Page 212 of Giddy Up, Daddy

“I might not! You don’t know!” I flopped on my back and crossed my arms over my still-naked chest. It was amazing just how easy and comfortable everything felt.

“I do know.” He rolled onto his side and looked down at me. “It’s late, and we should get to bed, but I feel like we have too much to talk about.”

“Can we talk in the morning and just go to sleep with all the good feel-good vibes?” I knew we needed to have a serious conversation, but it could wait until the morning when I had coffee and a whole day to process said talk. “If we do it now, I won’t be able to sleep after, and I’m tired.” I yawned, adding a layer of proof to my argument.

“Okay, but neither one of us is leaving this room tomorrow until we do. Understand me?”

I nodded and we both sat in silence for a minute, neither of us moving.

“Do you want to sleep in here?” Cade asked.

“Do you mind if I sleep in here?”

“Not one bit, but I will warn you, I cuddle.”

The idea that big, strong, manly-man Cade was a cuddler made me giggle, but it wasn’t surprising. He was very generous with his physical affection, even if it had been fully platonic before that night.

I issued a warning of my own. “I kick. Randy used to basically pin my legs between his some nights, and he always had bruises on his shins.”

Bringing Randy’s name up and one of my intimate memories of him in that moment should have been awkward, but it wasn’t. It was just a random fact I was sharing. I glanced over at Cade to see if he felt the same. He was laying on his back, smiling up at the ceiling.

“Is that why his legs always looked like he went rounds with a kickboxer?”

I nodded. “That’d be why.”

Cade chuckled. “I always thought he was joking when he would tell me you did it. Guess I was wrong.”

I joined his laughter with my own. I could totally see how that conversation would have played out, and it was pretty funny that Cade had thought he was joking.

“Why didn’t you believe him? I’m fierce!”

“Mmhmm. So fierce. Now it's bedtime. Come here so I can hold you.”

I scooted into his arms, instantly feeling safe and secure. God, it had been so long since I fell asleep with those feelings. If Ithought the sleep I’d gotten the night before had been incredible, tonight would be absolutely magical.

Chapter Eight

Cade

I couldn’t remember ever sleeping as well as I did after finally claiming the girl of my dreams. Holding her, her perfect body pressed up against mine all night. The smell of her hair in my nose. It was perfect, and I wanted to fall asleep and wake up next to her every day for the rest of our natural lives.

Slow down, cowboy. We still have a lot to talk about.

Even knowing that didn’t quell the aching need in my heart. I already knew I would do everything in my power to keep her. The rest was just a simple negotiation on what she needed that to look like.

I could feel her slowly beginning to wake up, starting with her breathing changing. She sighed contentedly.

“Good morning, baby,” I growled in her ear.

“Good morning, Da-uh…” She cleared her throat. “S’cuse me, sorry. Good morning. How did you sleep?”

I smiled at her groggy mumbles and kissed the side of her head. “Better than ever. How about you?”

“Still sleepy.” She wiggled her body as she tried to press closer to me.

“You can rest more if you want to. I’m fine holding you, and we’re not on anyone else’s schedule.”

She gasped. “What time is it?”

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