Option three sounded good, too.
After he’d pulled off her jeans and underwear, he stood by the bed, his gaze moving across her body like a feather caress. With a hint of self-consciousness that hopefully came off as a sexy pose, Allie raised one knee, levered herself up on her elbows and shook her hair back over her shoulders.
His low groan hit her right in the midsection. “God, Allie.”
Their gazes connected for a heart-thudding moment before she transferred her attention to his busy hands. With the removal of his jeans, she fell in love with boxer briefs all over again. The soft, clinging cotton revealed almost as much as it concealed. She was instantly proven wrong when he slid the briefs down his thighs and kicked them aside.
Not counting protection, Rick Wilde was more than prepared.
He climbed up on the bed beside her, trailing his hand along the inside of her thigh. “You’re more beautiful than I ever imagined.”
Allie’s breath caught. “You’ve imagined me?”
“Night after night,” he whispered against her lips. “Makes it hard to get a good night’s sleep.”
His mouth claimed hers at the moment his fingers found her moist heat and slid inside her. She gasped, and when he drove her over the edge a few minutes later, she nearly screamed.
She’d barely caught her breath when he shifted above her. Once more, his eyes met hers, connecting them beyond the physical. Allie opened for him and met his first thrust with an upward push of her hips. He filled her completely and she smiled. He dipped down to kiss her, lifted his head and smiled back.
In the space of a breath, she felt her entire being accept him. The feeling was so unexpected and unnerving, she struggled for her next breath.
Rick began to move, and her panic eased. She felt the leashed tension in his body and the tremble of his arms as he lifted them both higher, then higher still. The extraordinary feeling crept back in and the intimacy of his gaze became too much.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the feel of his body joined with hers. Gave herself up to pure sensation and climaxed faster than before. He followed seconds later. When he lay beside her, she still couldn’t look into his eyes, but not much could’ve stopped her satisfied sigh.
“Touchdown.”
Rick’s chuckle tickled her ear when he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her back to his chest. “Only you can make football sound sexy.”
He pressed his lips to her skin, trailing kisses down her neck and along the slope of her shoulder. Allie gave a soft “Mmm” and enjoyed the gentle caresses as her past week of sleep deprived nights caught up with her.
If sex were football, she mused just before drifting off to sleep in his arms, he’d get her vote for quarterback MVP, hands down.
Chapter 13
A distant noise startled Allie awake. Shoot, had she slept through her alarm again? As she stared at the ceiling in the morning light, listening and thinking the color looked odd, a warm body stirred beside her.
Oh. Yeah, that’s right.
Rick’s arm slid under his tee shirt that she’d put on in the middle of the night when they’d checked the newborn piglets. He pulled her closer and there was no mistaking his morning hard-on through the shorts he’d donned over his briefs.
“Mmm,” he growled, his voice sleep-rough and sexy. “Good morning.”
“Hey.” She offered a smile of contentment when his dark lashes lifted. Waking up to Rick’s languid, chocolate gaze beat the hell out of Spot’s claws. “Very good morning.”
Another noise came from beyond the bedroom.
Footsteps.
“Da-ad!” Lukas’s voice echoed through the house. “Dad, are you up?”
Allie’s eyes widened at the same time Rick’s did. As he lifted his head toward the door, Allie heard a stage whisper from the living room.
“Lukas, honey, I told you to let your dad sleep.”
That voice belonged to none other than Rick’s mom, Betty Wilde. Allie bit back a groan, then clapped a hand over her mouth and jolted up next to Rick.
“Oh God—my bra’s out there.”
“Lukas, wait!” Betty’s voice was louder, closer, and urgent.
Lukas skidded through the open door of the bedroom. “Wake up, Dad!”
Betty arrived at the door. Time froze for a few seconds as the three adults stared at each other. Then Lukas ran forward and launched himself onto the bed. “Allie!”
“I’m so sorry,” Betty said with an embarrassed smile, lifting her hands in a helpless gesture. Allie wanted to die when she saw black lace in the older woman’s hand, until Lukas threw his little arms around her neck and hugged tight. Then her throat closed up.
“Hey, there, sweetie.”
“Dad, no fair. You had a sleepover without me,” Lukas whined over Allie’s shoulder.
“Yeah, well, sorry, buddy.”
Lukas pulled away, and like the flip of a switch, he grinned at Allie while bouncing on the bed. “Didn’t I tell you his bed was big enough? Did you have fun? I bet you did. But not as much as when I sleep by Grandma’s, ‘cause she’s way more fun than Dad is.”
Rick swept aside the covers. He caught Lukas around the waist to hoist him off the bed. “You’re gonna pay for that one, little man. No way Grandma’s more fun than your dad!”
Lukas lay like a sack of potatoes over Rick’s shoulder, kicking his feet. How bad did she have it if she noticed the muscles in Rick’s back while at the same time her heart swelled with emotion from the sound of Lukas’s high-pitched giggles?
Rick spun to look at Allie as he backed toward the door. “We’re going to let Allie get dressed—”
“No, Dad, I wanna watch cartoons in bed like we always do.”
Rick winked and grinned at Allie. “Sweet Pea had her piglets.”
“Oh, cool! Let’s go see them!”
Allie half-smiled, half-cringed at Lukas’s deafening shriek. Rick chuckled, apparently used to high decibels of noise next to his ear. “After we make Allie some breakfast.”
“Aw, Daaad.”
Rick set him on his feet. “Go get two eggs out for pancakes.”
“I wanna crack ‘em!” Lukas hollered as he ran down the hall.
“Wait for Grandma,” Rick called after him.
“I’ll go ride shotgun on that tornado,” Betty said, starting after him. Then she reappeared in the doorway and handed Allie’s bra to Rick. “Again, I’m really sorry, hon.” Her gaze shifted to Allie and then the older woman shocked her with a wide smile. “Allie, always nice to see you.”
Allie nodded, embarrassed all over again. Rick shut the door after his mother left and returned to sit on the bed. He directed a rueful smile in her direction as he handed over her bra, but it looked a little forced.
“Sorry about all that. Not quite the ‘good’ morning I imagined.”
Her heart dropped with the thought that maybe in the light of day, he regretted what had happened between them, while she could barely tear her eyes away from his broad chest. “Really, it’s okay.”
He gave her a half-smile that looked a little more relaxed before crossing the floor to his dresser. “I can maybe contain Lukas for about twenty minutes while we make the pancakes. After that, I make no promises. Use whatever you need in the bathroom or my closet. I’ll grab your sweater from the living room.”
He started for the door with a clean change of clothes in hand.
“Hey, Rick?”
He stopped faster than she expected. “Yeah?”
She smiled, her courage boosted by the hope in his tone. “Ignoring the fact that I haven’t received a proper good morning kiss, it’s been a pretty great start so far.”
Relief flooded his face before a grin took over. He strode back to the bed, grasped her arms to lift her to her knees, and showed her exactly what it meant to be kissed breathless.
“Proper enough for you?”
“It’ll do, I guess,” she managed by the time he reached the doo
r.
His deep chuckle melted her insides.
“You’re down to sixteen minutes now.”
***
Rick stood on Allie’s porch, her empty pie plate in hand. Yesterday morning she’d had pancakes at his kitchen table with his family, and they’d talked on the phone in the evening, yet he felt unaccountably nervous showing up on her doorstep without warning tonight.
Like a teenager.
With his son at his side.
Rick shook his head with a rueful smile. As they waited for Allie to answer the door, Lukas hooked one arm around the closest porch column and started tromping in circles.
“Think Spot will remember me, Dad?”
“Lukas, my boy, you are unforgettable.”
“Da-ad.”
Rick chuckled and rang the bell again. “Spot will be thrilled to see you.”
And hopefully Allie would be, too, if she answered the door. He tried to peer through the frosted glass on either side of the door, but couldn’t see anything. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
It dawned on him he didn’t hear Lukas’s sleeve scraping against the wooden column a second before he heard his son call out, “Hi Allie!”
Rick spun around to see little boot prints leading off the porch. He followed them around the side of the house in time to see Allie open the backyard gate. His heart gave a little excited flutter when she smiled at his son.
“Hey, Lukas, what are you doing here?”
“We came to see Spot.” Lukas announced as Rick joined them.
“She’ll be glad to see you.” Allie was all bundled up in a thick winter jacket, auburn hair peeking out from a green cap, her nose, cheeks and lips rosy red from the cold. Rick’s heart gave a huge stutter as she looked up and smiled at him. “Hi.”
Just that one soft word had him wishing he’d called his mom to babysit Lukas.
“Hi,” was his witty reply. He held up the pie plate. “We came to see you, too.”
She winked. “That’s good to hear.”
“Whatcha doing, Allie?”
Her smile widened to a grin before she transferred her gaze back down to Lukas. “Scooping up doggie poop. You want to help?”
His face scrunched up and he looked at Rick. “Do I have to?”
Before Rick could say anything, Allie laughed. “I’m just teasing, Lukas. I’m all done. But…I was going to build a snowman in the front yard before I went inside. This is some great packing snow.”
“I can help with that!” Lukas exclaimed. “I’m an expert at snowmen.”
“I bet you are.”
Rick watched in amazement when Allie took Lukas’s hand and they headed for the front yard, Lukas chattering as if Allie had deposited three quarters in him. Expert? When had his son learned that word?
At the corner of the porch, Allie paused and looked back. “You’re in charge of the head, you know.”
Still holding the pie plate, Rick shook off his surprise and hurried forward. “I’m coming.”
A half hour later three snowmen stood in Allie’s front yard; one tall, one medium, and one Lukas-sized. Lukas had insisted on doing his all by himself to prove his expert status. Allie ran inside for carrot noses as Rick hoisted Lukas onto his shoulders to break off some dead branches on a nearby tree.
They were placing the last stick arm when Allie returned and deposited a box in the snow. Lukas started digging through it, tossing hats, gloves and scarves behind him.
“Cool! There’s coal and everything in here. Look Dad!”
“This is my snowman box,” Allie said, bending down beside Lukas. “I make them every year.”
“All by yourself?” Lukas asked. “Like the cookies?”
Allie stilled. “Like the cookies,” she confirmed quietly.
Rick caught a hint of sadness in her tone, but she kept her face downcast as she sorted the gloves into pairs. Lukas leaned over and wrapped his arms around Allie’s waist.
“Me and dad will help so you don’t have to do anything alone anymore. Okay?”
Rick barely heard her whispered “Thank you, Lukas,” but he’d heard the breath of air she’d sucked in before the words. He worried they were overwhelming her. She’d said her issue wasn’t Lukas, and she seemed to have gotten over any reluctance she may have had to get close to his son, but something told him this was too much instant family in her face at once.
In an effort to lighten the mood and shift focus, Rick stepped forward to scoop up a hat and scarf. “Let’s get these guys dressed before they get cold.”
Lukas giggled as he let go of Allie and grabbed a handful of coal chunks. “Dad, they’re made of snow. They’re already cold.”
Rick ignored Allie’s sniff and the subtle clearing of her throat as he mock frowned at the items in his hands. “Then what do we need this stuff for?”
“Because that’s how you make a snowman,” Lukas said as he gave his snowman eyes. “Everyone knows that.”
“Don’t argue with the expert,” Allie warned Rick and tossed him a carrot.
Rick put the finishing touches on his tall snowman and stood back with his hands fisted on his hips. The three of them made a perfect family. To cover the emotion swelling in his throat, he said gruffly, “Pretty darn good if I do say so myself.”
A whisper floated on the air. A smothered giggle was instantly followed by the solid thump of something hitting his shoulder blade. Bits of snow flew over his head. Some found its way down the back of his neck, melting as it went. After a reflexive duck and shiver, Rick spun around to see Allie high-five Lukas.
He narrowed his gaze, grabbed a handful of snow, and started packing it into a ball. “So that’s how you want to play?”
“Oh, oh,” Allie said to Lukas. Lukas scooped up more snow and tossed it toward Rick. It flew wide right, confirming who’d thrown the first bull’s eye. Rick tossed his snowball at Allie and then lobbed a softer one at his son. Both hit their targets.
He gave a low, evil laugh. “Who’s the expert now?”
Snowballs flew fast and furious. Allie and Lukas laughed so hard only one out of five came close to Rick. His ammunition locked in on the two of them like heat-seeking missiles and Lukas moved over to use Allie as his shield.
“Hey,” she protested when Rick nailed her with two more direct hits. “That’s it. Get him Lukas! Let’s take him down!”
Allie charged forward with a battle cry. Lukas shrieked with glee. Rick dodged left but slipped in the snow, falling to his knees. Allie’s arms wrapped around him and her momentum took them both to the ground. Thanks to Rick’s quick roll, Allie landed beneath him, cushioned by the snow and her thick winter coat.
Somewhere during the battle she’d lost her hat, and her auburn hair fanned out on the snow. She laughed up at him, hazel eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed, breath pluming out into the air to mingle with his. Besides the other day when she’d said good morning to him in his own bed, he’d never seen anything more beautiful.
He dropped his gaze to her smiling lips and her laughter faded. He’d wanted to kiss her since the moment she’d stepped through her gate earlier. But before he could close the space for a kiss, Lukas landed on his back with a loud whoop.
“We win!”
Rick reached one arm back and dragged Lukas around to lie in the snow next to Allie. “Who wins?”
When he pretended to threaten a face wash, Lukas buried his face in Allie’s neck with a loud screech. Rick laughed and leaned down to plant a kiss on his son’s cheek. A handful of snow in the face stopped him cold and made him jerk back with a gasp. He shook his head before meeting Allie’s mischievous gaze.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he growled.
She pushed Lukas free. “Hurry—in the house for hot chocolate.”
Lukas was gone in a flash and Allie attempted to make her own escape. Rick held her until she was breathless from laughing and he was breathless from her body wiggling beneath his weight. When he heard the front door close beh
ind Lukas, a quick dip of his head captured her lips.
She stopped struggling and relaxed in his arms. He teased her mouth open and his tongue slid against hers, searching, caressing, reveling in her heat and the sweet taste of Allie. The desire to savor every inch of her body pulsed through his veins and consolidated in his groin. He shifted, grinding his hips gently against hers through their clothes. The pressure prompted a low moan from Allie and he echoed it with his own.
He kissed his way down her neck to touch the tip of his tongue to the erratic pulse beating at the base of her throat.
“We’d better get in by Lukas,” she breathed.
Rick groaned against her neck. Yeah. Lukas was the only reason he didn’t haul her to her feet and carry her up to her bedroom right now. He lifted his head to kiss her nose and then rested his forehead against hers. “This was fun.”
“The snowmen or the kissing?”
“All of it.”
She stared into his eyes and whispered, “Want to come over for lunch tomorrow? We could have some more fun…just the two of us.”
Rick was instantly hard. To avoid sounding like Lukas when he’d been offered ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top, Rick forced some air into his lungs, smiled, and asked, “What time do you want me?”
Chapter 14
Allie shifted in her seat across from Dana in Coffee to Chai For, enjoying a late Sunday morning cup of coffee with her cousin. She’d been spending most of her free time with Rick and Lukas the past three weeks, and she and Dana hadn’t gotten a chance to talk much. It was nice to catch up and hear about the house she and Charlie were getting ready to have built.
“That reminds me, did you get an invitation to Melinda Spalding’s house-warming party at the old Kendall place next weekend?” Allie asked.
“I wouldn’t miss that for anything,” Dana said. “I can’t wait to see what she’s had done on the inside of that place. Not only am I hoping to get some ideas, but Carrie said it’s about time someone recognized its potential.”
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