Page 78 of Vodka and Chocolate Drops

“Know what else I find sexy?” he asked, laying a track of kisses across her clavicle.

“Your mom’s meat loaf?”

He scowled at her. “Never. Mention my mother. In. The bedroom.”

“Yeah, good idea.” She could practically taste the woman’s rock-hard meat loaf just thinking about it, and there were other rock-hard things she’d rather run her tongue over. “By the way, tell your mom I’m a vegetarian.”

“The first time anyone sees you enjoy a hamburger at Benny’s that gig’s up.”

“Ugh. How do you eat that stuff every week?”

“It’s not about the food, Amber,” he said seriously. “It’s about the people. Family.”

Oh. Family. Right. She had one of those now.

“Everything’s going to change, isn’t it?”

“It’ll be good, I promise.”

His hand was still exploring her curves, and she sighed against him. “Remind me why we’re talking right now?”

“I was doing something important a moment ago. Now, what was it?” Scott teased, feathering her neck with light kisses.

“Tell me what else you find sexy, Officer Malone.”

“You.” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth, giving it a light nibble that made her breathing unsteady in all the right ways. “Believing in your own power. That emerald-green dress of yours just about undid my resolve to wait until you were ready.”

“You liked the dress?”

He gave a contented moan, his hands running down her bare back. “You could dress up as slave princess Leia and still nothing would be more sexy than you owning that green dress.”

“Okay, stop talking about other women in the bedroom.” She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his lips to hers. “We have a date with forever.”

* * *

Amber scrambledto tug the out-of-reach zipper into place on her green dress. Mandy and Frankie had announced three hours ago that they were getting married. Today. As in, their guests had four hours notice to get themselves into adequate shape to watch them exchange their vows in the park under the water tower. Thank goodness Amber hadn’t spray painted it. It would be a little difficult to ignore the misdemeanor, with it right above the town as they watched the impromptu proclamation of undying love.

Forever.

The word had become her all-time favorite over the past few weeks.

Warm hands steadied Amber as she tried to stick a foot in a high heel while still struggling with the zipper.

“Let me,” Scott said.

She relaxed, pulling her hair off her neck so Scott could help with the dress. He paused with the zipper halfway up.

“What? Is it stuck? Oh, don’t tell me it’s snagged. I don’t have any other dresses and I’m fairly certain that Wanda’s dress shop and Fran’s boutique are being overrun this morning.”

“I just needed a moment to take you in.”

“My back?” She glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend.

“This.” His lips grazed a burning trail of heat and longing across her exposed shoulder blade, up her spine to the slope of her neck.

She shivered and turned in his arms, her lips meeting his. She would never get tired of this man. They’d been dating for two weeks and she was impatient to be with him whenever they were apart. She wanted him for the rest of time, because when they came together it was as though she not only knew herself better, but the world made more sense.

He ran his hands lightly down her arms, drawing away. “We can’t be late.”

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