Page 45 of Silver Brewer

“You’re very different from what I’ve had in the past.”

I cringe at the thought. It sounds kind of bad when he says it like that.

“No, no, this is all good. My…” He pauses as his eyes shift to my shoulder. “My sex life hasn’t been as wild as it’s been with you. It’s been rather tame, in fact, and I’m enjoying the difference.”

I tip my head up to take his mouth, and we kiss briefly. I’m not certain how to take what he’s said. Is he comparing me to his wife? To other women? Either way, I guess I’m glad I’m not the same as everyone else. He pulls back, looking over at me again.

“I don’t think I’m explaining myself very well,” he says, and I perch up on an elbow while he falls to his back, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m not good at communicating my feelings.” There’s mockery in his tone, and I imagine he’s been told this a time or two. He does have a standoffish demeanor, which I accused him of, but I want him to open up to me.

“Try,” I whisper.

“This seems like an awkward time to discuss it, but Clara was sensitive. We were two kids bumbling through the dark at first. Over time, I wanted a little more, but Clara couldn’t handle it. Certain positions. Certain locations. We really only had one position, and she would accept sex in only one place—the bedroom. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t spectacular.” He rolls his head to look at me and sheepishly smiles. “It was more functional. We weren’t adventurous.”

I fight the smile forming on my lips, not wanting to give away how pleased I am with what he’s said. Oh, so that kind of different. My hand scrubs over his firm pecs, exposed from the open robe. My fingers play with the hair on his chest while he seems lost to the memory. He exhales.

“Anyway, I heard what you did, or rather, I got your message. What made you think to contact Charlie and not me?”

“Honestly, I didn’t have your number.”

“Don’t you do any research before you go after a property? Why didn’t you call the brewery?”

“Would you have spoken to me if I called?” I pause, sheepishly chuckling. “I don’t really know what I was thinking with that ridiculous call to your brother.” I lower my face to the coverlet, hiding from the heat of Giant’s eyes. “I hoped Charlie could pass on the legal jargon, and you’d understand it wasn’t the land. It’s you that I want,” I mumble the muffled words into the duvet.

“I want you, too.” He shifts to his side, and I turn my head to face him. His lip crooks, and he kisses my shoulder. “I think I’ll always want you.”

The words startle me and shoot right to my heart like an arrow on a mission. I don’t know how to respond. I think I’ll always want him, too. I brush away thoughts of the distance between us and the impossibility of being with him for always.

“What made you decide to come to the wedding?” It’s quite the grand gesture to show up unannounced.

He chuckles. “I heard you needed your hair done.”

I laugh with him. “I’m kind of a mess right now.”

His fingers comb into my hair, brushing it back from my face so he can clearly peer into my eyes. “This is my favorite look on you.”

Gah. This man. “Charmer,” I tease.

“Hmm, let me see how else I can charm you.” He leans forward for my jaw. When he nips at the juncture between my shoulder and neck, I’m totally charmed.

+ + +

We make love in the bed, and neither of us misses the fact that it’s different once again. We’ve been rather wild and reckless but this, this is slow and purposeful. Soft hands caressing skin, and fingers lingering to outline bodies. Long kisses and deliberate movements. I come undone in a way I never thought I could while we take our time with each other. A new deal is sealed, at least for me.

I’m in love with this man.

Hook, line, and sinker.

The next morning, we agree I need to make an appearance at the send-off breakfast.

“One cup of coffee, and then we flee.” Giant laughs, but I’m serious. I don’t want to share him with my family, not yet, and I only have him until Sunday afternoon.

My sister Dayna and I look nothing alike. While I’m dark featured, she’s light, and she greets me with all the falseness of a nosy Nelly, which is what she is when it comes to Giant.

“And who is this tall drink of water?” she flirts, and I want to smack her hand when she goes for Giant’s chest. Fortunately, he intercepts it and makes an awkward show of forcing her to shake his hand instead. “Well, my, what a grasp you have.”

Giant slips an arm around my waist and tugs me to his side. “I’ve been told it’s all the better to hold an ax.” He jiggles me against him, and my sister flushes, not understanding the private joke. She’ll never know the strength of his hands, though. Not on my watch.

“Come. Meet Hudson.”