AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sounds good,” I say, a nervous pattering in my chest.
Owen and I are on a trip—together. A trip where he is referring to me as hisgirlfriend. My tongue has turned to sandpaper. How long until he decides I’m not worth this?
The New Forest Bedis something out of a storybook. Is that how this entire town is going to be? I’m starting to believe it is. Even the gray-haired clerk, Verna, looks as if she walked out of my favorite Hallmark movie.
She hands Levi two actual keys, old ones that look like they should be unlocking a castle, then walks us to our side-by-side rooms.
“I’ll let you look around,” Verna says, her round cheeks swelling with a grin. She returns down the hallway, but not before looking back to see us once more.
“Do you want to choose?” Levi says, holding the keys up for Meredith.
“Surprise me,” she says.
Levi hands one of his keys over to Meredith, then looks down at the number scribbled into his key. “This one is ours,” he says to Owen, pointing to the door at his right. He slips the key into the lock and turns.
Meredith doesn’t go to unlock our door—and I am just as curious as she is. I want to see Levi and Owen’s room too.
It does not disappoint. Did Verna know what she was doing? This room ispink.
Pinker than the first newborn girl in a generation of Bailey boys. Pink walls. Pink carpet. Pink bedding. Pink curtains. Even that homemade lace doily on the end table is pink.
Levi peers back at Meredith, who hugs our key to her chest. “Nope,” she tells him, though he’s made no request.
He gives her a playful glare, then raises both of his brows—brows that Meredith referred to as fantastic earlier today. “Fine, let’s see your room.”
Meredith unlocks the door, and I wait for the bombardment of color. But there isn’t one. Honestly, our room is pretty normal. Normal and sweet for this B&B. The walls are peach, but the bedding and curtains are a creamy white and a pale blue. Just like the guys’ room, there isn’t a television, and the space is pretty quaint. Likeone bed-quaint. Are Owen and Levi sharing a bed? While they may be brothers, and they’ve probably shared a bed multiple times throughout their lives, they are enormous—boulder shoulders and massive thighs… and this bed is possibly a double.
Levi crosses his arms and leans against the peach-colored wallpaper. “I am happy to keep the pink room.”
“Oh yeah?” Meredith says.
“You guys didn’t walk in far enough. Our bed is a king.”
I laugh and pat Owen’s chest. “I think you’ll need it.”
His arm snakes around me and he hugs me close. While my brain tells me it would be wise to resist, my body screams to stay put. I fit here, in Owen’s arms, like I have never fit anywhere before. No man has ever held me like he does. Not James. Not Ian before him. Certainly not Maddox.
I’m happy to stay in my fairytale, at least for the weekend.
We rest from our long drive for a bit, but soon Levi is ready to adventure. We aren’t driving, we’re walking from here on out. It’s a good thing I brought my heavy winter coat and some tennis shoes.
Owen slips his gloved hand into mine, and while I can’t feel the tingling warmth of his skin on mine, even the pressure of my hand snug in his sends sparks shooting up my arm and into my chest. Did that happen before? I can’t remember feeling so electric at Owen’s touch a month ago.
After an hour of window shopping, we stop at a small bakery, Honey Dayz. My mouth is watering just spying thebaked goods behind the counter. Meredith leaves Levi with her order and heads back to the restroom. And I am left with the Bailey boys all to myself.
“Do you want to share?” Owen asks me, reading my mind. You can’t be best friends with a man for fifteen years and not share certain qualities.
“Of course I do,” I say. “The almond turnover and—”
“The pumpkin banana bread,” he finishes.
I give him half a grin, my heart pounding. I’ve never found Owen finishing my sentences sexy before—but it is.
“Exactly,” I say, my eyes never leaving his.
He wraps one arm around my shoulders, and I tangle one about his waist. He kisses my temple, and I wish so very much that it were my lips. I long for it.
Is this how Owen felt for years?
