Page 25 of Back in the Texan's Bed
When he’d proposed their...cohabitation, he’d stipulated it would be platonic. And that had been his plan. Up until she’d moaned into his mouth.
Now he was leaving it up to her; the ball was in her court. And if she wanted to play, he was all in. A year with free access to her body, to her pleasure?
He wanted it. He wantedher.
Trust her? No. Dying to be buried inside her? Hell. Yes.
“Come away with me.” The offer, roughened by the lust tearing at him, still hung between them.
Her lips parted, moved, but nothing emerged. She bowed her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. Anticipation and the need to press for an answer whipped inside him like a gathering summer storm, but he held back. Granting her space and time to come to her decision. Because it had to be hers, freely given.
Finally, she lifted her head, met his gaze. Desire still simmered in her eyes as did the doubt. But so did resolve. He had his answer even before she murmured, “Yes.”
He exhaled. “Good,” he said. “Call me when you’re about to leave work. I’ll come by to pick up you and Ben tonight.”
“Okay.” She sighed. Then whispered, “I hope we’re not making a mistake, Ross.”
The assurance that they were doing the right thing hovered on his tongue, but he couldn’t utter it. Because it would be a lie.
He didn’t know.
And right now, he didn’t care.
Eight
Acabin, he said.
Charlotte shook her head, smiling wryly down into the steaming cup of coffee she cradled between her palms.
Only Ross Edmond would call this luxurious four-story chalet in exclusive Telluride, Colorado, a cabin. She scoffed.Right. And Godzilla was a cute little lizard with anger issues.
Leaning on the wood railing, she studied the beauty of Mount Wilson and sipped the fragrant brew. Somehow the coffee tasted better up here in the mountains, with the crisp air biting at her cheeks. It should’ve been too cold to stand outside, but bundled up in her oversize sweater and a coat Ross provided from one of the cabin’s fully stocked closets, and with the freestanding fireplace at her back, she was warm enough.
And even if she’d been in danger of frostbite, she still would’ve remained out here on this ridiculously gorgeous terrace, watching her son and his father play together.
Ben had gone a little crazy at the sight of snow; he’d never experienced it in California, and though it did fall in Texas, none had fallen since they’d returned to Royal. His excited squeal had filled her chest with joy, and even if she was questioning her wisdom in agreeing to this impromptu trip, that delighted and wondrous sound had silenced every misgiving.
Ross had always appeared to her as self-confident. Arrogant. So sure of himself. But from the moment he had picked them up from her house, through the drive to the airport and the trip here in the Edmonds’ private jet, he’d been different. Uncertain. Even a little bit...nervous. And she knew the reason why.
Ben.
The small, three-foot-tall boy had humbled Ross Edmond.
He was in awe of Ben, and the fascination seemed mutual. Between the phone calls over the days Ross had been in Dallas and the trip here, Ben had lost most of his shyness, and had been stuck like glue to Ross. Falling asleep in his arms on the flight here. Climbing on his lap and contentedly eating with his father. And now building a really abysmal-looking snow fort in the huge yard behind the chalet.
They had a real bromance going on.
One of Ross’s reasons for this trip had been to bond with his son. Well, she snorted, that could be checked off the list. The other reason—hammering out the details of their arrangement—had yet to be accomplished.
God, she still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to moving in with him. Before he’d arrived at her house, she’d been firmly entrenched on #TeamSeparateHouseholds. But Ross always had possessed a silver tongue—and a gifted one. No, dammit. Don’t think ofthat.
But once that floodgate was opened, the waters rushed in, tugging her under.
That kiss. His mouth had brushed hers, and she’d gone up in lust-driven-pride-abandoning flames. Had he guessed from her reaction that she hadn’t been with another man since him? That would be utterly humiliating. Especially as he’d been with countless women if the gossip magazines and sites were to be believed.
It hadn’t been for lack of opportunity, but her priorities had been Ben and working. They’d left no time for dating or even casual hookups. Besides, the last time she’d trusted a man with her body, he’d let her down in the most spectacular of ways.
Obviously, her libido couldn’t give a damn about that. Even now heat pooled and thickened, beading her nipples under her multiple layers and swelling the flesh between her legs. She shifted, her thighs sliding against each other, doing nothing to assuage the ache deep inside her. The man had always been able to turn her inside out with need. With him, she threw away every rule and expectation, stripped off every inhibition and became...his. His to use, to corrupt, to imprison in a world of pleasure that she never wanted to be free of.
