Love like Yours Series (Box Set #1-4)

by Nicole S. Goodin

  She giggled and peeked over her shoulder at my staff. “Go on, boss man,” she teased.

  I placed another chaste kiss to her lips and stepped away.

  “Alright, boys and girls, show’s over,” I called over my shoulder with a smirk. “Get back to work.”

  ***

  “That girl is an absolute hoot.” Angelo chuckled. He had come behind the bar to give me his approval of Lexie while she was in the bathroom.

  “A little kooky...” he added. “But I like her.”

  “She’s pretty great, right?” I smiled, just the mention of Lexie’s name enough to make me break out in a grin.

  He studied my face for a moment and then pulled me in for a hug. He patted me on the back before letting me go again.

  “What was that for?”

  “It’s just nice seeing you in a good place, man,” he replied genuinely.

  It’s nice being in a good place.

  I tried to wave away his comment like it was no big deal, but he just narrowed his eyes at me. “I’m serious, you know. That shit with your brother and Quinn... hell, I’m still disappointed in him for that, but seeing you happy might just get me over it.”

  “You should let it go,” I encouraged. “Harrison never wanted to hurt me, neither did Quinn... it’s just the way things work out sometimes... I’m over it, truly,” I told him.

  And I was – I was one hundred percent over the fact that Quinn and Harrison were together.

  “I can see that.” He clapped me on the shoulder as he turned to leave. “A blind man could see how good the two of you are together, man, so congratulations.”

  ***

  “You really like working with people, huh?” Lexie asked from where she sat on the bar, her legs dangling.

  We’d been closed for nearly an hour and I was nearly ready to get the hell out of here with my girl. That round on the dance floor earlier had me on edge to get her home and into bed so our night could really start.

  I grinned at her question and nodded. “Yeah, there’s something exciting about working in a club, everyone is so pumped, ya know? It just puts me in a good mood.”

  “I like it too.”

  “The club scene?” I asked her as I loaded the last of the empty glasses onto a tray.

  “Nah.” She shook her head. “I mean it’s okay, but mainly I just like watching you; you’re so excited, it’s really cute.” She scrunched up her nose in that way girls did when they looked at a cute little puppy or kitten – in this case, I was the puppy.

  I chuckled. “It’s a pain in the ass really, getting all jacked up like this...it always keeps me awake for ages after a shift.”

  “I can think of plenty of things we can do if you can’t sleep...” Lexie not-so-subtly hinted.

  Me too, baby, me too.

  “I like where your head’s at,” I replied, my tone gruff.

  We need to get out of here.

  I sat the tray of glasses down – some other sucker could take care of those – and stalked over to where Lexie was perched. I fitted my hips snugly in between her sexy legs and wrapped her in my arms.

  She giggled softly and rested her arms around my neck like she always did.

  “Thank you for coming here with me,” I murmured into her neck. It was strange being on level heights, I’d grown so accustomed to bending down to reach her.

  “Thank you for bringing me,” she replied softly against my ear. “I had fun.”

  I knew she wasn’t just saying that. Lexie wasn’t one of those high maintenance girls who needed tending to every few seconds, just to be kept happy. I could see that she was genuinely content just to be here with me, and I loved her for that.

  I was struck once again at just how right it felt, being with her.

  Life together would be amazing.

  Easy...

  Perfect...

  Now I just had to figure out a way to make it happen.

  ***

  “Mmmm, Colton...” Lexie moaned my name beneath me.

  I chuckled against the soft skin of her belly. “Yeah, baby?”

  “More,” she demanded – her breathing becoming more labored by the second. “Just... more,” she begged.

  I loved it when she pleaded with me. I loved it even more when she got all incoherent-sounding like she was right now.

  “More what?”

  “Colt...” she moaned as I kissed her now-pebbled skin. “Please,” she begged again.

  I’ve got you, girl.

  I pumped into her again with my fingers and she writhed beneath me.

  “Oh... god,” she mumbled.

  I was so hard. Watching her naked body... hearing her sweet sighs... just having her here with me and willing was almost too much to deal with.

  “Are you ready for me, baby?”

  “I was ready before you even touched me,” she moaned.

  She wasn’t joking; we’d barely made it into my office. We never stood a chance of making it all the way back to my place. I was as close to losing it as she was, some kind of carnal impulse was spurring me on right now and I needed to take her.

  Right now.

  I slipped my fingers out of her and she groaned at the loss of contact.

  “Shhh, baby,” I soothed her. “I’ll be back.”

  I found my jeans halfway across the room, thrown haphazardly on top of my filing cabinet. Our clothes had been disregarded in a hasty, lust-filled haze.

  I grabbed the condom from my wallet and ripped the foil packet open.

  Lexie watched my every move as I prowled back towards her, rolling the rubber down my hard length.

  She was draped across the couch in my office, one hundred percent naked.

  Absolute perfection.

  I was aching for her. I was a man who had always thoroughly enjoyed sex, but I’d never needed a woman the way I did Lexie. She brought out desires in me that I didn’t know I possessed.

  “Has everyone gone home?” Lexie whimpered as I grabbed her ankles and lifted them up towards my shoulders.

  “Nope,” I ground out as I lined up and pushed inside her in one fluid stroke.

  And I don’t give a fuck.

  “Mmmmm,” she moaned as I filled her.

  I pushed in to the hilt, dragged myself slowly back out and thrust into her again.

  “Fuck, babe.” My voice was so loud and gruff I barely recognized it as my own.

  “Sshhhh,” she replied, with a moan. “They’ll hear us.”

  I looked her dead in the eye as I thrust into her again. “Let them hear,” I taunted.

  Her eyes widened slowly, and I watched as she let go of her inhibitions and relaxed.

  I gave exactly zero fucks if my employees heard me in here with Lexie. She was mine, and if I wanted to bang her in my office, I would.

  “Let the whole damn world hear,” I ground out. “Let them all hear that you’re mine.”

  “Yes!” Lexie cried out.

  “Let me hear you, baby,” I demanded as I thrust into her over and over.

  “Yes!” she cried out again, now writhing beneath me. “Oh, Colt, yes!”

  I was so close to the edge, I was barely hanging on.

  “I’m gonna lose it, Lex.” The words fell from my mouth in the same moment that she cried out with her release.

  Just knowing she’d gone over the edge was all it took for me to follow her.

  I came hard, so hard I swear I saw stars.

  I let her legs slide down and relax as I slumped forward on top of her, breathing hard.

  I swept a stray strand of hair from her face and kissed the tip of her nose.

  “Let’s get out of here quick.” She grinned once she’d caught her breath. “I think the whole building would have heard that.”

  Completely worth it.

  ***

  “What do you want to do today?” I asked her gently as I brushed her messy, sleep-mused hair off her face.

  Our last full day together.

  We we
re still in bed, and truth be told, I would have been a happy man if we didn’t have to move an inch today, but I knew that was just me being selfish. Lexie needed to see her friends at some point, and I needed to let them know that I’d be taking her to the airport, alone.

  That wasn’t me being selfish, it was me being smart. I knew Lexie was going to lose it when the time came, and if Ellerslie, Quinn and I were all there, I was worried she wouldn’t go.

  The idea of her staying was perfect in theory, but I couldn’t do it to her. She’d worked so hard to get where she was in her job, and I couldn’t, I wouldn’t ask her to give that up.

  We would make this work somehow, but not at the expense of Lexie’s career.

  “Whatever you want to do...” she answered in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

  “Babe, you decide, it’s your las—”

  “Don’t say it,” she interrupted me, her voice breaking. “Please don’t say it.”

  I could literally feel my heart splitting in two. I was such a fool for thinking I’d truly been in love before now.

  Compared to this, I’d barely even known what love was. I knew that now.

  This was love. And here I was, too chicken-shit to say the words to the only woman I’d ever really felt it with. It was ironic really, I’d spurted those words off with no real knowledge of their true meaning, and now that I finally understood what they meant, the hypothetical cat had my tongue.

  “It’ll be okay, babe,” I promised her, kissing the side of her head that wasn’t pressed against my chest. “Let me treat you to a day you’ll never forget.”

  She turned so she was looking right into my eyes and a lump formed in my throat.

  She’s just so damn beautiful.

  “I will never forget a single moment I spend with you,” she told me, a fierce note to her voice that I wasn’t accustomed to hearing.

  I was certain I wouldn’t either. I just wished we didn’t have to give each other the chance to test the theory.

  “Then let’s go do something worth remembering.”

  23. Lexie

  I snapped another picture of the stunning lake with my camera and tucked the undeveloped Polaroid into my pocket.

  I wanted to make sure I would remember every single little thing about my time here with Colt.

  “Are you hungry, babe?” Colt called to me from the picnic blanket he’d set up on a semi-private spot of the public garden. We’d spent the morning wandering around the common and the gardens, hand-in-hand, just talking and enjoying each other’s company.

  It was such a pretty spot here and I couldn’t have picked a better way to spend my last day. This place felt like the living, breathing, heart of the city.

  I looked over at him and my pulse sped up instantly, seeing him reclined on that same blanket, was like a direct flashback to our first date.

  I smiled as I thought about it. I still couldn’t believe I’d nearly given up on this.

  On us.

  If it hadn’t been for Quinn, I may never have had the balls to go after what I wanted.

  Colt.

  He was what I wanted. He was the man I could imagine a future with, he was the man I could envision having a life with... having children with. He was who I wanted to wake up next to everyday.

  I felt tears welling in my eyes as the reality of our situation hit me yet again. I blinked them back as quickly as I could, not wanting Colt to see me upset over this anymore than he already had.

  I was his and he was mine – we’d make this work... somehow. Even if it meant living in separate cities for a year, we’d make it work.

  My stomach lurched at the thought of having him so far away, but I knew I would do what I had to do to keep him. Having Colt in my life, in any way, shape or form, was better than not having him at all.

  “Lex?” Colt called again, and I realized I’d been frozen to the spot, just staring at him.

  I blinked back my tears once more and smiled.

  Enjoy the here and now.

  Colt smiled back at me, his blond hair all mussed and sexy, and his golden eyes alight with joy.

  “Coming,” I called back.

  I glanced around behind me once more and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for where I was right now.

  Here with him.

  There was nowhere in the world I’d rather be.

  ***

  “What time are you coming over?” Quinn said by way of hello.

  “Coming over for what?” I asked her down the phone.

  I looked at Colt for a hint, but he just shrugged.

  “If you thought you were getting out of here without one last dinner, then you’re as nuts as that old geezer that used to come to that tap class we took.”

  I giggled at the memory. That old guy really was bat-shit crazy.

  I rolled my eyes and smiled. “When and where?”

  I heard Quinn clapping gleefully. “El and Law’s, any time after five.”

  “We’ll be there,” I promised.

  “Perfect.”

  “C’ya then, Q.”

  I was just about to hang up when I heard Quinn speak again.

  “Lex?” Her voice was wary.

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s... I just wanted to tell you that it’s good to see you so happy. You and Colton are really good for each other.”

  I suddenly felt teary-eyed again. It wasn’t exactly like Quinn to get too sentimental, especially on her own accord, so I valued her words.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  Quinn cleared her throat, and I had a feeling she might have been feeling a little teary too. “See you tonight, girl.”

  I hung up the phone and clutched it to my chest. I really missed Quinn and El. They were by no means my longest friendships, but they had quickly become some of my closest. The two of them moving out here had left a big hole in my life – a hole that had been filled this past week.

  I glanced at Colt, who was looking at me in question.

  “Oh shit, I’m so sorry, I just totally said you’d be there without even asking you first,” I admitted sheepishly.

  He chuckled. “Are you going to be there?”

  I nodded. “Of course.”

  “Then so am I,” he replied simply, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

  Oh god... sweet much?

  “But just so I know, where exactly are we going?”

  “Dinner at El’s.” I beamed. “I’m so excited to see Stella again.”

  “She’s a cute kid.”

  “The cutest,” I agreed as I swung our hands between us.

  He smiled down at me, the sun pooling around his face, and I felt the last part of my heart fall in love with Colton Hunt.

  “Time and good friends are two things that become more valuable the older you get.”

  - Author unknown

  24. Colt

  We strolled up the path to El and Lawson’s front door hand-in-hand. The door swung open, revealing Stella and the dogs waiting to greet us. The dogs actually looked more like they were willing to sacrifice their lives to protect Stella from any unwelcome intruders.

  It was pretty sweet really, Stella was trying to push past the big dogs and come outside, but they took turns nudging her back inside with their heads.

  “Frank, Zeph – relax,” Lawson’s voice commanded from inside the house, and the dogs instantly backed off.

  “Wawax,” Stella mimicked, patting each dog on their head.

  “Stella!” Lexie yelled out to her, her excitement obvious.

  “Wex, here!” Stella cried, running in her cute toddler way down to see us.

  Lexie held out her arms and Stella ran straight into her, hugging her tight.

  “Baby girl, those are some big bad guard dogs you’ve got there.” Lexie tickled Stella’s ribs as she carried her towards the door.

  Stella giggled and squirmed.

  “Hey, Stella.” I smiled at the angelic little blonde girl. “You mig
ht not remember me, I’m Colt.”

  “Cwolt,” she repeated back to me with a toothy grin.

  Oh yeah, Lexie was right, this little girl was the cutest.

  “Dadda!” she cried excitedly. “Wex and Cwolt here!”

  Lawson chuckled. “I can see that, princess.”

  “How’s it going, man?” I shook Lawson’s hand when we reached the door of their beautiful home.

  “Couldn’t be better,” he replied as he took Stella, who was stretching out for him, from Lexie.

  He kissed her cheek. The love he had for that little girl was obvious for the whole world to see. Stella might not have been his biological daughter, but he was one hundred percent her daddy.

  I want that.

  The realization of just how much I wanted that hit me like a punch in the nose. It wasn’t that I wanted it now, not right this minute – but one day soon, I wanted to feel that same kind of love for my child.

  “Stella, you wanna go tell your momma that they’re here?” Lawson asked her.

  Stella nodded enthusiastically.

  He set her down and she took off, presumably to find El.

  “She’s so beautiful, Lawson,” Lexie gushed.

  Lawson smiled after his daughter. “Yeah, she sure is,” he agreed. “God, it goes so damn quickly, it’s hard to believe she’s already walking and talking. I swear, you blink and you’ll miss it.” He sighed.

  I squeezed Lexie’s hand, feeling surprisingly moved by the emotion in Lawson’s voice.

  “Anyway, enough gushing over my little princess, come on in.”

  ***

  I looked around the full dining table and smiled.

  This is how it should be.

  This was one of those things that should have been a once a week gathering. I could picture Lexie and I hosting these dinners for everyone in our own home. I could picture us living in something small but cozy, with our own yard and space for a garden out the back... maybe somewhere on the outskirts of town.

  I knew I was getting ahead of myself, but right now I didn’t care. I was going to let myself have this moment of fantasizing about what life with Lexie could be like.

  What it should be like.

  Stella, grabbing a handful of mashed potato and shoving it into her mouth, pulled me from my thoughts.

  “Ugh, Stella!” El laughed. “Use a fork, honey.”