Chapter fifteen Dallas
Chapter fifteen
Dallas
A soft snore escapes her lips as I fight back my laughter.
Willow passed out shortly after I ate her pussy like she was my last fucking meal, and barely stirred all night.
But my sleep was scarce as the storm passed over us, even though it was mostly my brain keeping me up.
I managed to doze off for a few hours, but honestly, knowing the woman sleeping next to me was Willow made it hard for me to fall asleep and afraid of what dreams might come alive if I did.
Last night was…affirming. That attraction and electricity that I’ve been feeling for the past month combusted the second our lips touched.
And even though I know this will make our circumstances more complicated, right now, I really just don’t give a fuck.
Willow stirs beside me, slowly opening her eyes to find me watching her. “It’s not polite to stare,” she murmurs, her voice groggy.
“Well, you were snoring and woke me up.”
Her eyes widen. “I was not!”
“Sorry to break it to you, Willow.” I tap her on the nose. “You snore.”
She pulls the covers over her head. “Ugh, that’s embarrassing.”
I whip them right back off. “I don’t know, I found it kind of sexy, Goose.” I lean down to kiss her lips, and she pushes me away.
“I think you can stop calling me that now.”
“Never.” I grin down at her.
Willow blinks, our eyes still locked on one another. “You slept here.”
“Was I not supposed to?”
“No. I just…” She takes a deep breath. “What happens now, Dallas?”
“Well, I need coffee and probably some breakfast…”
Her lips part and her eyebrows draw together. “I meant…with us. I still plan on selling this house, you know…”
The reality of our situation slams right back into me. But last night, that was the last thing I was thinking about.
I was just worried about her—her safety, her fear, her being here all alone.
“Last night wasn’t about that, Willow. And you know it.”
“I mean, I wasn’t really sure what your motives were…”
I cup the side of her face. “I was worried about you, and I wanted you. That’s why I came here. And tomorrow, I’m gonna take you on a date.”
Her brows pop up. “Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“What if I wanted to say no?”
“You don’t.”
Her face falls. “This is complicated…” she trails off, biting her bottom lip.
“You know, at first, I thought so too. But honestly, it’s not.
” Cupping the side of her face, I wait for her eyes to meet mine again.
“I’ve felt drawn to you since the second I saw you, and for once, I’m tired of overthinking shit.
If you’re only here for a limited amount of time, I think we owe it to ourselves to enjoy each other’s company. ”
A no strings attached agreement sounds easy, but the truth is, there are several strings tethering us together.
But all I know is, for the first time in a long time, I want to be around a woman for more than just one night.
So, consequences be damned, I’m going to listen to my gut—and maybe my dick a little bit too.
“Well, I definitely enjoyed last night, crazy storm aside.”
I lean down and press a soft kiss to her lips. “I did too.”
“Do storms like that happen often here?”
“During the summer and fall, yes. Don’t you get weather up in D.C.?”
“Yeah, but not like that.”
“The best part about those storms is the calm after.”
“What do you mean?”
I launch from the ground, pulling her up with me. But as she stands, I realize she’s still naked from the waist down.
“Shit,” Willow curses, grabbing the blanket from the ground to cover herself.
“No need to be shy, babe. My tongue was all over that sweet pussy of yours last night.”
“Dallas…” Her cheeks turn pink.
I reach for my jeans that are still damp. “I’ll let you get dressed. Meet me in the kitchen.”
As I leave the closet under the stairs, reminding my dick that now’s not the time to get excited, rays of sunshine cut through the remaining clouds, bathing the inside of the house in an iridescent light.
The windows are still intact, but I see shingles from the roof scattered on the ground outside.
Good thing Penn hasn’t replaced it yet, although I’m curious if there are any leaks after all that rain.
I head toward the kitchen, searching for coffee and start a fresh pot just as Willow comes around the corner.
Her hair is wild, but down around her face the way I love it, her skin glows in the sunlight, and she actually looks the most unsure that I’ve seen her since she walked into my bar that first night.
Our eyes meet and then she turns her head toward the window, gasping as she stares at the ocean.
“Wow…”
The coffee pot beeps, so I pour two cups for us. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Just a little bit of cream, please.”
I fix her cup and then carry them both over to the front door. “Come on. Let’s go outside.”
Willow opens the door for us, and then I hand her the cup of coffee I made for her as we lean against the railing on the front porch, watching the ocean glimmer in the distance.
“It’s so quiet,” she murmurs.
“I know.” I cast my eyes to the right. “After the rain, the waves calm down, almost like they’ve exhausted all their energy in battle.”
“I can’t imagine growing up here.” She takes a sip of her coffee, looking out to her left.
“I’ll tell you this—when I was on deployment, the thing I missed the most about home was the ocean. Every time I was away, I felt like a part of me was missing, a peace that was grounded in me only when I was here.”
Willow turns to face me. “How long were you in the service?”
“Twelve years.”
“And your dad?”
Her question catches me off guard. But she was there the night of the veterans’ dinner, so she knows about my family history now. “Ten years.”
“So you beat your old man, huh?” She bumps her shoulder into mine, but my body instantly grows tense.
“Yeah. He wasn’t happy about it either.”
I don’t need to get into the shitty relationship I had with my father right now. That’s not exactly how I like to start my mornings.
“Did Penn or Parker serve?”
I huff out a laugh before bringing my coffee cup to my lips. “Ha. No, not after they saw what I went through.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you have any siblings?” I cut her off, avoiding her question for the time being. The last thing I want to do is sully our morning with the topic of my father.
She shakes her head. “No. I don’t.”
“You sound sad about that.” Leaning against the railing, I face her head-on now. She mimics my stance, holding her mug in front of her, staring down at the liquid steaming from her cup.
“I can’t be sad about something that I never had.” She shrugs.
“Yes, you can,” I counter.
Her eyes lift to mine and she straightens her spine. “Well, I don’t want to be. I have the life that I was handed, and I’ve chosen to make the best out of it.”
I feel like there’s more to her explanation, but I’ll let it slide for now.
We stay in a standoff, neither of us speaking first. I feel like walls were just erected right in front of me, but I’m partially to blame.
I don’t want to dull the afterglow of our night by talking about heavy shit this early in the morning. But part of me does want to tell her, to open up to someone other than my siblings or my mom. And lord knows, she’s dealing with her own emotions right now.
“Your life full of work and no fun, right?”
The corner of her mouth tips up as she huffs out a laugh. “Right.” She sighs, looking back out at the water. “God, I wish I had a blueberry muffin from the Sunshine Bakery right now.”
“Sorry to disagree with you, but I think the apple cinnamon ones are better.”
Her mouth drops open as she twists to face me again. “You take that back!”
“Have you tried the apple cinnamon ones?”
“Well, no…but I have no desire to. The blueberry ones stole my heart and I refuse to cheat on them.”
I push off the railing and head for the front door. “Then you can’t form an opinion otherwise until you do.”
She follows me into the house and into the kitchen where I drain the last of my coffee and put the mug in the sink.
“Why do you insist on arguing with me about everything?”
I close the distance between us and pull her into my chest. “Be honest…you wouldn’t want me if I didn’t, now would you?”
I practically see the cogs spinning in her head as she studies me. “You’re infuriating.”
“Infuriating and hot, right?”
Her lips curl in a smirk that I desperately want to kiss off her face. “More like full of yourself.”
“Don’t worry, Willow. One of these days, you’re going to be full of me too.”
***
“Mrs. Hansen saw you leaving the Bayshore house this morning. Anything you want to tell me?”
I glare at Penn over my shoulder, taking a break from the accounting I’m catching up on at my desk. “Nothing you need to know.”
“Just want to make sure you’re thinking straight.”
I drop my pen and lean back in my chair, staring up at my brother.
When I left Willow this morning, which was the last thing I wanted to do, I drove back to the restaurant and decided to find any and everything to distract me until our date tomorrow night.
But it turns out that even crunching numbers can’t make me forget the way her lips felt against mine and the sweet taste of her pussy.
Fuck. I’m gonna be hard for the next twenty-four hours, I just know it.
“I went over there last night to make sure she was prepared for the storm, okay? She was scared, so I stayed to comfort her.”
“With your dick?” Penn’s chest bounces up and down with silent laughter.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but some stuff did happen. And tomorrow, I’m taking her out.”
His arms and smile drop as the truth hits him too. “Damn. You’re really going for it then?”
“Yeah.” I shrug, staring up at my brother. “I can’t stay away from her, Penn, and I’m tired of fucking trying.”
He nods, like he’s accepting the circumstances just as much as I’ve had to in the past few days.