Chapter 20 #2
She spins around and tucks her fingers into the top of my Wranglers to pull herself closer to me.
I can’t lie and say I don’t like how handsy she is.
But just when I think I can read her mind, she surprises me all over again.
Holding her hand on top of her hat, she looks up at the night sky.
I thought her profile was quite the sight, but damn, I could stare at her all night and see something new and untamed, a side of her that wants to break loose while she walks such a steady line on the daily.
She’s both otherworldly yet standing before me like I’m worth her time.
She turns to look at me. “I thought about you more times than I didn’t.”
I want to kiss her so badly that I cup her face and lean down. With our eyes closed and only a breath between us, I whisper, “I never forgot you, babe.”
Her eyes flutter open, her gaze connecting with mine in a moment of silence shared between us. I breathe her in, running the tip of my nose along the bridge of hers. She sucks in a breath, then on the exhale, she asks, “Are you going to kiss me, Twenty-two?”
Smiling against her cheek, I lower my mouth to reach her lips. “I want nothing more, Little Chirp.”
A smile touches her lips before I can. Her eyes close softly, waiting so patiently that it’s hard to resist giving her what she wants. But the way her body leans into mine lets me know that what she wants and what she needs are two very different things.
I eye the pink of her plush lips, the round of her breasts in that vest as they start to heave from heavy breaths, and the trust she’s giving me to do as I please.
I should reward her for being such a good girl, though I’m the one making out like a bandit in this situation.
I brush my mouth over hers, then come back to steal her breath away entirely.
Covering her mouth with mine, I start gentle, but like so much else with her, it escalates quickly.
Our lips part, allowing our tongues to find sanctuary inside each other’s mouths.
Running my hand down the side of her neck, I lean in, going deeper.
I want her so badly that my discomfort starts to be apparent.
I shift to create some space but am given a harsh reminder that Wranglers aren’t the most forgiving denim.
Needing relief, I point to the left in the parking lot. “I’m parked over here.”
I barely beat her to the door. Opening it, I help her step up and settle in before shutting the door, then walk around to the other side.
Passing in front, I slow down just to give myself a moment to appreciate Cricket tucked snugly in my truck.
I’m insanely attracted to this woman, but I like the way my chest warms when I see her sitting there.
It’s like that’s where she belongs. With me.
Climbing in, I buckle up and start the engine.
I reverse out of the space but stop when I pull up to the main two-lane highway out here.
Right leads us to Austin. Left leads us back home.
We live miles and a county apart, but somehow, the two of us met in another part of the world, and we live in the same direction.
She turns on the radio and rolls down her window. When I roll down my window, the wind whips through the ends of her hair while the hat holds the top in place. “Tonight has been perfect. Look at that full moon, Griffin.”
I lean forward to look through the top of the windshield. Big and bold, the moon rides high in the sky and lights our way between fields and farms. “Pretty amazing.”
Sitting back, she pulls her knees up to her chest. Her skirt slips down her legs but stops mid-thigh. With her arms around her boots, she says, “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Thank you.”
I reach over and rub her bare knee, then slide just a little lower. “I can say the same. Feels like we’re getting away with something every time we’re together.”
“You think the feud is buried in our bones.” She laughs, looking out the windshield again. “A Greene and Dover getting together . . .” She stops too soon as if she shouldn’t have said it.
Giving her leg a squeeze, I shake my head. “There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing.”
“It doesn’t feel wrong. My brain just makes me wonder sometimes.”
“Give me the night and I’ll convince you.” The slight part of her legs to allow me more access has me sliding my hand lower. I reach the bend to her bliss and slip a finger between the fabric and her soft lower lip. With her mouth open and eyes set on mine, she closes it and bites her lip.
I could make her come before we reach Dover Creek Winery. Gliding through her slickness, she makes it hard to concentrate on the road ahead. Add in the strangulation of these jeans, and I should probably wait. “I want to touch you, but we only have a few miles left, and I don’t want to rush this.”
She nods as the words won’t come. When I slide my hand from the embrace of her legs, I bring the tip of my finger to my bottom lip and slide it across a few times, then follow with my tongue to taste her.
Volleying my gaze between the highway and her, I hit the gas pedal. “I can’t wait to take my time with you.”
Her breathing picks up. “I can’t either,” she whispers breathily and reaches over to rub the back of my neck.
I spy the winery sign lit up in the distance. When she sees it, she puts her feet back on the floorboard and sits upright with her hands tucked in her lap. I turn in and drive the other fifty yards to the guard shack.
Oh joy, I get to deal with Joe again. He steps out, adjusting his belt that’s hanging down from the giant ring of keys hooked to a loop of his pants. It jingles with each step. For a security guard, he doesn’t seem to have a sense of sneaking up on the enemy. “What do we have here?”
I don’t worry about safety out on the ranch, and it’s accessible in any direction if someone wants to hop a fence. But Cricket is different, and she has a son to worry about. I have the need to know they’re actually safe out here, especially with this heehaw “guarding” the property.
Cricket leans over like she did the last time. “Hey Joe, it’s us again.”
Shining his flashlight in my face, he’s fucking lucky he turns it to the dashboard just as fast. With his gaze locked on Cricket, he asks, “Same as last night? Just a drop-off again?”
It’s funny how I suddenly don’t exist as he peers over me like the driver’s seat is vacant.
Her eyes find mine in the darkened cab, excitement making the little light from the shack shine brighter while a wild streak runs through them.
With the smallest of nods like we’re in this together, she replies, “He’s staying. ”
That’s an invitation I won’t turn down.
Joe sighs a little too heavily for my liking. He’s getting on my last nerve. “How long?” he asks, just to shred that nerve into smithereens.
“As long as he wants, Joe. Have a good night.” She’s not curt, but her tone is firm. It’s the nicest way I’ve ever heard someone say it’s none of your fucking business. She’s better than me.
The arm of the gate lifts, and I drive on, not wanting to make a spectacle of what she said, but I’m riding that wave all the way down the property and up again to reach the “cottage” as she likes to call this big house.
I shift into Park, cut the lights so they don’t shine on the house, and let it idle.
Angling to face her, I chuckle. “I’m staying the night, huh? ”
With a shrug, she replies, “Assumed you wouldn’t mind.” But her cute face cringes. “I hoped you wouldn’t.”
“You assumed correctly.” I cut the engine, and we both get out.
While we walk quietly to the front door, she steals a glance at me that I catch.
With her eyes forward, though, I watch the smile I caused bloom like a night flower across her cheeks.
As if she couldn’t be more breathtaking . . . She is.
Under a full moon, our mouths crash together as her back lands against the side of the porch.
I shove a knee between her legs and plant my hands above her head.
Kissing her becomes erratic and carnal. I lean down to scoop her up and take her inside, but she tugs me by my belt loops toward the door first. With her hand behind her back on the knob, and her mouth still attached to mine, she pulls back.
Her head hits the wood, but it doesn’t deter her from opening the door.
This is it.
I finally get to be with her again.
Before I step inside, I say, “I’ve waited four years to be with you again.”
Her grin is naughty and equally sweet. Pulling me inside the house, she whispers, “Let’s not waste any time, then.”