26. 26
Annabelle
Now
W hen Hayes mercilessly opens the curtains of his bedroom windows the next morning, flooding the room with dawn’s early sunlight, I whine, “Why are you waking me up so early?”
“There’s a cup of coffee on the bedside table. It’s not a latte, but I added some vanilla coffee creamer. Drink up, because it’s time to rise and shine!”
“Are you always this perky in the morning? If so, this might be a deal breaker,” I mumble.
Throwing my arm over my eyes, I squint to see Hayes standing in front of me, grinning. With bedhead, bare feet, sweatpants, and a fitted V-neck T-shirt, Hayes looks good enough to eat.
I patted the space on the bed next to me, inviting him to sit. “I can think of a much more fun way to wake up, but it doesn’t involve clothes, Hayes.” Swinging off the blankets, I add, “Luckily, I’m not wearing any.”
With an agonized groan, Hayes draws a hand down his face before replying. “Any other morning, I’d gladly jump you, but today, we’re on a deadline.”
He leans down and kisses me softly. I refuse to let him slip his tongue into my mouth, though. Morning breath. We can save the sexier kisses until after I’ve brushed my teeth.
“What? Why?” I moan.
“Come on, Yankee. I’ll give you a few minutes to drink your coffee, but you’ve got to get moving. The girls will be up soon, and I doubt you want them stumbling in to find you naked in my bed.”
He’s got that right. I didn't mean to fall asleep in his room last night, but it felt so nice to be held that I couldn't pull myself away.
I take a large, very unladylike slurp of coffee, burning the roof of my mouth. “Damn, that’s hot.”
“Yeah, I am,” Hayes quips with a silly wink. He slaps my thigh. “Now get up, woman.”
Tossing off the rest of the bedcovers, I follow him as he saunters into the attached bathroom.
“Fine,” I grumble, feeling chilled as soon as the cool air hits my body.
“But we need to figure out a couple of things first. Like, how do we act in front of the kids? You’re going to have to keep your hands to yourself and your sexual innuendos to a minimum. "
Yesterday, we acted like good friends with one another, but rekindling our physical relationship has changed our dynamics. It will be extremely difficult to hide how we feel today .
I hate the idea of sneaking around, but I don’t want the girls to know about us yet.
I’m not worried about them not liking Hayes, because it’s obvious they already adore him, but I’d like to date Hayes for a bit before telling the girls.
You know, like test-driving a car before committing to buying it.
I just need to make sure we work as a couple before involving my daughters.
Because my worst-case scenario would be telling the girls and then breaking up. Following Kyle’s death, that would be traumatic for them to have another father-figure abandon them.
In the bathroom, Hayes stands behind me and pulls me into his arms, resting his chin on my head. I stare straight ahead, watching his reflection in the mirror. And trying to pretend that I’m not naked. I already feel vulnerable enough as it is.
“Annabelle, I’ll side with you on whatever you decide to tell them about us, but we can’t hide this forever.”
“I know. We’ll tell them… eventually,” I hedge.
“Okay, but make no mistake, Annabelle.” Hayes’ penetrating gaze never wavers from mine in the mirror’s reflection. “I'm in love with you.”
I gasp in surprise at his words as my heart stutters in my chest. I spin in his arms to face him, my hands finding his stubbled jaw. “Hayes.”
“Yes, Yankee?”
“Do you really mean that?”
“With all my heart. I’ve never wanted someone more than I want you.” Leaning forward, Hayes slides his hand against my cheek before tangling it in my hair.
“And you said…” I sputter.
“I said I love you. I started falling for you the night we met. As soon as you started spitting insults and staring me down with those sunflower eyes, I was a goner. ”
My eyes drift to his chest, where he has a sunflower tattooed on his skin. Permanent. Indelible. I am forever etched on his body, and my soul sings in response.
“The next morning, I walked out of Tank’s a very different man from the one who walked in. You changed me, Annabelle. I love you.” Kissing me softly, he adds, “You’re not alone anymore. I’ve got you—you and the girls.”
My heart thumps wildly in my chest as his words wash over me. “God, Hayes. How do you always say the thing I least expect but need to hear the most?” Brushing my lips against his, I murmur, “I love you, too.”
The words fall from my lips with ease. Over the past few weeks, Hayes has chipped away at each of my worries and hesitations, until I could no longer deny the seriousness of my feelings for him. Like a weight thrown into the ocean, I fell fast.
But if Hayes is going to stick around, there’s more I should probably tell him.
I don’t want to ruin this moment, or this ranch trip, with depressing family secrets, though.
The truth has been locked up tight in a small recess in my brain for the past year.
I can wait another couple of weeks before bringing it to light.
“I know you do, baby. I feel the strength of your love every time you touch me. I see it burning in your eyes, and I hear it in every word you speak."
God, he's such a romantic.
“But I still need to take this slowly. For the girls’ sakes.”
“I can keep doing slow.”
“Can you?” I ask, doubtful.
He smiles. “I can try. For you, I’ll try.”
“Thank you. We need to be careful. Discreet. Especially around Grace. ”
“Understood. If you think the girls aren’t ready to see you dating yet, I can be patient and give them as much time as you think they’ll need, but…” He trails off.
“What? But what?”
“No matter how hard we try to hide it, Grace is going to see right through us. She may not figure it out today or tomorrow, but eventually she will. She’s so fucking smart and perceptive. Our days are numbered, Jeopardy. I’d hate for Grace to feel like we lied and deceived her.”
I place my forehead against his chest and take a few breaths.
His concern regarding Grace is spot on. We can try to act like we’re only friends, but I know that one of us will slip up in front of the girls.
We’ll think we’re being covert, but Grace will pick up on the minute changes between us.
A lingering touch, a heated glance, a murmured endearment. She’ll notice, and she won’t let it go.
Especially because those are things she rarely witnessed between her father and me.
“Let’s just get through the holidays first, and then we can tell them. I want to give them time to get acclimated to seeing us together. Ease them into the idea.” I pause, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. “Please make me one promise, Hayes.”
“Anything.”
“If we don’t work out, please promise me you’ll stay in the girls’ lives in some form or fashion. That you won’t desert them.” He cuts in, but I hold up my hand to stop him. “I know that’s asking a lot, but my greatest fear is that they'll lose another important man in their lives.”
“Baby, I know it’s scary to open yourself up and let me into your lives, but I promise you won’t regret taking a chance on me.
As much as I love you, I love those girls just as much.
I wouldn’t be in this if I didn’t love all three of you.
I can’t imagine a future that doesn’t have you by my side.
But if something were to happen between us…
I’d still want to be in their lives, Yankee. I mean it.”
Hayes places a chaste kiss on my forehead before releasing me and nudging me toward the large, glass-enclosed shower.
Hayes leans against the bathroom counter, eyeing me through hooded lids for a second before he slaps my ass and adds, “Go shower now, Yankee, or else I’ll have to postpone breakfast so I can fuck you again. ”
“Hayes!” Scandalized, my cheeks flame from his words.
I turn my back to him. Switching on the shower, I step in as steam bellows around me, enveloping me in warmth. It’s amazing how Hayes’ fancy shower immediately spits out hot water.
“Only speaking the truth, baby.”
Shaking my head at his antics, I lean under the spray of water to wet my hair. I feel the heat from Hayes’ stare as he watches as water sluices down the valleys and plains of my naked body.
Checking his watch, he smirks that lopsided grin that always makes my heart flip-flop. “Actually, we probably have twenty minutes until the girls wake up.”
The next thing I know, he’s stripping off his T-shirt and sweatpants and stepping into the shower to join me.
Drawing my back to his front, his hands skate across my body, one banding across my breasts and the other burying itself between my legs.
His talented fingers play my body just as expertly as he plays the guitar, and I come apart faster than I thought possible.
Just as my breathing normalizes, Hayes has me pushed against the tile wall.
He doesn’t so much thrust into me as he impales me on his cock, stretching and filling me in the most delicious way.
As he moves, withdrawing and slamming back into me, I feel every inch of him.
His face is next to mine, and in between his whispered sweet nothings and dirty mutterings, I hear his breath growing more ragged.
The knowledge that I make Hayes lose control is such a powerful aphrodisiac.
But when he reaches down to strum my clit, all thoughts of how I make him feel fly out the window as my inner muscles grow taut, like a string being pulled tighter and tighter until it finally snaps.
My hips piston in time with his, as his movements grow faster, harder, deeper.
My pleasure blooms before it finally bursts forth as Hayes moans my name.
Right after I climax, Hayes slides out of me, shooting a thick rope of cum onto my back.