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Her hand lands on my chest and my palm cradles her hip. When she looks up, my breath catches. The lack of oxygen burns, but I barely notice. Her pupils dilate as she takes in my face, taking her time to explore every centimeter. She’s breathtaking, and in this moment, I want to scoop her up and run.
Run away from everyone, from everything, effectively shutting out the world around us and allowing me to do every dirty, depraved sexual thing I can think of to her. The things I’ve dreamed about doing for months now. Ever since meeting her.
My skin craves to feel hers against mine. My heart pounds in a rhythm only she can recognize, and my hands itch to explore every beautiful curve on her body.
I gulp and slowly pull away, making sure she’s steady before I remove my hands. And let me tell you, removing my hands takes a Herculean amount of effort.
“You okay?” I ask when I’m satisfied she’ll stay upright.
“Yes, sorry. I guess I was too excited to see them, and I wasn’t paying attention to my footing.” A sheepish look spreads across her face.
“Nora, honey!” an unfamiliar woman’s voice calls out.
“Mom!” Nora says as she pushes me aside and quickly makes her way to her mother, who closes the car door and runs over to meet her. They embrace, and the sight tugs a smile from me.
They look so much alike it’s almost uncanny.
I walk over to meet her father while the two of them hug. I can tell already how much love they have for their daughter, but I already knew that. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have hired me without her blessing.
“Hello, sir. I’m Samuel Johnson. You can call me SJ. It’s very nice to meet you in person,” I say, holding out my hand for him to shake.
“SJ! We can’t thank you enough for taking such good care of our daughter. You can call me Walt.” He shakes my hand.
He’s in his sixties with salt and pepper hair, a bit of a belly, and an infectious smile. That must be where Nora gets hers from.
“It’s been my pleasure. Welcome to Sutter Creek,” I say simply.
“Ah, yes, it’s a cute little town. I’m sure we’ll enjoy our time here and catching up with our daughter. I want to extend a thank you to your parents for inviting us to stay, but I don’t think that will be necessary. We booked a hotel just up the street for the week.”
“Yes, Liam told me he helped you two with that. I understand. Just let me know if you need anything from us. We’d be happy to host you.”
I get it. They don’t know us, and they don’t want to impose, but they’re more than welcome, and I want to make sure they know that.
“Nonsense! We’ll be just fine. I’m sure Nora will want a break from us here and there, anyway,” he says with a hearty chuckle.
“Daddy, what are you over there saying?” Nora says as she slides up beside me and into her father’s waiting arms.
“Nothing, baby girl. It’s so damn good to see you,” he says into her hair. Their hug is warm and full of love. I take a step back to give them some privacy.
When I turn, I come face to face with Marie. I put my hand out to shake hers. “It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am.”
She shocks the hell out of me when she swats my hand away. I look down in confusion and then back up at her. Did I offend her?
“I want to hug the man who has been so good to my daughter. I feel like we’re family, and a handshake just doesn’t cut it in my book.” She doesn’t wait for approval. She steps forward, goes up on her tiptoes, and wraps me in a hug.
I stiffen at first, surprised by her warm demeanor, but I quickly relax and loosely wrap my arms around her, giving a gentle pat to her back.
On a chuckle, I say, “Nora makes it easy to be good to her.”
She lets go and steps back. She pats my chest and simply says, “She’s a keeper.”
“Let’s all go inside. SJ’s parents are excited to meet you two,” Nora says.
I chuckle when I look up to see Mom, Dad, and Sam all peering through the living room window, watching us. That’s my family. A little overbearing and nosey, but at the core, some of the most loving people you will ever meet.
“Yep, they can’t wait, as you can tell.”
Nora laughs and wraps her forearm in the crook of mine, pulling me into her side. I sigh, because for the first time in over a week, things feel right between the two of us. She hasn’t initiated any physical contact between us since the whole bar incident and damn does it feel good to have her reach out to me.
