Page 27 of Fore Better or Worse
“Small and cluttered?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of perfect. And exactly where I want to be.”
That’s when I see it. An apple pie on the stove under a mesh cover. My gaze shoots to her. “You made pie.”
Her cheeks flush, and she waves a hand in the air. “I had some apples that needed to be used up.”
“Today?” I grin at the thought of her rushing home from work to bake for me.
“Homemade pie takes longer to make than the hour I’ve had since getting off work,” she informs me, arching an eyebrow.
My grin widens. “So you made it yesterday? Before you knew I was coming?”
“Don’t read anything into it.” The warning is clear, but the bottom lip tucked between her teeth tells a different story.
“Too late, darling. I’m reading all kinds of things into homemade pie.” I step closer, backing her against the counter. “You knew I was coming to town for the tournament. Were you thinking about me? About that night when I said I’d down at least two slices if you invited me over?”
“Maybe.”
The whispered admission lands deep in my chest. I can’t resist anymore. I cup her face in my hands and kiss her. She melts into me without hesitation, her hands gripping my waist as she kisses back with the same desperate hunger surging through my veins.
Her lips are soft and warm, and when she opens for me with a soft gasp, I deepen the kiss until we’re both breathing hard, our hands roaming over each other’s bodies, learning the landscape. When I finally force myself to pull back, we’re both panting.
Her dark pupils are dilated. I want to drown in them, but I need to slow down. This isn’t how tonight should go. We’ve barely been reunited half an hour. Haven’t even had dinner. I blow out a long breath and step back, my cock throbbing in protest.
“I need to stop. I don’t want you to think that this, what’s between us, is just physical.”
“I—”
“No matter how much I wanted you then, and how much I’m dying for you now, I didn’t ask you to marry me because you turned me down. I asked because I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it. Still can’t.”
“What if I don’t want to stop?”
The question hangs between us, loaded with three years of longing and the kind of need that makes me forget every lesson I’ve learned about patience.
“Leah,” I breathe, her name a prayer and a warning all at once.
But then she’s rising on her toes, her hands sliding up my chest to curve around the nape of my neck, and when she kisses me, there’s nothing hesitant about it. It’s hungry and demanding and full of every fantasy I’ve had during the endless nights apart.
“I’ve waited three years,” she whispers against my lips. “I don’t want to wait three more days, let alone three more minutes.”
That’s all it takes. My restraint, already hanging by a thread, snaps completely. I pin her against the counter, my hands sliding down to her thighs to lift her onto the surface. She wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me closer. Being tucked against her core, the warmth pressed against my length, makes me groan.
“Are you sure?” I manage, even as my hands are already sliding under her sundress, mapping the soft skin I’ve dreamed of caressing.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.” She wiggles against me with an urgency that matches my own.
Her hands are in my hair, her nails raking my scalp, and my heart races like a goddamn freight train. This woman… This goddess tastes like heaven and sin all at once, and I’m already addicted.
“Bedroom?” I murmur against her lips, my hands sliding down to discover a thong and her bare ass. She smiles against my mouth, a wicked little grin that sends a shock of heat straight to my cock.
“Down the hall,” she breathes. “Second door on the left.”
I carry her there, her lips on my neck, her teeth nipping at my ear. I can’t focus on anything but the feel of her. I’ve been with other women, but this? This is different. This is Leah, and she’s all-consuming in the best possible way.
We tumble onto the bed, a tangle of limbs and laughter. I pin her beneath me, struck by how her curves fit perfectly against me. It’s as if she were made for me, and the thought sends a shiver down my spine.
“You’re gorgeous, darling,” I murmur, my mouth moving down her neck, my hands cupping her breasts through the thin fabric of her sundress. She arches into my touch, a soft moan escaping her lips.
