AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER42
Katie woke up to sunlight streaming in the windows. It took a minute to realize where she was, but for once, she hadn’t panicked.
And she had been right. The sheets matched the landscape outside. The soft gray sand surrounded by the brushy scrub outside was the same color.
But where was Antonio? She rubbed her eyes, looking at his empty side of the bed, and put morning sex out of her thoughts.
She didn’t want to seem pushy or too easy, but at the same time, they’d stopped last night when she was ready to keep going, and it seemed like a natural progression for them.
But he’d said he didn’t have condoms, hadn’t he? While that thought made her happy, that he wasn’t planning on fucking women at the spur of the moment, it was still disappointing. Maybe he’d gone to get some?
Katie got up and dressed herself, running her hands through her hair as she chose a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to wear today. She brushed her teeth and went to kitchen to get a cup of coffee.
It was made; half a pot sat on the countertop. So he’d been up a while.
Where was he? She looked out the window, seeing the beat-up pickup truck outside that had been there yesterday.
She tried not to think the negative thoughts that kept surfacing. That he was regretting her being here, that she was keeping him from his own recovery, that last night hadn’t meant the same thing to him as it had her.
What did last night mean to her?
It meant intimacy was a thing she needed in her life and that Honduras hadn’t taken that from her. It meant she enjoyed intimacy with Antonio and wanted more of it. It didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, that she would still want him after all this.
But she did.
Even after everything, she wanted him.
But what if he didn’t want her?
She chewed on her lip as she wandered through the house with her cup of coffee, noticing the small things she hadn’t seen yesterday. The downstairs was mostly a mess. He’d obviously started his major renovations with the plumbing and electricity, as evidenced by missing chunks of sheetrock everywhere except the kitchen.
It wasn’t painted, even though the appliances were new. Nothing was fancy, but the kitchen was updated.
The house had so much potential, but it looked like he was taking things slow with it and redoing it himself.
She squashed the automatic thoughts of inserting herself into his plans and helping, no matter how at home she felt here.
Katie meandered to the porch, feeling the early morning sun chase away the chill of the night. The view was incredible, with the mountains off in the distance and scrubby grass with bushy trees and an immense blue sky taking over the panorama.
Where could Antonio be? On a whim, she walked to the nearby barn, promising herself to just look and not touch anything, except maybe a horsey snoot. She wouldn’t mess up Antonio’s system out there for their health and recovery.
That’s where she found him, already dressed in jeans, boots, and a white t-shirt that fit like a second skin. He sat on a neat row of hay bales that ran down the center of the barn floor, watching the horses.
“Hey,” she said softly, not wanting to startle anyone.
“Hey, yourself.” He smiled as he patted the bale next to him, so she walked over and took a seat. “I wasn’t sure how late you were going to sleep.”
“Whatcha doing?”
“Thinking. Checking on the horses. You know, stuff.”
Her stomach dropped at his vague answer. He didn’t want her here, and it hurt. She was in the way, keeping him from going on with whatever progress he’d made after the hell of Honduras. Because it had been a hell for him. He’d been just as trapped as she had been.
Her insides were twisted. Last night had been something she’d thought she’d never be able to do again, and she’d not only gotten through it, but she’d enjoyed it.
A lot.
She knew that if Antonio wanted her gone, she’d leave, but she really didn’t want to. And it wasn’t just because sex with him was amazing. She assumed it still was; they hadn’t gotten that far. But the man himself. She wasn’t attracted to any other man like she was to Antonio. And she didn’t have feelings for any other man like she did him.
