Page 87 of The Snuggle is Real

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“Yeah, I am,” I admitted.

To have a man like Mason choose me? That was heady stuff. I should have realized it from the first moment our lips touched. I should have grabbed hold of him with both hands and never let go.

And from now on, that’s exactly what I intended to do.

CHAPTER 23

Mason

When I wokethe next morning, my body was deliciously sore. I stretched, back arching, and a sweet ache flooded my hips.

Oh, damn.

Ford had given me a real workout last night.

Oh my god. Ford!

I rolled over, heart in my throat, but the bed was empty. I slid a hand over the sheets. They were cool to the touch.

He’d probably left when I fell asleep to go back to Charlie. It wasn’t as if he could stop being a dad just because I wanted someone to hold me in the morning.

I fell back into the pillows with a happy sigh.

That Ford had come to the date, that he’d claimed me with a kiss in front of the whole town? That was worthy of one of Heath Kelly’s queer Hallmark movies. But to have him take me home and show me all the ways he could handle being with a man byhandlingme, well, that was better than any fantasies I could have conjured—and I had averyactive imagination when it came to Ford Donnelly.

I couldn’t fault him for being a good dad, even if Ididreally wish I could kiss him in the light of day, just to reassure myself it hadn’t all been some kind of vividly erotic dream.

My bedroom door swung open, and Peppermint Bark bounded in and dove into the bed. I gasped as his cold nose went straight into my neck.

But my eyes were fixed on the man who followed him inside.

“You’re still here?”

“Uh, well, yeah.” Ford chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought I made it clear last night I wanted more than to fuck and run. But I’ve never done this with a guy, so if you want me to go?—”

“No!” I said so emphatically that Pepper recoiled. “Stay, please,” I said softly, for the both of them. I stroked Pepper’s ears to appease him. “I want you here. I just thought you’d have to go home for Charlie.”

Ford came toward the bed, dressed again in that hideous Christmas sweater. I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face. Last night wasn’t a dream. It had really happened.

Ford held out a mug of coffee, and I took it from him. Then he smoothed back my hair and kissed my forehead. Gah. There was something so sweetly innocent about that gesture that my stomach fluttered.

“Charlie’s with Dottie. I arranged for a sleepover before the date last night.”

I nearly choked on my sip of coffee. “You must think I’m easy.”

“What? Why?”

“We hadn’t even talked yet, and you planned to be gone all night?”

Had my feelings really been that transparent? I’d worked so hard to hide them.

Ford chuckled. “Sweetheart, I’m not that cocky. I just knew that if you gave me a chance, I didn’t want to be interrupted.”

My heart skipped. “Sweetheart?”

He’d called me that once or twice during sex, but people said all kinds of things in the heat of the moment. Saying it now made it real.

“Sorry, it just came out. I didn’t really think about it. But if you don’t like it…”