8. Landon
I woke up smiling like a man who’d finally gotten everything he wanted and still couldn’t believe life had let him keep it overnight.
Nolani was asleep across my chest—warm, soft, and committed to an arrangement that violated every reasonable standard for equitable bed-space distribution.
One leg rested between mine, her hand lay open above my heart, and my black T-shirt had slipped low enough on one shoulder to expose enough brown skin to make gratitude feel like the only appropriate morning activity.
I probably should’ve thanked God on my knees, but moving would’ve disturbed her, and I wasn’t about to inconvenience my blessing for ceremony.
My woman.
That thought had been walking around my head with its chest out since she said yes.
I’d asked clearly. She’d answered the same way.
No ambiguity. No vague little situationship with good kissing and poor governance.
Nolani was my woman, and apparently, my woman had also decided my chest, shirt, blankets, and most of the mattress belonged to the collective.
Then there was the fact that she’d called me baby.
More than once.
I had degrees that required less concentration than I’d devoted to replaying those two syllables.
Nolani shifted closer in her sleep, tucking her cheek beneath my chin as her fingers curled against my chest. I slid my palm beneath the shirt and rested it against the warm curve of her back. She softened immediately.
Yeah.
Life was showing off.
The storm had passed hours ago. Morning light had begun gathering at the curtains, turning droplets on the windows bright enough to catch the eye.
Her pendant rested near her collarbone, untouched.
I noticed because I noticed her. Then I left the observation where it belonged instead of turning her sleep into a case study.
I moved my hand an inch higher.
Nolani pressed closer.
My grin widened with absolutely no dignity.
If Lennox saw me like this, I’d have to purchase his silence or restructure our relationship through violence.
Her fingers flexed against my chest before her lashes lifted. Sleep remained in her eyes when she looked up at me and found the smile I hadn’t bothered hiding.
“You look entirely too pleased with yourself.”
“I woke up with my woman wrapped around me wearing my shirt. I’d question my cognitive function if I wasn’t pleased.”
Her mouth curved. “Your cognitive function has been questionable since Willow Run.”
“And you still chose me. That raises concerns about your judgment, love.”
I kissed her forehead. She tried to hide the rest of her smile against my chest.
“Maybe I enjoy charitable work.”
“Nah. Your charitable era ended when you climbed into my lap.”
Her eyes narrowed, but nothing in them supported the threat. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to confirm you steal covers while maintaining physical custody of the man you stole them from.”
“I was cold.”
“You had the blanket, my shirt, and most of me.”
“Resources should be consolidated during emergencies.”
“The storm ended hours ago.”
“My body hadn’t received the updated advisory.”
I laughed and touched beneath her chin. “You also snore with confidence.”
Her head lifted immediately. “I do not snore.”
“Aight, baby. The cabin developed respiratory problems around three.”
“You’re lying.”
“I considered calling maintenance.”
“This is your family’s cabin.”
“Exactly. Structural integrity became a concern.”
She shoved at my chest. I caught her around the waist and rolled her beneath me before she could escape, and her laughter filled the bedroom.
“You’re irritating.”
“And you’re still wearing my shirt.”
“It’s comfortable.”
“That ain’t why you kept it on.”
Her brows rose. “And why did I keep it on, Professor Brooks?”
I lowered myself until my mouth hovered over hers. “Because you like how I look at you in it.”
“You look at me regardless of what I’m wearing.”
“I do.”
“Then your theory lacks a control group.”
“My theory got you under me at sunrise. Findings conclusive.”
“That is not how research works.”
“It is in my department.”
“What department?”
“Applied admiration.”
Her laugh met my mouth.
Morning kisses had their own character. The urgency had slept.
What remained was warmth, memory, and the dangerous knowledge that I already knew what she sounded like when restraint stopped being useful.
Nolani’s arms moved around my neck as my hand settled at her waist beneath the shirt.
Her lips were soft from sleep, and when her fingers slid into my locs, I forgot every respectable reason civilization might’ve required us to get out of bed.
My mouth followed her jaw and settled against the side of her neck.
“Landon.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“We’re supposed to be getting up.”
“According to who?”
“Civilization.”
“Civilization survived the storm. It can wait.”
“You’re trying to distract me.”
“I’m succeeding.”
Her knee shifted between mine.
I lifted my face.
She looked innocent.
It was insulting.
“You keep moving like that, breakfast gon’ become an afternoon appointment.”
“You’re the one kissing my neck.”
“You gave me access.”
“I gave you a girlfriend.” I stared at her. She pressed her lips together.
“What?” she asked.
“You gave me a what?”
“A girlfriend.”
“Nah.”
“Nah?”
“I specifically requested my woman.”
Her smile broke loose. “And apparently she comes with no respect for modern terminology.”
“My woman can use whatever terminology she wants as long as she understands the position was upgraded.”
“Upgraded?”
“You stayed overnight, wore company property, and called senior management baby. Probation ended early.”
Nolani laughed again, and I could’ve stayed there collecting that sound until noon. Instead, I brushed a curl from her cheek and looked at her.
“How you feel?”
The humor settled.
“Good,” she said. “Rested. A little sore.”
Concern must’ve shown because she touched the space between my brows.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Start reviewing last night like you’re preparing a liability report.”
“I’m making sure I took care of you.”
“You did.”
I studied her.
She traced my jaw. “I’m sure, baby.”
That word again.
I lowered my face until my nose brushed hers. “You keep saying that like you don’t know what it does.”
“What does it do?”
“Makes me consider irresponsible scheduling decisions.”
Her smile widened. “Needy this morning?”
“Secure enough to make requests.”
“And irritating enough to repeat them.”
“Correct.”
“Baby.”
I kissed her.
Had to.
Daylight made the word different. Last night, it had slipped free in the middle of everything else. This morning, she handed it to me awake, smiling, knowing exactly what she was doing.
When I finally pulled away, Nolani looked entirely too satisfied.
“You happy?” I asked.
The question came out before I could dress it up.
Her expression softened. “Right now?”
“Right now.”
“Yes.”
That was it.
One word.
I liked it better than a speech.
“Good.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s all?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. Growth.”
“Don’t disrespect the moment.”
Her laugh followed me when I rolled out of bed.
Getting dressed required more discipline than I had available. Nolani stretched beneath the covers while I found my sweats, and my shirt climbed high enough along her thighs to make staying in the bedroom look like sound strategic planning.
“You planning to keep staring, or are you feeding me?”
“I can do both.”
“Multitasking this early seems ambitious.”
“Looking at you ain’t work.”
That smile arrived before she could stop it. She pushed the covers away and crossed toward the bathroom, my shirt moving against her body with every step.
Nolani paused in the doorway.
“You coming?”
“Depends on what you inviting me to.”
“To brush your teeth.”
“That invitation lacked romance.”
“It’s oral hygiene, Landon.”
“You had a different position on inappropriate use of the mouth last night.”
Her lips parted.
Got her.
She turned toward the sink. “You’ve been awake twenty minutes and already require supervision.”
I followed her into the bathroom. “You volunteered for the position.”
“I agreed to be your woman. I did not accept administrative duties.”
“Benefits package still excellent.”
“What benefits?”
I stopped behind her and settled both hands at her waist while our eyes met in the mirror. “Private access. Premium affection. Unlimited forehead kisses.”
“That last one sounds suspiciously self-serving.”
“I designed a mutually beneficial system.”
“You designed a reason to put your mouth on me whenever you feel like it.”
“Exactly. Mutual.”
Her laugh filled the bathroom while I kissed the shoulder my shirt had left bare. I made it as far as the side of her neck before she reached behind her and put a hand in my locs.
“Breakfast.”
“I remember.”
“Your mouth appears confused about the assignment.”
“Preliminary work.”
“On my neck?”
“Improves morale.”
“Landon.”
I looked at her through the mirror.
She rose onto her toes and kissed me once, soft enough to suggest dismissal and long enough to sabotage it.
“Go cook, baby.”
Shit.
She slipped out of my arms before I could respond and reached for the unopened toothbrush beside the sink. I stayed exactly where she left me.
Her eyes met mine in the mirror. “Something wrong?”
“Nah. Just confirming you know how powerful you are.”
“I’m brushing my teeth.”
“You weaponized tenderness.”
“You were blocking the sink.”
“Dangerous woman.”
“You seem pleased.”
“I’m the primary target.”
Her laugh disappeared behind the toothbrush.
By the time we reached the kitchen, sunlight had spread across the cabin, revealing a lake washed clean by the storm. Water still clung to the pines, and the clouds were breaking apart above them while the surface beyond the windows settled into blue-gray ripples.
Nolani stopped there in my shirt.
Of course she did.
“It looks completely different.”
I opened the refrigerator. “Storm washed the drama out of it.”
“You say that like the lake was performing.”
“It had an audience.”
She looked over her shoulder.
I looked right back.
“You believe everything behaves differently when you’re watching.”
“Nah, love. Just beautiful things.”