He hadn’t told Bree where they were going, and her eyes grew big now as they parked and walked inside the main lodge to get their key. “Wow, this is fancy.”
He pulled her up against him. “You deserve fancy.”
She deservedeverything.
The sun was setting as they checked in and walked down the lovely path that led to their private bungalow.
“It’s a different view from the ranch, but the ranch is gorgeous in its own way,” she said. “Maybe you guys ought to consider opening a resort.”
He chuckled. “Noah would love that. He says I already owe him a week’s worth of winter chores for having to spend three hours in the sheriff department’s interrogation room avoiding answering questions about me.”
She laughed. “You know he’s going to wait until the middle of a blizzard and then call in his marker.”
“I have no doubt about it.”
He opened the door and escorted her inside with his hand at the small of her back.
“Man, this place really isbougie.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Bougie?Is that bad or good?”
“Do you not ever talk to any of the teenagers in town? They taught it to me.Bougieis fancy good. I finally researched its origins and found out it’s from the wordbourgeois.”
He shook his head. “I’m obviously not up on my slang. I’ll work on that.”
Once they were both inside and had looked around the bedroom and the living area with windows that opened out to a stunning view, Tanner wasn’t exactly sure what to do.
He’d brought her here to make love to her. Because he wanted the first time to be absolutely perfect for her, to make up for everything she’d gone through in the last week.
He hadn’t let himself get too close to her this weekbecause he hadn’t wanted their first time to be rushed or ordinary. He wanted it to be...bougie.
He’d wanted to make love to her for so long, but now that the time was here, with no obstacles in their way and in a wondrous, romantic spot, he was actually a little nervous.
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say right now,” she said. “Is everything okay? We don’t have to do anything if you’re not ready.”
Enough. His own indecision was makinghernervous. He snagged her around the waist and pulled her up against him. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
She smiled, winding her arms around his shoulders. “It’s been a long week for you. And I know it all turned out okay in terms of your job, but we don’t have to do anything tonight if it’s just not the right time.”
“An isolated room with a giant bed and nobody interrupting us? Oh, I think this very definitelyisthe right time for you and me.”
His lips had barely touched hers when the phone rang on the bedside table. He ignored it, much more interested in the feel of Bree’s lips than whatever was going to be said on the phone.
But when it kept ringing, Bree finally wiggled away from him and answered it herself.
“Hello?” He continued to kiss down her neck as she answered. He could hear the voice speaking briskly.
“So sorry to interrupt you, Mrs. Dempsey. This is the front desk.”
“I’m not Mrs. Dempsey, but I’m here with Mr. Dempsey.” Tanner loved how she was breathing hard and struggled to get the words out as he continued to kiss her neck.
“My apologies. We have a bottle of champagne, forthe Dempsey party, courtesy of the Grand County Sheriff’s Department, waiting for you at the front desk. We would normally deliver it to your room, but our bellboy just got sick and had to go home.”
“That’s okay. I’ll walk up and get it.” She squeaked out the last word as he bit down lightly on the side of her neck.
She barely got the phone back in its cradle before he had her pulled up against him. Her arm reached back, fingers threading into his hair, throat tilting back as she leaned her head on his shoulder, giving him better access.
Her back was completely pressed up against his front. He used one hand to keep her neck tilted at the angle he wanted, and the other to find all the places on the front of her body that he could play with until she gasped.
