Chapter 22
Farrah
My tits were out. My hair was a mess; my makeup was probably ruined from the few tears that had escaped during the overwhelming orgasm Walker had just delivered.
And I felt incredible.
After all these years apart, he still knew me. Exactly where to touch me. How to touch me. And how to make me forget every reason I'd told myself to keep my distance.
That was the dangerous part.
Because the moment I caught my breath, I realized something else too — I didn’t want to stop. And I wasn’t ready to let him be the only one crossing lines tonight.
I dropped to my knees in front of him. His green eyes watched me intently, waiting for my next move.
I gently pushed his legs wide and made quick work of his zipper, slipping my hand inside, pulling out his hard cock.
Walker's hands moved to my hair, holding it up out of my face as I licked around the tip before slowly running my tongue down his length.
I wrapped one hand around the base and took as much of him as I could until he hit the back of my throat.
I worked him with both my mouth and hand, sucking him off until his grip on my hair became almost painful.
He tipped his head back against the couch on a groan. "Fuck, Farrah." He glanced down at me once more through hooded eyes. "Yeah, baby. Just like that."
Making him feel good, being in control… it did something to me. Walker had grown into an insanely gorgeous man —all hard muscle and unapologetic swagger—and somehow, impossibly, he was even more skilled than before. As if that weren’t enough, he’d developed a filthy mouth that made my knees weak.
Being able to make him weak in return was powerful.
I pulled back so my lips were only around the crown of his cock. Walker growled, “Don't fucking tease me, Wildflower."
I looked up at him, batted my eyelashes while smirking with his cock still in my mouth.
That was a mistake.
Walker gripped my hair and thrust his hips up, shoving his cock deeper down my throat.
I grabbed his thick thighs to brace myself before relaxing my throat to take him as far as I could.
He picked up the pace, and I held on as he fucked my mouth until a string of expletives left his lips as he found his release.
I continued to slowly suck him off, taking every drop, until he was finished.
I sat back on my heels, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, and smiled at him.
He had this sexy, sated smile as he reached out for me.
Once he pulled me onto his lap, he pressed his mouth to mine.
This kiss was slower, deeper. I could feel it down to my toes. When Walker pulled back, he just shook his head in disbelief. "Jesus, Farrah. That was incredible." He moved to standing with me still wrapped around his body. "But I'm not done with you yet. Bedroom?"
I giggled as I motioned towards the hall that led to my bedroom.
As we began fumbling our way down the hall—kissing, touching—a soft cry sounded from the monitor that I had left on the coffee table in the living room.
We stood frozen in place, both of our attention firmly on the little device on the table.
The cries continued, and I dropped my forehead against Walker's shoulder and groaned.
"I should check on her." Walker nodded as I slipped out of his arms and headed towards Hadley's bedroom.
I'm not sure what happened in the ten minutes it took me to settle Hadley back down, but by the time I made my way back into the living room, Walker's energy completely shifted. I could see it in his eyes. In his body language as he was putting his shoes back on.
"Where are you going?" I asked, confused.
Ugh, I hated how desperate my voice sounded.
Walker glanced up from where he was slipping his shoe on.
He stood up and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry, Farrah. I think it's probably best I go.
Tonight was great, but we just became friends again…
hell, we just started being able to be in the same room and talk to each other again.
We should probably slow it down a bit." He held his hands up as if to stop my rebuttal.
"It's my fault, I think I've just been caught up in the familiarity and nostalgia of it all.
I've missed you, Farr. But you have a little girl to think about now, so I want to be responsible here, because I'm not in the best headspace with this injury and everything going on in my professional life. "
Talk about whiplash.
I wasn't sure where this was coming from. He’d made every move first. A part of me felt like he was punishing me for leaving him all those years ago.
Another part of me felt like, once again, baseball was a priority, which shouldn't surprise me.
And a third part—the loudest part—felt like once again, I wasn't enough for him.
I’d chosen him.
I was ready.
I’d finally allowed myself to be vulnerable, and I thought this was it. We were finally going to make our way back to each other.
I was wrong.
I was distracted.
My physical body was at the winery, finishing up the tasting room, but my mind was lost on Walker.
I was running through the space, checking for paint issues, nicks in the wood finishes, uneven grout—anything—but kept circling back, realizing I hadn’t truly seen any of it the first time.
I had hoped I would run into Walker here, but so far, no such luck.
I thought long and hard about last night.
This time, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake of waiting to tell him how I felt.
No. This time, I was going to tell him what I wanted and let him decide what to do with it.
At least then I knew I’d put myself completely out there.
He wouldn’t have any doubt about what I wanted.
And I wanted him.
When I was with Walker, my mind quieted, my world felt steady and right. I felt like I could breathe. It was what I had been missing and searching for over the last nine years.
I’d told myself our love was young—built on friendship and infatuation—and unlikely to stand the test of time.
I took a risk and stepped out of his shadow to pursue my own dreams. I thought I would eventually find that all-consuming love again, but it would be 'mature' or whatever the hell I thought that meant.
Turned out, I never found it. I tried, but no one had ever made me feel the way Walker had. And he needed to know that.
After spending the next several hours doing my blue tape inspection, because as I said, I had to rescan everything three times, I wandered outside toward the vineyard in hopes I would run into Walker.
He often came out to help Travis. I briefly scanned the fields, not seeing anyone, so I made my way into their large cellar, where I found Travis.
Still no Walker.
Travis looked up when he heard me approach. "Hey Farrah, how's it going? The tasting room is looking great, I can't believe it's already almost done."
I nodded and smiled. "Thanks, you already had great bones in that room, it just needed a fresh update." I began toying with a bottle of wine he had set on his large workbench. "Have you seen Walker? I was hoping to catch him today."
I was sure it was strange for our families that we were on good terms again.
"He left for Austin early this morning, but I'm sure you can just text or call him if you need him." He smiled.
My stomach sank, the disappointment settling heavy in my gut.
It was happening again.
The difference this time was that I knew I hadn’t imagined it. I knew what I’d felt. I knew what I’d been ready to say.
And he’d still left.