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Chapter Six
~ Judd ~
I couldn’t believe my wife was this hardheaded and down on herself. How did she not know how special and talented she was?
My forehead leaned against hers, and I gazed into her downcast eyes, willing her to look at me. “I guess I’ll start with the obvious and go from there. Who takes care of our house? Gets up early, even though she doesn’t have to, and makes me breakfast every morning?”
“That’s nothing,” she muttered, still staring at my shoulder.
“If you tasted my coffee and saw what I’ve been eating for breakfast you wouldn’t say that.”
“I baked stuff. I can’t cook. How weird is that, anyway? I burn anything on a stovetop or even in a crockpot. Burn it or it’s practically raw. Our smoke detector goes off more than the fire station’s alarm.”
I ignored that, not allowing the negativity. Before I was finished, she’d know I couldn’t function without her. I didn’t know how. We’d been practically attached to one another since we were twelve. If truth be told it was even longer than that since we’d been friends for years, too.
“Who didn’t go to school because she thought it was more important for me to go—and I still don’t agree with you on that? Who helps me brainstorm the mazes? Who takes care of all our bills and keeps the paperwork for our business? And yes, it’s ours, not just mine. Who puts herself through hell every month because she thinks a baby will make me happy? Who helps out with anything on the farm, no matter how dirty? All of that is you.”
“It’s—”
“Don’t you dare say ‘nothing’,” I growled. “It’s everything. I don’t work without you. And yeah, I’m busy a lot because I want a perfect life for us. I want to give you everything you could possibly desire. But I’d quit everything just to be with you.”
She bit her lip, and her shiny eyes finally met mine. “You realize you’re kind of out there, right? All full of…perfectnessand grand gestures. How do I compete with that?”
I chuckled. “It’s not a competition, baby. That’s what you see…but, babe, I can’t be any of those things without my foundation. You make me want to work harder and be better. But you’re also my peace and my calm place of refuge. You spark my creativity and make me want to be a good man every day.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Okay…what?”
“Maybe a kiss now,” she said, taking me by surprise and wrapping her arms around my neck. “I was too chicken to let you last night, even though I really wanted to kiss you.”
“Why were you chicken? About what?” I murmured, pulling back a little, so I could study her face better. I craved her mouth, but I also needed to get answers.
“Caving.”
“I like it when you cave,” I growled. “When you lie back and let me—”
She sealed her mouth over mine, stopping my dirty words. I dragged her closer to me. Her legs wrapped around my waist, her warmth pressed to me while our mouths moved together. Heaven. Pure heaven.
My world slid sideways when the tip of her tongue flicked against the seam of my lips, telling me she wanted more. Reflexively, my fingers tightened on her waist and my mouth opened for her. Our tongues glided together, and I had to fight to keep my hands where they were. I’d missed my wife desperately. I’d missed this intimate connection between us. I missed justbeing with her.
How could a kiss be so good?
She sighed into my mouth and pressed closer to me. Her arms wrapped around me, her thighs tightening against my waist. It was the most basic of contact between us, but I struggled to keep all my focus on holding her, on only the feel of her waist under my palms and the way our mouths moved together. We devoured each other as if we’d been parted for years and not weeks.
It was only when Mimi’s stomach growled, and she moaned—not from passion—that we pulled apart. My forehead rested against hers again while I looked into her passion-glazed eyes.
“I should feed you lunch.”
“Mmm,” she murmured, the utterance sounding more like another groan than being hungry.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just more of my stomach being disagreeable. I know I need to eat, but I’m worried about how it will react.”
Pulling back, I studied her face. She was as beautiful as always, but I noticed her features were drawn. My fingers glided over her cheeks. She appeared pale, and there were light circles under her eyes, that weren’t apparent unless you studied her closely. But she’d obviously had a bad night’s sleep.
“Do you need to call off for the afternoon? I’m sure Jill would understand.”
