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“I wasn’t mad.” I felt like a broken record. “I’m sorry I was bein’ pissy.”
“I should’ve helped you unload the cart.”
“No.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Sugar, I told you to get in the car because I didn’twantyou to get soakin’ wet. I wasn’t real stoked to get wet either, obviously, since I pitched a bitch fit about it, but I would’ve been even more pissed if you had to ride home that way, too.”
“But you wouldn’t have been out in it so long if I’d helped you.”
“Still woulda been soaked.” I shrugged. “I’m glad you’re not.”
“If I’m doing something that bothers you, you have to tell me,” she said quietly, not meeting my eyes.
Leaning down, I got close enough so that she couldn’t look anywhere else. “Baby, I’ll tell you if you’re botherin’ me, alright?I was in a shit mood ’cause I don’t like gettin’ soaked from the rain. Wasn’t your fault and didn’t have a damn thing to do with you.”
“Okay.” She didn’t seem convinced.
“Kiss me.”
“What?”
I didn’t bother repeating myself. If she wasn’t convinced that she hadn’t done anything wrong, then I’d just have to do some convincing. My hands were warm from the heater, but she jolted in surprise when my cold lips made contact. I was tired and grumpy and I wanted to take a long, hot shower so fucking bad, but I forgot all of that the minute her tongue slid into my mouth. There wasn’t anything on the planet that could’ve pulled me away from her then.
I could barely see her in the dim light of the garage, but I found the zipper to her jacket easily. Hell, I found every piece of her clothing easily, but I didn’t take off anything but her panties before lifting her onto the trunk. It was cold as fuck in the garage and I didn’t want her to get cold, but as her hands burrowed under the front of my hoodie and I pinched her nipple through the fabric of her dress, I knew there was no way we’d make it into the house.
My jeans stuck to my thighs and scraped at my skin as I shoved them down, but it was fucking worth it when her legs wrapped around my back and I slid inside. Heaven, but the angle wasn’t right. I noticed pretty quickly that she was struggling to keep her balance. Pausing for only a moment, I pulled her hood up and carefully laid her back along the trunk. I hated losing her mouth, but it was worth the distance when her legs bent further and she braced her heels on the edge.
“Holy crap,” she muttered, her hands scrambling along the slick surface.
Thankfully, she came just a few minutes later, her hands fisted in the front of her coat, because I was right behind her.
“What is it about this car?” she asked dazedly as I helped her climb down.
“Muscle cars,” I joked. “Enhancing libidos for the last eighty years.”
“Have you seen my underwear?”
“Leave ’em,” I ordered, zipping her coat back up. I couldn’t resist kissing her again. Fuck, what was it about her that made me so crazy? I pulled away before we ended up on the floor of the garage. “Let’s get the groceries inside. I’m ready for a shower and a beer.”
We made quick work carrying everything in even though she looked at me sideways when I insisted on leaving her inside to grab the bags from me at the door. By the time I carried in the last few bags, the groceries were mostly unloaded onto the kitchen table. I was pretty sure there hadn’t been that much food in my house since I’d started living there.
“You go take a shower,” Esther said, smiling as she brushed little flyaway hairs out of her face. “I’ll put this stuff away.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I argued, moving toward her. “I’ll help.”
“You unpacked the cart and the car.” She put both hands against my belly like she could physically stop me from getting any closer to the table. “I’ll do this part.”
I let her have her way, leaving her talking to herself as she decided where everything would go as I climbed the stairs. I couldn’t deny that I fucking loved having her there, not only because she seemed to want as much access to my body as I had to hers but also because it was just nice having someone at home when I got there. But a small part of me let out a huge breath of relief once I was alone in the bathroom with no one speaking to me.
Days at the garage were so fucking loud. Between the boys yelling to each other, laughing and joking and getting shit done, the tools that were so noisy you couldn’t hear yourself think, the phone ringing in the office, people dropping shit and engines running and just general chaos—by the time I got home Ineededthe quiet. I’d always had it before and hadn’t even realized it until I didn’t have it anymore.
Of course, that realization made me feel like shit, so I rushed through my shower. Esther didn’t need the quiet because she’d been at the house all day with no one to talk to and nothing to do except clean a mess that wasn’t even hers.
The guilt was compounded when I got back downstairs and the kitchen was empty except for the ingredients for dinner on the counter beside her.
“Hey.” She turned her head to meet my eyes. “Feel better?”
“Much.” I moved in behind her and looked over her shoulder.
“I thought we could make pizzas tonight since they’re so simple and fast.”
