Chapter 24
It really was lonely in her own bed. Just knowing he was across the hall felt weird and obtuse. She wanted to be in there with him, but everything inside of her told her no. It’s not like they were in a long term relationship or engaged with marriage on the horizon. She never moved in with Max because they were building a house and it would’ve been like moving twice in a short period of time. She was firm on not having sex until they were married, so it was simple and made sense. For some reason, it didn’t feel that way with Justin…
Forget it and go climb in his bed.
Where the hell did that come from? She shoved her inner voice down and rolled over, trying to go to sleep. After a few minutes of attempting to find her zen, her eyes flew open. Did Justin talk in his sleep? She could hear a conversation happening, but it was muffled. Who was he talking to?
She pulled the covers aside and tucked her feet into her slippers. She tried to be quiet as she tiptoed out of the room, and peeked around the corner into his. She squinted, trying to see what she could with the little bit of moonlight coming from the window. He was rolling side to side, mumbling something she couldn’t understand.
She almost screamed when Bear came trotting past her leg and jumped onto the bed—laying close to Justin. A few moments later, his bad dream seemed to halt. For whatever reason, it felt like this wasn’t the first time it’d happened. The way Bear came so quickly and knew exactly what to do. Did it happen often? It hadn’t happened the night she s lept with him. Blythe sighed and rolled her eyes at her own use of the term. Usually when people said the phrase, it meant much more than just “sleeping.” Whoever coined it, should’ve been more specific.
Justin seemed settled with Bear snuggled up next to him, so she went back to her own bed. The following hours felt endless, and a sigh of relief washed over her with the sun coming through her window.
Finally… S he was starving and ready to start the day. Justin was going to go over his appointments with her and show her the ropes. She was going to go around with him to visit each client, as well. She’d seen him work before, but this would be much more in depth, and she was excited.
She needed to throw a few things in the washing machine that she’d worn the day before. She picked up what she needed and padded down the hall to the laundry room across from Justin’s.
Blythe tucked her fingers under the lid and opened the machine. Normally, she would separate lights and darks, but she didn’t have enough clothes to do that. She shrugged— what the hell.
She threw everything in, sprinkled the powdered laundry detergent over the top, closed the lid, twisted the knob, and pressed start. She quietly tiptoed down the stairs and made herself a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese for breakfast. She took her plate and sat at the table for a few minutes while she waited for the short cycle to finish on the washing machine. It was still early at six am, and appointments didn’t start for a couple more hours. Justin was still asleep, which was a good thing. Whatever he’d been dreaming probably had him exhausted.
She heard the machine buzz in the distance. She quickly rinsed her plate and tip-toed back up the stairs to switch everything over to the dryer.
JUSTIN
A slobbery tongue was licking his chin, his nose, and his eyelids. Justin fluttered them open and petted his hound on the head. Bear only slept with him when he had a rough night. It was foggy, but he remembered the tossing and turning. Hopefully he hadn’t been loud or said things he didn’t want anyone to hear.
He rolled out of the covers, naked torso and long bottoms. He took a quick shower and remembered his towel this time. He’d left it on the hook before bed, not wanting to play another game of peekaboo surprise with Blythe. When she finally saw him head to toe in his birthday suit, she would know it was coming, and he would make sure her eyes were wide open the entire time. He pulled on a pair of jeans and reached for a plain black tee.
The sounds coming from across the hall made him think she was kicking something. He threw the shirt over his shoulder and moved to stand in the doorway of his room. There he could see her diving into the washing machine across the hall. She wasn’t extremely short, but even at her average height, the bottom was deep. Every time she jumped to reach in, her knees hit the front. She must’ve been going for a sock, or something small, because she was having a hard time and seemed to be dangling a little longer than before.
He should’ve immediately gone to help her, but she was so damn cute. Watching her made him smile as he leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. Her grunts were quiet, but he could tell she really did need some assistance. Three long strides and he was up against her, the zipper of his pants pressed to her perfect ass on display, dangling in the air. He brought his large hands to her waist and his lips closer to her ear.
“Need some help, sugar?” he hummed in a deep timbre.
He picked her up and spun her around to face him, her nose buried right between his pecs. She gasped and stuttered.
“Hi, um, you smell good…” She inhaled deeply, and it felt like she took a whisper of his soul with her. “What do you have on?”
He didn’t have anything on, just his soap and the shower water. Blythe ran her fingers through the hair covering his chest, and his jaw clenched with her touch.
“This is perfect…” She looked dazed, and he chuckled. He never thought twice about his hair, just kept it nice and trimmed so it didn’t grow out of control.
“Where did you come from?” Her eyes danced as she looked up at him. “And why is your shirt never on?”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t aware you had an issue with me walking around half naked, but if it bothers you…”
“No!” She shook her head and reached on her tiptoes, pulling his head down to kiss him hard.
“That’s what I thought.” The smirk on his face was taunting, and he knew she loved it.
Justin gently moved her aside and reached into the washing machine to retrieve what she’d been diving for in the first place. It was, in fact, a sock, and a pair of underwear. He held them both up for her to see, and his eyes darkened with an idea.
“Which one were you trying to grab?”
“My sock, but I wanted them both…”
He put his hands behind his back and started to shuffle things around.
“What are you doing?” she asked, confused.
“Pick a hand. Whichever one you don’t choose, I get to keep. Right or left?”
Her mouth dropped open, and she leaned to the side, popping her hip out. The look on her face was a mix of surprise and determination. Would she play his game?
“Riii-left!” Her hands flew up to cover her face, fingers splitting so one eye could peek through.
He knew the grin that broke over his face would give him away entirely. He brought his right hand out first, a single sock hanging from the tips of his fingers.
“This can go into the dryer with the rest of your things…”
Blythe reached out and grabbed the sock as her lips pressed into a flat line.
“Why on earth can’t I have my undies back, too?” Her brows were pinned.
He could tell she was at least mildly annoyed. With the hand that was holding them, Justin tucked the pair of black panties into his back pocket. He brought his right hand up to rub his chin, pretending he was in deep thought over his answer.
“Think of it as my prize for saving a damsel in distress.” He winked and moved past her, walking to his bedroom and closing the door behind him.
BLYTHE
She stood there in disbelief. Had he seriously tucked her plain, black, granny panties into his pocket and kept them? What the hell for? They weren’t pretty or laced or bikini cut…they were hideous! She valued her comfort over vanity, especially because no one had ever been in her pants. She'd never gotten to the point of purchasing lingerie when she was engaged. She hadn’t even had a bridal shower. The wedding date hadn’t been planned until fall, and it just didn’t seem important at the time.
Justin popped back out of his room, shirt on and pocket empty.
“Did you eat already?” He sounded chipper and ready to take on the work day.
She told him that she had, so Justin grabbed a banana and a cereal bar for the road. Today was an observation day. She assumed he would go over the logistics and paperwork soon, but today she was excited to just watch and see him in action.
She hadn’t realized that being a farrier was much more than taking horse shoes on and off. Justin made each shoe custom to each hoof. He had to remove debris, file, clip, glue and shine. Watching him was like watching Van Gogh or Leonardo DaVinci paint. He was so careful and deliberate with each horse. She listened as he explained that if a shoe didn’t fit just right, the horse could throw it and get seriously injured. It was beautiful to see someone who did what they loved for a living—not for the money, but for the joy and the satisfaction of it.
Maxwell Harrison did nothing for joy—maybe satisfaction, but in all the wrong ways. He did things for money, for power, and for control. Blythe couldn’t help but make constant comparisons between the two men because they were just so different—worlds apart. She hadn’t heard from him since the last creepy text message he’d sent. But she knew him. He was always about mind games, even if she hadn’t seen them before. She most certainly could see them now, and she knew it was his mode of operation. He was spineless when it really counted, and she was glad he’d given up and left her alone.
The day was long, and they were both tired when they got home.
“Can we have cereal?” Blythe cringed inside, feeling bad she even asked. Cereal wasn't a hearty meal for a cowboy that just worked his guts out all day.
Justin smiled and opened the pantry. “I’ve seriously been craving a bowl of coco puffs for a week.”
She smiled back in relief. They ate on the couch, and per usual, Blythe started nodding off. Justin wrapped her between his legs, and she melted into him. Maybe it was his sneaky way of sleeping next to her. If it was, she didn’t care, because she loved sleeping by him, too.
“Are we going to stay here tonight?” There was sarcasm in her voice as she giggled. Justin pinched her in a tease and dropped his lips to her cheek.
“If that’s what I need to do to justify having you in my arms all night—you bet, sugar. Grab the blanket.”