6. Dean
DEAN
Sunlight cuts through the blinds, alerting me that another day has dawned. I don’t know how long I slept after we made each other come last night, only that it was the best night of sleep I’ve had in months. Maybe longer.
I reach for Heather, eager for the warmth of her soft body, but the bed is empty.
Panicked, I roll out of bed and pull on a pair of sweatpants. I hurry down the hall, slowing when I discover her sitting on the floor, back against the couch. There’s a tablet in her hand and a cat curled up beside her legs.
“You’re up,” she says, smiling but not looking up. Her focus is on the screen and whatever she’s drawing.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep so late.” I move around the back of the couch—she’s right, the thing’s a piece of shit I’ve been meaning to replace—to spy on her screen. From where I’m standing, it looks like some black and white map. “What’s that?”
“Side project,” she says.
“You draw maps now?”
“Mostly for fantasy and romance authors, yes.” Aries stretches out, pressing his paws against her bare leg.
My cock grows hard just thinking about those same bare legs under my sheets. She was so fucking wet last night. As much as I want to discover if she’s still that wet this morning, I stay behind the couch and simply watch her draw. I’ve waited too long for this to happen between us to rush it.
“Have you eaten?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head. A few tendrils of her reddish brown hair fall from her messy bun in the process. “Didn’t really feel like leftover spaghetti for breakfast.”
“There’s eggs,” I say.
“I didn’t think you’d appreciate having to put out a fire on your day off.”
“That bad in the kitchen, huh?”
She looks over her shoulder at me, those emerald eyes locking with mine. “That bad.”
“Then I’ll cook.”
“Breakfast? It’s almost two o’clock.”
“Is there a bad time for breakfast.”
“Good point.”
I move around the couch, no longer able to resist touching her. I sit on the couch behind her, hands on her shoulders, and lean forward. “This is really good.”
“Thanks. I’m hoping someday this’ll be my full time gig. But for now, I’m just having fun with it.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to be a cartographer.”
“Not a real one. The book maps are way cooler than regular maps. And this is just a tablet drawing. You should see some of the ones I’ve commissioned from charcoal.”
“I feel like I don’t even know you,” I tease, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“Well, we have sort of avoided each other like the plague since Christmas.”
“I hope we’ve cleared that up by now.”
She looks back at me. “If you’re expecting me to call last night a mistake, you’re going to be disappointed. That was the best orgasm I’ve had in a long time.”
“Hmm,” I say, pretending to be serious. “Guess I’ll have to try harder next time.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m determined to give you the best orgasm you’ve ever had.
” I wrap my arms around her shoulders, kissing her neck.
It would be so easy to pull her into my lap and start that mission right now.
But I don’t want to ruin what this is finally becoming.
I’ve waited twenty years for this woman to see me as more than her best friend’s annoying brother.
I can wait a little longer to get her naked if it preserves what we’re finally starting to build.
She turns her head back, offering me her lips. I slip a hand down the front of her shirt, cupping a breast because I’m only a fucking man.
Aries pounces onto the couch, using my thigh as a scratching post. “Okay, okay. Breakfast for everyone.” I hop up from the couch, the sound of Heather’s laughter melting the layers of ice I’ve kept around my heart for far too long.
“What do you want to do today?” I ask as I head to the kitchen.
“What are my options?” she calls to me.
“Sky’s the limit, sweetheart.”
“Really?” she says, understandable skepticism in her tone.
“Try me.”
“I want to go to the county fair,” she says. “But is that a good idea with Jonathan the Jackass on the loose?”
I nearly tell her that he’s been sitting in a jail cell since last night, but I can’t quite get the words out.
What if I tell her he’s been arrested and she uses that as an excuse to run away again?
No. I won’t risk messing this up now that we finally seem to be on the same page.
I’ll tell her tonight, once we get home.
“He wouldn’t be stupid enough to try anything with me around.” It’s not a lie.
“You’d really take me to the county fair?”
“Does that surprise you?”
“Guys hate the fair. Especially ones in their thirties. Did you inhale too much smoke last night or something? You’re acting weird.”
“How?”
“You’re all happy and stuff.”
“Well, you did make me come while I was giving you an orgasm.” I peek out the doorway to the kitchen, catching the blush that heats her neck and cheeks. Fuck, I could get used to this. I want to get used to this. “Besides, I don’t hate fairs.”
“I hope you’re ready to back up that statement, then. Because we’re riding all the rides.”
I don’t love rollercoasters, but I’d ride all the rides ten times in a row if it’d make her happy. “Bring it on, sweetheart.”