Page 76 of The Love Shack

“I know.” He sat up, drawing her up with him.

Okay, now she felt naked. It was one thing to be sprawled over him in the aftermath. This was altogether different.

As if he saw her dilemma, he reached over the side of the couch and grabbed his shirt. To give her an out, he even said “The air-conditioning is chilly” as he pulled it over her head.

She gladly pushed her arms through the short sleeves and tugged it down to cover herself. It was large enough that it slipped off one shoulder and hung nearly to her knees.

“Be right back,” Lawson said, and took his sexy self to the bathroom.

His jeans and boxers were still on the floor. Interesting. She waited, her gaze glued to the short hall, and sure enough, he returned only half a minute later, still without a stitch. Not only that, he detoured into the kitchen.

Berkley wasn’t sure if she should follow, maybe take his boxers to him—nah. She had no issue with his nudity. In fact, she’d consider it a gift to herself. After the opening and closing of the fridge, he came back with two bottles of water.

Stepping right over his jeans, he handed her a water, then pulled on his boxers and took the seat next to her.

Naked was better, but he looked pretty darned fine in his shorts, too. “Thanks.” Apparently, the bathroom trip was to dispose of the condom. Naturally, that was a priority, although she hadn’t thought things through to that logical point. Her limited experience with sex had been fast, less than satisfying and in the dark, followed by shame.

This was a whole new ball game.

“Now...” He brushed a knuckle over her cheek. “I think I’ve run the gamut of emotions since finding you here in Cemetery. Like you, I hadn’t wanted any reminders of the past, but there you were.”

She nodded. “I had planned to avoid you.”

“Same.” He smoothed her hair. “But I couldn’t. When I didn’t see you, I thought about you. And your thieving cat kept taking my things.”

“She’ll probably continue doing that.”

“I don’t mind anymore. Cheese and I are coming to an understanding.”

So the quickest way to a woman’s heart was, apparently, to love her pets, and provide some truly stellar sex. Lawson was winning on all counts.

“After getting to know you again, I kept thinking about that mess you’d been left with. I could have done more.”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Again, not your responsibility.”

Taking her wrist, he drew her hand down to his chest. “I’m not sure the male brain works that way. At least, mine doesn’t. The second I started to care about you, I wished I’d done things differently. The thing is, I’m not sure I could have. If I’d stayed, we might not even be here now. Maybe I’d have fallen into the same pattern as so many others who grew up where we did.”

“Hurting others, or being hurt,” she agreed.

“And you.” He cupped his palm to her face, pressed his mouth to her lips, then her cheek, the bridge of her nose, her forehead. “Maybe you wouldn’t have discovered your path in life, and all those animals who depend on you would still be lost and alone.”

Such a wonderful way for him to see things. “I’d gladly go through it again to make sure I could be where I am right now.”

The corner of his mouth hitched. “Naked on a couch with me?”

Humor had her own lips twitching. That, too, was new. She’d never expected to have so much fun following sex. “I wouldn’t mind ending up right here...often.”

“Plan on it.”

Oh, she definitely would. “I suppose you’ve had women from numerous countries?”

“Had?” His grin challenged her.

“You know what I mean. Sex.”

“I haven’t been marking conquests off on a world map or anything.”

That wasn’t a denial. “But?”

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