Lib Novel Page 62
“You didn’t ruin anything,” she says. “I want to know you. All of you. Even the hard parts. We have so little time…”
“Don’t,” I say, capturing her hand and pulling her to me. “Let’s not talk as if there’s a time limit. Let’s just be.”
“Then let me take care of you.” She rests her hands on my chest, her eyes filled with compassion, along with a hint of heat. I glance at the dinner I’d started, at the gnocchi that just needs to boil and the sauce that’s simmering on the stove. Her stomach rumbles as if to answer, and I shake my head at her.
“No, let’s eat first,” I say.
The conversation never ends over dinner. I’m beginning to think we’ll never run out of things to say. She tells me all the adventures of living in an old house, from the old pipes to the weird storage cupboards she keeps finding all over the house.
“It’s like they’re reproducing,” she says after telling me about the one she found in the stairs.
“In the literal stairs?”
“Yeah, right there. I lifted one of them by chance, and there’s another cupboard. So far, they only hold junk or old papers. But I’m hoping one day I’ll find something juicy in one of them.”
I tell her what it’s like to run a ranch, which most of the time is incredible. But also about the tension of working under my father’s watchful eye and never feeling like I’m getting it right.
“They don’t know you might be leaving, do they?” she asks.
I’d mentioned it earlier, and she hadn’t been surprised. There’s only one person who would have told her that, and we promised not to speak about her this weekend. So I shake my head, clicking my tongue. But inside, I’m dying a bit more, because I don’t want to leave the ranch or my family.
And now I don’t want to leave her.
After dinner, she helps me clear the table and put the food away. I wash the dishes and she dries them, and I swear it feels like we’ve done this before. For a moment, I picture us years down the road, doing this exact same thing, but with a couple of kids running through the kitchen, and her belly swollen with another.
It will never be, but God she’d be so beautiful carrying my baby.
While I finish putting the dishes away, she disappears into the other room, instructing me not to leave the kitchen. I do as I’m told, though the sounds of clanging and moving furniture make me wonder what she has up her sleeve. Finally she comes back into the kitchen, and I swear to fuck, I’m about to nut myself just from her outfit alone. She’s wearing nothing but panties and a tank top, and fuck me, it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
“Get your ass over here,” I growl, grabbing her and pulling her close while she squeals.
“Brayden, no,” she laughs, pushing against me. “You’re ruining it.”
“Ruining what? Your hair? Your makeup? Because Sugar, I’m about to ruin a whole lot more than that.”
She bites her lip, but still presses her hand to my chest until I finally let her go.
“Come on,” she says, taking my hand and leading me to the living room. Once we get there, I see a fire burning bright in the fireplace. I laugh, thinking of home where my sister is probably also in front of the fire. But on this cool Texas evening, the fire breathes a warm, welcome air to the room.
“You built a fire?”
“You’re surprised?” She grins. “When you live in a drafty house like mine, you better know how to build a fire or your heating bill will suck you dry.” She points to my clothes, moving her finger up and down, “All right, Winters. Strip.”
I raise an eyebrow, then start to sway my hips as I unbutton my shirt. She laughs, then pushes at me before working my buttons for me. “I’m not fucking you,” she says, taking my shirt off. Her eyes linger on my chest, and she licks her lips. “Well, not yet,” she murmurs. Then her cheeks turn rosy, and she ducks her head. “I meant what I said earlier. I want to take care of you. All you need to do is get undressed, get your ass on the floor, and let me straddle you.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” I say, grabbing for her again. She laughs, scooting out of reach.
“I’m massaging you, pervy.”
I’m not going to lie, I’m a little disappointed. I want nothing more than to bury my face between her legs and breathe her in.
“You’re going to have your hands all over my body and I can’t even touch you? That hardly seems fair.”
She unbuckles my belt and whips it out of the loops in one swift movement. “Tough shit,” she says as she unbuttons my pants. They drop to my ankles, and I step out of them. I’m no longer helping her undress me, enjoying this moment way too much.
Soon I’m completely naked. She lays a blanket on the floor and instructs me to lie face down.
I’ve never had a massage in my life. That seems weird, but I just haven’t. I’ve given them to Jordy, and to other girlfriends I’ve had; but being on the receiving end always felt self-indulgent. But once Nina’s hands start kneading my muscles, I can’t stop the groan that comes from somewhere deep in my chest.