Page 24 of Wild and Unruly
My boot-clad feet carry me quickly over to her side, and I lean down, realizing she doesn’t notice I’m there, and say, “I’m surprised you’re awake this early, Ms. Helix.”
Still, she doesn’t turn around, and I frown, reaching out to grab her shoulder and turn her around.
She jumps at the contact and swings back, hitting me in the gut with her camera bag. “What the hell!”
I’m bent over slightly, and the wind is knocked out of me, so much so that I can hardly get the words out. “What the hell is in that bag?”
Bonnie looks startled and concerned as she looks at the bag, her breath coming out in pants. “Um, camera stuff.”
“Heavy stuff,” I say, taking a deep breath and standing straight again.
“Why are you sneaking up behind me, Stetson?” she huffs, putting her camera in the bag and securing it before reaching up to her ear and pulling out a wireless earbud.
Ah. So that’s what it is.
“What are you listening to so loudly that you didn’t hear me coming? Or say a whole ass sentence to you?” I grab the earbud from her, and she tries to snatch it back.
“Hey! Don’t—” I hold it to my ear and fight her off with the other hand. She slaps my arm, trying to get it back, but I’m already listening.
“The way she looks after she’s been freshly fucked was burned into my mind for the rest of my life. I couldn’t wait to get her back home and show her that she was well and truly mine.”
I blink and slowly pull the earbud away, handing it back to her. “Huh.”
Her face burns bright red, and I realize she has the other earbud in her ear still. So, we just listened to that together.
“Okay, nice to see you! See you never again, bye!” She turns quickly, but I’m not letting her get away that easily.
I rush behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and spinning her back toward me. Now we were face-to-face, mynose nearly touching hers and her fingers digging into my arms to hold herself steady. “No need to rush off.”
“Oh, there’s a need, trust me.” She barely stutters the words out and pulls against my hold.
I readjust so I have her more firmly against me. “Bo, why are you running off?” Last night meant a lot to me. There’s no way it didn’t have a similar impact on her.
“I’m not. I’m just…well, I’m busy.” She waves her hand around, looking anywhere but at me. “Loads to do, you know.”
I reach up, grasping her chin lightly in mine. For now, I decide to let the teasing go about the book she was listening to. I have no issue with a woman who was into some sexy books, but I knew she was obviously embarrassed.
Plus, I have more pressing matters to be concerned about.
“Bo, last night was amazing.”
She puffs out a breath. “Well, yeah, you were pretty drunk. No need to worry about any of…” She finally meets my gaze and swallows before spitting out, “That.”
I frown at her and say, “Honey, that moment in the bar will forever be a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life.” Her eyes widen slightly, and judging by the heat coming from her gaze, the memory of what we did was flashing through her mind. “But I was talking about after that. In the truck.”
All we did was talk. There was minimal touching, though I had been tempted a few dozen times, I managed to keep my hands—mostly—to myself.
She clears her throat. “We really can forget about it.”
My arms loosen slightly. “You want to? Because I don’t.”
Her fingers grip my arms, her eyes holding mine as she thinks, and I wait as patiently as I can. I don’t want to forget it. As a matter of fact, I want to do it again.
When she stays silent long enough, I start to pull away, my heart falling to my stomach, but then her fingers grip me tighter, and she pulls me back.
“Wait.” Her eyes shift to the side, and I follow them, realizing my entire family is just waiting around in a circle for me because they drove me this morning. “I don’t want to forget about it.”
My lungs are able to take a full breath, and she steps back into my arms, holding me there. “Good,” I finally say, giving her a half grin and just looking at her.
