Chapter 9
Nine
“I’m fine, Lucas. Really. You don’t need to be making such a fuss.”
But secretly, she loved that he was making such a fuss.
When they finally got up from the bedroom floor, he had carried her down the stairs and gently placed her on the living room sofa.
Then he’d made her a cup of tea, gave her some ibuprofen, started a fire in the fireplace, threw together a snack tray with a combination of sweet and salty treats, ordered dog food for Shmoop since he wasn’t allowed table food, and essentially just hovered to make sure she was okay.
It was freaking adorable.
“Please sit down with me and eat some of this food. This is way too much for one person.”
He seemed reluctant, but he finally came and sat down beside her. “Do you need more tea? I can reheat it or just make you a fresh cup.”
“No, thank you. It’s still plenty warm.” Reaching over, she rested her hand on his thigh. “You are seriously my hero. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t come home when you did.”
“I’d like to think you would have eventually climbed down on your own. Slowly, but you would have done it.”
But Holly shook her head. “Nope. I was legit frozen up there.”
“If you know you’re afraid of heights, why would you even attempt to climb that ladder?”
Shrugging, she laughed softly. “It really bothered me that the one single strand of lights was left dangling. I know Henry’s coming back tomorrow—at least, I hope he is.
I don’t know what the family emergency was.
Anyway, let’s just say that he’s coming back tomorrow.
I hate leaving things unfinished. He had the entire house done except that last window. ”
“Then you shouldn’t have been looking at the window!” he said with a laugh of his own. “Jeez, Holly. Do you have any idea how much you scared me? I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my entire life!”
“Well, you totally hid it. You seemed confident and completely in control. And, like I said, a total hero.”
If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he was blushing.
“I’ve never been anyone’s hero before.”
She scooted a little closer to him. “Now you have. And I will always remember it.” Then she put her head on his shoulder, sighing happily. And when he put his arm around her, she thought it was damn near perfect.
The food, the fire, the cuddling…it made the nearly dying on a ladder thing completely worth it.
“How was pickleball?” she asked after a few quiet moments.
He chuckled. “We had a good time. Nana won two out of three.”
“Did she really win, or do you let her?”
“Sadly, she really beats me. It’s not my favorite sport, and I only play it because she loves it so much and it gives us time to hang out just the two of us. When we get together with everyone, it’s hard to have a conversation without someone interrupting.”
“That is so sweet.”
“What about you?”
“I don’t play pickleball.”
Another small laugh. “Not that. I meant your family. Are they all local? Do you spend a lot of time with them?”
“I do! My parents live right around the block from me. Remember, I told you my mom comes and takes Shmoop for walks? We typically have dinner together at least twice a week. My grandparents on my mom’s side live just ten minutes away, and my dad’s parents live an hour away, but come for dinner twice a month. ”
“That must be nice.”
“It is, but no one’s into playing any sports. We do board games.”
“Oh, yeah? Which ones?”
“We are big Pictionary fans, but my grandma—my mom’s mom—and I are fierce at Scrabble and Bananagrams. I’m addicted to any word games. I play Wordle every day on my phone and I’m very proud of my winning streak.”
“O-kay…”
“We host a monthly game night where we make homemade pizza and nachos, someone always brings freshly baked cookies or cupcakes, and we just have these little tournaments. It’s so much fun, even though we’re all super competitive.”
“I can’t imagine you being that way.”
Pulling back a bit, she studied him. “Go and grab a board game and I’ll show you right now. Any game and I will beat you.”
“You need to rest. You’ve had a traumatic day.”
“I told you I’m fine. Yes, I was scared and seconds away from falling to my death, but it all worked out!” She grabbed a cookie from the snack tray and grinned at him. “Thanks to my hero.”
“Oh God…you’re embarrassing me.” Tilting his head back, Lucas closed his eyes.
“How am I embarrassing you? I’m simply stating the truth.”
Turning his head, he looked at her. She was expecting a boyish grin, but there was some serious heat in his gaze. It was a look that said he was through teasing.
It was the way he looked at her every time they took a breath between kisses last night.
It was on the tip of her tongue to say something light or flirty, but this felt like a moment that didn’t require words.
He was being a gentleman; she knew that. He kept saying she’s suffered a trauma and needed to rest, but what he didn’t realize was that she needed him more. So she did the only thing she could.
She kissed him.
Lucas’s arms immediately banded around her as he hauled her into his lap. This wasn’t the slow and sweet exploration of their first few kisses of last night. This was exactly where they left off before they were interrupted.
Cupping his firm jaw, she savored the scratchiness of it almost as much as his taste.
His wonderful hands were roaming up and down her back, drawing her closer with each stroke.
Her thighs gripped his and it was beyond tempting to just rip off her sweater and beg him to take her right there, right now.
She could feel something hard pressing against her leg, and she seriously prayed it was him and not his phone.
Carefully, she opened one eye and scanned the area to see where Shmoop was. Last she saw him, he was fast asleep in front of the fire.
Okay, so maybe she should beg to be taken…elsewhere.
No need to traumatize her dog.
Tearing her lips from his, Holly breathlessly whispered his name, licking her lips when his eyes met hers.
“Please tell me your phone isn’t in your pocket.”
The grin he gave her made her tingle all over. “Nope. That’s all me.”
Yay!
“Impressive,” she hummed before kissing him again briefly. “I didn’t want us to be interrupted again.”
“I won’t let that happen again, but…”
She immediately placed her finger over his lips. “Don’t. Don’t you dare say that I need to rest or that I was traumatized today. I’m fine and I want this. I want you, Lucas.”
He studied her hard for a moment before he gave her a curt nod. “Then let’s take this upstairs.”
Finally!
Lucas led Holly up the stairs. He thought about carrying her, but he had a feeling she would have taken offense to it because of the whole ladder incident earlier.
Honestly, he felt a tiny bit guilty about even suggesting them going upstairs and taking things to the next level, but he was just a man and she was pure temptation.
Ideally, he’d rather take her over to the guesthouse, but it was too far away.
But it was a definite possibility for later because he had a feeling he wasn’t going to want her to go home this weekend.
Up in his old bedroom, he came to an abrupt stop, with Holly practically walking into him.
He took in the mess and had some second thoughts.
Not about making love with Holly, just about making love with her in this room specifically.
The window was still wide open, there were knick-knacks all over the floor, the dresser was in the middle of the room…
“Change of plans,” he said, and with her hand in his, he led her to one of the guest rooms.
He swung the door open to reveal a serene, elegantly decorated room bathed in soft, natural light. It was spacious but not overwhelming—every detail carefully curated to feel indulgent yet welcoming.
His mother was a stickler about design and decor.
His eyes homed in on the king-size upholstered bed, layered with crisp Egyptian cotton sheets, a down duvet, and a cascade of plush accent pillows in textures of silk, linen, and faux fur.
A cashmere throw is artfully draped at the foot.
The room looked pristine—like it could have been on the pages of some luxury home design magazine.
It was lifeless and void of any personalization.
For now.
He couldn’t wait to make a complete mess of it and quickly walked over and began tossing pillows to the floor.
Holly surprised him by running to the opposite side and pulling back all the bedding.
Then, as if of one mind, they both crawled onto the bed and met in the middle.
The kiss was searing and needy and damn near carnal.
Seducing her would have been preferable, but it didn’t seem necessary right now.
Next time.
Right now, he was more interested in the way her hands were touching him, how she was kissing him, and getting them both horizontal instead of kneeling.
Gently, he nudged her over and then followed her down. Holly shimmied a bit and then tugged on his sweater to pull him closer so he could settle between her legs.
Which was perfect because that was exactly where he wanted to be.
The kiss went deeper, got wetter and needier, before he flipped them over so she was on top. She let out a small laugh, surprised at the move, right before she leaned down and started kissing him again.
Again, it was fine with him because he seriously loved the way she kissed. It was like she poured everything she was feeling into it and it was just…more…more than anything he’d ever felt before.
Not that he was surprised. Holly put her heart into everything she did, so why wouldn’t she do that here?
And that just made him want to fast forward a bit so he could get her naked and enjoy experiencing making love with her.
“I’m taking this sweater off,” she panted against his lips before quickly sitting up and whipping it off and over her head. He barely had the opportunity to appreciate her simple white bra when she was once again kissing him while snaking her hands under his shirt to push it up and off.
Her passion was a little overwhelming for someone like him who’d been told all his life not to show his emotions.
But this woman was unleashing something within him that both excited and terrified him.
That’s the only reason he rolled them over again, so he could take his shirt off and send it flying across the room.
Now he looked his fill. He let his hand slowly caress her from her jaw, along her throat, her collarbone, between the valley of her breasts until her breath quickened. Her eyes were glazed with desire and he’d never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.
“Lucas…” She arched her back, pressing intimately against him, and he was lost. They’d go slow later. Right now, they were both more than ready. She moaned his name again right before he claimed her—her lips, her body, and maybe even her heart.
“Whose room is this?”
The sun was going down and they were tangled up together under the blankets, breathless and satisfied.
“Just a guest room,” he told her, kissing her forehead. “I know we could have stayed in the other room, but with the open window and the mess…”
“We really need to close that,” she said, snuggling closer.
“I will when we’re ready to go downstairs and order dinner.” Then he remembered who else was going to need to eat. “We should probably do that sooner rather than later. I’m sure Shmoop is getting restless down there.”
She giggled. “I’m kind of surprised he didn’t come looking for us.”
“He was looking pretty cozy sleeping in front of the fire.”
“He did, but he’s usually like my shadow, no matter what. If we’re both in the house—any house—he tends to stay right by my side.”
“I can see that. And he certainly didn’t seem happy about us kissing last night in your kitchen.”
Another soft laugh. “I was mentally yelling at him to go away, but his telepathic skills are lacking.”
“He’s protective of you, and that’s kind of sweet.”
She hummed quietly before kissing his chest. “I hate to have to leave this comfy bed, but I should go down and check on him.”
“We can always come back up later,” he said carefully.
Holly leaned back and looked at him. “Really? I…I just thought after dinner I’d…”
“I’d really like you to stay tonight. You know, if you want to. No pressure. This was all…um…not planned, but I was hoping you’d want to stay.”
She smiled. “You mean like a sleepover?”
He knew she was teasing.
Kind of.
“Whatever you want to call it is fine. Just as long as it gets us back up here, naked in this bed.”
“Mmm…I like the sound of that.” She kissed him softly before pulling back again. “I wish I had something to put on that was more comfortable, though. Not that my jeans and sweater aren’t fine, but…”
“Holly, please,” he said with amusement. “My mother stocks the guest rooms with essentials. There’s a robe in the closet that you are more than welcome to use, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“Ooh…yes! Thank you!”
He knew they had to get up. He had to close the window and clean up the other room, she needed to check on the dog, but first, he pulled her close and kissed her slowly, thoroughly, before letting her roll away.
“Go check on Shmoop and I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
“Nope,” she said as she rolled off the bed and stretched.
She was all soft curves and smooth skin, and his hands itched to touch her again.
“We’ll both go clean up the room and then we’ll both go downstairs and check on the dog.
” Walking over to the closet, she opened it and pulled out the robe, slipping it on.
It was two sizes too big, but she didn’t say a word.
Plus, she looked adorable.
He knew their time together would never be boring, and for the first time in what felt like years, he was genuinely looking forward to the weekend.