by CM Foss
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and sighed. “Now I woo you.”
I sat up abruptly and faced him. “Woo?”
“Yep.”
“How? And why?”
“If I tell you the how, then it’s not wooing. And the why? The fact that you’re asking that question should actually tell you something.”
“Well, it doesn’t.”
“Shut up and let me talk.”
I clamped my lips shut, trying not to smile, albeit unsuccessfully, and inclined my head for him to continue.
“We’ve gone at this, whatever this is, all wrong. All kinds of backward. And it’s a train I’m not sure how to stop. I figure it’s time to jump tracks and start fresh. So you can see how serious I am, how honest I am. I don’t want you to question us, yourself, or me. And because… you deserve it. You deserve to be earned.”
I didn’t blink through his entire speech. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, nearly drowning out his words, but at least I knew it was working.
I blinked and pulled my hand from his, flicking a little dried frosting from my skin. “I’m not sure I really understand.”
He rose up on his knees and kissed my cheek, so differently than the way he’d done for so many years. “You’ll see.” Then he stood and started cleaning up while I sat on my ass and stared at him. “Go wash up and get some rest. I’ll come in and say good night before I leave.”
“Is cleaning part of wooing?”
He winked and grinned. “Part one.”
Chapter 20
Winning races is a strange thing. The rush is always strong, the crash is sometimes stronger. When the adrenaline leaves your body, hunger and dehydration set in, leaving you weak and unable to celebrate.
My latest win signaled the end of my bug days. It was bittersweet.
I was closer to having some clout, maybe some respectability amongst my peers, as far as they went with respect anyway, and weight with the trainers. But I was tired.
Speaking of weight, being a journeyman meant I got to gain five more pounds. Five. More. Pounds.
I kind of wanted to cry because I knew those five would want to turn into ten. I’d been working for this moment, dreaming of it. But it was kind of like becoming an adult and moving away from home. You’re so excited to get out and be on your own, then you realize you have a mortgage and bills and you have to clean your own toilets. Or you should anyway.
Sometimes you want to crawl back into the womb.
Instead, I more or less crawled out to my truck where Jace was waiting with a bouquet of wildflowers. Or maybe they were weeds.
“What are those?” I took them carefully, touched by the gesture but afraid of the pollen.
“I went to a florist, but nothing suited you.” He had a mischievous glint in his dark eyes.
“And these did?”
“Yep. ’Cause they’re exactly how you don’t grow.”
I snorted and whacked him on the head with them, dust flying everywhere. He immediately started sneezing and I grinned in triumph.
“Is this part two of the woo? ’Cause I have to admit, I’ve had better.”
He dropped his jaw in mock astonishment. “How could you hurt me like that?”
Before I could blink, he had me thrown over his shoulder, one hand on my ass, and tossed me into his truck.
“Hey, I need my car!” I yelled out in protest, but I was laughing so hard that it didn’t matter much.
“I’ll bring you to work in the morning.”
I raised a brow as I buckled my seat belt. “At five a.m.?”
He winced but nodded. “Yep. It’s part of the woo.”
“Okay, that’s impressive.”
“And then I’ll go home and go back to sleep.”
“Less impressive.”
He winked and took my hand in his, interlacing our fingers and giving a squeeze.
“So, when do we tell our families?”
Now it was my turn to wince. “What? No.”
He laughed. “What do you mean, no?”
“You can tell your parents anything you want. They barely communicate. But mine? Nuh-uh. And not Lawrence either.”
“You think Lawrence doesn’t suspect something? He’s not dumb.”
“He’s barely here. And he’s busy with his own damn wooing. Leave him out of it.”
“I don’t want to be your dirty secret, Midge.” His tone was a warning.
“Why not? It’s kind of hot. I don’t mind being yours.”
His mouth pressed into a thin line as he navigated the roads.
“I’m not saying never. But you said yourself you’re only on part two. Let’s just wait until we figure things out. I mean, how many parts of the wooing are there?”
“Fuck if I know. I don’t really have a decent plan in mind.”
I shook my head. “Yeah. Even less impressive.”
He pinched my side, making me yelp and giggle. “Okay. I can’t say I disagree entirely. Besides, your family will only get in the way.”
“Thank you.” I sighed and rested my head on the seat back, allowing my eyes to fall shut.
Jace turned the radio on softly, the music and the touch of his hand lulling me not into sleep but definitely to that place where you lose track of time.
I jerked upright when the engine turned off in what seemed like seconds later. Jace was smiling at me.
I rubbed my eyes in the most unladylike fashion. “Were you watching me sleep?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s sort of sweet.”
“It’s the only time you’re quiet.”
I glared at him. “Less sweet.”
He let out a loud bark of laughter and pushed open his door. “Come on, sweetheart. Let me feed you.”
I slid out with a groan. “A little. You can only feed me a little.”
He took my hand. “I’ll take what I can get.”
We walked into his house, and I looked around the front room. I hadn’t paid a ton of attention before, but it was a warm and inviting space with overstuffed leather couches and a big wooden coffee table.
He had a few pictures on the walls, mostly photographs of scenery and a few family pictures, his and mine. Out the back window was his pool, which I eyed longingly.
“I should have been here this summer so I could swim.”
“Well, as much as I would have loved to have you here in a bikini every day, I’m not sure I could handle it. Especially if you didn’t want your brother to know.”
I laughed at that, picturing him tenting a pair of trunks. “You haven’t closed it up yet?”
Most people had covers on their pools by now.
“Soon. I’m spending a fortune to heat it, but I can’t give up my swims just yet. Plus the fall has been pretty nice so far. I’m milking it as long as I can.”
My eyes lit up. “Let’s swim.”
“Let’s eat.”
“You can’t eat and then swim. The thirty-minute rule. That’s too long.”
He chuckled at my enthusiasm. “Okay. You start. I’ll put dinner in the oven and catch up to you.”
I looked around. “Do you have a suit I can borrow?”
“Yeah. I keep a box of women’s suits in the bathroom. All sizes. Just in case.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
“No.” He scoffed and swatted my ass. “Not really, you nut. And you’re not allowed in a suit in my pool. It’s a no-suit zone.”
“Just for me?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not very fair.”
“The water’s not that warm. Trust me, it’s fair.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh and looked down at his crotch. He turned me around and walked me to the back door by the shoulders. “Not another word. Go get naked and in that water.”
Sounded good to me. I saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Out at the water’s edge, I dipped a toe in and sh
ivered. He was right. It was pretty chilly. But when I reached a little farther under the surface, that’s where I felt the warmth, smooth and creamy on my skin. I stripped my clothes off, tossed them on a nearby chair, and decided that a quick dive in was the most prudent choice.
I yelped as I struck the top, but once I got down to the middle, I sighed in relief. There it was comforting and heated, rippling over my naked flesh. I began to swim laps deep below the surface, only coming up for air when I absolutely had to. I used the water to stretch and elongate my tight muscles, making them ache and burn in relief. After several trips up and back, I swam to the edge and popped my head up to catch my breath. Jace was sitting on the same chair as my clothes, elbows on his knees, wearing only a pair of black trunks.
My breath caught at the lust in his eyes, partially hidden by the hair falling across his forehead. He had his fingers steepled at his lips like he wasn’t sure what to do or say.
I pushed off the wall, gliding on my back across the pool. “You comin’ in?”
He didn’t answer right away, so I swam toward him.
“I don’t know,” he answered, straightening a bit but making no move to get up. “I’m not sure it could get much better than watching you.”
I bit my lip and smiled. “What if I promised you that it does?”
He smiled back, holding my gaze as he stood and sauntered over, hands in his pockets. He dipped his toe in the water and made the same face I had.
Pushing up on my hands, I lifted my top half out of the water on straight arms. He crouched down in a squat, cupping my cheek in his hand. Our lips met in a harsh kiss, my hair wet and dripping cold against his hot chest. His tongue swept in my mouth, warming me from the inside out. He groaned, his hands drifting down my back and to my ass, where he started to lift me out of the pool.
Pressing my toes against the cement wall, I launched us back, laughing into his kiss as we hit the water with an enormous splash. He yelled and cursed and laughed but never actually broke our kiss. The power of his stroke swam us to the stairs, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he gained his footing and walked us out of the water. The fall air was cold around us, but wherever we were touching was scalding hot, so I did everything I could to touch him in as many places as possible.
He struggled out of his sopping trunks, feet getting tangled in them, making him stumble and curse more. Our laughter faded as he lowered me to a soft chaise lounge, settling himself between my thighs like he belonged there and owned them. He tore his mouth from mine and nibbled down my neck, clamping down firmly where it met my shoulder as he thrust inside me. I’d been more than ready for him, but it still made me lose my breath as he filled me and began to move, stirring up feelings that started building from the first bit of pressure. His fingers tangled in my hair and mine did the same in his. We gasped and stroked and pushed each other to the brink before he settled his lips over mine once more, capturing my cries in his kiss.
Afterward, we lay there for long minutes, my fingers traveling the contours of his back while he dropped lazy kisses wherever he could reach.
“Do you feel wooed?” he mumbled into the side of my neck.
“Mm-hmm.” I felt myself drifting off beneath him, interrupted only by the loud growling from my stomach.
He started to shake, dropping to his full weight on top of me as he lost control. I smacked his shoulder and wriggled around. “Stop squishing me and feed me.”
He kept laughing but pushed away and stood, then drew me to my feet. Feeling the rush of cold on our still-damp skin, we ran to his room where he threw a T-shirt and boxers at me and took out the same for himself, all the while keeping a hand over his junk.
“No laughing,” he said.
Too late.
Chapter 21
“What’d you make?”
I settled myself at his kitchen table, half-excited, half-scared of what would come out of the oven. If it was something heavy or with too big of a portion, I was going to hate to turn it down, but I’d have to. And whatever it was smelled really good.
He turned, a baking dish in hand and a triumphant grin. “Ta-da.”
There looked to be two brown bags in the dish.
I blinked a few times. “You’re feeding me paper?” Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea…
He carefully plucked the packages up with the tips of his fingers and dropped them on each of our plates. Then he tore each one open, causing steam to billow out along with the scents of lemon and garlic.
“Halibut en papillote!”
My eyes misted a little at the thought and planning that must have gone into the meal. Definitely not a dude meal or anything he would cook on a regular basis. I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“Hey, you haven’t tasted it. Don’t thank me yet.”
But it was delicious. It was light and nourishing after my day spent wasting and sweating and exerting myself so far past the breaking point that I didn’t even recognize what that point was anymore.
I didn’t finish it all, even though I wanted to polish it off. I purposefully left a few bites in the paper. It was how I ensured that I ate as little as possible.
I can’t say I was fully satisfied, but I was happy and content. We’d chatted easily through our meal, striking a surprisingly easy balance between our younger years and the present. When he caught me hiding a yawn behind my water glass, he scooped me up into his arms despite my laughing protest and carried me to his bed, where he settled me deep under the fluffy comforter and soft pillows. With a firm kiss on the lips, his tongue sweeping in just for a taste, I drifted off into a deep, dreamless slumber.
My first thought when I woke, before I even opened my eyes, was that I’d gone to bed having eaten fish and hadn’t brushed my teeth. The second was that I was insanely comfortable, wrapped in strong arms and pressed against a hard chest.
The third happened when I opened my eyes and saw sunlight. I shot up and jumped out of bed. “Shit!”
Jace pushed himself up groggily, rubbing his hands over his face.
“Shit, Jace! Why didn’t you set an alarm?” I tugged at my own hair, pulling it away from my scalp as I spun around, searching for clothes.
“What? What time is it?”
“I don’t know but it’s light. Light! I should be in a saddle if it’s light.”
I left him behind and ran outside, gathering my dirty jeans from the night before and struggling into them, cursing the entire time. I hollered for Jace to hurry up and get me his keys while I jerked the sports bra and shirt over my head.
By the time I rushed back inside, Jace was holding the front door open, still wearing a shirt and boxers, no shoes. I grabbed crusty socks and my boots and sat to pull them on. “Do you need your truck today? I can drive myself.”
“Yeah, I need my truck. I’ll drive you. I said I would.”
“You said you’d get me to work on time. Look how well that went.”
I jumped up and rushed past him. He followed wordlessly, jingling his keys and pressing the unlock button. I jumped in the passenger side and rifled through my duffle bag for my phone. It was lit with several messages and texts, some not so important. Some very, very important.
I furiously texted back the pertinent contacts, explaining my lateness with a plausible lie and letting them know I was on my way. Jace drove, calm and collected, not seeming to rush but still keeping his foot on the accelerator. My leg was jumping up and down in agitation, willing him to at least act rushed.
He placed a hand on my thigh. “Relax. It’s gonna be fine.”
“Fine?” I glared at him accusingly. “It’s not fine. I’ve never overslept, not even once. Not once. One night with you and I throw it all away.”
“Whoa, Midge. Watch it. Don’t ruin last night.”
He pulled up to the barns at the track and put the truck in park, but I had the door open before it settled in the gear.
“Too late,” I muttered under my breath.
He gr
abbed my arm, pulling me back before I could leap out. I swiveled to push him away, but he captured my lips in his, melting away a little bit of my panic. “Call me when you cool off. Nothing’s ruined.”
Chapter 22
“You eloped?” I screeched, gaping at my brother and his new wife, who were standing in my doorway grinning like idiots, albeit sheepishly. “How did you get away with that?”
Lawrence shrugged and draped an arm around Steph’s shoulders, leading her inside. “We just went ahead and did it.”
“Is Mom pissed?”
Steph nodded. “She smacked him upside the head. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”
He tugged on one of her wild mahogany curls. “It was your idea.”
“That’s true. It was a good one.”
I couldn’t hide my smile from the two of them. My day had started in panic and ended just as frazzled. All I wanted was my bed and food. And I really needed to call Jace, but I was sort of putting that off. But they were so happy and so in love that I couldn’t help but absorb their excitement.
“So.” Lawrence clapped his hands together. “Get dressed. Something nice. We’re going out.”
“Out?” I wrinkled my nose as I thought about that process. I hadn’t absorbed that much excitement.
“Yes. Out. You don’t have to stay late. But you have to come. Everyone’s gonna be there.”
“Everyone?”
“Siblings and spouses. Just for dinner. You can eat tonight.”
I sighed heavily but knew there was no way of getting out of it. “Lemme shower and change real quick.”
I left them to snoop around while I soaped and rinsed and lotioned, dusted on minimal makeup, and knotted my hair into a low, sleek bun. Then I stood staring into my closet, eyeing my new clothes. Something nice. That meant heels. I was kind of tired for heels, but I grabbed a pair of black pumps and a soft, royal-blue jersey dress. The dress was long-sleeved and loosely fitted, skimming my small curves and landing midthigh. Most importantly, it was easy to wear and comfortable and allowed me to be presentable at whatever swanky establishment I was being forced to go to.
