CHAPTER 40
Tally
Iwake up deliciously sore, wishing I could relive last night a hundred times over.
From the moment Walker kissed me on my daddy’s porch, I knew things had changed.
Then he had to go and carry me to this cottage—a place I’ve come to lovingly think of as ours—and settled me on the bed, slowly undressing me until I knew in my soul that this man is it for me.
The banter during the last few weeks has been addictive, but last night was real, and so much more than a first date.
I’ve only been here a little more than a month, and in that time Walker and I have been slowly getting to know each other, but now we’ve peeled back another layer.
We’ve taken off the proverbial armor, and we’re letting each other in.
So when he crawled on top of me, I didn’t tease him about needing his cock in my mouth, or ask how many times he thought he could make me come. And when he finally sunk into me, he took my mouth in the sweetest of kisses, and I swear something inside me flipped.
Waking without him here now has my mind racing.
I rush to get dressed and run through the fields in search of him.
And when I find my mother instead, and she tells me she saw him fixing the banister up at the house, I run until I can stand and watch as he tightens each of the porch railings under the early morning sun.
What have you done to me, Jesse Walker?
—
The next two weeks continue in much the same way.
There’s so much work to be done, but Walker makes sure I know how important I am to him every chance he gets.
We missed Tally Tuesday this week because the mattresses were delivered and we spent the day finalizing the last details on the cottages.
The Hall ceremony is this weekend, and guests are arriving tomorrow for the welcome dinner, which will be held at the brewery.
It’s also officially May, which means I leave in three weeks. I couldn’t be less ready.
I promised him another day like we had last week, when we hid out here in the cottage and he read me the book club pick.
I never knew how I felt about a woman being taken by two men, but after hearing Walker read it aloud, fuck, I was sweating.
Walker assured me we would never be acting out any of those scenes with anyone else, but I didn’t mind.
Walker’s dirty mouth and smiles are enough for me.
Outside the moments he’s with me, I’ve caught him far more stressed than I’d like.
Part of his anxiety is about the big event, I’m sure, though I have a feeling it’s more than just that.
We’re both aware of my time in Hope Harbor coming to an end, and every time my phone beeps with another message from my boss in Nantucket, Walker disappears and I feel an insane pressure mounting.
I don’t even want the job anymore. I just wish I had a valid reason to stay.
And being Walker’s personal sex toy isn’t it, no matter how much I enjoy it.
I sink into the sheets and suck in a long breath, frowning as I smell something familiar. Is that my—It couldn’t be—Is he?
No, I shake my head. There’s no way.
I throw the covers off the bed and tiptoe to the bathroom door, which is slightly ajar, and inhale again. My smile grows. Stepping inside, I reach for the shower curtain and pull it back. “Caught red-handed.”
Walker’s hand, which is already strangling my shampoo bottle, squeezes tighter as he hisses, “Jesus, Tal.”
I’m laughing as I shake my head. “I thought I was going crazy. I couldn’t figure out how I was going through so much shampoo.”
Walker’s head falls forward and he sighs. “You’re never going to let me live this down.”
Confused, I ponder, “Do you like the way your hair smells when you use it?”
Walker squeezes his eyes shut and drops the shampoo bottle on the side ledge. Then he rubs the shampoo between his palms and brings his hands up to his nose.
“No. I was the one going crazy, sniffing your damn shampoo so I wouldn’t go after you.”
I smile when he finally looks at me. Water drips down his hard body, and the smolder he hits me with has my thighs clenching.
“You aren’t trying to not go after me anymore, though,” I remind him. “You have me. So what were you doing with the shampoo?”
His eyes bore into mine, but he doesn’t answer.
“Wait, were you more than sniffing, Cowboy? Were you—” My eyes narrow. “Did you?” My gaze drops. His dick, heavy between his legs, practically bounces at my interest. “Did you rub yourself with it?”
Walker grunts as he squeezes his eyes shut, like he’s embarrassed to admit what he’s been doing.
“Show me.”
His lashes flutter open, and he hits me with a surprised moan. “Take off your clothes and get in here,” he growls.
Within seconds I’m naked and in the shower with him. He steps back so I’m under the stream of water and then his fist goes to his cock and he begins to tug slowly.
“What would you think about?” I ask as I watch him, entranced.
“Your tits.” His fist tightens.
My fingers go to my nipples and I squeeze. “What else?”
“Your mouth. Your perfect cunt and how good you’d feel.
How, when I sank inside you, this smell would be everywhere.
” His hand falls against the tile to the right of me and he pushes me against the wall, still fucking himself while his forehead lands on my shoulder.
He sucks at the skin of my neck, and I watch his fist work.
He’s desperate for release, and I can’t decide whether I want him to take it now because I’m dying to see exactly what he looked like all those times he did it by himself, or if I’d rather prolong it for both of us.
“Don’t come yet.” I breathe out the words, and he strangles his cock with a groan.
I tilt my head and he claims my lips with his.
His hand circles my neck and he squeezes gently, stealing just a bit more of my air.
Holding me steady by the throat, he takes his other hand and slides it between my thighs, pinching my clit.
He swallows the scream that follows with a kiss.
“No whining,” he mumbles against my lips before kissing me again.
The lack of oxygen makes me slightly dizzy, which somehow leaves the rest of my body hanging like a live wire, ready to combust. By the time he slides a finger inside me, I feel like I’m floating away. His thumb massages my clit while he continues to fuck me with his fingers.
When he releases the pressure on my throat and gives me a second to breathe, he pulls back and watches his fingers fuck me. “You going to come on my fingers, or you want to make a mess of my cock?”
“Make a mess,” I answer belligerently. Because who can think when a man this sexy is looking at them like this?
He flashes me a wicked smile as he presses another kiss to my lips and returns the pressure to my throat. “Good answer.” He nips at my lips and pulls his fingers back, much to my disappointment. “Hands on the wall, bend over, ass up.”
I don’t even remember turning, but suddenly I’m facing the draining water, my hands cool against the tile as his palm lands on my ass in a loud smack.
I shoot him a look from the side. “What was that for?”
“Another thing I thought about while fucking my fist with your shampoo,” he grumbles right as he slides his cock inside me in one thrust. Clenching around him in surprise, I cry out as we devolve into nothing but bodies slapping and rolling, both chasing the orgasms we’ve worked hard for.
Walker leans over and cups my breast, squeezing. “Fuck, I love being inside you, Tal.”
He kisses down my spine and then the hand on my breast moves lower and, while making shallow thrusts, he rolls his fingers over my clit, massaging the tight bud into oblivion.
His fingers squeeze my hips as he unloads.
I can’t turn myself around quick enough to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him while he slides right back in me and continues to fuck me even as he goes soft.
What is this? What is this feeling? And how the hell am I ever going to get over it when it ends?
—
After an actual shower, during which Walker washed my hair and rubbed my favorite body wash over every inch of me, I’m feeling like a new woman.
“Why are you putting on clothes?” Walker hooks out an arm and wraps it around my waist, pulling me back into bed.
I giggle as I fight against his tight hold, but the scuff on his face burns deliciously against my bare shoulder as he nuzzles my neck and tries to hold me down.
“You promised we’d stay in bed all day.”
I glance up at him over my shoulder. “No, I was promised a Tally day. And you’re still getting one.”
“I’d prefer a naked Tally day,” he mumbles, but he releases me so I can grab my sundress that’s fallen to the floor.
“I was thinking,” I start as I pull my dress over my head.
“Oh no, I can already feel that I’m going to regret your thoughts.”
I chuckle and push against his chest. “Stop being so grumpy.”
He juts out his lips in a mock pout. “I’m exactly who I was when you met me.”
As I start to work the buttons on my dress, I assess him. Walker couldn’t be more wrong. He’s nothing like the person I met; he’s more open, and he smiles more than he frowns. And God, does he make me smile, too.
I turn to tell him my thoughts, to kiss the frown right off his face, when I hear a loud banging on the door.
“Walker!” My mother’s voice has me pulling back and frowning.
“Mom?” I leave the bed and head toward the front of the cottage as the door swings open.
My mother’s face is crazed, her hair a wild mess. “Where’s Walker?”
I motion behind me. “He’s in the bedroom. What’s wrong?”
She stalks past me and into the bedroom without hesitation. I follow behind her and almost snort when I see Walker pulling the sheets over his body. My eyes fall to his erection, which makes an obvious tent as he grabs a pillow and holds it over himself.
“What is with you Darling women?” he grits out. “You’re supposed to knock and then wait to be let in.”
My mother shakes her head, not phased in the slightest by what’s in front of her. “It’s the cake.”
“The what?” I ask, trying to get her to look my way.
Finally, she turns to me. “For the ceremony. It was delivered last night. When I went to check on it this morning, the refrigerator was dark. It’s broken. The cake’s ruined.”
Walker bounds out of bed at her words, wrapping the sheets around his waist and rushing out of the cottage.
My mother and I chase after him, but when we finally make it up the path and to the shed that houses the makeshift kitchen caterers use for weddings, we find him standing in front of the warm, dark fridge, his shoulders slumped.
“Is it ruined?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
The frosting has melted down the cake, and the floral decor has wilted.
“It’s a cream-based filling,” I murmur to myself.
Even if we could salvage the outside of the cake, we can’t serve this.
There’s too much of a risk that people would get sick.
“What are we going to do?” my mother asks, sounding drained as she stares at the melted masterpiece.
My heart aches for her, for everything she’s lost this year.
I reach out to wrap an arm around her. This ceremony was supposed to be the thing that saved the farm, but if we’ve destroyed the cake, I can’t imagine we’ll be saving anything.
Walker turns around, and his gaze settles on me. “Well, Gail, I guess it’s a lucky thing that we have a baker on staff, huh?”
I shake my head and hold up my hands, pulling away from my mother. “Oh no, I can’t—”
With one hand tightly gripping the sheet around his waist, Walker smiles at me and nods. “Yes, you can.”
I blow out a breath. “I don’t have anywhere to bake. I’d need a commercial kitchen. One stove isn’t going to cut it.”
Walker stares at me while he works out something in his head. “What if I could get you a commercial kitchen? Then would you do it?”
I roll my eyes. “Where would you find that?”
Walker smirks. “That’s not the question, Tally girl. If I get you a kitchen, will you do it?”
My stomach swoops, and this time, it’s not nerves. It’s excitement.
My mother reaches for both of my hands and squeezes, her brown eyes wide and hopeful. “Please? Everything you’ve made since you arrived has been heavenly. I’m sure you’ll make a better cake than this one.”
My heart pounds. I’ve never made a cake for such a high-profile couple, not to mention a couple whose original cake was destroyed, but before I can get ahead of myself, I close my eyes and listen for my father. “Breathe Tally. You got this.”
I take a deep breath, then turn to them both and nod. “Okay. If you can get me a kitchen, I’m in.”
My mother beams and throws her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. When she pulls back, she glances at Walker and her brows knit together. “Really, Walker, why don’t you put on some clothes?”