn’t believe I’d told her about Ayla though. Part of me still thought I was a fool for risking that. People did unconscionable things to get access to fame or money. But Emma would never do anything that could jeopardize Maisie’s wellbeing.

Now that Emma was here in my bed, in my arms, it seemed like the risk had paid off. Hard to focus on negative what-ifs when I felt so damn comfortable right now.

Stella’s head popped up like she’d realized I was awake, and she jumped down to wait by my bedroom door.

“Alright, I’m coming,” I whispered.

I took Stella downstairs and out the side door. She did her thing in the stretch of grass by the sidewalk. Then it was back upstairs, but I held open the guest room door. “In you go. Sorry, girl. I need private time with your momma now.”

Slipping back into bed with Emma felt like an indulgence. Mmm, that was nice. She rolled to her side, ass pushing against me in her sleep. I bit back a groan so I wouldn’t wake her. But my cock was definitely awake. My morning wood had softened earlier, but now it swelled to full mast.

I couldn’t wait to finally get Emma naked and make her forget about her piece-of-shit ex. Or any other guy for that matter. Well, I could wait, but my cock wished it didn’t have to.

Emma yawned, butt wiggling against me again. Nngh .

She looked over her shoulder. “Somebody’s up.”

“Pun intended?”

“Yep. I couldn’t resist.”

I nudged her onto her back and lifted up to hover over her. “There’s something else in this bed I can’t resist.”

“I thought you’d be grumpy first thing in the morning.”

“Usually. But there’s this gorgeous woman in my bed. What’s there to be grumpy about?”

“Bet I could make you even happier.” She cupped her hand around the tip of my cock in my pajama pants. “Can I suck you?”

My phone rang, and I saw Piper’s name on the screen on my nightstand. At almost the same moment, the bell on the door downstairs rang. Damn it. No.

“Maisie’s back?” Emma asked.

“Yep. Missed her, but not the best timing.” I dropped my forehead to the pillow next to Emma. If I were a lesser man, I might’ve whined about impending blue balls.

Instead, we both jumped up. I grabbed for my jeans. Before Emma could scurry away, I held on to her wrist and stole another kiss. My lips refused to rush, lingering over hers.

Downstairs, Piper rapped on the door again.

“We’ll finish this later,” I murmured.

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

Emma’s fingertip drew an X on my chest, and the muscle beneath gave an answering thump.

I increased the speed on my treadmill, as if that would make my morning go by faster.

“Geez, bro,” Callum complained next to me. “Somebody’s got energy.”

“You’re makin’ the rest of us look bad,” Judson said with a smile from my other side. He was jogging at a steady, methodical pace, the way he did everything.

I’d finished with my sole client appointment this morning, and now I was working out with Callum and Judson. Something I usually enjoyed. Today, though, my mind was elsewhere.

“Something happened last night.” Callum reached over to smack my arm. “Didn’t it?”

“Hey, hands to yourself. People are injured on treadmills every day.”

“This isn’t your classroom. Even if I might be acting like a child.” He grinned.

I snorted. You’d think my brother was sixteen instead of thirty-two.

“Heard about you and some blond hanging out at Hearthstone last night,” Callum said. “Even though I was pretty sure you and Emma were getting close just the other day.”

Judson lifted his thick brows, glancing over curiously.

“What happened?” my brother asked. “Because Elias and I might have twenty bucks riding on it.”

I hit the stop button. The treadmill belt slowed. “I have no comment. Except that you need to grow up.” Grabbing my towel to wipe my face, I went to the locker room to get my gym bag.

I had no idea what to tell my brother and my friends about me and Emma. And suddenly, that seemed like the most pressing matter. I needed to talk to her. This was Silver Ridge, and any moment, people would be gossiping about the two of us even more than they had already.

Keeping something quiet around here was not easy. A fact I knew all too well.

I made it to the Big Blue Monster just as toddler music class was letting out. I hovered in the doorway, nodding politely at the moms and babies streaming past. But my eyes were on Emma as she put her guitar in its case. Also on her long legs in her cutoff jean shorts.

She smiled when she saw me. “Hey. Maisie still at her camp?”

“Few more minutes.” I schooled my face into a stern frown, aware all those nosy moms were watching us. “Can we go to my office? We need to talk.”

Emma sighed. “If this is about the trash cart again…” She followed me down the hall. The moment I had her in my office, I pushed her up against the closed door.

“Hi.”

Her eyes glinted with mischief. “Only about half of that audience bought our act.”

“I might not actually care.”

I crashed my mouth onto hers.

Grabbing onto the seat of her jean shorts and hiking her up, I braced her against the door and explored her mouth with my tongue. The kiss was hot and dirty and fast. When she broke away, she was panting. “Wow. That was quite a hello.”

I set her down and grabbed her hand. Pulling her over to my desk chair, I sat and tugged her into my lap. “I did want to talk. We didn’t discuss how we want to handle this. Us.”

Her brows knit. “What do you mean?”

“People are going to be gossiping. We should be on the same page about what to say.”

Emma looked down at where our hands were entwined. “You want to keep this a secret.” Slowly, she pulled her hand away from mine. Her shoulders sagged.

Oh, crap. Understanding hit me. She was thinking of her douchebag ex-boyfriend. The way he’d kept their affair on the down low, which was the exact opposite of the way Emma deserved to be treated.

I wasn’t so sure I could keep this a secret, much less wanted to. And that was mind-blowing in itself.

I hooked her chin with my finger and turned her to face me. “You can let me know what you’d prefer. But I’m up for letting people see and think what they will. I won’t be able to keep a straight face around you anyway. My brother already guessed this morning that something was up with me.”

“You’re okay if people know about us?”

“More than okay.”

A pleased smile grew on her pretty lips. Which meant I had to kiss them. What else was a guy to do?

“The only issue is Maisie,” I said when we broke apart again. “I don’t want to confuse her.”

“Of course. We can be discreet around her. I think that’s wise.”

“As far as what we tell other people…” I began.

“Like you said, let them think what they want.”

I squeezed her hip. “What I want is for every other guy in town to know you’re taken.”

“That won’t be an issue.”

I hummed. “Good.” My hand wandered down to massage her bare thigh. “How much time do we have?”

“Not enough for whatever you’re thinking.”

“Not fair,” I grumbled. If I didn’t get this woman naked soon, I might explode. But I didn’t want a quickie with her. Emma meant a lot more to me than that.

She deserved to be wooed first.

“Will you go out with me tonight? I’m thinking you, me, Maisie, and Stella.”

“The four of us? I’m in. Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.” Which I hadn’t planned yet, since I’d just come up with this.

“I can’t wait.”

“Me too.”

I was not usually a spontaneous guy. At least, I hadn’t been for a long, long time. Being responsible, holding up every aspect of my life so it didn’t cave in around me, didn’t lead to spontaneity. But she made me want to try something new. Made me want to grab onto the parts of life I’d been missing and just hold on for as long as I could.

“Daddy, Emma, can Stella splash in the creek? She really wants to.”

“Not here, monkey. The current is too strong. Just wait.”

My daughter pouted. I had no idea where she’d gotten that impatience, because I had the patience of a saint. Felt like it today, anyway.

I’d packed some snacks and water, dressed Maisie in her hiking gear, and knocked on Emma’s door at four sharp this afternoon. My mouth had watered as soon as she’d appeared. Long, dark hair back in a braid, snug cropped shirt, and high-waisted hiking pants. Even a touch of gloss on those sexy full lips.

I’d figured a hike was a good bet for a first official date. Especially on a trail that showed off Silver Ridge to the highest degree. We’d walked up a series of shallow switchbacks to a panoramic vista, then descended into a valley full of wildflowers with an oxbow creek. Now that we were on flatter ground, Maisie took Stella’s leash, and the two of them ran ahead. Stella’s tongue lolled to the side, shaggy fur flying.

Most trails around Silver Ridge were busy with hikers every summer, but we’d gotten lucky, probably because there was an art festival in the square today. One of the endless number of festivals going on during July and August.

But out here, we had the trail and this secluded valley to ourselves. This was exactly what I wanted right now. The three of us—make that four of us—just being together without anyone else interfering or commenting.

Since Maisie wasn’t watching, I reached for Emma’s hand. “Those two are having a great time.”

“So am I.” She glanced at me coyly, eyelids heavy. “I want you to know. After the drama with my ex, I got tested. All negative. I haven’t been with anyone else since. And birth control is taken care of.”

Just like that, a fire lit in my belly like a furnace roaring to life. “I’m negative too.” I tugged her closer, putting my arm around her waist and enjoying the contact with her bare skin. I would rather be licking it, but for the moment, this was good enough. “I’m kind of dying here,” I murmured.

Emma’s hand sneaked back to grab my ass through my hiking pants. “Same here. I want to know what you feel like and taste like. How you sound when I’ve got my mouth on certain parts of you.”

The sound I made was far from dignified. I took my metal water bottle from my pack for a drink of water, just to cool off a little. “I’m not just dying. You’re killing me.”

She laughed, teeth digging into her lower lip.

We reached a calmer stretch of the creek with a shallow portion where Maisie could safely get her feet wet. Stella charged right in, splashing in the icy-cold water. It was snowmelt down from the mountains, so it was always frigid, even in summer.

After I helped Maisie get her boots and socks off, she tip-toed in and bent to examine the river rocks beneath her feet.

“Don’t go past that boulder there,” I said, pointing.

“Okay!”

Emma and I sat on a large flat rock by the bank. I’d worn a baseball cap. I took it off and put it on backward, then leaned in and whispered, “I want to know what you taste like, too. Every part of you. I want to bury my face between your legs and feel your thighs squeezing me while I drive you wild with my tongue.”

Emma made a small, choked sound. “ Urgh .” She squeezed her thighs together, like I’d described.

One corner of my mouth twitched in a satisfied smirk. My hand inched nearer to her, my pinky crossing over hers.

We watched Maisie and Stella splash in the water. Stella shook herself off, and Maisie squealed at the sudden shower of cold droplets.

“Emma?” she asked. “When you’re back in California, will you take a picture of the ocean beach for me?”

“Sure, Maisie-doodle,” she replied evenly. Like it was no big deal to talk about her returning to the West Coast.

I grabbed my pack and dug through it, needing a distraction from that topic. I didn’t want to think about Emma leaving yet. So I wouldn’t.

Very mature of me, I know. But I just wanted to enjoy this instead of focusing on the negative. For once in my life.

Yet Emma’s expression had turned cloudy, and I wondered if I’d been wrong. If she dreaded the thought of her leaving too. “I forgot to mention something that happened last night after I left the brewery,” she said.

“Oh. What’s that?”

“I thought someone was following me.”

That got my attention. “ What ?”

Keeping her voice down, Emma told me she’d heard footsteps behind her on the dark, isolated street. She’d actually gotten her pepper spray and prepared to use it. “Then Danny Carmichael showed up.”

“Was he the one following you?”

“I don’t think so. Unless he’s a really great actor, because he seemed shocked when I jumped out at him with my pepper spray.”

“Should’ve sprayed him,” I grumbled. “He’s earned it.”

“Why is that? Apart from being Piper’s ex.”

Where did I begin with that guy? “He was shitty to Piper during the divorce. He’s a crappy father to Ollie. Plus he was Lori’s boss, and he was a dick to her too. Didn’t even show up for her funeral.”

Yet Lori had always defended him.

Whenever possible, I drove Maisie and myself out to another dental office for cleanings. If I never had to deal with Danny and his fake smile again, it would be too soon.

But Emma’s feeling that she’d been followed… It reminded me of the incident a couple of weeks ago. The man in the blue rain slicker outside her apartment building. Was there some connection?

I squinted at the mountains in the distance.

“Maisie!” Emma screamed.

She launched off the rock, running for the water. I turned to see my daughter slip beneath the rushing surface of the creek and disappear.