Chapter 7
Tiago
“You’re really going to stop at the grocery store?” Reagan asks as I park in front of Wilde Grocery.
“Yep. As well as flaunting you in front of your ex like I’m in middle school, the entire town will find out we’re together in less than an hour.”
“And why do we need to alert the entire town?”
I unfasten her seatbelt and tap her cute nose. “Because you’re off the market. I want everyone to know.” I’m behaving like a caveman. I can’t help myself.
“Did you want to pick up condoms and lube while we’re in there?” she jokes.
“Nope. We don’t need either.” I round to her side of the car and open the door before offering her a hand to help her out.
“Tiago…” she hisses. “What does that even mean?”
I thread my fingers with hers and lead her toward the entrance. When we step inside, I stop behind her, set my hands on her shoulders, lean toward her ear, and whisper, “I’ll make you so wet you’ll never need lube, and you said you wanted kids.”
She gasps. “I did not,” she hisses. “My grandfather did.”
I shrug. “Was he wrong?”
“No,” she hisses even louder. “But that doesn’t mean I want them today .”
“It takes nine months to make them.”
She spins in my arms and whispers in a voice filled with spunk. “It takes nine seconds to make them, and then I have to carry them nine months. I’m not interested in starting that today.”
“We can’t start today. It’s too late in the day to get married. And, baby, I promise to make it last more than nine seconds.” I grin.
My girl runs a hand down her face. “What are we doing here?”
I take her hand and lead her past every aisle, aiming for the frozen food section. Everyone in the store has stopped what they’re doing to look at us. It feels like the entire world has paused except us.
That’s right. She’s mine. Spread that around to every eligible man in the tri-state area .
“What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?” I ask her as I turn her down the dessert aisle.
“Rocky road.”
“Yum. That sounds perfect.” I scan down the selections until I spot rocky road ice cream.
As I open the freezer, a voice behind me says, “Reagan?”
Reagan squeezes my hand tighter as she responds. “Oh, hi, Greg. I haven’t seen you in a while. How’re Tammy and the kids?” Her voice is syrupy. She’s rubbing this in more than me.
When I turn around, I tuck the ice cream under my arm and reach out my free hand. “Hi, I’m Tiago Wilde. I don’t think we’ve met yet.”
Greg is several inches shorter than me. He also needs to go to the gym. He’s twenty-six and has totally let himself go. “Greg,” he mutters.
I release his hand and wrap an arm around my girl before leaning in to kiss her temple. “Did you need anything else, baby?”
“I don’t think so,” she responds.
I chuckle as I look at Greg and shrug. “When a woman gets a craving for rocky road, what can you do?”
All the color leaves Greg’s face as he stares at us. It’s not very polite of me to gloat, but I can’t help myself. I won the girl.
“Tell Tammy I said hello,” Reagan says as she leans into me.
Greg doesn’t say a word as we leave him standing in the aisle with his jaw on the floor. I feel rather smug, but I think Reagan does, too.
Yep, she’s mine . The entire town will know before we even reach the estate gates.
“What did you do?” Claire asks as soon as we step into the kitchen through the back door. She glares at me before turning to Reagan. “Hi, Reagan. What did this neanderthal do?”
Reagan sighs. “I guess you heard about our appearance at the grocery store.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Claire responds.
“He’s twelve.” She elbows me in the gut.
I umph and pretend to be injured as I set her bag by the back stairs and head toward the freezer with the ice cream.
Claire laughs. “Tell me about it. So is his brother.”
Gretchen is cutting vegetables at the island. Her lips are pursed, and her eyes are dancing. I know she loves it that more and more people are filling this monstrosity. She was bored and lonely before my grandfather died and we all started showing up.
Gretchen looks toward Reagan. “Nice to see you, Reagan. Can I get you anything, dear?”
“No, thank you,” Reagan says softly.
Claire is sitting on one of the barstools at the island across from Gretchen. I’m certain she’s put herself there intentionally so she could harass me the moment I walked in the door with Reagan.
Claire pats the stool next to her. “Join me. I want to hear all about the grocery incident.”
I come behind Claire and pull her braid, making her tip her head back. I give her a pointed look. “Mischievous girl, where is your keeper?”
She rolls her eyes. “My husband is in your office looking for something.”
Reagan comes to the stool beside Claire. I pull it out for her, help her up, and scoot it in. She blushes adorably when I kiss her neck from behind. “You need water. You haven’t had enough to drink since our hike.”
“Fine, master.”
Claire giggles. “Welcome to the family.”
Reagan draws in a deep breath. “Is this how Ryder was with you? He marched into the bakery, claimed you like a caveman, and tossed you over his shoulder?”
“Pretty much, except I came here . My plan was to confront him on behalf of the town and find out what his intentions were.”
Ryder strides into the kitchen as his wife is talking. “You little fibber.”
She twists to glare at him. “What?”
He chuckles as he comes to Reagan’s side and holds out a hand. “You must be Reagan. I’m Ryder.” As he releases her hand, he continues, “and my wife is fibbing. Her plan was to get me to marry her because she was head-over-heels in love with me from our initial meeting the day before.”
Claire gasps. “Ryder!”
Ryder laughs as he sets his elbows on the island. “Did I miss the gossip? What happened at the grocery store?”
Reagan groans, and I grip her shoulders. “We bought ice cream.”
Reagan twists around to glare at me. “That is not what happened. Now who’s the fibber?
The ice cream was something you invented as an excuse to drag me around the store so that the maximum number of people in Wilde would see you claiming me like a caveman.
” She turns back and looks at Claire. “Really, I think all he cared about was flaunting that he’s a better man than Greg. ”
Claire curls up her nose. “Greg Caitiff? Did you date him at some point?”
“In high school. It’s been a while.”
“But he’s married to Tammy,” Claire points out.
“Yep,” I say, coming to her side, “and now he knows the best girl in town—the one he let get away—has been snatched up by a much better man.”
“Are you done gloating?” Reagan asks me.
“Yeah. I guess.” I point toward the glass of water I brought her. “Drink.”
She picks it up and takes a teeny tiny sip. “Happy, master?”
I narrow my gaze at her and speak to my brother. “Ryder, has spanking proven to be an effective way to convince Claire to stop sassing you?”
Claire gasps.
Reagan’s eyes bug out. Her jaw drops, and she stops breathing.
Ryder chuckles. “Nope. I’m pretty sure Claire likes it when I spank her, so it’s not effective at all. But it’s still fun.”
Gretchen purses her lips so hard they have to hurt. Her eyes dance with laughter.
And then Reagan squeezes her thighs together…
And then my cock grows two sizes larger…
I grab my girl around the waist, yank her off the stool, and toss her over my shoulder.
She squeals as I carry her toward the back stairs. “Tiago! Put me down.”
“It was your idea. You’re the one who said I carried you over my shoulder. Maybe next time, don’t exaggerate.” I grab her bag and then carry her up the stairs, down the long hallway, and into the room I’ve been sleeping in when I stay in the house instead of my RV.
When I set her on her feet, she scowls, tugging at her shirt.
I kind of liked the few inches of her stomach I got to see before the black tank top got pulled back over it. Shame. She’s also wearing short jean shorts. Too short. I’ve enjoyed her thighs, but so has everyone else, including the entire grocery store.
After dropping her bag by the dresser, I grab her around the waist again, but this time, I flatten her to the wall next to the door as I kick it closed. “Wrap your legs around me, baby.”
She obeys me without hesitation as her arms come around my neck.
I keep her pinned to the wall, my hands around her waist. “This little tank top is sexy as fuck, especially over the black lace bra you’re wearing. The shorts are even sexier, and don’t you dare wear them out of the house ever again.”
Her eyes widen.
“I mean it, Reagan. Every man in the grocery store was staring at your fantastic ass and long, bare legs. I wanted to punch a few of them.”
A smirk plays on her lips. “Such a caveman.”
“You can call me a caveman all you want, but don’t wear the shorts in public,” I order.
“You can’t dictate what I wear, Tiago,” she says, her voice sassy.
“I saw how you clenched your thighs together when I mentioned spanking. You’re intrigued.”
“I am not. Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t spank me.”
“I can, and I will. In fact, you’ll ask me to.”
She cocks her head to one side. “Why would I do that?”
“Because after the first time, you’re going to crave having my palm swatting your naked bottom like a drug addict.”
I love it when I shock her. Her gasps are precious. She licks her full lips. “This is surreal. I must be dreaming. There’s no way that this morning I woke up single without even a date, and now I’ve ended up in a man’s bedroom at the Wilde mansion. No one would believe it.”
“Except I took you to the grocery store and made a great show of my intentions, so now everyone in town believes it.” I grin as I slide one hand down to cup the back of her thigh and tease the edge of her panties under her shorts.
“And I’m not kidding. Don’t wear anything outside of this room that allows the world to see your bare skin less than an inch from your pussy. Understood?”
Her eyes roll back when I stroke that exact exposed skin an inch from her folds. Her fingers dig into my shoulders, and she tips her head back. Her mouth drops open. She’s so fucking sexy.
I stop stroking and grip her thigh, fully aware that my fingers are most likely parting her pussy lips.
She groans and lowers her gaze to mine. “Tiago…”
I have her propped high on my waist, but her rich, sexy tone makes me press my cock against her. “Don’t you own sweatpants and long-sleeved baggy shirts?” I joke.
She closes her eyes and sets her forehead against mine, ignoring my rhetorical question.
I hold her like this for a long time because I like being close to her, and I don’t trust myself to move an inch. I’m so close to tossing her onto the bed and showing her how good we’re going to be together. I fully intend to do so before I take her home, but not until later.
Finally, I inhale deeply and lower her to her feet, enjoying the way it feels when her body slides down mine. I cup her face and kiss her briefly. “So, this is the room I’ve been using about half the nights I’ve been here.” I step back and to the side so she can see the space better.
“Where do you sleep the other half of the nights?”
“In my RV.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about the RV. Why would you sleep out there?”
I chuckle. “Because my brother just got married, and some nights, it seems prudent to let them have the entire house. That’s going to have to stop, though, now that Dallas has arrived. We can’t all vacate the mansion for those two lovebirds.”
“You’re really close to your brother.”
“Yes. We haven’t been this close in years. We just kind of grew apart, living in different parts of the country without a lot in common. But since we’ve arrived in Wilde, we’ve reconnected.”
“And Dallas?”
“Neither of us knows Dallas very well. We’ve met all our cousins from time to time over the years, but not often. He owned a pawn shop in Texas and sold it to come here.”
She nods and steps more fully into the room. “It’s like stepping back in time.”
“Yes. We’ve noticed. Nothing in this monstrosity is very up to date.
The mansion was built in 1910, so the bathrooms and kitchen have gone through several renovations, but a lot of the furniture is very old.
I replaced the mattress in here the day after I arrived.
” I shuffle over to the bed and press my fingers to the firm surface.
“The hardwood looks nice. It just needs refinishing.”
“Yes. It’s on the list. But the list is long. Claire has agreed to help Ryder arrange to have things done around here. She’s reluctantly become the woman of the manor.”
Reagan cringes. “That’s a daunting job.”
I shrug. “It wouldn’t be as daunting if you helped her.”
She spins to look at me again. “Me?”
When I approach her, she backs away and holds up her hands, making me chuckle.
“Don’t touch me. My brain scrambles when you touch me. You’ll somehow manage to get me to agree to marry you and move into the estate tomorrow.”
“That’s my plan.”
She keeps retreating until she hits the wall. “Tiago… Stop joking around.”
“I’m not joking, baby.” I reach her and set my palms on either side of her head on the wall, not touching her but only giving her a few inches of space. “We have a connection. You feel it, too.”
“Yeah, but it’s too fast. I need time to process everything.”
“I’ll give you time.”
She rolls her eyes. “A week?”
“I was thinking more like two or three days, but I can be reasonable if you need four or five.” I’m teasing. But only sort of.