“I do. And I’m surprised I didn’t take my eye out with it. Grace in movement is not my strong point.”
“Guess I’ll just have to keep hold of you to make sure you’re always safe then,” I say, sliding my arm around her waist and drawing her in a little closer as we reach the front of the line. “What’ll it be?”
“Hmmm.” She taps her chin as she leans forward and checks out the selection in the vendor’s cart, coming back with a request for strawberry and chocolate. I ask for the same, then we take our treats over to the fountain where we sit in the sun and stretch out our legs while I try not to get aroused while I watch her leisurely lick her cone.Gulp.
“Do you like living in Whisper Valley?” she asks after a while.
“I like it better than I like the city,” I say, frowning slightly as I try to clean up the mess I’m making by staring at her more than I’m eating my own ice cream. It’s melting down my hand.
“Here,” she says, offering me a napkin. “I always get extra because it inevitably ends up on my face or my shirt. Although I’m trying to eat like a lady here, so I’m not sticking one in the top of my shirt like a bib.”
“Hey, don’t let me stop you. I won’t judge. Here…” I reach out and take an extra napkin from the pile and shake it out, carefully tucking a corner into the neckline of her dress, trying not to linger too long when my fingers brush the top of her breasts, but failing at that when her breathing picks up and we lock eyes.
“Duke,” she whispers, her eyes lowering to my lips and giving me the signal I need to lean in and take her mouth in mine.
My ice cream falls from my hand, landing on the ground with a thud, but I don’t give a shit because I’ve got all the sugary sweet goodness I need right here. I was so worried that I was too old and boring to be compatible with her, but as she opens up for me and our tongues move together in unison, I realize that none of that matters. Time, distance, and everything that came before, is just a bunch of stuff that brought us to this one perfect moment where something inside me shifts, and I know without a doubt that this woman was sent to this earth just for me. She’s perfect.
Now all I have to do is figure out how to keep her.
AVA
“Today was kind of awesome,” I say when Duke walks me to my front door and waits while I open up. “I even forgot about my swollen face for most of it.”
“I'm glad I could be of service,” he says, hanging back as I push the door open and step inside.
“You don’t want to come in? I mean, I don’t have much in the fridge, but I think there’s a little wine and I definitely have tea and coffee.”
With his hands behind his back, he smiles in a way that completely melts my bones. I’ve never wanted a man in the way I want Duke, and I have an inkling that the feeling is mutual, but he’s trying to be a gentleman. I don’t want him to be a gentleman.
“I should go,” he says.
“What if I don’t want you to?” I ask in a whisper as I step in front of him and tilt up my chin. I can feel the heat of his body radiating into mine and see the warring in his eyes as he lets out a slow breath and places both of his hands on my hips.
“I’m tryin’ to do right by you here, kitten.”
I lean in closer and purr. He groans.
“We don’t have that kind of time, Duke,” I say, sliding my hands up his arms then down his firm pecs. “Let’s not waste tonight when we only have a few days left.”
A rumble exits his chest as his grip tightens and his gaze roams my face, finally landing on my mouth before his resolve slips and his lips meet mine in a blissful quenching of hunger. Then all at once, his hands move to my ass, lifting me off the ground like I’m a sack of feathers and carrying me into the house, kicking the door closed with his boot while he kisses me all the way to the bedroom and doesn’t stop until he’s got me lying on the bed and he’s holding himself over me.
“You sure about this?” he asks, pausing for long enough to look at me and hear my answer.
“I’m positive,” I say, threading my fingers into the back of his hair and pulling him back toward me, my entire body filled with fire, want and need. I need this man. I need him more than I need my next breath.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he murmurs, his lips touching mine before he runs his tongue over my lower lip before I open for him, moaning as he seals his mouth over mine and pushes that amazing tongue of his inside, tasting of the ice cream we ate earlier.
My fingers tighten in the back of his hair, and I pull him tighter to me, my other hand bunched up against his chest and tugging at his shirt as he kisses me with soft moans that vibrate against my hand and somehow fill my body in a way that travels right down to in between my legs. I want more of him.
“Are you sure I’m not hurting you?” he asks, his kisses moving to my jaw and then my neck.
“Why would you be hurting me?” I gasp, angling myself so he has better access while my hands move and pull his shirt from the waist of his jeans.
“Your nose.” He pulls back and searches my eyes, and I use that opportunity to urge his shirt upward.
“To be honest, I’m so focused on what’s happening right now that I haven’t even thought about it.”
With a grin, he leans down and kisses me again before pulling his shirt over his head and dropping it on the ground, giving me a fantastic view of his muscular chest. I have no idea what a man with abs of steel is doing with a squishy-fluffy version of a human like me, but I sure am grateful to be the squishy one on the receiving end. This man is every girl’s dream.
