He nodded. “I only remember Mim holding my hand in the helicopter. I kept asking her if I was actually flying to the hospital.”
“They said an ambulance wouldn’t have gotten you there quick enough.”
His brow furrowed. “Did you see the accident?”
“No. I was sitting under the old elm on the hill with Lila. She was daydreaming about Cole, of course… Nothing much was happening, and then it was chaos. A hundred voices started shouting all at once. I recognized your dad’s. He was screaming for help. Lila started bawling.”
“Not you?”
I shook my head. “I ran straight down. Well… I actually ended up sliding most of the way. I skinned my knees so bad. By the time I got there, your dad had ripped off his shirt and was holding it on your face. The blood had already soaked all the way through. I’d never seen so much blood. I didn’t know what to do, so I took off my sweater and gave it to him.”
“Did I see you?”
“Yeah.” I laughed. “You said, ‘I think the tractor punched me in the face.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, something got you good.’ You were so, so white. You were shaking all over.”
“Shock.”
“Probably.”
“Dad was angry at me, you know. He’d already shooed me back to the house because he wanted to teach Cole something, and I was always in the way, trying to overhear everything. He tried to stop me from going back after they’d patched me up, too. Said he didn’t need any more of that hoo-ha. I’ve always been a pain in his ass.”
“He probably said that because he was scared you’d get hurt again. When the helicopter left to take you to the hospital, oh Cal… It was just so heartbreaking. He cried and cried. No one knew what to say to him, so the workers just all kind of went back to work and left him there.”
“I… I didn’t know that…”
“I think your dad worries about you more than he’s willing to admit. People aren’t always good at saying how they feel.”
“People like you?” Callan slid a cautious hand under the sheets. A shiver rippled over my skin when his fingertips brushed along the curve of my waist. “Is that why you’re naked in my bed?”
“I wanted to show you I’m ready… that I can be brave… and not always be the last one to dive in…”
Callan’s eyes screwed shut, and he groaned, “Ez, you can’t say things like that.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
Silence swayed in an unsteady rhythm as he traced a lazy pattern along my spine, his eyes on me, not blinking. Doubt was holding him back. I edged closer. The dusting of sparse hair on his chest pressed warm and crinkly into my skin. My heart thumped a little faster.
I knew Callan so well, but there were moments—like this—where everything wasalmostnew. I’d seen his chest before, but this was the first time the rugged ridges of muscles had pressed against my bare nipples. I’d sneaked admiring looks at his powerful legs and even peeked at the tan line that ended on his thigh, but I’d never felt the thrill of his heavy leg thrown over mine or his erection jutting into my belly from underneath the thin cotton of his boxers.
This next step—ourafter—wasn’t going to bealmostnew. It was a complete unknown. Was he scared?
“Dive in with me, Cal.”
“Erin… I…” He wanted to. That desperate look clouding his eyes told me. “Don’t do this because you think you have to… or because I was pissed off. I need you towantme. And not just a little. I lied when I said that. I need you to want me alot.”
My fingers found the perfect spot to clutch behind Callan’s head and coax his lips to mine. He had to feel how much I wanted him when our lips met in those addictive, soul-deep kisses, and he heard the soft and needy sounds in the back ofmy throat urging him to keep going because it was impossible to talk…or even breathe.
A big palm spread flat on my ribs, and a calloused thumb teased underneath my breast. Callan wanted to waste time working me up, but I’d told him what I needed. A hollow ache throbbed between my legs. The last five months had been enough foreplay, and I was so, so ready for the next step.
I slid my hand down his back. “I told you.” A tug at the waistband of his boxers levered them down his hips. “I’m tired of waiting.”
Callan’s lips stilled on the pulse pounding in my neck. A jerk back, and his head was up, wide eyes on me.
An insistent push, and the cotton went down past his ass, the smooth, muscled skin shooting a feverish bolt up my spine. God… His body…Perfect.
He frowned. “But you haven’t—”
“Do you want me to beg?”
