“You know what?” he said in a gravelly voice that raked down her core. “This isn’t fair. You go back to writing, baby. I’ll just sit here without touching you.”
Noooooooo!
She heard him moving around again and closed her eyes to catch her breath. She couldn’t do this. She didn’t want to resist him or let him think she was only interested in him for research. She turned around, and holy mother of hotness, he was sitting naked in the chair, his talented love machine there for the taking.
“Fuck it.” She grabbed the condom. “I want you, Beau. You, not research, not writing. Just you.” She tried to rip the package open with her teeth like the heroes did in her books, but the more she tugged, the wetter and slipperier it became. “Ugh!”
Chuckling, he slid his hand beneath her hair and rose, taking her in a toe-curling kiss.
“I want you, too, beautiful.” He took the package from her hand, tore it with one quick rip of his teeth, and sheathed himself faster than she thought possible. “I want to do so many things with you right now—bend you over the desk, have you straddle me on the chair, and come down over you on your couch.”
“Yes, yes, and yes, please, but in reverse order,” flew from her lips. “Couch first. You need to see my eyes, because it’s you I want, Beau. Only you.”
Torrents of emotions stormed in his eyes. “You utterly and completely destroy everything I thought I knew about myself.”
Worry rose in her chest as he swept her into his arms and carried her to the couch. She kicked off her heels, and when he laid her down, she reached for him, full of want and worry.
“I don’t want to be bad for you,” she said. “I don’t want to destroy anything about you.”
He cradled her against him, and the storm in his eyes burned away, leaving emotions so intense, so consuming, her world spun on its axis.
“Don’t worry, baby,” he said as their bodies came together. “Everything I thought I knew wasn’t anything compared to what I’m discovering with you.”
He lowered his lips to hers, kissing her deeply as he began a slow grind. She became aware of everything—the mintiness of his breath and the eager exploration of his tongue, the strength of his arms and press of his thighs. Together they found their groove, their bodies bound by their greediness, thrusting and gyrating, until the rest of the world faded away, and there was only the two of them and the pure, explosive pleasures between them.
Her man of his word fulfilled each and every naughty promise, making love to her on her chair, her desk, and even against the wall. Each time she came was more explosive than the last, until she felt boneless.
When they finally fell into bed, Beau gathered her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. Lulled by the even cadence of his breathing, she was too sated to move, hovering peacefully in that gray space between wakefulness and sleep.
“Charlotte,” he whispered.
She was too worn out to even make a sound. He was quiet for so long, she felt herself dozing off. Just as the world went dark, he whispered, “I’m falling hard for you, baby.”
Happiness flowed through her as she fell asleep with her head tucked against his chest and her heart in his hands.
Chapter Fourteen
CHARLOTTE WORKED TIRELESSLY from nearly sunup until late at night to finish her chapters over the next week, while Beau prepared for Charlotte’s surprise and went through emotions like they grew on trees. He stood in the doorway to her office Saturday afternoon thinking about how much he’d miss her when he left. It was hard to believe he’d been there only three weeks. In that time Charlotte had seamlessly and effortlessly become his other half. They’d moved his things into her room and adjusted their schedules to accommodate her long hours of writing, waking up earlier so they didn’t have to give up their steamy mornings or their walks. When they fell into bed at night, they laughed as much as they loved, which was new for both of them. Beau felt so much for her, he had trouble keeping it inside. He’d been in love only once before, and it had been nothing like this. Was there a difference between loving a person you’d known your whole life and falling in love with someone? He didn’t know the answer, but what he felt for Charlotte was more powerful than anything he’d ever experienced. Even the guilt that usually hovered over him like a winter storm didn’t feel so heavy when he was with her, giving him hope that maybe he could have, or even deserved, a second chance at happiness.
Charlotte glanced over with the phone to her ear and held a finger up, indicating she’d be only a minute.
She’d been writing all morning, and she looked sexy and sweet wearing one of her father’s button-downs and a pair of cutoffs, barefoot as always. He didn’t know when he’d begun tucking away information about her like cherished charms, but he already had a stockpile, and he never wanted to stop adding to it. He loved knowing that she sometimes woke up at night and scribbled notes on her hand when she couldn’t find a pad of paper, and that her middle name was Marie-Nöelle, after her maternal grandmother whom she’d never met. Charlotte loved harder than anyone he’d ever known, and she never let the people she loved go, keeping pieces of who they were alive in her heart. He’d learned that Twix bars had been her grandfather’s favorite junk food, and she used to sneak them to him when his doctors tried to cut them out of his diet. Last night she’d told him that she always wished she’d had a baby sister to look after and an older brother to watch over her, which explained her and Cutter’s close platonic relationship.
“Okay, yes!” Charlotte said into the phone. “I can’t wait to meet you both. We’ll see you then.” She ended the call, her smile a mile wide. “I’m ready for our big date!”
She was so damn addicting he was beginning to wonder how he’d make it through a day without her, much less every day.
“That was your brother Nick on the phone,” she said as she moved papers around on her desk. “He’s so nice! He and Jilly are coming to the Mad Prix awards ceremony to support Graham and Ty. They’re on the same flight as Aiyla. I can’t wait to meet them. And shame on you for not calling him back all this time.”
Beau tried to process what she said. “They’re coming here?” He’d spoken to Jillian recently, and to Aiyla last night, and neither of them had mentioned Jillian and Nick coming to the inn. He thought about the call from Ty and realized he’d been set up. Ty had used Aiyla as an excuse to make sure Beau would be there when Nick and Jillian arrived.
“Yes! Isn’t it great?” she said as she shut down her computer. “They’ll be here Saturday afternoon, hopefully in time to see Graham and Ty cross the finish line. I tried to get them to come sooner, but Nick said he had to work. I can’t believe they’re coming all that way for a weekend. You have the greatest family.” She turned around, and her vibrant smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
“I have nosy siblings,” he said distractedly. “Why don’t you throw on some jeans; we’re going into the woods.”
“I go into the woods in shorts all the time. I’m fine.”
“Not this time,” he said too gruffly.
“I see bossy Beau is back,” she said as she walked past him and reached for the light switch. “Lights,” she whispered with a waggle of her brows. “My boyfriend fixed them for me.”
She flicked the lights on and off, and he swatted her ass. “Jeans, shortcake.”
“Do I get to dress you, too?” She pointed to his body. “Pants and shirt off, please,” she said as she headed out of her office. Then she called from the hall, “Construction boots optional.”
He liked the sound of that despite roiling over Nick and Jillian’s arrival. Cheer on Graham and Ty, my ass. They were checking on him. He sent a quick text to Nick. You and Jilly don’t need to come out here.
His phone rang a second later, and Nick’s name flashed on the screen. He answered it as he left Charlotte’s office and headed in the opposite direction of her suite. “What the hell, Nick?”
“You tell me,” Nick demanded. “You ghoste
d me this week, and Jilly’s worried about you.”
“I’m fine. Better than fine, and I talked to Jilly last night.” He eyed the door to Charlotte’s suite. “You don’t need to come out here. And why would you call Charlotte?”
“If you’d answered your damn phone I wouldn’t have. But I’ve gone ten years watching you beat yourself up for something that’s not your fault. You can run, but until you deal with this shit, you’re never going to move on.”
Beau paced, envisioning his brother’s cold, dark stare. “Back off, Nick. I’m fine.”
“Then come home before you go to L.A., man. Or sign the damn contract and then come back. Show us you can be here this time of year, and we won’t worry about you.”
“No, and you coming here will not change my mind.” They used to go at each other’s throats over this subject until it came to blows. Nick had tried on more than one occasion to beat some sense into Beau, but despite Nick’s twenty-pound advantage, Beau had held his own. Eventually Nick had gone from talking with his fists to doing shit like this, getting in his face. Beau preferred the fists.
“We’ll see.” Nick paused long enough for his challenge to grate on Beau’s nerves. “On a lighter note, Charlotte sounds hot. Maybe she’ll make it worth my trip.”
Beau ground his back teeth. “Jesus, Nick. She’s off-limits.”
Nick scoffed. “Unless she’s yours, she’s not off-limits, and considering you’re leaving in a week and you haven’t claimed a woman in a decade, how about we let her make that decision? See if she wants to play with a real man.”
Charlotte’s door flew open, and seeing her gorgeous face amped up his protective urges. If his brother thought he was getting anywhere near her, he had another thing coming.
“I mean it, Nick. Back off.”
“Why should I?”
“Just do it and maybe I won’t kill you for coming out here.” He ended the call and stuffed the phone in his pocket, trying to bury his irritation. “All set?”
“Yes.” She tugged on his shirt as they headed outside. “But I see you didn’t follow my instructions.”
“I don’t take orders well.”
“Clearly. Where are we going?” she asked as they crossed the lawn toward the woods.
“Woods,” he said, his tone too clipped. Damn it. She didn’t deserve to take the brunt of his frustration. He took a few deep breaths to clear his head, and then he lightened his tone and said, “We need to stop by the barn for a sec before you see your surprise. I think I left something there when I went down the other day.”
“I love that I’m the one who lives here and you’re surprising me. You just might be the best boyfriend ever.”
His mind reeled back to the missed texts from Tory, and he stifled the familiar reaction to fend off her compliment. “I don’t know about best boyfriend ever, but I do like to see your smile.” He leaned in for a kiss, and just like that, his entire body exhaled. “I’m sorry for being short with you.”
“It’s okay. I get it. You’ve been avoiding your family because they smother you this time of year. But Nick was really nice, and I think it’s sweet that he and Jilly are coming out to cheer the guys on. I’d give anything to have siblings that would show up out of the blue.”
“You can borrow my brothers and sister anytime you’d like.”
As they followed the trail through the woods, he picked apart the way Nick’s visit had upended his good mood. He was sick of ping-ponging back and forth between guilt and the pressure to get over it. He was finally making headway, seeing beyond the smoke of the past and wanting something more. How could one conversation with Nick bring it all careening forward again?
“Are you looking forward to the Mad Prix weekend?” he asked, hoping to veer away from talk of his family. “Or will the chaos of having all those people around bother you? It’s so peaceful here.”
“Yes and no. I’m looking forward to it mainly because it reminds me of when my parents were alive, and I’ll see lots of people who knew them,” she said as they followed the trail through the woods.
It wasn’t lost on him that she longed for connections to the people who knew her family, while he did everything he could to get away from the people who knew Tory. It dawned on him that just as the guilt had become a part of him, so had his reactions to those people. Of course his family was smothering him. By avoiding them, he’d made his guilt not only his problem, but theirs, too. Holy fuck. Why didn’t I see that before? It was time for him to start to figure some of his shit out.
“I love the excitement of the crowds,” Charlotte said, bringing his mind back to their conversation. “This year we’re changing things up a little. Instead of having the awards ceremony the next morning, we’re doing it the evening of the race, and after dinner there’s live music and dancing.”
He was glad he’d brought a sport coat for his meeting in L.A. He could only imagine how stunning Charlotte would look all dolled up.
She looked up at him and said, “I can’t wait to dance with you. But it’s our last weekend together, and to be honest, I’m not thrilled about losing that time alone with you. Especially since chefs, housekeepers, and groundskeepers will begin arriving midweek to prepare for the event. I’ve gotten used to our time alone.”
He pulled her closer and said, “We’ll find time alone. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not ready for you to leave,” she said forlornly. “I wish I could change my trip to New York. I’ll be gone Sunday afternoon until Tuesday for the meeting with my editor. I hate that I’ll miss that time with you.”
“I hate it, too, but this isn’t it for us, babe. I’m coming back to see you.”
“Promise?” She bounced on her toes, turning those doe eyes up to him.
“Do you really think I could stay away from you?” He draped an arm around her as they descended the last hill toward the barn and said, “But you can’t blame me if you come back from New York and find your dolls hanging from nooses in the trees.”
“I can totally see you doing that and using them for target practice with a nail gun or something. But then I’ll be up the creek without a paddle after you leave.”
“That’s another great reason for me to come back and visit,” he said as they headed across the grass by the brook.
“Often?” she asked with hope in her eyes. “I might need to work out scenes on a weekly basis.”
He chuckled. “As often as you’ll have me, shortcake.”
He crushed her to him and pressed his lips to hers, chasing away the reminder that their days together were numbered.
THE SUN WARMED their faces as Beau kissed Charlotte. She didn’t want to think about what might come next, or if they could make a long-distance relationship work, and as he took the kiss deeper, thinking was no longer an option. When their lips finally parted, he drew back for only a second before recapturing her lips, leaving her breathless.
“I need to stock up on your kisses,” he said in a heated whisper. “And we need to act out as many scenes as you can think up so you never want to go back to using those dolls.”
“You blow my dolls out of the water. Out of this world.”
“Damn right I do.” He led her up to the barn. “I can picture you sitting there by the brook, your toes dangling in the water, having a Twix and protein bar picnic.”
She gazed up at him and asked, “Are you in this picture?”
“I never thought I’d want to be in anyone’s picture ever again, but you make me want to be in yours. I like who we are together and who I am when I’m with you.”
He was saying so many hopeful things, she wanted to cling to each and every one. But she was afraid to get her hopes up too high. He was about to embark on a life-changing, jet-setting adventure, and she had a feeling his life would become a hundred times more complicated than he anticipated. She tucked that unhappy thought away as he pushed the barn door open, and the pungent smell of horses, leather, and hay wafted out.
He bowed like a prince welcoming her to a ball. “After you, shortcake.”
She walked into the barn and said, “Well, aren’t you fancy—”
Her knees nearly gave out at the sight of two beautiful horses. One of them nickered, its big head bobbing to greet her. “Oh my gosh. Beau! How did you do this without me knowing?”
“Once you’re in your office, you don’t exactly notice much else.” He took her hand and led her to a beautiful chestnut mare.
She reached up to pet the horse, and it nudged her with its muzzle, just like Winter used to do. Tears burned her eyes. “Hi, pretty girl.” She stroked her cheek and pressed a kiss there, inhaling the familiar scents of her childhood. “What’s her name?”
“Ginger, and that gorgeous girl”—he pointed to the dark brown horse in the next stall—“is Spice. I borrowed them from Hal and told him I’d bring them back tomorrow evening. I’ve got everything we need in the tack room. But first…” He went into an empty stall and came out with his hands behind his back. “These are for my fairy-tale-loving girl.”
He handed her a pair of pink leather riding boots embellished with brown-and-white butterflies and flowers. Completely overwhelmed, she launched herself into his arms, happy tears tumbling down her cheeks.
“There are no words for the sweetness that is you, Beau Braden. Thank you!”
Their happiness radiated into their kisses, and when he set her down, she hugged him again.
“How did you know my shoe size?” she asked as she tugged off her sandals and slipped her feet into the boots. They fit perfectly.
“You know those adorable rubber boots you kick off by the door every morning?” He shrugged.
“Sneaky. I like that about you.” She stood up and twirled on her heels. “Well? How do they look?”
“They look cute, but you look like you belong on a horse way more often than once in a blue moon. When I visit, we’re going riding again.”
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