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She nods.
“Everything, Buttons.Everything.”
There's no second thought or hesitation. She leans up to kiss me. My heart thunders in my chest as a growl vibrates through me. I push a hand up her shirt to palm her breast. Her tongue darts into my mouth. I can feel the urgency of her need because it mirrors my own. I click the button to her seatbelt, unbuckling her to haul her onto my lap. I may go to hell for this, but I’m not giving Tillie up to be with my brother.
I want her too much.
Tillie
All signs are pointing to the fact that I’m insane. Then again, I always have been when it comes to Ryder Monroe. No normal person falls in love with a guy in the sixth grade and it remains, even though the guy doesn’t know she’s alive.
Or maybe he did.
He sounds so convincing when he says he was attracted to me. I know Emily is gorgeous, I couldn’t hold a candle to her and that’s never bothered me that much. There are times that I wished that I could be like her just so Ryder would notice me. Yet, even then that was a silly fantasy where Ryder would wake up one day and be madly in love with me. I like me, though. I’m never going to be really skinny. I’m never going to have perfect hair and I’m not going to be the girl who wears high heels and movie star makeup. For one, I love cooking, baking, and eating. For two, I’m a klutz. I’d kill myself in heels.
That said, right now I feel like I’m living in some alternate reality. A universe where I’m beautiful and the man I want most in the world can’t resist me. I laugh at my own thoughts.
“What’s so funny, Buttons?”
I look up at the hot man in my kitchen frying hamburgers and sigh.God.“I was thinking it’s a good thing you are good at baseball because you don’t look that comfortable in the kitchen,” I invent with a smile.
“Oh, woman of little faith. Wait until you taste this masterpiece.”
I giggle. “I can hardly wait.”
I’m not lying either. After having my body starving for more of his touch, and kissing me until neither of us had breath, he slid me back into the passenger seat, buckled me in and drove to the store. Ryder went in solo, telling me to sit tight. Then, he picked up what he needed and drove us home. When we got here, he gave me a quick kiss and told me to sit tight. I was too dazed to question what he was doing. After undoing my seatbelt and helping me out of his truck, he held my hand all the way inside.I’m totally in an alternate universe.
Ryder looks up at me and winks. God, he really is too beautiful. It’s no wonder that I can’t keep my defenses in place around him. I lick my lips as I watch him put the burgers together. I told him already what to put on mine. I offered to help but he told me to keep my feet up and brought me a sweet tea. So, I did what he told me to do. Mostly, I am tired of fighting his pull. So, I’m just going with the flow.
“Do you need a refill?” he asks, as he comes over juggling two plates and his beer.
“I’m good.”
“On that we can agree.”
I roll my eyes, earning me a sweet look as he sets my plate down on the bar in front of me. He slips into the seat beside me, turning so that his knee presses against my thigh. I try to ignore the shiver that runs through me.I mostly fail.
“What?” I ask when he stares.
“I’m waiting to see how you like my burger.” I stifle my laughter because he looks like a little kid waiting for praise. I grab it in my hand, silently vowing to tell him I love it even if it tastes like burnt charcoal. “I really do better on a grill. When you come to Dallas, I’ll grill you a steak that rivals anything Robo’s serves.”
He’s talking as I take a bite and it tastes great, but with his words the food goes down the wrong way and I get strangled. I cough as I put the burger down.
“Shit!” he hisses. “Are you okay?” his arm goes around me, his hand spreading out against my back. He massages me, bending toward me, and looking concerned.
“I’m fine,” I wheeze.
“Did I put too much seasoning on it?” he asks, obviously worried.
“No, it was good. I could taste onion…”
“French onion soup mix. Makes the burger juicer,” he mumbles. “Maybe I mixed it too strong…”
“No, I liked the burger. I got strangled because you were talking about me coming to see you.”
“Huh?”
“You shocked me.”
