Page 76 of Spike

Spike burst outlaughing as he squeezed my hand. “What the fuck is a Rum spring A?”

I faced him. “It’sthe thing where Amish teens leave their homes for a time to figure out if theywant to be Amish.”

“But you’re notAmish.”

“I know I’m notAmish, Jesse,” I hissed. “But there isn’t a name for young Christians who wantto figure out if they still want to be Christians, so I’m adopting it.”

He grinned. “Fairenough.”

I was still fumingwhen we pulled into the parking garage and parked in the loading zone. My carwas already in my reserved space, and several of the Burning Saints werestanding around waiting for us to arrive. I hadn’t had to lift a finger duringthis move, which was kind of amazing, and something I could definitely get usedto.

“We’ll geteverything moved in, then I’ll make you dinner and open a bottle of wine. Iwant you to relax tonight.” He smiled. “In fact, I want you to spend the restof the weekend relaxing. Monday’s gonna come fast.”

I’d decided towait and start my job with Devlin until Monday so I could get moved in andsettled, and with all the crap going on with my dad, I was glad I gave myself abuffer.

I nodded. “I’mjust looking forward to soaking in that giant tub.”

“I’m gonna leavebefore you do that.”

“You’re going toleave?” I frowned. “Why?”

“Because if I knowyou’re naked and that close to me, I’m not sure I can handle it.”

“Don’t leave.” Ireached over and squeezed his arm. “I won’t take a bath if it makes it soyou’ll stay.”

“Fuck.” Hesqueezed his eyes shut. I waited a few seconds until he opened his eyes andsmiled. “I’ll stay, but you’re gonna take your bath. I’ll deal.”

“Will you stay thenight?”

His body lockedand it took another few seconds for him to relax. “Yeah, baby, I’ll stay thenight.”

I clapped my handsand let out a quiet squeal of excitement. “Yay.”

“Jesus,” hebreathed out.

“What?”

“If you smile likethat when I say yes to shit, what’s gonna happen when I say no?”

I shrugged,batting my eyelashes at him. “Don’t say no and you’ll never have to find out.”

He laughed,pushing open his door and jumping down before collecting me. We spent the nexthour moving everything in. Correction, his brothers spent the next hour movingeverything in while I sat on the sofa and watched the water.

** *

“Baby?” Spikecalled through the bathroom door.

“Yeah?”

“You want morewine?”

I was currentlysubmerged in a giant clawfoot tub in the newly renovated bathroom of Kim’s… ah,my… condo and I’d been here for nearly twenty minutes. I never wanted toleave.

I glanced at mywine glass, the tiny little puddle of red liquid at the bottom indicating thatI did, in fact, want more wine. “Yes, please,” I called back.

“Pull the curtainclosed and I’ll bring you the bottle.”

I bit my lip.Lordy, he was sweet. He’d fed me (steak, baked potato, and asparagus), thenhe’d poured me a glass of wine while the tub was filling before leaving me tosoak and relax. I’d heard the water running in the kitchen so I deduced he’ddone the dishes while I pruned, and I loved him for it.

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