“I don’t need a wife. I have you.” He scooted closer and threw his arm over her shoulder. She rested her head on his chest again, snuggling in. He immediately felt at peace with the world. He had her in his arms. “That’s much better.”
“What if that changes, though?” She tilted her face up to his. Her mouth was inches from his. His heart rate increased, though he didn’t understand why. “Even worse, what if neither of us gets married? Like, ever?”
He snorted. “Why would that be bad?”
“We’d be alone.” She sighed. “That’s sad.”
“We wouldn’t be alone, we’d be together.” He laughed, gripping his beer bottle tighter. “Hell, if we’re still single at thirty, we might as well get married.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”
“I’m serious,” he said, sitting up straight. Reaching behind him, he grabbed the yellow twist tie off the bread they’d brought for sandwiches. He made quick work of turning it into a ring shape, holding it out to her with a silly grin. “Lauren Brixton, if you’re single when I’m thirty, will you marry me out of pity?”
She stared at him, all wide blue eyes and soft pink lips. After a long, pregnant pause, she extended her left hand. It trembled. “Yes. It would be an honor.”
Well, he’d turned thirty a little over three weeks ago…
And they were both single. Fuuuuccccckkkkkk.
She rolled over again, her lids drifting up. For a second, she smiled and stretched. When she reached over and felt skin…she froze, the smile slipping away. Slowly, she turned her head toward him. Her eyes were the same bright blue they’d been that day at the pond. Her nose was still small and pert, and she still had freckles across her cheeks. But she was older. Wiser. More beautiful.
And she looked as if she would rather be anywhere but here.
With him.
“Hey,” he said, giving her a small smile, when he really would rather pull her in his arms and kiss her again. “Morning, sleepyhead.”
“Morning,” she squeaked, pulling the covers up to her chin and hanging on to them with a death grip. “You’re up early.”
“Yeah. I woke up when a truck beeped outside, and I couldn’t fall back asleep. So, I just waited for you to wake up.” He paused. “Which you did. Now.”
She blinked at him.
He smiled back at her.
Swallowing hard, she cleared her throat. “So, uh…”
Cocking a brow, he asked, “Yes?”
“This is so weird,” she finally said in a rush, laughing and scooting into a sitting position. She dragged the sheet with her. “Which is stupid, right? I mean, it was sex. We’ve both done it before. Just not…with each other. You know?”
She was clearly nervous.
“I’m pretty sure I’d remember all the things I did to you last night,” he agreed. “So, yeah, I do.”
Her cheeks pinked. “I’d hope so.”
“Oh, I would,” he said, dipping his voice down low. “The things I did to you, cupcake, aren’t something I’ll forget.”
She stared at him, not blinking, mouth ajar.
He grinned.
Another nervous laugh escaped her. “Yeah…so now we go back to normal, right?”
“Right.” Reaching out, he tugged on a piece of her hair, still smiling. “It’s not like we’re dying to rip each other’s clothes off again, or like you’re gonna fall at my feet begging for more. I wasn’t that good.”
She swallowed hard, her cheeks going pink. He turned her own words back on her, and then laughed. “Uh…right. No offense.”
“None taken. That would be foolish,” he said, tugging harder. “Even if it would feel really, really good. The things you do with that tongue—damn, cupcake. That was like artwork. I’m not gonna lie, I wouldn’t mind feeling that again, despite it all.”
A small moan escaped her, but she killed it off quickly, her cheeks going even pinker. But he’d heard it. “Perhaps it’s best not to talk about that kind of stuff?”
“Oh.” He let go of her hair and stood, stretching his arms high above his head, smiling innocently. She watched him, her breaths quickening and her nostrils flaring, desire clear in her eyes. “Yeah, you’re probably right. And I probably shouldn’t mention how much you liked it when I licked your—”
“Steven.”
He laughed. “Right, right. Sorry.” He wasn’t. “So sorry.” Still wasn’t.
She scooted out of bed and tucked her hair behind her ears. “You have to work today, right? And I have to go into the bakery and—”