Page 311 of A Matter of Time

“Of course.”

He was lighting me up inside and he had no idea.

“So you’re up for the PDA now?” I baited him.

“Apparently so.”

I chuckled. “Well, just to give you a break, how about we go kiss in the car?” I grinned lazily. “The windows are tinted, after all.”

I watched the muscles in his jaw clench. “Okay. I’ll kiss you in the car.”

And he was as good as his word, even though I was much more than just kissed. I was mauled in the SUV, driven to a secluded spot, stripped naked, and pulled into his lap. It was where I had wanted to be all night.

The thump woke me. I reached for the light beside his bed and the room came into dim focus.

“Where are you going?” I croaked out, finding Sam putting on his hiking boots in the empire chair across from the bed by the window.

“I gotta go to work. Go back to sleep, baby.”

I checked the clock on the nightstand and saw the time. “It’s three in the morning. Come back to bed.”

He smiled suddenly, and his eyes sparkled in the low light. “I would like nothing better, believe me, but duty calls.”

“Just go later,” I pleaded, yawning, barely awake and groggy.

“I can’t, love.”

“But, Sam⁠—”

“I left you a set of keys on the kitchen table.”

“Okay.”

“You know, you could just move in, and then you wouldn’t have to carry two sets.”

“That’s very logical of you.”

“That’s me—logical.”

I stared at him, and when both boots were laced, he got up and crossed the room to me.

“You know, I was thinking…” he said, sitting down beside me, rubbing my arm. “I really rushed you into all this, and I didn’t even think about what was going on with you.”

I squinted up at him. “And?”

“And I’m sorry,” he said softly, leaning down and kissing my throat. “But I can’t have it any other way.”

“That actually makes me really happy.”

“Good, ’cause like I said, I hafta have you with me.”

I stared up at him.

“So you really should move in, ’cause you’re gonna hafta start cooking.”

It took me a second to process what he was saying. “I’m sorry, what?”

He chuckled, then leaned in and kissed me so hard and so deep, I forgot that he was leaving until he started talking again.