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Speaking of the devil, he came out of the bathroom and padded over to his side of the bed. He looked just as sexy in his plain white t-shirt and black pajama pants as he did in his work clothes. He got in, and we stared at each other and both kind of chuckled.
“This feels like my first boy-girl party all over again,” I said, feeling as nervous now as I had back in fifth grade.
“Yeah. I have to say this is a first for me. Normally, when I have a beautiful girl between my sheets, it isn’t for platonic reasons.”
Oh how I wished I found one-night stands enjoyable. The couple previous ones I’d had left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t like not having some sort of connection with the man I was with. Who knew though, it had been a few years since my last one. Maybe with Austin things would be different.
“That might change in the future,” I blurted out. My cheeks burned. Crap. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
Austin grinned. “You won’t hear any complaints from me if it does.”
“Mhmm.” I felt like I couldn’t move, too afraid to break this moment we were sharing. It felt like my heartbeat was racing and that time was at a standstill. We started leaning closer toward each other and all I could think was how much I wanted to feel his lips against mine.
We pressed our foreheads together. Austin closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was in pain. “I promised you, no funny business tonight.” He opened his eyes and said in a gruff voice, “I’m a man of my word and I intend to keep it.”
Damn him. Why did he have to be such a gentleman? I knew in the morning, I’d be happy that he was. But right now, all I wanted him to do was kiss me.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl. It’s bedtime now. Lie down.”
I did as he asked, and he pulled the covers up to my chin.
“Good night, Miranda,” he said, placing a kiss on my forehead.
“Good night, Austin.”
The dog gave a quiet bark, and we both turned our heads to look at her and then said in unison, “Good night, Champ.”
I giggled as I drifted off to dreamland. Whoever said dogs didn’t have personalities was dead wrong.
It took a few more days than Austin promised because he was so busy, but finally, one of his workers did go and get my car. We were waiting in the driveway for Austin’s ranch hand to come back with my car. I couldn’t wait to have my stuff back. I was wearing another t-shirt of Austin’s. It wasn’t as long as the ones I’d worn previously, but still fairly large. I also wore a pair of his gym shorts. We had to tie a rope around them because they were so large in the waist.
On the bright side, at least I wasn’t having to wear his boxers.
Travis pulled up in my beat-up car and I clapped my hands together. “Thank you so much for getting her,” I said as he got out.
“You’re welcome,” he said and handed me the keys.
I went to the trunk and opened it. I hadn’t had much time to pack when I left, but what I could grab was in these two medium-sized suitcases.
“Do you need help with those?” Austin asked, pausing the conversation he’d been having with his ranch hand.
“No, thank you.” I grabbed both suitcases and started to head inside.
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” Austin said, as I passed him.
“Take your time.” I didn’t want to interrupt his life any more than I already had. I was sure there were several things I was making him run behind on because of my surprise visit.
I made it up to the bedroom with Champ joining me. As soon as I placed the suitcases on the floor, she was sniffing each of them as if she were checking for a bomb. When she seemed pleased and that nothing nefarious was in the cases, she sat next to them and looked at me.
“Thanks, girl,” I said and patted her on the head. I appreciated her looking out for me, even though I was practically a stranger to her.
I pulled out a pair of leggings, socks, some panties, a bra, and t-shirt. In no time, I was changed into them and out of my host’s clothes. It felt wonderful to be back in something that was mine. I sorted through the rest of my belongings. There were only five other outfits I’d brought, but five was better than none.
Besides a couple of toiletry items, my mom’s old cookbook, and a family album, there wasn’t much left for me to unpack.
I sat back on the heels of my feet as a wave of sadness washed over me. For a twenty-four-year-old, I really didn’t have much to show for it. How did my life become such a mess?
