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Trying to flirt with him without being obvious is taking a lot of my energy. I take a sip of my wine and he winks and that’s when I basically die inside, my lady bits clenching.
While finishing our drinks, we continue to talk. With every word out of his mouth, the weight of what’s at home for me feels heavier and heavier.
He’s agoodguy.
A family guy.
Someone who I can tell has your back without question.
The way he speaks of his family, his life back in Tennessee, it’s what I have dreamed of my entire life.
Small town life seems so… easy. I’m sure living in a small town isn’t perfect, but living in a city where I feel shackled to a life I don’t want isn’t easy, either. Maybe it’s just Cash’s small-town life. With his supportive and loving family and roots that have grown deep.
Our waitress drops off the bill and he grabs it before I have the chance.
“You don’t have…”
“Shut it. Let me be the gentleman because honestly, looking at you right now and having this time together is giving me a lot of ungentlemanly thoughts.”
My cheeks heat but I don’t look away from him. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’m entranced. By Cash. “Thank you.” My voice is barely a whisper and my breath catches when his tongue snakes out and licks his lower lip.
“My pleasure.”
Pleasure. Why does that one word sound so erotic coming from his mouth?
As we walk to the elevator, our hands brush together and when we step into the elevator, pushing the buttons for our floors, a twinge of disappointment hits me. I don’t want the night to end.
And then…
He turns to me, his hand slipping under my hair and around my neck.
My hands land on his trim waist.
My breath catches in my throat at the look in his dark eyes.
Has anyone ever looked at me the way Cash looks at me?
The answer is no.
“Please,” I whisper, praying that he knows what I’m begging for.
Before I know what’s happening, his mouth descends and at the first contact, I feel more alive than I thought possible. A kiss has never made me feel more like myself. I’ve never felt the touch of a man’s calloused hand and I’m desperate for it. Not from just any man, though. From Cash. This kind and funny and ridiculously sexy man who embodies all the qualities in a person I’ve been missing in my life. When the elevator doors open to my floor, I don’t hesitate, I tug him behind me and throw all thoughts of my future away.
I deserve this one night.
And I won’t feel guilty because this one night might be the only time in my entire life that I’m putting myself first. That I’m taking what I want and not acting like some puppet on a string.
For one night, I want to forget.
ChapterOne
Cash
My little brother is about to propose to the woman of his dreams and he’s not the least bit nervous. Mainly because he knows what the answer will be but also because he’s certain of the fact that Naomi is perfect for him. He’s loved her for so long I can’t even remember a time he didn’t love her. Even when she was married to some tool and he had to watch from the sidelines.
For as attractive as us Lake children are, and that’s not me being cocky or full of myself, it’s just a fact and one that people tell us on the daily, we sure do seem to have a hard time finding love – or, at least the kind of love that lasts. And that’s why seeing Brock so damn happy makes the rest of us so damn happy.
I’m the second oldest of four kids. My older sister, Corbin Rae, who we call Cor, might be the happiest because Naomi is also my sister’s best friend. Then comes Boone, who has the best thing in the world. My nephew Cody. Boone’s a single dad and a great one, at that. He might not have been ready to become a dad at the age of eighteen but he’s not only managed but been the best dad Cody could have asked for.
