Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Avery
Fortunately, Jacob had already left for the day by the time I finally pulled myself away from Reid, stretched out my aching muscles, and made it out to the kitchen. Of course, he hadn’t left a note—not that I’d expected him to—but no doubt he’d headed back to town to see whether he could dig up any more dirt on Reid and me and how our relationship wasn’t real.
Wasn’t it?
It sure felt real last night. It felt very, very real. And then again this morning when I’d woken in his arms. That had felt more real than anything I’d felt in a very long time. Safe, cared for, protected… loved.
It was ridiculous, certainly because there was no way there was any love between me and Reid this soon. Marriage or not. Yet…with him, I’d felt something I didn’t remember ever feeling with Porter. Maybe it was just the gift of time and distance that had dulled my memories, but I didn’t think so.
Reid was different. Being with him felt different.
“One sugar, no cream.” I turned from the toaster as Reid handed me a cup of coffee.
“Yeah,” I said dumbly. “You know how I take my coffee?” I blinked at him as he laughed.
“Of course I do.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You’re my wife.”
A full-body shiver rolled through my body. After a moment, I said, “Yes. I am.”
Reid grinned. For a moment, my entire world spun, and I couldn’t help but feel that even though it wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a temporary arrangement between strangers, this was proof that it was more. It was so much more.
“At least for now,” he said with a chuckle and reached past me as the toaster popped.
I’m glad he wasn’t looking at me because I knew my face would have registered the hurt of his words. The truth they held.
At least for now.
I needed to remember that, or saying goodbye when the time came was going to be a whole hell of a lot harder.
“Right.” I forced a cheerfulness I didn’t feel into my voice. “What’s the plan today? Do you need to go back to your shop or get any supplies from Grayson?”
I winced as I asked the question, knowing I was up to my eyeballs in debt with Grayson. He’d been kind enough to extend me credit. More than once. But I didn’t know just how far his generosity would go, and small businesses had bills to pay, too. I didn’t want to take advantage of him.
Especially when I didn’t know when—or if—the money was ever going to come through.
I shook my head and took a sip of the hot coffee. I couldn’t let myself think that way. The money would come through. I refused to believe any other option.
I literally couldn’t afford to.
“What’s with the serious look?” Reid was watching me, concern crinkling his handsome expression.
Without even realizing it, I’d gotten used to seeing the smile on his normally grumpy face. I’d grown used to the light dancing in his eyes. I didn’t want it to be dimmed because of me.
“Everything okay, Avery?”
“Of course,” I lied quickly. I took another sip of coffee, using the caffeine to fortify me. “After last night, and waking up to the perfect cup of coffee, what could possibly be wrong?”
I did my best to keep my voice flirty and light. It must have worked because, after a moment, Reid’s lips twisted up into a cheeky grin. He reached for me, his arm snaking around my waist so he could pull me in close. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said, his voice rough and laced with desire. “I can only think of one thing that would have made this morning even better, and I blame myself for letting the opportunity slip through my fingers.”
He kissed me, and I let myself sink into it. This might only be a temporary situation, but I’d be dammed if I wasn’t going to make the most of every single minute.
“There’s always tomorrow,” I said with a wink when he finally pulled away.
He reached for me again, this time backing me up against the counter. “Forget tomorrow.” The scruff on his chin scraped against my cheek. “I’m looking forward to tonight.”
Somehow, after a few more minutes of making out like teenagers, Reid and I mustered up the willpower to pull ourselves apart and get to work. The list of things to do to get the inn ready was only growing longer by the day, and we had our sights set on the beginning of September to host the grand opening to the public and hopefully welcome our first guests.
The timeline was tight, particularly given the fact that I still didn’t hold the necessary paperwork. But that was out of my control—at least for now. The only thing that was actually still in my control was getting the work done. Which meant, less making out and more actual work.
After Reid told me about the upcoming Sprout n’ Shout, we decided to focus our attention on the gardens I’d been working on the day before and headed outside where the sun was already high in the sky.
Summer days in the mountains could be deceptive. It cooled down at night, but the days could get quite warm. And based on the heat early on, it looked like we were in for a hot one.
“You did a lot of work out here yesterday.” Reid put his hands on his hips and assessed the yard, which looked kind of like either a backhoe or a dog with a bone had been let loose. There was dirt scattered all over the grass, and wilted piles of weeds that hadn’t made it to the compost yet spotted the lawn.
“It’s a mess.” I shook my head, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with the task.
“Hey.” Reid handed me a shovel. “It’s nothing we can’t handle. Let’s start over there.” He pointed to the far garden bed by the edge of the porch. “We can clear out the rest of those scraggly shrubs and get the ground ready for something fresh.” Slowly, he turned his attention to the neglected flower beds along the path. “Over there would be a nice spot for some irises and peonies. You like those, don’t you?” He winked at me before pointing to a different area of the garden. “And look at all the daisies hiding in there. If we clean out the weeds a bit more, we’ll be able to see them. And who knows, maybe I’ll pick you some bouquets like when we were kids. That would be—what?”
He stopped when he noticed me staring at him.
I couldn’t help but chuckle and shake my head at the confusion lining his face.
“Seriously,” Reid said. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“The peonies. And…the daisies.”
His face screwed up in confusion. “You don’t like the idea?”
“I love it,” I said, newly overwhelmed in a completely different way.
“Good.” He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before once more turning to the garden. “In the fall, we can plant tulips and daffodils that will come up as soon as the snow melts and—you’re staring at me again.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You’re so cute when you talk about gardening.”
“Cute?”
I nodded. “Cute.”
“No one has ever described me as cute before.”
“Well, I guess no one has ever noticed how cute you are when you have a shovel in your hand and you’re talking plants.” I stuck my tongue out and laughed at the dumbstruck expression on his face before it turned into a shriek when he dropped the shovel and started to chase me.
“I’ll show you how cute I can be.”
I wasn’t sure whether it was a threat or a promise. Either way, I sprinted toward the wheelbarrow, putting it between us.
“You think I’m cute, do you?”
I laughed and dodged to the side, circling around the wheelbarrow. “I sure do.”
“Then why are you running, Avery? Afraid I’ll be too cute if I catch you?”
My core clenched with the promise held in his words.
Oh no, I’d be more than happy to let him catch me. Especially with the way his nostrils flared when he looked at me, desire in his eyes. Hell yes, Reid could catch me anytime.
But the chase was going to be fun, too.
“You assume that you can catch me.” I grabbed the discarded gloves I’d left in the wheelbarrow and tossed them in his face before spinning on my heel and taking off across the lawn.
I’d only made it halfway to the path when I felt Reid’s strong arms wrap around my waist.
I shrieked again as he lifted me off the ground and flipped me over his shoulder.
“Gotcha, sweetheart.”
His palm clamped down on my denim shorts and squeezed. I groaned and wiggled against him, grinding into him.
“These shorts have been driving me crazy for weeks.” His voice was rough with desire. “I’m going to enjoy getting you out of them.”
So much for getting any work done.
But instead of walking me up the porch steps and back inside the house, a moment later, Reid flipped me over and, in a move so fast that it took my breath away, he had me flat on my back in the grass.
He loomed over me, caging me in with his arms. A shudder of desire rippled through me as he raked his hungry gaze over me. “Oh yes.” His work-roughened hands slid greedily up my legs, stilling on my bare thighs. His thumbs moved back and forth on the sensitive skin there, dipping in and out of the hem of my shorts, moving closer and closer to my most sensitive spot between my legs that was already throbbing with need for him. “It’s definitely time to get you out of these.”
Reid’s hands moved to the waist of my tiny shorts. He’d already managed to slip the button free before I remembered myself and the fact that we were currently on the front lawn of the inn where anyone and everyone in town could see us.
“Not here,” I protested—albeit, not very hard. “Reid. We’re?—”
“I don’t care.” His pupils were blown.
“But, people will see.”
“I don’t care.” He bent and kissed me until I also no longer cared.
It wasn’t until he pulled away, tugging my lower lip gently between his teeth as he moved, that I came to my senses.
It was true I was completely gone for this man and how he made me feel. But I wasn’t so far gone that all common sense had left my head. At least, not totally.
With my free hand, I reached out until it landed on what I was looking for. Before Reid realized what I was doing, I grabbed the nozzle, pointed and pulled the trigger, dousing my husband with a stream of ice-cold water from the hose.