Page 63 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls

Chapter Eighteen

FORD

The Match

We weren’t two steps in the door when I spun Piper around and pressed my mouth to hers. She gave a delicious squeak before she melted into me. I had a hard time deciding where I should put my hands because I wanted to touch her everywhere. I settled on her lower back as our kisses deepened.

When I’d gotten ready this evening, I’d thought maybe I’d coax her into a dance. Maybe two. Even though we’d had pizza, shared a bit of our history, she’d still been cagey. Doing her best to avoid me when I went to claim my free coffee and donuts from Sugar Rush. Twice now, I’d casually walked into the bookstore pretending to need a book or a drink. The sly smile she’d given me said she knew exactly why I was there, but I kept a gentle distance between us not wanting to push things.

She ran her nails up and down my back. I loved the way she gripped me like she needed to hold on to me tightly, pull me close, ensure I wasn’t going anywhere.

Her kisses were slow and languid as we learned each other’s instincts and reactions to small bites and hungry moans.

She tugged the shirt out of the back of my pants and I walked her backward until her knees hit the edge of the couch. Once she sank down, I pulled off my shirt and the way she greedily scanned my body nearly undid me.

She scooted back to make room for me but there was hesitancy in her gaze, a tremor in her lower lip. I didn’t need anything more from her than to be in her presence. To listen to the melody of her voice and the soft cadence of her breaths.

‘Do me a favor,’ I whispered. ‘Sit on the floor.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You want me on the floor?’

‘Trust me.’

She ran a shaky hand over her mouth. ‘You don’t know how hard that is for me.’

I ran a finger along her soft cheek. ‘Bird, you could ask me to do a backflip, the Macarena, yodel right now, and I’d oblige.’

‘Yodel? Can you yodel?’

There was that smart-ass tone I loved.

‘Trust me?’ I repeated.

She cocked her head. Everything about her was deliberate. How she talked, dressed, interacted with the people of Ivy Falls. It was like she was weighing every encounter. Making sure she never did or said a word to upset anyone. It had to be a heavy load to carry. For once I wanted her to clear her mind and let go.

After letting out a shaky breath, she sank down onto the rug covering the floor.

I took a spot on the couch behind her and loosened the hairband at the end of her elaborate half-braid.

‘What are you…?’

‘Hang on,’ I whispered against her neck, and I loved the way she shivered.

Once I had the band out, I unraveled the braid piece by piece until her hair hung down her back in luminous dark waves. I started at the top of her head and lightly massaged, working my way down to her shoulders. Another shaky breath left her mouth, and the tension she carried like tight cords under her skin melted away. I worked my hands down below her scapula and her triceps, taking my time massaging and kneading.

Her breath stuttered as she said, ‘All that time studying anatomy was not wasted, I see.’

‘Oh, I know how to handle several parts of the body.’

‘I bet you do,’ she murmured, which made my pants tighten.

I swept back her curtain of hair, placing my mouth against the tender skin on the base of her neck. I kept working her shoulders, pushing aside the thin silver material of her shirt.

‘That feels so good,’ she stuttered.

‘Which part? My hands or my mouth?’

‘I have to choose? Well, that’s mean,’ she teased.