Page 107 of Dust Storm

“You okay?” I murmured, pressing my lips to her temple.

Her nose wrinkled when my beard tickled it. “Yeah.” She kissed me. “You made me feel good.”

I carried her into the bathroom and stripped her all the way down before squeezing into the shower with her for a quick rinse. A towel was the extent of what I let her wear when we got out. I heated up leftovers with a towel around my waist while she curled back up on the couch.

We reconvened over yesterday’s baked chicken and vegetables, eating side by side. I listened to her talk about the progress she had made with the surveyors and the groundbreaking celebration plans she had pulled out of her ass.

“Let me get that for you,” I said, getting up to take my dishes to the sink. I piled hers on top.

“I can do that, you know. You didn’t fuck my legs off.”

I chuckled as I walked over and dropped them in the sink. “I didn’t know that was the standard. I’ll try harder next time.”

Cassandra laughed softly. “Thank you, though.”

She was curled up naked, covered by a blanket. I dropped my towel, picked up one end, and eased under the blanket with her.

She tensed when I pulled her into my lap.

“You don’t do well with intimacy, do you?” I mused as I got her situated on top of me. It was like trying to cuddle a two-by-four. She was stiff and unyielding.

Her nose wrinkled. “This is intimacy to you?”

I buried my nose in her hair, searching beneath the blanket for her hand. “Yes.” I laced our fingers together. “You haven’t just laid with someone before?”

“Not naked on a couch.”

“I love lying naked together,” I murmured as my hand left hers and explored her body. “It’s relaxing.” I caressed the soft curve of her breast. “When else do I get to do this? No pretense. No expectations. No endgame.”

Her sharp eyes blurred. Cassandra shifted to her side, lying between my legs. She tucked herself around my belly and rested her head on my chest.

“Cass?” I said softly as I brushed her hair away from her face.

“Hm?”

“Tell me something.”

“What?”

“Anything. We’ve spent all this time together… We’ve hooked up—twice. You’ve gone to bat for my kid. You’re about to turn my life upside down—” I cupped her cheek “—and I don’t know you.”

She rested her head against my chest and closed her eyes to avoid engaging with me. “You know what you need to know about me.”

“Where are you from?”

“New York.”

“Did you grow up there, or move there?”

She hesitated. “I moved to the city after college.”

“Hmm.” I pressed my lips to her temple. “I didn’t know that about you.”

“Smart ass,” she grumbled, tracing shapes across my chest with her finger.

I waited her out.

After a stretch of silence, she finally piped up again. “I grew up in Vermont.”

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