Page 54 of The Bachelor

“Best present I ever got.” He pulled her close and squeezed her hard. “Because I know you meant it when you wished me a happy birthday.”

“I did.”

Avery wanted to sleep but she kept wondering what would have happened if Shane had walked into the hallway and heard her song without knowing her. Would it have gone down the same way? Would he have shown casual interest in her talent and nothing more? Would he have thought she was attractive?

If Ben hadn’t cheated on her would she have even had the balls to walk into Rusted Truck? She wasn’t sure. But as Shane’s breathing settled into the deep rhythm of sleep, she realized it didn’t matter.

This was her story, her love song.

Exactly as it was.

TWENTY-SIX

Shane woke up, arm numb from being slung over Avery. She was still asleep so he studied the variations of color in her hair in the dancing morning light. The strands were like mahogany, going from brown to red and back again. He was relaxed, content. He thought about the night before, waiting for embarrassment to sink in about his confession. He didn’t talk about his father, and certainly not his fears, ever. To anyone. Not even to his sisters, though they were well aware of them, without ever having to discuss them out loud.

Regret didn’t arrive though. He trusted Avery. Plus she hadn’t given him honeyed sympathy or worse, pity. Neither had she tried to talk him out of feeling bad, or convince him he could be married or would be a good father. She told him he was entitled to feel however he chose.

Running his fingers along her arm, he lazily watched goosebumps appear on her soft skin. He still wasn’t sure he’d found all her freckles. There were secret spots he hadn’t explored yet. He hoped she didn’t have any weekend plans because he wanted to keep her for a while. As long as he could. He wanted to try this, with Avery. Just feel their way through it, without expectation or promises.

She made an incredibly adorable sound and jerked away from his fingers. He just followed her arm, still tickling her. He wanted her to wake up because he wanted to see those unique eyes trained on him, with the look only she could give him. Suddenly she turned and her eyes popped open.

“Knock it off,” she said.

That made him laugh. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Her eyes drifted closed again.

He bypassed her arm and went straight to the soft curls between her thighs. He teased between them and stroked into her, coaxing forth an immediate wet response from her body.

“Stop it,” she murmured. “I’m sleeping.”

Shane pressed his erection against her ass. “I’m up. That means you’re up. And you’re pussy is wet.”

“You’re mean,” was her response.

“I thought I was decent,” he said, only half joking. He kept stroking inside her, slowly, gently. Her body was welcoming, responding to him readily.

Avery turned and looked back at him. “Why do you keep saying that? What does that mean?”

“It was in your note that morning. You said ‘Thanks for being decent,’” he said.

“I meant thank you for being nice. And I don’t even remember writing that, for the record. I was more than a little emotionally shattered.”

“Oh, okay.” Now that she was facing him, he kissed her raspberry-colored lips. How could she wake up looking so beautiful? Other than the surly expression on her face, that is. “Do you want coffee first, sweetheart, or an orgasm?”

“I want more sleep.” She turned away and shut her eyes.

“Orgasm it is then.” He was in the perfect position to continue stroking her, easing into her more deeply, while his other hand sneaked around to roll over her nipples. He knew she would pretend to sleep and she did.

But Avery wasn’t good at holding anything back and even as she kept her eyes closed, her breathing grew more shallow and her legs practically twitched from the need to thrust her body against his finger. She maintained her façade all the way through a big, shuddering orgasm, moaning softly.

He kissed her earlobe and whispered, “Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

That made her laugh. She opened her eyes. “You’re a dream, baby,” she teased. “Never a nightmare.”

“Now you’re just trying too hard.” He took her hand and put it on his cock. “Speaking of hard.”

“What am I supposed to do with this?” She rolled over so she was facing him. “And I’m being serious now. I don’t know what to do with this thing. It’s like handing a toddler a firecracker and saying go for it, kid.”

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