Page 78 of Wine & Dine

Oh. My. God.

“Magnolia!” I shriek in shock—and guilt. She knows exactly what I intend to do, but she’s warning Garrett.

“Then we won’t use the bed, ma’am.” Garrett winks at her, but his face is serious, and I spin to bury mine in his chest. I can’t believe he just told my grandmother he’s going to have sex with me. Without another word to Magnolia, Garrett turns us for the hall, and with both arms around me, he tugs me down it to the stairs. There we break apart, and I reach down for his hand. I take one step up, and Garrett stills me, his eyes on mine as he clears his throat.

“Magnolia,” he calls out. She doesn’t answer, but I’ve no doubt she’s listening. “I’d like to take Dolores upstairs with your permission.” He pauses. “See, I just told her I love her, but I think she needs some further convincing. I have a proposal for her, and then I have a proposition for you.” He winks at me.

Proposal? He can’t be serious.

“I’m not into anything kinky,” she bellows back, and I want to die on the stairs. My mouth falls open, and Garrett laughs, his face pinking under his two-day-old scruff. “That’s not to say you aren’t nice looking, though.”

“Is your grandmother flirting with me?” Garrett whispers, his face even more flush. I’m biting my lip, fighting the laughter at his embarrassment and this conversation. A giggle escapes, and I tug at his hand to encourage him to follow me up the stairs. We practically race, and the bedroom door echoes when we close it harder than we intend.

“Oops,” he says as I fall against the wall beside the door. Instantly, he’s on me. Hands in hair. Lips on lips. My hips buck forward, and he presses me back, sliding his hands down the curve of my body. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Realistically, it’s only been two days, but I know what he means. I didn’t like sleeping without him, being without him. We remove each other’s clothes in a frenzy of sweaters and socks and jeans. Once naked, I remain against the wall, shivering with the chill in the room and the anticipation of Garrett. His mouth returns to mine, his hands cupping the sides of my neck and then skimming over my shoulders. He drops one to my thigh and curls around it, lifting my leg to hitch high against his hip. Then he slips into me without foreplay. I don’t need it. He’s taller than me and needs to bend at the knees. His head lowers for a breast, sucking at my nipple. His hips aren’t moving, and I tip mine forward for friction. A firm hand halts my hip.

“I need a second,” he mutters into the skin he’s covering in kisses. Perched on one leg with my back against the wall, my body vibrates for balance. I quiver in his arms, and he releases my thigh and slips out of me. “Down on the floor.”

I fall to my hands and knees, and he thumps down behind me. I lower to my elbows, pressing my forehead to the rug. Garrett spreads my knees by placing both of his between mine and slams into me, sending me forward. With a rapid-fire, pummeling action, he repeats the motion, quick and sharp, and I meet him thrust for thrust, arching back against him, taking what suddenly feels like a punishment.

“Don’t.” He huffs. “Ever.” He puffs. “Leave me.” His voice fills with anguish with each slapping movement. The hammering motion emphasizes each word and his need, his fear.

“I’m sorry,” I grunt, taking my penance and loving it. He slips out of me, and I whimper from the loss. A hand at my hip curls around my belly, and he flips me. I land softly on my back, the short fibers of the rug scratchy under my skin. Garrett hardly misses a beat, and he’s inside me again. My knees draw upward until Garrett finds my shins. Pressing at my legs, he forces them to my chest. I’m open for him, and he drills deeper, deeper, deeper. The thrusts come hard and quick, but the orgasm races faster, slamming into me within seconds of this new position. I bite my tongue, holding back a scream as the thought of Magnolia the floor below flashes through my head.

“Dorothy,” he hisses, drawing me back to him instantly. With a strained voice, he speaks. “There’s no place like home. And this is mine.” I want to laugh. The giggle rolls up my belly, and my mouth pops open, but then he covers mine with his and stills. Pulsing commences. Once. Twice. Three times. He fills me while a strangled growl crawls into my throat. His arms wrap around me, and he holds me, awkwardly arching my back and pressing me to him as if he doesn’t want to let me go. My fingers slide up his back and delve into his hair, holding his head as he releases my mouth and dips his face into the crook of my neck. We remain on the floor, a tangle of limbs, racing hearts, and clutching arms until I hear Garrett sniff.

“Babe,” I whisper, tugging at his short hair, hoping to see his face. He shakes his head, holding me tighter, squeezing me. Another inch and I’m not going to be able to breathe. He wipes his face against my shoulder and then draws up, going for my lips again, but I stop him with hands on his cheeks. “Garrett?”

His eyes remain closed, his forehead coming to mine. “I love you.” Three simple words yet so much emotion is tied up in them. “I love you, Dolores.”

He sounds surprised, questioning—hesitant even—and then he pulls back, his eyes liquid fire, and repeats them again. Confident. Definite. Honest. His mouth comes to mine, and this time, I allow the kiss, a soft, tender meeting of our lips.

“I love you, too,” I whisper against his mouth as he slowly releases mine.

“I’m so tired,” he says, not letting me go as he slips out of me, followed by a surge of fluid.

“Why don’t you rest?”

“Come with me,” he mutters. I should. I’m tired too. The emotional stress has caught up to me. The diner. Garrett being here. His declaration. I need a minute, or my thoughts will haunt me, preventing me from sleep.

“You climb into bed. I’ll be up in a bit. I should check on Magnolia.”

Garrett stares down at me, his brows pinched, but he doesn’t argue. His knees crack as he kneels back and tugs me to sit. Then he stands and helps me up. Naked and sweaty, he climbs into the full bed and looks at me over his shoulder.

“You’ll come back.” There are a question and a warning in his voice. “A rainbow isn’t going to keep me away from you.”

A rainbow? And then it hits me again. He really is a Wizard.

+ + +

I slip back into my leggings and the oversized sweatshirt and steal down the stairs to the breakfast nook, which is acting as the kitchen. I use the Keurig to make two cups of tea, taking one to Magnolia. Of her two front rooms, one receives more sunlight than the other. It has bookshelves and two antique couches in need of repair. Magnolia prefers the other parlor, which is darker on this gloomy afternoon. It opens to a screened-in porch, which looks sad and lonely on a winter day. Magnolia sits in a chair, staring out the window with Wally at her feet. I take a chair opposite her.

“I brought you some tea.”

She nods in gratitude, and a small smile graces her thin lips. I love this woman more than anything, and I’ve done her wrong by running off like I did. She took me back easily when I showed up yesterday morning and left me alone as I rolled restlessly in my bed most of the night. We haven’t been alone since I arrived.

“I’m sorry, Magnolia,” I say, offering so much more than the apology.