Page 76 of Take The Risk

“I think we play it by ear. We’ll continue on as we have. Only now, when we’re alone, instead of shoving my hands into my pockets to keep from touching you, I fully plan on indulging in touching you as much as I can.” His hand slid down my back, cupping my butt, and I giggled.

Was that why his hands were always in his pockets?

“What about Olivia?” After Jeremy and Layla, whether Ty and I were a couple in public or not, I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing him with another woman, especially one on a mission to get him back. “I don’t know how much you overheard, but it’s beyond clear you are her endgame, and she seems awfully confident she’s yours as well.”

Ty, the jackass, grinned. Narrowing my eyes on him, I shoved against his chest only to have him wrestle me back, this time laying me half over him.

“Calm your quill, scribbler. I’m not interested in Olivia. Now, you being so obviously jealous…”

Pouting up at him, I denied, “I’m not jealous!”

Ty’s belly rumbled against my chest as he laughed. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

Rolling my eyes, I pinched his side. “Stop being an ass.”

Ty took that as his cue to give me a long drugging kiss. Lifting his head, he promised, “I’ll handle Olivia. I can’t promise I won’t see her out and about. It’s a small town and life just goes that way here. I also don’t want to offend her and her family. They’ve been friends with my mom for a long time. But I promise you I won’t be alone with her, and I won’t be taking her to her parents’ party.”

I let out a deep breath. When Ty said that, it sounded so different from when Jeremy had told me there was nothing going on with Layla after I’d accidentally met her. Still, a sliver of fear slid beneath my ribs and settled heavily inside of me.

“Now, about those threats…”

Chapter 28

​“You have to take her to the anniversary party,” Wade declared the next morning while we waited for the women to finish up at church before heading to Louise’s for the afternoon.

​“Not happening.” After Phoebe’s past? There was no way I was doing that.

​Tracking her with my eyes, I suppressed a growl watching her bend over. The blue dress she wore outlined the curve of the body I hadn’t spent enough time exploring yesterday.

​After we’d talked and I’d taken a solid ten minutes of cooling off when I learned all she’d been hiding, I’d put her in a bath. I hadn’t missed the wince she tried to hide when she was cleaning up breakfast.

​It’d taken some rather enjoyable convincing to get her to admit she was sore. I wanted to thump my chest when she finally gave in. Still, I didn’t like that she was in pain, so convinced her to have a bath in the new claw-foot tub that had been installed by the plumber the week I was away.

​I wasn’t one for baths, but damn if I hadn’t enjoyed having her all naked and covered in bubbles in my arms. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from running my hands over her skin, teasing her nipples, or slipping my hand down to the pussy I promised I was going to leave alone for the rest of the day.

​We’d chosen to stay at her place where we could be together without anyone interfering. Lock was in Atlanta with her parents for his court-appointed visit with Jeremy until church this morning, and I had fully taken advantage of the child-free time.

​It was so easy being with her. We talked. We laughed. I fixed the porch light she’d sworn was working before she’d left for the bar, careful to make sure no one saw me. I’d even endured a conversation with Alex, who felt it necessary to crow how awesome she was one second and then threaten to castrate me in the next. Phoebe had been horrified at the gruesome description of what Alex would do to me if I hurt her best friend. I gave her a few pointers and ideas, much to Phoebe’s shock and Alex’s delight.

​I’d like to say I was strong enough to keep my dick out of Phoebe, and I was proud I’d made it until noon. It had been a test of my sanity to keep things light in deference to her tender parts. But I was only a man, and you couldn’t expect me to last all day when I had her where I could touch her, kiss her, and taste all the parts of the body that had driven me crazy since I’d first seen her.

​I’d taken my time with her, ensuring she was writhing beneath me, her body so ready she’d been the one to snap at me to take her. Still, I was gentle, rocking into her slowly and sweetly.

​For a man who liked sex hard and dirty, making soft, sweet love to a woman was completely new for me. I liked it. No, I fucking loved it. There was a whole new level of pleasure for me taking Phoebe like that, feeling her body conform to mine, her pussy milking my cock. Fuck! My cock was hard just remembering, and I cursed.

​“Stop staring at her, asshole.” Wade smacked me on the back of the head.

​“Fuck you.” I flipped him off. Okay, so maybe I could agree to stop stalking her with my eyes. But damned if it wasn’t hard.

​Wade gave me that patronizing sigh of his. “Look, I know why y’all want to keep this a secret. I’m actually in agreement. For now—”

​For now. I planned on making for now as short a time as humanly possible. Once Phoebe felt secure, I knew she’d be…afraid, anxious, and stressed…all things I was going to make sure didn’t overwhelm her, but she’d be willing to revisit the for now part of our relationship.

​“—but what reason can you actually give for why you suddenly can’t take Olivia to the Spencers’ party? It will be suspicious. Aunt Cady-Jo was suspicious enough to contrive a reason to stop by Phoebe’s house just to make sure you weren’t there when there was no reason to think you would be.”

​The reminder pissed me off. I was getting sick of my mother’s sudden interference in my love life. I respected that she loved me and I was her son. She was entitled to her feelings. Warning Phoebe off, implying she’d screw over her fresh start here, was over the line.

​“I also heard from Perry”—a deputy that worked with Wade— “when he stopped by the café yesterday afternoon that Aunt Cady-Jo still thought it was suspicious you’d dropped Olivia off first and not Phoebe. If you hadn’t come by and walked Bones with me, I think she’d have circled back to Phoebe’s.”