Chapter 7 #3
Boone stopped and turned to face her. “You didn’t want to go? You could have skipped the cooking lesson.”
Mila waved her hand. “The girls will be planning that wedding every damn day until it happens. I’ll have at least a million opportunities to weigh in.
Plus, I’m pretty sure the wedding planning was going to take a backseat to the three bottles of wine Remi took with her.
Twenty bucks says they either wind up spending the night at Kasi’s or getting Koda to Uber them home. ”
Boone glanced at the dark house, scowling. “You gonna be alright here alone if they don’t come back tonight?”
“Of course. I’m a big girl.”
Boone’s expression darkened, and he didn’t seem to share her humor. She was secretly thrilled by his concern for her.
They crossed the yard to the front porch.
Mila had spent most of the night on the hot seat, divulging things she’d never meant to say. Which meant Boone now knew a hell of a lot about her, while she still knew practically nothing about him.
That was the only reason she could think for opening her mouth and sticking her foot in it…big-time. “So you haven’t dated anyone since you divorced Lena?”
Jesus. She’d spent the entire day practicing her “happy face,” determined to walk into Boone’s this afternoon like that kiss had never happened. So much for that.
That kiss had rocked her world. It had also given her a hope she probably shouldn’t be harboring but couldn’t snuff out.
Boone was quiet as they climbed the steps, and she wondered if he was going to ignore her.
“I’m not sure dating is the right word. I’ve gone out with women since the divorce, but it’s been less about dating and more about…” He was clearly hesitant to finish.
“Hookups?”
He smirked. “Yeah. There were a couple of women in Williamsburg who I knew through work. They were both divorced as well, and neither were looking to take a second trip down the aisle. Whenever Sadie was with her mom, I’d call one of them, we’d grab some dinner, and then…”
“The hookup,” she added, grinning.
Boone nodded his head. “Yeah.”
“Sounds kind of depressing,” she said.
“It was sex, Mila. Scratching an itch. Emotions didn’t play a part.”
Mila was starting to think she was a glutton for punishment.
Everything she learned about Boone backed his assertion that he wasn’t looking for love or a relationship.
Maybe if he hadn’t kissed her like the world was about to come to an end on Valentine’s Day, she’d be better at moving on.
Unfortunately, that had merely stoked her desire for the man even more.
“Do you want to come in for a drink?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I need to get back to help Sadie with her math homework.”
“Oh, right.” Mila bent down and retrieved the key she and her sisters stashed under the mat.
“What the hell is that?”
She jerked upright, not expecting Boone’s sharp tone.
She dangled the key between her fingers.
“Key to the front door. Of course, knowing my baby sister…” she thought aloud, realizing Remi was the last one to leave this afternoon.
Mila reached out and, sure enough, the front door was already unlocked.
“I don’t need it,” she said with a sigh.
“Remi never remembers to lock it.” She bent down to put the key back where they’d kept it for years.
Remi always moved like a force of nature, which meant she was forever forgetting her house key.
All of them walked to and from work, only driving when they were going into town, so it was easier to just stash a key under the mat rather than fool around with carrying one.
They’d made that decision after the twentieth time she, Nora, or Lucy had had to leave work to let Remi inside.
Before she could replace it, Boone stopping her, his large hand gripping her upper arm.
Mila shivered, just as she always did whenever he touched her.
Theo and Levi hadn’t mentioned that the lightning strike they experienced when they’d realized Gretchen and Kasi were theirs didn’t stop with that first hit.
Every time Boone touched her, Mila’s entire body awoke, shimmering with electricity and heat.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“You leave a key to your house in the most obvious place in the world?”
While she was fighting off powerful arousal, Boone didn’t seem to be suffering the same. If anything, he looked pissed.
“We live on the side of a mountain, Boone. There’s very little traffic. No, scratch that. There’s none.”
“There are two businesses and an event barn on the property,” he pointed out.
“And the turn-off for all three of those is before anyone gets here. It’s only a few of the cabins and the stables that stretch beyond us, and we always know who’s there.”
Boone crossed his arms. If he was hoping to look intimidating, he was missing the mark, because all his stance did was draw her attention to his thick arms and broad chest.
“You’re three women living alone,” he said.
“Anyone driving this road at night would pass the frat house and the B&B. You must know by now, the guys are protective of us. Whenever headlights flash by, there’s almost always a text from one of my cousins asking if we’re expecting company.”
Remi always got annoyed by those texts, insisting they were grown women, but Mila found them sweet, and they set her mind at ease.
“What about during the day? Everyone is at work during the day. Who’s guarding your unlocked house then?”
“Nora’s usually the last out each morning, and she never forgets to lock the door. That’s just Remi.”
“Mila. I don’t like that you’re leaving your key where anyone could find it.” Boone finished opening the door as he spoke.
She wasn’t sure how to reassure him they were fine leaving it there.
They’d done so for years. Instead, she followed him into her house, her insides warming as Boone systematically turned on lights, doing a quick scan of all the downstairs rooms. It was obvious there wasn’t anyone in the house, but she was still touched by his actions.
“Boone,” she said, when he returned to her. His gaze traveled to the stairs, and she suspected he was only just barely restraining himself from doing a full-house search for some make-believe boogeyman hiding under the beds. “No one’s here but us.”
He sighed, his frown still prevalent. “Don’t leave that key under the mat again.”
His words were spoken like a command he expected to be followed, and the devil inside her was too tempted to ask what would happen if she did.
Boone must have realized that, because his eyes narrowed and he took a tiny step closer. “You won’t like what happens if you do, so don’t test me.”
“What would happen?” she whispered, cutting a few more of the inches between them.
Boone stopped tiptoeing around, leaning down until his face was in hers, his breath hot against her cheek. “I’d take you over my knee and spank your ass until you couldn’t sit for a week.”
Yep. That key was going right back under the mat.
Her smirk must have given her away.
Boone scowled. “Goddammit, Mila. Wrong reaction.”
His hands flew to her upper arms as he pulled her roughly against his chest, his lips devouring hers the same way they had Valentine’s night. Because of his tight grip, holding her arms pinned to her sides, all Mila could do was crook her elbows, grasping his jacket.
For several minutes, it was a battle of wills, tongues, teeth, and lips.
Mila had to turn her head to draw in much-needed air, something Boone didn’t seem willing to allow. One large hand wrapped around the back of her neck, his thumb pushing her face toward him once more, his lips stealing hers for another—God, yes—hotter kiss.
His other hand started to roam, stripping off her coat and dropping it to the floor before slipping under her sweater to squeeze one of her breasts roughly. He pinched her nipple, the lace of her bra adding to the sensations as she saw stars.
Mila had no idea her breasts were erogenous zones. Most—okay, all of her masturbation focused on the regions south of her stomach.
“God, Boone,” she breathed into his mouth. “That feels so good. I didn’t know.” She wrapped her hands around his neck, throwing her head back as his lips descended the side of her throat, nibbling and licking. “I’ve never…”
Her words fell away when Boone abruptly broke off the embrace, stepping away from her like she was a bonfire and he’d gotten too close.
“Shit,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair.
“Boone.”
“That was a mistake, Mila.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
He sighed, but mercifully, one side of his mouth quirked in an amused grin. “Ten years and I’ve never once struggled to do the right thing.”
She hated that he thought their kisses were a mistake because as far as she was concerned, they were the greatest things she’d ever experienced.
“I’ve only been on this farm a month and a half and I’m doing all the wrong things with you.”
“They don’t feel wrong,” she whispered.
“Trust me…they are.” He crossed his arms once more, his brows furrowed. “Especially since…” He studied her intently. “Finish what you were about to say before. You’ve never what?”
Mila was instantly besieged with regret for her wayward tongue. “Nothing. I—”
“Finish it, Mila.”
That tone of his was deadly, making her want to give him what he asked for, making her desperate to please him.
“I didn’t realize my…” She bit her lower lip, her face suddenly a thousand degrees, and no doubt bloodred. “I’ve never gotten so turned on from just a kiss.” She skipped over the breast discovery, because that would reveal way more than she wanted.
Boone’s arms lowered, and he slid his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Who were you dating before the pastor?”
Mila hesitated, because she already suspected his reasons for holding her at arm’s length had as much to do with her age as her name. While Boone hadn’t spelled things out for her, she wasn’t an idiot.