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He guided me forward, the line having moved while I was in my daze. “You good? I said your name six times and nothing. You were totally spaced.”
“Oh, uh... sorry.”
He lifted his hand, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. It was a move he’d done countless times, only as his fingers dragged across the thin skin of my jaw and neck, a million tiny electric spark came to life, making the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end.
“Nothing to apologize for. But you’ve been off the past two days.” He arched a single brow, taking that rugged masculinity he exuded from every pore up a thousand notches. “Is there something going on you aren’t telling me?”
Oh, you mean aside from the fact I can’t stop wondering what your penis looks like and if you use it as well as I’ve been imagining?
I shook that thought right out of my head. “Nope,” I lied, the one word coming out a little too forcefully. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I haven’t been sleeping well the past couple nights. That’s all.”
It wasn’t acompletelie. I had been sleeping like shit, because I couldn’t stop picturing Gage naked. Every time I closed my eyes, I’d see him hovering over me, large and hard and... ready. But I left that little—or not so little—detail out.
He placed his palm against the small of my back, a simple gesture meant to gently guide me forward toward the register, but that touch was enough to make my nipples stand up and salute. Most days I cursed the evil bastard—whohad tobe a man—that created the padded bra, but in that moment I was grateful. The torture device was preventing me from having a full-blown headlight situation in the middle of a packed coffee shop.
Jeez, this was seriously getting out of hand.
We made it to the register and placed our orders before moving out of the way of the other patrons as we waited. I fidgeted the whole time, shifting from foot to foot and squeezing my thighs together against the pulsing heartbeat I’d been feeling constantly for the past two days.
I could feel Gage’s curious gaze on me as I tried my best to play it cool, but I knew without having to be told I was failing miserably. Fortunately, our coffees came, giving my hands something to do. I held the warm paper to-go cup between my palms, letting the heat soak in. We made our way out of Hot Java and onto the sidewalk of downtown Redemption. The sun was bright, the sky a perfect blue dotted with white cotton candy puffs of clouds.
Gage leaned in close, his scent, that warm leather and spice, invaded my senses as we walked at a slow, leisurely pace. “All right, there’s definitely something going on with you. Start talking.”
I let out a weary sigh, taking in the window displays of the shops and restaurants that lined the streets. Autumn had touched down in the foothills of Tennessee, and people were excited to kick the season off. Pumpkins, hay bales, and scarecrows were out in force, decorating the streets. Windows were painted with trees, the leaves in vibrant fall colors. It was my favorite time of year, and usually I’d enjoy taking in everyone’s creativity, but my mind was currently occupied with... other things.
“What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without... you know?” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Sex.”
He choked on the coffee he’d just sipped. I lifted my hand to pat his back as he hacked up a lung in the middle of the sidewalk. Once he was finally able to breathe, he cut his gaze to me. “Jesus, Bits. Warn a guy next time.”
“Hey, you asked, Viking,” I snapped back with a defensive frown. “In fact, you kept pushing.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, his palm scraping over the stubble on his jaw from not shaving that morning and causing a raspy sound that hit me right in the belly.
He let out a mumbled curse, his chest rising on a deep inhale. “All right. Okay. We can talk about this.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I would hope so, given that we’re both adults here.” He cleared his throat and continued walking. I jogged to catch up, his tree-trunk legs so much longer than mine. “So?” I asked once I fell in step beside him. “Are you going to answer my question?”
“About the longest I’ve gone without sex?”
I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and bit down on it as I looked up at him and nodded. “Christ, Wynn. I don’t know. Maybe... six months?”
My eyes bulged out and I choked on my own spit. “Six months?” I croaked, suddenly regretting that I’d asked.
“Yeah. Something like that.” He glanced down at me as we continued our stroll. “Why? How long has it been for you?”
I gulped back my coffee, ignoring the fact it was still too hot to drink so quickly and faced forward as I picked up the pace, looking anywhere but at him. “Um. You know what? I don’t think I want to play this game anymore.”
With a deep, rumbling chuckle, he grabbed my forearm and pulled me to a stop, forcing me to turn around and face him. “Uh-uh. That’s not how this works. I fessed up, now it’s your turn. There’s obviously a reason you asked, so just get to it already.”
“Fine,” I huffed, throwing up the arm that wasn’t holding my coffee. “I did the math and it looks like, well, that’s it’s been... over a year.”
His heels dug in deep, bringing us both to an abrupt stop. “Ayear?” he boomed, that baritone of his catching the attention of the young mom across the street pushing her baby in a stroller.
“Jeez, will you keep it down?” I hissed, digging my fingers into his forearm and giving it a yank to get him moving again. “I’m not going to tell you stuff anymore if you’re going to announce it to the world.”
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I just can’t believe—” He stopped and gave his head a shake. “A year? Really?”
Well,overa year. But I wasn’t going to point out that distinction a second time.
