Del watched as Lily released him and gazed up at him. “I missed you, too, Clay.”
She glanced at Del, hesitating for a heartbeat, and then gave Clay a soft kiss. The beautiful blush and smile on her face spoke to his heart when his brother released her. She looked happy. Aroused. He liked the combination, and when his brother caught his eyes as he sat down, Del nodded in approval. That seemed to satisfy Clay’s unasked questions.
The mood around the table was comfortable as they ate breakfast. It seemed to Del that the decisive moment had arrived. They were moving forward with this.
“I’m going to make chicken and dumplings for supper if you’d like to come out tonight, Clay,” Lily said, smiling when Del pointedly handed her the bowl of eggs. She dutifully took a bit more since what she’d had on her plate the first go-round wouldn’t have satisfied a hummingbird.
Clay shook his head regretfully. “I have to run into San Antonio tonight after work. I’m picking up the statue for Chance and Clayton Carlisle.”
“You are?” she asked, curiosity bringing the twinkle back to her eyes. “When are you going to break away the ceramic mold?”
“Anytime now.”
“I wish I could come, too.”
Clay glanced at Del and replied, “Nah. It’s a long drive. I’d rather you enjoyed your time with Del. I probably won’t get home until really late and you know I’ll wait until you’re with me to break the mold.”
After she was finished, Lily rinsed her plate and excused herself to collect her things and get ready to leave.
When she could be heard rummaging around in the bedroom, Clay asked, “Everything go okay last night?”
Del nodded and replied, “Yeah. She made like the Tasmanian Devil and got more accomplished in here than I have in weeks. She even cooked last night.”
Clay rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you worked all night.”
Del nodded, fighting the feeling of sheepishness that came over him. “Habit, I guess. She came out and spent some time with me while I ate.”
“You ate outside, where you were working?” Clay looked at him as though he were a dumbass. He felt like one, too.
“Yeah, but I did kiss her. She reacted well and seemed comfortable with me.”
“Well, she looked happy when I came in. You must not be fucking up too bad.”
“By the time I came in last night she was asleep in bed. Don’t worry, that won’t happen again.” He planned to spend the evening with her tonight because he didn’t ever want her to think he was ignoring her.
Lily hurried back into the kitchen with her coat on and her purse slung on her shoulder. Del reached out to straighten her collar and knew he’d miss her a lot during the day. “I’ll come and get you this afternoon, Lily Bell.”
She nodded and gasped when he gently pulled her to him and kissed her. Her surprise quickly changed to compliance as she returned his kiss and parted her sweet lips for him. He squeezed her and pressed her soft curves against his upper body. Her scent filled his nostrils, and he stroked her tongue with his, tasting her minty toothpaste and her own natural, clean flavor. Reluctantly, he released her and smiled at the desire shining in her eyes. After a moment, she glanced at Clay and then back at him, seeming at a loss for words.
Looking satisfied, Clay held out his hand. “Looks like progress to me.”
Del stroked her lower lip with his thumb and kissed her once again, just a light peck, and then released her. He wondered if the blush in her cheeks spread to other parts of her body when she was aroused as she reached out and put her hand in Clay’s and smiled up at him. “Don’t work too hard.”
He watched as Clay held the umbrella for her and helped her into his gray F-150. He willed the tingling in his cock down and turned to the kitchen. After all the hard work she’d done the night before, the least he could do was clean up the breakfast mess before getting started.
When he was done, he looked out the window at the rain pouring down. He looked around the kitchen then walked through the house with a critical eye. She’d obviously worked hard, eradicating the dust and grime that had accumulated over the last eight years, but he knew that a day spent making this house more livable was long overdue.
Rain or no rain, he went out to the barn to tend to Sargent and then backed his beat-to-hell ranch truck up to the back door and emptied the second bedroom of all the junk accumulated in it and then went room to room, clearing the tattered curtains and furniture well past their usefulness from the house. There was no point in having a house if it was too cluttered to live in.
All this time his focus had been the ranch, but if Lily was going to live here he wanted things to be nice for her. So he spent the day cleaning out, fixing up, and then made a trip into Divine to shop for things he thought she might like. By the time five o’clock rolled around, he’d done a pretty decent job and regretted not having done it earlier. It was the least she deserved.