Chapter 26 #2
I frown and take a sip of lemonade, and glance at the timer counting down for the pasta.
“I’m not nervous around you,” I tell her, slipping my arm around her hips.
She steps between my spread feet and leans into my chest.
“I’m talking about the sleepover.”
I puff out a breath and loop one of her curls around my finger.
“I know she’s okay. My entire family is there just in case.”
“That’s awesome,” she says.
I nod and stare at my finger and her hair.
“I don’t want to lose her,” I rasp. Rocks fill my throat and I feel like I’m drowning.
Mae slips her hands around the back of my neck, and I look down at her. “You’re not going to lose her, regardless of how things change, she will always be your princess.”
“What if Rebekah tries to move with her or something? What am I going to do? I didn’t go to college. I don’t have a resume. I’m a cowboy. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, but …”
“Coop,” Mae says, gently grabbing my face between her small hands.
I stare down at her, and it hits me square in the chest.
I could handle any of this if I have both of them. My legs tighten. I’d do anything and everything. There would be no limits.
“Can I kiss you, please?” I rasp.
She makes a face and leans up. I stoop down and pick her up, turning around to sit her on the counter.
The longer we’ve been together, the more confident she’s become when we kiss, when we whisper things to each other. I’m not going to claim to be the reason, but I certainly would like to think that I am part of it.
Mae locks her ankles at my spine and pulls me closer. I clasp the back of her neck, tilting her head back. She bites my lower lip and slips her tongue past mine. The kiss isn’t hesitant. It’s fierce, as if she’s finally letting me see it all.
I moan as our tongues brush each other’s and she whimpers into my mouth. Her hands sneak under my shirt and nails scrape over my stomach, making it clench.
My hand slides up into her hair and tugs it back.
She gasps, and I trail my mouth over her jaw down to her neck, sucking on her pulse.
Her body shivers in my hold, and she sighs into me.
I lean her back to trace her collarbone with my lips and down to her breasts.
She arches her back, and I smile into her skin.
“You like that, don’t you?” I ask her, already seeing the answer in her heaving chest.
“Yes,” she sighs, eyes closed and heart beating a million miles a minute.
The timer goes off, and we both jump.
Mae lies all the way onto the counter and groans.
“Damn timer,” she mutters under her breath.
I chuckle and go to the stove, flipping off the burner and pouring the pasta into the colander to drain it in the sink.
When I turn to put the pot back on the stove, she’s hopped down from the counter and checks the bolognese.
“Oh no! The bread!” she yells, grabbing oven mitts and opening the oven. She pulls out a tray with not quite burnt but getting close, garlic bread, and tosses it onto the open space on the stove.
She groans and I poke at it. “Looks fine to me,” I tell her.
Her brown eyes narrow on me, and I throw her a smile. I’ll eat it, I don’t care if it was black. She made it for me; I will eat it.
“I guess dinner is ready,” she sighs.
“Thank you,” I mutter into her temple.
She grunts and grabs two pasta bowls for us and fills them.
We sit down, and I look for the bread, and instead of asking for it, I get up and grab a plate, putting a few less burnt pieces on it.
“You really don’t need to eat that,” she says as I sit down.
I shrug and take a bite of it. It crunches like a crouton, but I pretend it’s fine, and the pout on her face transforms into a small smile.
She eats and watches me take a bite of the bolognese. It melts in my mouth, and I groan, taking another bite. “Holy crap, stubborn,” I mumble.
Her teeth grab her lower lip and her cheeks turn pink. “I’m assuming that means it’s good.”
“Damn straight,” I say with my mouth full and take another bite of garlic bread.
We eat in silence, and it’s not because we don’t have things to say, but we’re too busy looking at each other. It comes through the way Mae watches my hands. The way I can’t stop staring at her lips.
She’s naturally quiet, but everything she does speaks more than words.
Forcing my eyes from watching her eat, I check my phone again.
“Good?” she asks.
I nod and crunch on the bread.
She shakes her head. “You are actually killing me by eating that.”
I shrug. “You seem to forget I’m a man who had to learn how to cook for more than one, in more than a sandwich format. I’ve burnt plenty of things and eaten them anyway. I’m not bothered.”
“Okay, but you don’t have to,” she pushes.
I take another bite, and she rolls her eyes, taking a piece and lifting it to her lips. She bites into it and makes a face.
“This is terrible, you liar,” she mumbles and chases her garlic bread with water.
I wink and take another bite of my garlic bread. Her only response is to pout. I love when she pouts.
When we finish eating, I help her gather the dirty dishes and flip on the water to get it hot, and add soap to it.
Mae gets the leftovers put away. I rush her, crowding her against the counter and peck her lips. “Thank you for dinner.”
She hums. “If this is the thank you I get every time I cook dinner. I could get used to this.”
I kiss her again.
“I want you to get used to it. I want you to expect it,” I tell her.
She sighs, and I tug her ponytail and lift an eyebrow. “Okay?” I push.
“Cooper —,” she says, but I silence her with a kiss.
“None of that.” I tell her and spin around to the dishes.
A towel snaps and lands on my butt. “Owe!” I yell.
“That’s what you get for trying to silence me with your mouth.”
“Did it work?” I toss over my shoulder.
She doesn’t answer, but when I look at her, her face and chest are pink.
“Can you check my phone?” I ask her.
She grabs it off the table and holds it up to me, no notifications. “All good.”
I heave a sigh and go back to washing dishes.
When we’re done, we go to the living room. Mae sits next to me, but I pull her onto my lap, where she belongs.
“How’s work?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “Which job?”
“The numbers one.”
She rolls her eyes with a smile. “It’s okay. I’m digging through a company and found evidence that the CFO has been taking money from the company for five years. So that’s cool.”
“How is cowboying?” she asks.
I chuckle and squeeze her thigh. “It’s great, I’d love to take you out one day.”
“What do you do?” she asks.
“Well, a lot of it is taking care of stock. We move them around to fresh pastures. We also do a fair amount of breeding, which comes with its own set of requirements. On top of checking fencing, fixing that, and then we have horses who need to be cared for. There is never a dull day on Hayes Ranch. Most days there’s always something going on we don’t expect. ”
“I barely remember how to ride a horse,” she mumbles.
“Good, that means you can ride me — I mean, my horse,” I say and wiggle my eyebrows.
Mae rolls her eyes and smiles.
“Do you want to watch a movie, or do you need to get back?” she asks.
I check my phone and force myself not to text Aunt Dixie or June to check in on them.
“I’m sorry, I just want to make sure everything is okay.”
“You don’t need to apologize, Coop,” she breathes.
I nod and instead of checking my phone to find no missed call or text I grab her face and kiss her breathless.
She shifts around, pressing her chest into mine, and the kiss turns needy and a little aggressive. Her hips roll against my zipper and I groan, shifting from the blood rush.
I flip us, putting her on her back, and she giggles.
“I have déjà vu,” she says.
“Sounds like I’ll have to make things more interesting,” I mumble into her top and lift the fabric to kiss her stomach.
“I think that’s a marvelous idea,” she says, slipping her fingers through my hair.
I groan because I love when she does that.
Dragging a finger over the edge of her shorts, I stop next to the button and look up, waiting for approval. She nods, and I flip the button, dragging the zipper down.
I slip my hand past her panties, and she sighs under my touch. My lips find her belly button, and she moans as I drag a finger through her.
“I think—”
Her words are cut off by my phone ringing.
Sitting up quickly, I grab it and answer. “Hello?”
“Cooper, you need to come home right now,” Fletcher says.
My heart drops, and I hurry over to my shoes.
“What’s going on?” Mae asks.
“Something’s wrong, Fletcher called, I have to get home.”
Mae hops up, following me to the door. “Go, I hope everything is okay. Call me later?”
“Yeah,” I say and kiss her quickly before running out the door and gunning it to the ranch.