Page 63 of Remember Me

My hand tracked the flutter of the pulse at her neck, her heartbeat beneath her breast. It got sidetracked there and lingered, teasing until her nipple was stiff and she squirmed beside me. It had been too long since I’d been able to touch her like this.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” she panted.

“What makes you think I can’t finish?”

“There was just an awful lot of wood out there…that needed…chopping —”

“Wench.” I bent to kiss her, moving leisurely to bite at her throat before continuing my southward journey. “I have no intention of chopping more wood today.”

“Oh…yes. Why —”

I grinned against her breast at her responses. She was arching against my mouth, her hands in my hair. “I was frustrated.”

“Umm.”

“Sexually.”

“Oh…not anymore…”

I sucked at the side of her breast and a yelp escaped. “Too much?”

“No! Don’t stop. They’re just tender.”

I laved the spot with my tongue in apology. “I’m sorry, Birdie’s Boob.”

She snorted and laughed. “Way to ruin the mood.”

“We do need to get moving, in all seriousness.” I gave the other breast a farewell kiss and sat up. “Tomorrow is my mom’s annual holiday party. I thought we’d go out and get their gift if you feel up to it?”

“You’re kidding, right? My man is denying me sex in favor of going shopping?” She tilted her head in mock wonder.

“Get up, babe.” I gave her my best leer, which was admittedly quite good. “I said we needed to get moving, not that we weren’t getting frisky. There’s always the shower.”

She smiled, slow and sexy. “I like the way you think.”

“You are exactly

Precisely and perfectly

What I waited for.”

Tyler Knott Gregson

December 16¦Birdie

ACCORDING TOHAYES, HIS MOTHER’S CROWNING ACCOMPLISHMENT, OTHER THAN HER FIVE GROWN CHILDREN, WAS HER ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY EACHDECEMBER. Hayes’ family, I learned, was wealthy. As in old southern wealth that had been around for generations and would be around for countless more. The party was held on their estate in Sequoyah Hills, which Hayes had told me I’d visited several times but of course had no memory of.

I tried not to gape as we drove up the winding drive lined with shrubbery and strung with fairy lights. It was snowing, the drifting flakes enveloping everything in a magical atmosphere. In the distance the house rose on a slight swell, white with classic black trim, light spilling forth from every window to the lawn.

As we parked, I caught sight of a woman in a glittering green sheath, visible briefly before the door closed behind her. My hands twisted in my lap. I didn’t remember a lot about previous me, but I knew: this was not my scene.

“Hey.” Hayes had parked and was looking at me with concern. “Don’t be nervous. It’s just my folks.”

“Right.” I released a half-laugh, half-groan. “Meeting the parents, take two.”

“And you can relax, because we already know how it turns out. They love you. And you look beautiful.” His eyes trailed over me, taking in the spill of my hair over the wine-colored dress I’d found yesterday while shopping. A snug band of velvet cupped my breasts, enhancing their new plumpness, and then a soft tulle flared out from just beneath, ending inches above my knees. With a tender motion, he brushed my hair back from my cheek.

“Right. Okay.” I blew out a breath. “Let’s do this.”

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