Page 66 of The Perfect Putt

“Then let me make myself clear.”

He tips my head back and slants his mouth against mine. There’s no lead up. No soft, questioning brush of his lips. His kiss is desperate, like he’s thought of nothing but this for weeks. My hands grip the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. One of his hands tangles in the back of my hair. The other slides over the dip of my waist, to the swell of my hip, then down my thigh. Fire trails in the wake of his touch. I gasp into the kiss when his fingers dig into the exposed skin below the frayed hem of my shorts. He lifts my leg up and presses our bodies flush together. I arch into him, my body following his like the way the tide obeys the moon.

His lips leave mine and I make a small sound of protest. I feel his smirk against my mouth. He tugs on the hair at the base of my neck, tilting my head to the side. His lips find my ear.

“Do you know how many times I’ve thought of this?” Delicious tingles accompany the sound of his voice. He presses his lips right below my ear. If he wasn’t holding me up against this door, I think my knees would have given out beneath me.

“Tell me,” I whisper.

He trails hot kisses down the column of my neck. Then he returns to my ear where he grazes his teeth against the sensitive skin of my earlobe, making me gasp.

“Countless times,” he rasps. “I wanted to set you on the hood of my car that day in Cape Alamanda and make a mess of your lipstick. And in the diner that night I thought of nothing other than tasting the whipped cream on your lips.”

He brushes his nose against my jaw, then kisses me gently at first, only to surprise me by nipping at my bottom lip. His forehead presses against mine as he releases my leg to lower it back to the ground.

“Even on your first day, when you walked in on me training and couldn’t stop staring.” My face flames. He lets out a husky laugh. “I wanted to set you on my counter and make you blush even brighter.” His lips brush against my cheek. “Like you are now.”

My eyes flutter open. He’s looking down at me with a kind of adoration in his eyes that makes my heart somersault.

“So, this whole time…” I trail off. He smiles and caresses my face.

“I’ve been falling for you.” My breath catches. “Like an idiot, I tried to fight it. But there’s no fighting what I feel for you. I’m in love with you, Red. I love how you don’t give out smiles easily, but it’s like you can’t stop as soon as you set foot on the beach. I love your attitude, and the way you laugh, and how you only drink sugary iced coffee.”

He brushes my hair back, then cradles my face in his hands.

“I love how you take care of your sister and Archie. How you take care of me. I love that your house is full of flowers and that you decorate with ocean-themed everything. I love your wild red curls and your freckles and your beautiful mouth that always has something sassy to say.” He presses a kiss to my lips. I blink back tears. “I love you, and I don’t want a life that you’re not in.”

My heart is so full it’s overflowing. It’s not lost on me how big of a step this is for him. He’s opened up his heart to me. I have the power to break it like he broke mine that night on the beach, but I won’t. I can’t. Not when he’s fought against his own bloodline and upbringing just to say this.

“I love you too,” I whisper. He brushes my tears away as they fall. “I don’t want a life without you either. These past few days have been awful without you, but I forgive you.”

Pain mars his expression. “Thank you. I promise that won’t happen again. You’re stuck with me now.” He brushes his nose against mine and I can’t help but giggle.

“I can’t believe I fell in love with someone who golfs for a living.”

He laughs. “I can’t believe you did either. But speaking of golf.” He pauses and looks meaningfully into my eyes. “Would you be willing to go with me this weekend? I want you there.”

My heart squeezes at the sincerity in his eyes. “Of course I will. I want to be there to see you take back your number one spot.”

A grin breaks out across his face and he pulls me away from the door, lifting me off the ground in a hug. “I love you so much,” he says into my hair.

I breathe in his fresh, masculine scent and soak up the feeling of his arms around me. The rightness I felt that day we hugged on the course comes back again.

“I love you too.”

Chapter thirty-two

Miles Day

“Don’t make us late,” Fitz says from the back seat as I pull into Ellie’s driveway. I’ve rented an SUV to drive us all to the airport together so we didn’t have to take separate cars.

“How would I make us late?” I unbuckle my seatbelt and press the button that opens up the trunk.

“You’re in love, and newly in love at that. I don’t want to miss our flight because you two were making out.”

Jada giggles at his words. I roll my eyes.

“We won’t be late.”

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