“Do I need to come get you out of that car so I can show you what I did today?” he chuckled intimately. “Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder, woman. I’ll do it.”
“I’d like to see you try,” she countered, taunting him, but his words shot a thrill down her spine that was soon followed by a surge of awareness as he hung up the phone without another word to her. As she pulled the phone away from her ear, her breath caught in her throat, seeing his shadowy form outlined by the sconce light behind him. He moved to the end of the wraparound front porch – and leaped over the railing with one smooth move, landing in the grass. He walked slowly toward her, not looking away. The man was purposeful, that movement powerful, like he was coming to claim his woman… her.
“Holy cow,” she breathed in the silence of her car, her pulse fluttering, “that’s so hot…” and then opened the door to get out so she could face him. As she stood, he was coming around the front of her car, his whole demeanor intense… and she needed to play it off before she made a fool of herself.
Her knees were already on the verge of buckling.
“I was just joking,” she began as he grasped the car door with one hand, tugging her by the arm with the other so she was clear as he shut it pointedly, looking at her.
“I wasn’t,” he shot back, his voice thick and deep.
“Ohh…” she melted – and then gasped as he suddenly swung his baseball cap around, putting the brim toward the back, before leaning down to scoop her over his shoulder. “Hey now! Wait a second!” she yelped nervously, grabbing a fistful of his shirt with one hand and his belt with the other, hanging on for dear life.
“Shhh, Sweetheart,” he chuckled and swatted her gently on the butt. “Stop that, or you’ll have Mimi coming to check on you.”
“Put me down.”
“Nahhh,” he replied simply, turning to walk back across the grass toward his house. “I’m kinda liking this personally.”
“You’re acting like a caveman…”
“My ancestors had the right idea,” he replied – and then swatted her again. “Great view, puts you exactly where I told you to go, and makes me feel like a man… what about you?”
“What about me?” she retorted. “I’m upside down.”
“Yes, you are – but don’t you see any merits to having your man do something crazy and romantic like this?” he asked, and something about his voice caught her attention. He was trying to be romantic, and she was ruining it with all her insecurities.
He never complained about her weight, never commented on her appearance, never badgered her to try harder to please him –nothing– not like Joe used to do. This was a whole new experience for her, to have someone who accepted and wanted her, just as she was… and it was incredible that it happened to be the same man who was stealing her heart away with words and deeds.
“Hmm,” she began, hearing the clomp of his boots on the wooden porch steps as he carried her up to the front door. “Great view,” she repeated his words – and slapped the pocket of his jeans playfully before grasping at his shirt once more to hang on. A rumble of laughter escaped him – and it sent a wave of happiness through her soul, knowing she caused it. “And makes me feel like a woman,” she admitted,holding back the part about his shoulder digging into her gut.
What was a little discomfort compared to the rest?
As he walked into the house, a smell wafted in the air that made her do a double-take. Planting one hand against his lower back, she pushed up and away from him, looking around – and sniffing. Something smelled…delicious!
“What is that?” she asked pointedly. “Do I smell… pot roast?”
His only answer was a chuckle – and his hand removed one of her shoes, letting it drop to the ground, before pulling off the other one.
Again, how could she complain about any of this?
Just got off work – check…
He swept her off her feet literally – check…
Her man made her dinner – check, check, and double-check.
“Hellooo?” she called out, chuckling. “You can put me down now.”
“I’m enjoying this.”
“Then do it again someday,” she replied, smiling. “I’m starving, and something smells absolutely divine. I thought you said you couldn’t cook?”
He carefully maneuvered, kneeling slightly to let her down without dragging her torso over his shoulder in the process. Her toes touched the ground as he moved back slightly before straightening up. Okay, maybe having your boyfriend do a fireman-carry on you should be on every girl’s bucket list in life, because yeah, that definitely checked off a box on her ‘I-didn’t-know-I-needed-that’ list of life lessons.
“I don’t,” he chuckled tenderly, taking her hand by touching his fingers to hers, before lacing them together. “But I can follow directions – plus I bought a Crock-Pot that came with a recipe book.”
“You bought a Crock-Pot?” she smiled, looking up at him. He was so beautiful, so breathtakingly perfect, and it blew her mind how she could have ever thought differently only a few weeks ago. My, how her life had changed so much – and for the better. His soft hazel eyes were so warm, so gentle, and felt like home. His dark hair had a few curls sticking out under the brim of his hat that made her itch to run her fingers through them. He was so far from the man she imagined herself with – and exactly like the man she could see spending forever with. “Look at you all domesticated, Officer Chance,” she said softly, flirting with him.
