Page 36 of Craving You

He was pretty sure he had never gotten this hard so fast and immediately began to undress. “I do, and I think of you every time I have ice cream.” He kicked his shoes off. “And I am seriously overdressed for a sexy dessert.”

She hummed with appreciation as she helped him undress. In the blink of an eye, they were back in the bed with the bowls of strawberries and fresh cream sitting between them, and honestly, he wasn’t sure what to do first—kiss her? Feed her? Place some of the whipped cream on some of his favorite spots on her body and then lick it off?

The decision was taken from him when Hailey dipped her finger in the cream and then softly spread it over the tip of her breast. Everything about her—every move, every touch, every smile—made him fall harder and harder for her. She was like his every fantasy come to life.

Her name was a whispered plea as he leaned in and licked some of the cream off of her, and her hands raked through his hair to hold him closer. He was so close to losing control, but he swore this time would last.

Straightening, Max looked at her as he licked his lips. “Delicious.” Then he lifted both bowls and placed them on the bedside table. “Lie back,” he said gruffly. “That first time was too fast, and the second time wasn’t nearly as long as I wanted it to be.”

She squirmed as she got comfortable against the pillows. “I can’t help that I was impatient. That first round just took the edge off.” Reaching out, she ran her hand up over his abs before resting on his chest. “And I wanted more. Just like I do now.”

Taking her hand, he kissed her palm. “Sweetheart, this time, I’m in control.” Another kiss. “And I promise to take my time.” Running his tongue along her palm, he grinned at the way she started to pant. “And you’re going to love every minute of it.”

“I know I said it earlier, but you’re mighty confident.”

“Have I let you down yet?”

She shook her head.

Max moved so he was lying over her. “Let me love you Hailey,” he whispered against her lips, and when she nodded, he touched his lips to hers. Together, they sank into it, and he swore nothing could ever be more perfect than this.

Chapter Six

Reality came back way too soon.

By the time they pulled away from Summit Ridge, Hailey was already dreading all the real-world stuff they were going to have to start dealing with. The biggest perk to the last twenty-four hours—other than the orgasms—was how much more she and Max knew about each other. Now she could say with great certainty that she genuinely liked him, and it wasn’t only about the sex. He is a great guy who works hard, loves his family, loves being part of his community, and he has about a million other amazing qualities.

And Hailey kind of loved everything about him, and that scared the hell out of her because it was going to complicate everything.

“You’re being awfully quiet,” Max said as they passed the sign for Sweetbriar Ridge. “Are you okay?”

The sigh was out before she could stop it. “I never thought I was the kind of person who shied away from confrontations or avoided responsibility. But right now, I’d really love to turn my phone off and go back up to Summit Ridge and forget about the rest of the world. Do the whole hit pause on real life thing again.” Turning her head, she gave him a sad smile. “Pretty lame, huh?”

“Not at all. I know we’ve been good about not talking about…stuff, but I totally understand what you’re saying.”

And that was it.

That was all he said.

“Wait…don’t you have anything else to say? Like how we need to be responsible or how hiding away isn’t helping the situation?”

For a moment, Max didn’t respond. Shrugging, he finally said, “The way I see it, it’s actually helping the situation. We’re getting the time to get to know each other—which is important considering we’re going to be having a baby together. Granted, we can’t possibly know everything about each other, but maybe having a few days to ourselves with no interruptions is the best thing to do.” Then he winked. “And if some of that time to ourselves is spent like the last twenty-four hours, who am I to complain?”

Unable to help herself, she laughed softly. “Oh, Max…aren’t you afraid that if we keep jumping into bed that it’s going to complicate things? I mean…co-parenting is going to be weird enough. If we can’t be in the same room without wanting to rip each other’s clothes off, things are going to get…”

“Complicated,” he miserably finished for her.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes, and Hailey was surprised when he passed the turn for Billie’s house. “Um…aren’t we…?”

“No,” he said. “No, we’re not.”

“O-kay…but…”

“Your cousins are all coming over on Sunday, so we technically don’t have to go home until Saturday night—Sunday morning at the latest. We can go back to Summit Ridge, or we can go someplace—anyplace—else and take that time to keep getting to know each other and maybe getting all the sex out of our systems.”

Was he serious? She didn’t think she’d ever be able to get sex with him out of her system.

Clearly the feeling is not mutual.

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