Bohemian Girl (Southern Girl Series Book 1)

by Georgia Cates

  A huge smile spreads on her face before she comes to me. She rises on her tiptoes and presses a soft kiss to my lips. “That is so sweet. Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome. Mind if I hang out back here while you get ready?”

  “I’d love that.” She presses her lips to mine again before stepping away and unpacking. “Can I hang my stuff in the closet so it doesn’t wrinkle?”

  “Show me what you want in the closet, and I’ll take care of hanging it while you get ready.”

  “Thanks, babe.”

  Babe. I can’t believe that I’m someone’s babe.

  “How was your drive?”

  “Long. I hit a huge stretch of road construction and traffic was backed up for miles.”

  I hit that same stretch last time I drove to Savannah. I’m afraid it’s going to be like that for a while.

  “I thought you were running late.”

  Lawrence stops brushing and spits. “Yeah, it was horrible. Probably cost me an hour of time. We’ll need to look for an alternate route.”

  I rack and hang her clothes and then sit on the bed where I have a view of her getting ready at my bathroom vanity. I watch her with avid curiosity. Applying makeup. Fixing her hair. Slipping out of one outfit and into another with the discarded one folded into a neat square on the counter.

  “Why are you watching every move I make?”

  “I’ve never watched a woman get ready.”

  “How’s that possible? You were married.”

  “We didn’t share a bedroom or bathroom.”

  Lawrence stops glossing her lips and looks at me. “Never?”

  “No. Bridgette took the master and I took the guest.”

  “That’s so weird. Did anyone know that you lived like that?”

  “Wasn’t anyone’s business what we did or didn’t do.”

  “I suppose not.” Lawrence finishes the last coat of gloss on her lips. “Do I look all right?”

  Crazy print dress. Boots. Headband. Healing stones jewelry. The look is very fitting for a bohemian girl. “You look beautiful.”

  I lift the necklace from her neck. “What is this stone?”

  “Lapis.”

  “What is the healing property?”

  “It’s said to balance the heart and mind, especially when they’re running overtime.”

  “Your heart and mind are running overtime?”

  “Very much so.”

  “Mine, too.”

  She offers her hand, and in it, a bright blue stone. “I was hoping you might be feeling the same. That’s why I brought this for you.”

  I take the stone and study it. Looks like nothing more than a small blue egg to me. “What do I do with it?”

  “Put it in your pocket.”

  I don’t know if I believe a rock in my pocket will help sort the feelings I have, but I slip it into my pocket because it’s what Lawrence wants. “You’re being strategic, having me place that so close to the part of my brain working overtime when you’re around.”

  Lawrence shakes her head as she slips her messenger bag over her shoulder. “You’re so bad.”

  “Just being honest, babe. I’d prefer to ditch my family, toss you in the middle of the bed, and stay there for the next three days.”

  “After our visit, we’ll see what we can do about staying in bed for the next three days.”

  Mom hasn’t stopped smiling since we got here. Maybe even Dad, too. I think they’re as mesmerized by Lawrence as I am.

  “You’ve been a business partner with Lawrence’s brother for four years. How in the world have you two missed running into each other until a few months ago?”

  “I’m probably to blame for that. I haven’t come to visit Ollie much since I opened my shop.”

  Lawrence is a dedicated businesswoman. I respect that because I understand the dedication that it takes to run a successful business.

  My dad reaches out and cups his hand over my mom’s. “Things happen all in good time. You know that, mon cher.”

  “Indeed, I do.”

  My parents were high school sweethearts and Mom got pregnant her senior year. Neither of them felt prepared to marry or raise a baby so they chose adoption. They stayed together after giving up my brother and married three years later. It’s been thirty-five years and they’re still trying to find him.

  My dad is right. Things happen all in good time. “If Lawrence and I had met when my partnership with Oliver was in the early stages, I would have been in the middle of my divorce from Bridge. I’m glad that we didn’t meet until now.”

  “Luc,” my mom whispers.

  “What?”

  “Perhaps it would be thoughtful to not bring up your previous marriage in front of the woman that you’re currently dating?”

  “Lawrence knows everything about Bridgette and me from start to finish. There’s no need to pretend it didn’t happen.”

  Lawrence reaches for my hand beneath the table. “It’s okay with me. I understand that Bridgette was and still is a large part of Lucas’s life. She and I have met, and I like her very much.”

  My mom smiles. “Most women wouldn’t be so understanding of their relationship.”

  “True, it’s not a typical situation.”

  “My son is an exceptional man for the way he handled himself through that entire situation, from the moment he found out Bridgette was pregnant.”

  That’s so far from what really happened. No one knows the real truth. “Mom—”

  “It’s true, Luc. A lot of grown men don’t stand by the mothers of their children the way you did.”

  I can’t stand hearing my mom’s praises for the wonderful way she believes I handled the situation with Bridgette. “Okay, I’m sure Lawrence has heard plenty about all of that.”

  Lawrence pushes away from the table. “May I use your restroom?”

  Mom points in the direction. “Down the hallway, first door on the right.”

  “Luc, she’s lovely. I can see why you adore her.”

  I may be twenty-nine years old but I’m happy to hear my mother’s approval. “She’s fantastic.”

  “That hippie is one hot piece of ass,” Briac says.

  “Bri—” There’s a warning in Mom’s voice.

  I grin at my brother. “You don’t know the half of it.”

  “I think she could be exactly what you need, Luc.”

  “For what?”

  “A wife. A mother for your children.”

  I can’t argue with my mom. Lawrence would make a wonderful wife and mother. And if I ever wanted to marry and have children, she would be the one. But I don’t want to marry. I don’t want to have more children. And I’m terrified it’s going to cost me our relationship in the end.

  Losing Lawrence would crush me. I wouldn’t know how to let her go. She’s a part of me now. And how do you relinquish a piece of yourself?

  I almost didn’t survive the last time I lost a part of myself. It changed me forever.

  I can’t go through that again.

  I stop before we reach the bed so I can kiss her—just a simple, sweet, romantic token of my affection. “Keeping my hands off you has been very difficult tonight.”

  “I know. I enjoyed being with your family but I’ve been dying to get back here.”

  “They adored you, just as I knew they would.”

  “I like your parents a lot. And Briac too.”

  “Good.” I move to her neck and hit that spot just below her ear, the one that always sends chills down her spine.

  I palm and squeeze her breasts gently while kissing her neck and slowly move my lips down to her shoulder. My mouth migrates to the space between her breasts, and I can’t resist pushing them together and rubbing my face in them.

  I move lower and drop to my knees in front of her. Worshipping her body with my mouth.

  Fingers in my hair. Panting breath. She likes what I’m doing.

  My tongue swipes once, then a second time over her bell
y button. “Everything from my nipples down to the tips of my toes is tingling.”

  “Tingling isn’t the only thing I’m going to make you do.”

  After her panties are gone, I stroke her clit in a come-hither motion. She quickly gets wet for me so I wrap my hand around her hipbone and kiss her stomach before my mouth moves in a more southern direction.

  This is never the best position for what I’m about to do. I already know I’m not going to accomplish my goal this way, but I can’t resist starting out with licking her to jumpstart things.

  “Lucasss.”

  I swipe my tongue up her slit while she squirms in an attempt to part her legs.

  “Want more?”

  “Yes. A lot more.”

  “Good, ’cause I plan on giving you as much as you want for as long as you want it.”

  I won’t quit when I’m tired. I’ll quit when we’re done.

  I guide her to sit on the edge of the bed and lift each leg so I can hook them over my shoulders. I bury my nose in her crotch and inhale deeply. “I can never get enough of this.”

  “And I can never get enough of seeing your mouth on me.”

  Lawrence’s words are always so tame. Sometimes I want to tell her to stop being so fucking polite and just say what she’s thinking.

  I think I will.

  “Tell me you love it when I lick your pussy.”

  She drags her nails through my hair and wriggles. “Lucas—”

  “Or maybe your hot cunt.”

  “Lucas—”

  “Come on, baby. You can do it.” I lean forward and lick her up the center. “Tell me.”

  She hesitates a moment and wears a timid smile. “I love it when you… lick my pussy.”

  Motherfucker, that is hot. “Now, tell me you want me to eat your cunt.”

  “Lucas!”

  “You’ve got this, baby. You can do it.”

  She drags her nails across my scalp a couple of times. Stalling. Come on, Lawrence. Say it.

  She draws a deep breath. “I want you to… eat my cunt.”

  Her sexy-as-fuck words are followed by a breathless moan instead of the timid giggle I was expecting.

  “My sweet, Lawrence, I’m turning you into a naughty-talking sex freak who likes to watch my head bob between your legs.”

  “Yes, you dirty bastard. You’ve ruined me. I’ll never want to be with another man because I’ll know he can’t make me feel the way you do.”

  If I’m being honest, that’s the way I want it.

  The thought of another man putting his mouth on any part of Lawrence drives me insane.

  “I’m the only man who touches you. The only one who tastes you.” I rub my thumb down her slit. “The only one who licks this pussy.”

  She nods and whispers, “Yes.”

  I flatten my tongue and drag it upward several times before pushing her legs back and apart. I love when she squirms beneath me. The way she tilts and lifts her hips, cueing me to what she wants, is hot.

  She grasps the top of my hair and tugs to bring me closer. “Right there. Just like that. Don’t stop.”

  A moment later, the grip on my hair tightens and her entire body tenses. “Ohh… ohh.”

  I begin at her ankles and kiss my way up her inner legs. “That didn’t take long.”

  “It’s been almost two weeks. I was ready for that.”

  I can’t suppress the grin spreading on my face. “This next part isn’t going to happen so fast. I plan on taking my time with you. Who knows? This could take all night.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes.” I stop to kiss the top of her pubic bone. “Always smooth.”

  “The one place I don’t go all natural.”

  I rub my hand over her hairless skin. “I love it like this.”

  “And I love the feel of your facial scruff against me down there. Best sensation ever.”

  I love the way she says down there as though she’s innocent and wholesome.

  I move my face from side to side so the stiff hair tickles her. “Like that?”

  “Yesss.”

  I continue up her stomach until I reach her breasts and rub my chin hair over her nipple. “Like it other places too?”

  She sucks air in through her teeth. “Ohh, that is so sensitive.”

  I move upward until my mouth is on the side of her neck and push her hands over her head. Our fingers are entangled. I love holding her like this.

  We’re face-to-face and she doesn’t take her eyes from mine—doesn’t even blink—when I enter her. But I see the look, the one that tells me how good it feels to have me inside her. Parted lips opening to a full O. Hooded lids. I can never mistake that look of pleasure for any other.

  Bringing her legs up around me, I’m moving deeper inside her. Close is never close enough. I always want her nearer.

  Propping my weight on my elbows, I cradle her head inside my lower arms while I stare into her eyes. This feels different. So different. Until this moment, I never realized how fucking incredible it is to be inside the woman you love. “I love you.”

  Our hands are still fisted above her head as I continue slowly moving inside her. Now it’s her squeezing my hands tighter. “I love you, too.”

  I close my eyes and press my forehead to hers. “Sometimes it feels like I’ll die before I get to see you again.”

  “I know. It’s the same for me. I hate being apart.”

  I pump slowly and deliberately. I covet every second that Lawrence’s body squeezes my cock, as each thrust brings me closer to climax.

  I press a kiss to her lips. “I love being inside you.”

  She clutches her arms and legs around me, locks her ankles behind my back, and holds so tightly I couldn’t free myself if I tried. “Come inside me.”

  Come inside me. Those words. They’re my fucking undoing. My body obeys, releasing every drop that I have reserved especially for her.

  When I’m spent, Lawrence releases her legs. She lets them fall apart and I nestle between them while still inside her. I love when we lie like this, both of us wet with my cum and our bodies joined as one.

  I want to enjoy this moment a little longer.

  And then we’ll talk.

  22

  Lawrence Thorn

  Lucas shifts so that his arms take the brunt of his weight instead of my body. “I want to be with you like this every day. Not just six days each month.”

  Six days a month. It sounds like even less time together when he puts it in that perspective.

  His hair falls forward and I push it back so I can clearly see his eyes. Those damn beautiful blue magnets. They suck me in every time I look into them. “That’s what I want too.”

  “This is stating the obvious but one of us has to relocate if we’re going to make that happen.”

  “And it won’t be you.” Another obvious fact although he’s not saying it.

  “I’m sorry, Lawrence. I can’t relocate. Everything that I have is tied up in this company. Oliver and Porter depend on me. I’m not in a position where I can walk away.”

  “I understand.” I do. I would never ask Lucas to give up what he has at Iron City. It’s too successful to abandon. And it would also affect my brother’s success.

  “I know I’m being a selfish bastard by asking but will you come here and be with me?”

  As much as I would love to say yes without any thought at all, I have many things to consider.

  “Law of Attraction isn’t a multimillion-dollar company like Iron City, but I have a lot tied up in it. I’ve worked hard to get where I am. Walking away from everything that I’ve accomplished wouldn’t be easy.”

  Can I do it? Walk away from my entire life in Savannah for a future with Lucas?

  “I’ve been thinking about your options with the shop. One: hire another employee, maybe two, depending on how the books look. Let Winter take over your role while you become a fixture in the background and oversee things from a distance.”
/>   I like Winter a lot but I can’t give her that kind of control. “Overseeing from a distance requires me to fully trust other people with my business. My money. I can’t do that.”

  “Okay. Option two: relocate the shop to Birmingham.”

  It might be difficult for a unique shop like mine to survive in Birmingham. “A large portion of my business comes from tourism. River Street is iconic for Savannah so it gets a lot of foot traffic. I don’t know that my business could stay afloat here.”

  “Option three: sell the shop. You can find work here, maybe at Iron City. Or not at all. I don’t care as long as you come and be with me.”

  “I can’t move to Birmingham and not work.”

  “You can if you let me take care of you.”

  Take care of me?

  No. I could never give up my financial independence. I always need to have a way out.

  “None of those options work for me.”

  “I’m all ears if you have something else in mind.”

  “I don’t right now.”

  “I want you to be happy but I want you to be happy with me.”

  “I want the same but moving to Birmingham means giving up my business. My home. All my friends and family except Ollie. I’ll be sacrificing everything in my life. I can’t walk away from everything without some kind of commitment from you.”

  Lucas pushes his body away from mine and moves to lie beside me. “What kind of commitment do you want?”

  “I need to be sure that we have a future together before I abandon everything. It would be disastrous to sell off and move here and then have this end in six months or a year.”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t want us to be long-term.”

  “Does long-term include asking me to marry you? Have children?”

  He rolls to his back and stares at the ceiling, saying nothing.

  Lucas knows that I want a husband and children. Is he really surprised that I’m bringing up these things?

  “I need you to be honest with me—and yourself—about our relationship and where you see it going.”