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“Well,” he skimmed a hand over her back and grasped her rear, unable to resist, “and to see you.”
Renovations were going well and they were on track to finish within the month. The house would be ready for someone to live in. He hoped it could be them. Together. As husband and wife.
Now he just needed to find the right moment to propose. It had to be perfect.
“Do you have time for lunch?”
She shook her head and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Nikki is helping with the preparations for the fete and I’m trying to sort out the books that will go on the stall.”
He’d expected as much but that didn’t mean he wasn’t frustrated at having to wait until the evening to see her. How he’d managed to stay away for twelve years, he didn’t know. One morning was too long without holding her.
“I guess I’ll leave you to it. I should probably see if they need any help with setting up.” The annual Ballicliff summer fete would be taking place in two days and the entire town seemed to be involved.
Apart from him. But if he was going to make this place his home, he needed to make an effort.
Maddie gave his arm a squeeze. “Yes, see if they need some muscles. I’m sure they can put you to use.”
“I’d rather you put me to use.”
She beamed at him and came onto tiptoes to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Later,” she murmured.
He groaned. He couldn’t help himself. In spite of making the most of every moment they’d had together since that afternoon at the house, he couldn’t get enough of her. He didn’t think he ever would. Maddie was in his blood. She always had been. It’s why she’d never left his mind, not even in his fictional world.
Sawyer flicked a thumb down her nose and let it rest on her bottom lip.
“What is it?” she asked.
“What is what?”
“You have a distant look in your eyes.”
He lifted a shoulder and let it drop. He’d need to show her his books at some point but it seemed too soon. How would she react when she realised how much she’d become part of his fictional world? What would she think of what he’d written about her? He couldn’t blow this.
“I... I just don’t know how I managed twelve years without you.”
A soft, almost sad smile curved her lips. “Me neither.”
Damn. He hadn’t meant to remind her of the hurt he’d caused. He nearly told her he’d fix it, he’d make it all better. The need to spill out everything burned in his gut. But he had to do this properly. In front of everyone.
He grinned. Yes, that would work. He’d propose at the fete tomorrow. He’d give her no reason to doubt him and every reason to take a chance on him again. It was a big ask, but perhaps he could persuade some of the locals to help him out.
Desperate to erase the sadness from her gaze, he pressed a hand under her hair and drew her close. He curved his palm around her neck and stared down into those hazel eyes. How had he stayed away so long? He had to be grateful to his father in an odd way for giving him a reason to come back and find the courage to face her.
He dropped a kiss on her forehead. Then on the tip of her nose. He closed his eyes and found her lips. She released a small sigh and gripped his arms. Her mouth opened to him and he tasted the coffee she must have drunk that morning and the warmth of her. A small animalistic sound reverberated in the back of his throat.
He needed to control himself but... hell, how was he meant to? Maddie had her breasts crushed against his chest, her thighs pressed to his. Her tongue searched his mouth and she made little sounds of pleasure. Sawyer urged her back until he heard a few books topple. She gave a tiny squeak and he hiked her leg up his hip so he could rock against her in an attempt to ease the ache in his jeans.
Her kisses grew frantic. Her hands scrabbled across his shoulders. He slipped a hand down to the edge of her t-shirt and found the warm, smooth skin of her stomach. Her muscles contracted beneath his fingers while he pushed higher and found the underside of her bra. Sawyer eased his fingers up undern—
Someone coughed. Sawyer yanked his hand from her shirt and broke the kiss. When he turned, he saw Mrs White who ran the grocery store. He groaned inwardly. The woman who now had to be in her seventies had never liked him. He couldn’t really blame her as he had stolen the odd sweet or two from her shop as a kid. And from the look on her face, she still hadn’t forgiven him.
She peered around him and Maddie shuffled out from behind him, straightening her top.
“Maddie dear, I came to see if you had any extra bunting left over from last year? I recall we put a box of it in the cellar.”
Sawyer couldn’t help grin at the stain on her cheeks. He didn’t want to embarrass her but he kind of liked that one of the nosiest people in town would know for sure Maddie was his. Soon everyone would know if Mrs White had anything to do with it.
And that would work perfectly with his plan to propose...
