Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
GIA
I blinked awake into the dark, disoriented. An arm wrapped around my waist like he planned to keep me there.
I rolled over and found Timothy watching me. In the faint amber glow of the nightlight in the corner, he was wide awake as if he’d been studying me for a while.
“What time is it?” I whispered.
“’Bout four-thirty.” His voice came out rough with sleep.
“I should go. Gotta check on Misty.” The lie of it was obvious when I slid closer instead, pressing my face against the warm plane of his chest.
A low chuckle rumbled through him. “I should get up and shower. Missed my run this morning, but I usually go up to the dairy barn before Sofia gets up. I should help get the milking started.”
He brushed a slow kiss against my cheek before shifting to sit on the edge of the bed. The sheets dragged down his back, all bare skin and muscle in the dim light.
I pushed myself up onto my elbows, watching him. “You need some help with that shower?”
He shot me a sidelong glance over his shoulder, his mouth curling slow and sinful. “Thinkin’ I might.”
I followed him into a tiled bathroom that stopped me short in the doorway.
I’d expected something sparse and practical.
Instead, the room was warm and lived-in.
Soft recessed lights glowed against pale stone tile.
A deep soaking tub sat beneath a fogged window, and the walk-in shower was big enough to fit three people comfortably.
The long counter was cluttered in a way that made my chest tighten unexpectedly—his razor tossed beside a half-empty tube of toothpaste, a watch abandoned near the sink, a pile of opened mail, and a can of shaving cream with the cap off.
I turned slowly, taking it all in while water thundered against tile.
Behind me, Timothy hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his boxer briefs and shoved them down without ceremony. He glanced back over his shoulder, eyes dark with challenge.
I looked down at myself and realized I was still wearing yesterday’s clothes—a wrinkled shirt, jeans, and one sock hanging halfway off my foot. A laugh escaped me under my breath as I peeled everything off and dropped it in a heap on the floor.
The second I stepped into the shower he reached for me. His wet hands slid around my waist and pulled me flush against him, skin to skin, all warmth and solid muscle. Then he kissed me, deep and hungry.
When he finally lifted his mouth from mine, he murmured, “You need to be back here tonight. Stay over.”
The words snagged on something inside me. That sounded too close to an order. Too close to someone deciding things for me.
I eased back enough to look at him. “I’m pretty sure you don’t mean it this way, but when you say it like that, it sounds like you want a say in every part of my life.” I kept my tone gentle instead of sharp. “Tell me what’s really underneath it before I get spooked you’re going to micromanage me.”
His expression shifted, eyes wide. “It’s not about controlling you. Last night was the first time I slept since I found out you were back. I stopped worrying something might happen to you.” His hand slid along my waist, holding me without trapping me. “I liked knowing you were here. Safe.”
That softened me, but I lifted a brow. “You do remember I work overnight emergency calls every few days, right? I literally leave the house at odd hours for a living. Your brother is currently writing up a contract to make sure I keep doing that. And, I’m caring for my sister right now who often needs me overnight after her treatments. ”
A reluctant smile tugged at his mouth. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“If you start checking in every few minutes and acting like you don’t trust me, we’re going to argue. Then you’ll get mad and then we’ll have to break up.”
He picked me up, encouraged me to wrap my legs around his waist, and balanced me against the cool tiles of the wall. His fingers played along the edges of my core.
He murmured, “Breaking up already, huh? Let’s see if I can convince you staying over comes with perks.” He leaned down and kissed along one breast to the nipple, which he drew into his mouth. His tongue played with the tip. Then he kissed his way along my collarbone.
I traced the strong contours of his shoulders and back.
“I like you here.” His eyes crinkled with worry behind them.
“I like being here.” I wiggled against him, but it did nothing to encourage him to get going on what he started. I leaned forward and took one of his nipples into my mouth, gently biting the tip. “Stop teasing me.”
He kissed me at the same time he entered me, hard and deep. He hit something inside that made me see stars.
I whooshed out, “Oh, my God. Is this as…for you as…wow…”
His breaths came hard as he continued to move. His eyes blinked at me like he couldn’t understand what I’d asked. “What?”
I lost the ability to speak when he went from shallow to deep strokes, over and over. Then he picked up the pace. My body reached for his, barely able to hold on, and the steam curled around us. I could barely keep up, barely breathe…then he paused, pulled out, and adjusted the angle.
He hit something so deep my entire world came apart. I think I cried out his name or maybe I just cried out. I was definitely crying. I was so lost by the time he came inside me.
Then I was sitting, boneless on the seat-height shelf while he cleaned me gently with a washcloth.
“Are you back with me yet?” he asked.
I blinked at him. “I don’t think I’m ready to break up.”
A slow, arrogant grin pulled at his mouth. “Yeah,” he murmured, like he already knew. “Didn’t think so.”
I shook my head, still breathless. “How did you learn how to do that?” I vaguely waved toward the wall.
He only shrugged, completely unapologetic.
Something sharp twisted through me then. Jealousy first, followed by the deeper cut of insecurity. That old familiar fear he’d see all the places I fell short bubbled upward. Sooner or later, I’d become disappointing once the newness wore off.
His expression shifted immediately, like he could read every thought moving behind my eyes. “There it is,” he said softly. “That look.”
I tried to glance away, but he caught my chin gently. “Same one you had the last time you panicked.”
Before I could deny it, he pulled me carefully to my feet beneath the spray.
Warm water rolled over my skin while he rinsed the soap from me like he had all the time in the world.
Then his fingers slid into my hair, working shampoo through the strands with slow, careful movements that made my chest ache.
I should’ve cared that he was probably using some random men’s shampoo. Instead, I found myself closing my eyes. Being taken care of by him felt…soothing.
He shifted, broad shoulders blocking most of the spray from hitting me as if even the water touching me too hard bothered him.
“What’s bothering you?” He bent and laid a soft kiss on my lips. Not heated this time, but certain. This was the kind of kiss that said he was listening even before I spoke.
My throat tightened. “I’m worried.”
“About what?”
“That…” I hated how small my voice sounded. “That eventually you’ll lose interest. Everyone else always has.”
He stared at me, not with annoyance or hesitation, but almost heartbreak. “Gia…”
He pulled me in tight to him.
“I’ve spent my whole life waiting for you.
” His hands slid up my back like he needed the reassurance that I was there.
“This isn’t casual for me. Even Jackie said it.
You’re my person.” He gave a disbelieving laugh under his breath.
“Nobody’s ever gotten to me like you do.
Nobody mattered enough to scare me like you do.
Hearing you almost died or seeing what your father did to you again… ” He shook his head.
Emotion burned behind my eyes, but I didn’t look up at him.
“You don’t understand,” he continued. “You look at me and I feel it everywhere. You touch me and I forget who I am. When you break apart for me…” His voice roughened. “Christ, Gia. It’s like nothing I’ve ever had.”
My chest cracked wide open, but I couldn’t speak.
“Maybe those other men all felt that way because you were waiting for me too.” He reached behind him, shut off the shower, then wrapped a towel around me before pulling me straight back against him.
I whispered, “I do feel like my heart stopped working when I left you. It only started up again when I came back.”
“I love you,” he said firmly into my wet hair. “Not temporarily. Not until it gets hard. But always.”
A shaky laugh came out as I tried to mask how much those words destroyed me. “Even if I get big in all the wrong places after having a baby?”
He pulled back just enough to look at me like the question offended him.
“Especially then.” His palm spread possessively over my stomach. “That means we have a bigger family.”
“I’m scared I can’t have that baby,” I admitted, the words scraping raw on the way out. “That I’ll fail again. I’ll fail you.”
His expression changed in a way that almost undid me.
He turned me around and brushed his mouth against mine, slow and careful, like he knew exactly how fragile I felt.
“All we can do is try. If it never happens…” His hand slid against my cheek, steady and warm.
“That doesn’t change us. It doesn’t change how I feel for you, how I’ve always felt.
This is about us and whatever time we get together. Don’t you want to do it together?”
The breath caught painfully in my chest. For a second I could only stare at him, every fear and grief inside me colliding with the quiet certainty in his eyes.
“Yes,” I whispered, voice breaking around the word.
He pulled me against him immediately, holding me so tight it felt like he was trying to shield every cracked part of me from the world.
“I’ve been told I’m not an easy person.” He shrugged. “Just saying.”
I chuffed out a half laugh. I slid my hand around to his back side and down around his ass. “I’m really good with a dart gun, if you misbehave.”
“You shooting that evil llama was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
” Then he rocked his head. “Okay, second to being totally wet in a see-through top. That was evil of you when I was in the middle of hating you for ruining my life.” He pulled me into him and caught my hands.
“Stop. Or I’ll never get to the cow barn this morning. ”
I traced circles on his chest with a finger and dragged my eyes up to his.
“Serious about that,” he warned.
“So, you’re choosing work over me?” I pushed away to stare at him for before a smile finally tugged at my mouth. “I’m starting to think you might be right.”
“About what? Not making it to the cow barn?”
“Well, that, yes. But I may have to give this sleepover thing another try.” I pointed toward the oversized bathtub. “I’m pretty sure I could come up with activities for in there.”
The grin that spread across his face was pure sin. He scooped me up like I weighed nothing and carried me into the bedroom, lowering me onto the bed with maddening care.
“I am not choosing work over you,” he said, standing between my knees. “It’s choosing me. I have responsibilities.”
“Uh-huh.” I tipped my chin up like I was offended, but my smile betrayed me.
His eyes darkened when I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the hard plane of his stomach. Another lower. I pushed his towel off him. My tongue traced the dip of his belly button, teasing.
His breath caught. Just slightly. But I felt it. “Is this supposed to convince me to forget everything else?”
“How could I,” I wrapped my hand around him, “possibly sway the all-mighty Timothy Hurst to skip responsibility?”
I leaned forward and took him into my mouth.
He hissed out a sharp breath. “Fuck.”
His hand slid into my damp hair, fingers tightening just enough to make my pulse flutter. “Baby,” he said roughly, “I think I’m swayed.”
I stopped and used my tongue on him while glancing up. “You want me to stop so you can go back to responsibilities?”
He shook his head.
I chuckled as I took him as deep as I could. He wrapped my hair around his fist and pressed deeper.
“Too much?” he rasped.
I didn’t look away from his dark eyes when he eased out of me.
“Oh, God.” He cupped my jaw when I worked my mouth around him. His eyes drifted closed when I dug my nails into his thighs to try to control him and get him the way I wanted him before he began to move in sync with me.
“Gia, I’m gonna…” His eyes flashed open and he looked like he would pull away.
I linked my fingers with his and pulled him deep. He let himself go, spilling down my throat.
We both crawled into bed after that. He tenderly kissed me when I lay down next to him, our hands twisted together in the tumble of sheets and shower-damp bodies.
“Should I go before Sofia wakes up?” I asked.
“Maybe we should get dressed.” He wrapped his arm around me. “In a bit.”