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“No!” She screeched, gaping at me as if I were crazy. Cupping my face in her hands, she looked me straight in the eye and said, “That wasn’t why. Not at all. I just realized I loved you too, and it was freaking me out.”
My eyebrows shot up before a slow smile spread across my face. “You love me too?”
Gasping, she jerked her hands off my face and smacked my arm. “Oh! You…you…You made me say it.”
With a laugh, I lifted my hands, claiming all innocence. “What did I do? I didn’t make you say anything.”
She made a sour face. “Don’t act so smug, you big...” Her nose wrinkled as if she wanted to call me a bad name but her feelings for me physically prevented her from doing so. So she just gritted her teeth and huffed. “You want to know my real problem? I came home to find this gorgeous country boy I’d always dreamed of being with, and you finally had all your shit together, and...and it intimidated me, okay?”
I had to cock my head to the side over that claim. “How did I intimidate you? I’m still the same old me.”
“What the hell ever.” She kept scowling. “This...you...you’re nothing like you were when I first met you.”
“Okay, fine,” I allowed on a cringe. “You met me while I was going through the lowest point I’d ever gone through, but you’re also directly responsible for me getting back to my old self again, so what I am right now is basically…your fault.”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, but didn’t argue my point.
I glanced around the hayloft, at a loss of what to say or do now. I’d just poured my heart out this woman, and she’d pretty much done the same to me. And now…now we were both just standing here.
It was weird. I didn’t know what to do.
I’d always kind of thought that when I told a girl I loved her she’d scowl at me a lot less than this.
“I still want to be with you,” I tried, feeling less and less confident as the seconds ticked by.
“Well,” she huffed, seemingly more putout than ever, before moodily mumbling. “I want to be with you too.”
Okay. I cleared my throat and scratched my head.
“So, uh…” I winced and sent her what I hoped was a beseeching glance. “Where does this leave us?”
She g
ave another long, resounding sigh as if fed up with me for not getting with the program. “Gee, Bucket. I don’t know. The room’s flooded with all these romantic little lights you’ve hung for me, and there’s a nice, convenient bed of hay right there. We both just said we loved each other. We’re both consenting adults who claim to want to jump each other bones, and neither of us are obligated to anyone else. What do you think we should do?”
Oh, hell, yes! I liked where this was going. My body kicked into high awareness, heating and hardening instantly.
No longer uncertain or self-conscious, I started to grin slowly. “Well, I certainly don’t want to play checkers.”
Bailey gave the most magical reply of all. She smiled back. It lit me up from the inside and settled in all the right places, making me buzz with need. Bailey loved me back. This was really going to happen.
Biting her lip with an almost teasing shyness, she backed slowly toward a particularly nice-looking pile of hay and began to unbutton her blouse. “Neither do I.”
Chapter 33
BECKETT
A knot formed in my throat when the creamy swell of both breasts and the silken edge of a lime green bra came into view. Holy shit, we were really going to…
I shook my head, not quite able to believe it. This morning, I’d woken up missing her so bad and yet certain she didn’t even think of me that way, I’d taken care of myself. I hadn’t thought I’d even see her until damn near Christmas. And now, here she was, claiming she loved me and undressing in front of me. It felt too much like a dream. My brain couldn’t catch up with reality.
“Are you sure?” I asked, swallowing down the hope that kept rising and trying not to let it get the better of me, but also taking a step toward her when she undid enough buttons to reveal her pale stomach.
Bailey undid the last clasp and slid one side of her blouse over one shoulder. My mouth dried up and eyes widened.
Her grin was pure seductress. “What do you think?” Cloth slid from her other shoulder and her top dropped to the floor at her feet.
I might’ve whimpered.
