Page 57 of Wounded Cowboy
As if her words were the trigger, Spring buried himself deep inside her with a final, desperate thrust, then shuddered violently and groaned.
The sensation pushed Kelsey over the edge, too. Her climax rippled through her, leaving her clinging to him, trembling and light-headed.
He held her against the wall for a long time as their entwined bodies quivered with aftershocks. Kelsey wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of Spring’s neck. She inhaled the faint scent of his aftershave mingled with the muskiness of their lovemaking.
She felt a strange sense of belonging, as if this moment was exactly where she was meant to be.
When her breathing and heartbeat had slowed to normal, Spring finally let her down onto her feet. His hands slid up the back of her bare thighs and over her butt-cheeks, coming to rest over the crumpled fabric bunched at her waist.
“So, um, do you think Autumn will mind watching the girls for a while longer?” Kelsey asked hesitantly.“You, ah, still haven’t seen my bedroom.”
Spring’s lips tugged into a surprisingly tender smile as he brushed aside a stray lock of hair that had come loose from her up-do.“Sweetheart, I wanna do more than justseeyour bedroom.”
He fumbled in the back pocket of his loosened jeans and pulled out his phone.
Staying the night, he texted Autumn, one-handed.Will be home before the girls wake up for breakfast.
Almost instantly, his phone buzzed with his sister’s reply.See?I knew it was a date!Have fun!
Chapter 15
Savings and Misgivings
Thursday, August 23
The flicker of the television screen cast a warm glow across the cozy living room of Kelsey’s cottage. She intended to savor every moment of this rare evening alone.
She sat on her couch, cradling a generous bowl of fudge ripple ice cream in her lap. On big-screen TV, she’d queued up the latest episode of her favorite cooking show,Bearpaw Springs Chef, starring Chef Daniel Langlais of the Michelin-starred eatery Calidus, ready to stream.
Kelsey couldn’t believe two months had already passed since she and Spring had started their FWB arrangement.
In that time, she’d taken the girls on several outings to The Museum of the Rockies, much to their delight. The dinosaur exhibits were a big hit with both Abby and April, and they adored the planetarium shows.
And last month, the museum had hosted a special exhibition on the history of space exploration, which included vintage spacesuits from the Apollo missions; scale models of iconic spacecraft such as Sputnik, Apollo 11, Voyager 1, and the Mars Rover Curiosity; a full-sized replica Gemini capsule; a zero-gravity toilet from a space shuttle; and an actual moon rock.
Abby had been excited beyond words.
Spring had carved out time to come with them for that exhibit, and he’d bought Abby’s birthday present at the museum gift store: the model of the International Space Station that she’d wanted for Christmas.
The remaining weeks of summer had sped by, her days with Abby and April fun and rewarding, and her nights filled with lots and lots of incredible sex, courtesy of Spring.
Even if they had to keep their activities extra-quiet to avoid waking the girls whenever she stayed over at his place.
Tonight, Spring and the girls were at“Back to School” night in town, leaving Kelsey to indulge in her favorite guilty pleasures of watching shows on the FoodieTV network and eating ice cream in blissful solitude.
With a sigh of contentment, Kelsey dug her spoon into her pint container and watched a hunky, silver fox with bulging biceps and tattooed arms make fool-proof cheese soufflés.
“You can prepare this roasted beet and goat cheese salad ahead of time,” Chef Daniel Langlais explained in his soft Louisiana drawl as he diced beets and spread them out on a baking sheet.“And serve it with the finished soufflés for a perfect autumn date-night dish.”
Fall is just around the corner?A pang squeezed her heart as she realized it was already almost the end of August. The school year started on August 28th, and her contract ended on August 31st.
Spring hadn’t said anything to her about what happened after that. And he certainly hadn’t asked her to stay.
That stung a little, though she resolutely told herself that it was better this way. There was a reason they’d settled on a friends-with-benefits relationship rather than trying anything more serious.
He still had a lot of issues dealing with the loss of his wife, though he’d dialed down his control freak tendencies considerably over the past two months. And she still planned to leave for Los Angeles next month.
A sudden thought struck her.When was the last time I checked my savings account balance?She’d been so caught up in work and her relationship with Spring that she’d stopped keeping a close eye on her finances.
