CHAPTER NINETEEN #2
April was only a tiny bit surprised to hear how easily her mom spoke about her dad these days.
It was totally different from her early days back in town, when any mention of him had brought tears to their eyes and a lump to their throats.
It still hurt to think about him, of course, but April loved the fact that she could now do so and remember all the joy that she associated with her dad, too.
It felt to her like this was how he would have wanted his family to remember him, with all his odd habits and ridiculous projects, with all of the love and affection they’d had for him when he was alive.
“April, honey, could you get me a new roll of paper for the register? And then leave, please, and enjoy your day off?” Her mom’s stern tone broke April out of her reflections, and she rushed to the back room to grab the paper.
When she returned a minute or so later, she saw Luke and her mom laughing about something, and she paused, drinking in the scene.
This, she thought, will never get old. She gave her mom the paper and kissed her goodbye, waited for Luke to give Kathy a hug, and then the two of them headed back out into the sunshine.
“So, now what?” said April, unsure what to do with the free time.
“Well, we could go out for a drive, maybe find somewhere to grab a bite for lunch. We could pick Sadie up from my mom’s and take her for a walk down to the springs—I reckon the weather’s dry enough that it would be nice today.” Luke paused mid-flow, a small smile playing across his lips. “Or …”
She raised a brow. “Or?”
He stepped closer, eyes dropping to her mouth as he murmured, “You could come back to my place.”
“Hmm …” She pretended to deliberate over it. “Maybe I could be persuaded.”
“Oh yeah?” Luke took a step closer and she instinctively stretched up to meet him as he caught her in a kiss, tasting her mouth expertly until she was breathing hard. “Did that help?”
For a second, her brain was too fuzzy from the kiss to work out what he was talking about. “Um, yeah. Yeah.” She cleared her throat and did her best to blink the daze away. “Lead the way.”
“I don’t get it—why doesn’t mine look like yours?” Luke pouted, his bouquet drooping slightly as he looked at April’s perfectly structured rustic arrangement.
It was a nice day out, the sun shining overhead but with a breeze cool enough to stop them from overheating; birdsong sounded from the treeline, and the field of wildflowers swayed in the wind surrounding them.
Luke had found a large picnic blanket and smiled mysteriously as he’d instructed her to pick up a large cardboard box and head outside with him.
A smooth patch of grass under a tree in the field provided the perfect spot for them to sit while he’d unpacked a small lunch and then nudged her to open the box. Inside had been brown paper, twine, baby’s breath, and a few other bits like craft scissors and ribbons.
“I thought maybe you’d want some practice teaching people how to make bouquets, since you’re running those workshops for the festival tomorrow.
Plus, I figure I can’t be dating a florist and not know how to make a proper bouquet,” he’d teased and she’d laughed, challenging him to a contest that was, admittedly, largely weighted in her favor.
April presented him with her small bouquet. “A good first try.”
“More like fourth try,” he muttered and shook his head. “I tried to practice a little by myself so I wouldn’t be a complete disaster. Thought I was getting the hang of it, too, until you showed me up.”
Still competing with her, even now. She laughed and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Well, we can’t all be good at everything.”
He turned and caught her lips with his before she could fully sit back down. “Oh yeah?” he mumbled around the kiss. “I can promise you there are a few things I’m really good at.”
She chuckled, gasping when his mouth trailed down to kiss her neck. “Really? Maybe you should show me.”
And Luke took that as a challenge.
His lips were hot on hers, his tongue licking into her mouth in sure strokes that made her think about how good his mouth was in other places. They rose up onto their knees, bodies pressing firmly against one another, and she could already feel how hard he was against her abdomen.
He caught her lip between his teeth and tugged gently, making her whimper. She reached for him, squeezing his cock through his jeans and smirking when his hips jerked involuntarily.
“Naughty,” he growled, hands sliding under her lilac cami top and pulling it up and over her head.
He lowered his mouth to her chest, kissing the tops of her breasts before unhooking her bra deftly with one hand and closing his mouth around her nipple.
Every flick of his tongue sent a bolt of heat to her clit, making her throb with need as he worshiped her breasts with his mouth.
They paused, breathing hard, and there was a question in his eyes—whether or not they should stop and take this inside.
She hesitated and then reached for his shirt, unbuttoning it smoothly and pushing it off of his broad shoulders.
God, she wanted to taste every inch of him.
How was it possible that he looked that delectable with his clothes on and even hotter with them off?
Luke looked like he belonged on a clinch cover as his muscles bunched and stretched against the backdrop of the wildflowers enclosing them.
His jeans fell away and hers followed, and when he reached for her underwear his hands shook. “You are … so beautiful.”
She leaned into him, taking the kiss he offered her and deepening it as he lay back onto the blanket and pulled her on top of him.
“Stunning,” he rasped as his hands closed around each of her breasts, rolling the nipples with his fingers until she rocked against him. “I need to be inside you.”
She nodded, the movement frantic as she positioned him, and they both groaned at the first touch of him against her center. Luke thrust up slightly as she pressed down, taking every inch in a slow glide that had fire igniting in her veins as she balanced with her hands on Luke’s chest.
“Jones …” Luke moaned and when she tightened around his cock he gasped, the sound hoarse. “Fuck, April—ride me.”
She obeyed, lifting herself with ease and taking him back into her in a slow rocking motion that made her feel like she might explode at any second.
Luke reached between them, stroking two fingers over her clit as she rode him, and the twin sensation of him stroking inside and out of her made her pace increase.
April rocked helplessly, desperate for more, and Luke kissed her.
“Let me,” he whispered and she relaxed against him, letting her chest meet his as she widened her legs and let him take control.
The first thrust was deep, hitting the spot inside of her she’d been missing, and when she fluttered around his cock he did it again, and again.
“That’s right, sweetheart. You’re taking me so well. ”
His deep voice vibrating through her made her shudder, her self-control evaporating as she moved back against him, meeting him thrust for thrust as the breeze played over their bare skin and a flower brushed the top of her head when she rocked against him.
Their movements turned frantic and his next kiss was sloppy, urgent, as his fingers found her clit once more, stroking her into orgasm and pulling him along for the ride as she clamped down around him.
Luke reached down and wrapped them in the spare half of the blanket as the breeze kicked up and her hair whipped their cheeks. “I love you,” he murmured, arms tightening around her as he touched his lips to her forehead.
“I love you,” she whispered, tucking her face into the crook of his neck until their hearts slowed and her stomach started to rumble. “Do you think we squashed all the picnic food?”
Luke laughed and she felt it in her chest. “God, I hope not. After that? I’m starved.” The last word was a growl and when he twitched inside of her, she knew he didn’t mean for food, and laughed as he rolled them over.