Page 59 of And Then There Was Us
In the next second his hands were on her, pulling her against him, taking her in one smoldering kiss after another.
Brianna reached for his pants, tugging one side of his fly as she guided his back to the wall where she’d just been and playfully held him there.
“Bree…?”
“Shh. My turn.”
She crushed her mouth to his, pinning him against the wall with her hands. He grabbed her hips, and she pushed his hands away, drawing back from his mouth and snagging his lower lip between her teeth before releasing it and slicking her tongue over the sore spot.
“Who are you?” He swallowed to settle the eagerness in his voice.
“I thought about you all night,” she said earnestly. “I know how much you respect me. And I realized, the only way I’m going to get through to you—really make you understand hownot carefulyou have to be—is to show you that you can treat me like a woman.” She licked her lips again. “Seven years is a really long time. Now, let me show you just how wild we can be.”
And she did…
Gloriously.
After she blew his mind, he gazed into her loving, trusting eyes, and said, “I’m going to make a bride out of you one day, and not an accidentally pregnant one. The next time you get pregnant, it’ll be your decision.” He swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.
“What did you just say?” she asked tentatively.
“It’s madness, I know. I don’t want a night here or there, a date when we can fit it in. I’m not pushing, and I don’t think I’ve lost my mind. I just know I never want to be without you, and I want to take care of you and Layla with every piece of my heart and soul.”
Her lips curled up and her eyes filled with more love—if that were even possible. She took his face in her hands. Her lips parted, as if to speak, before a tear dropped from her cheek and she touched her forehead to his.
“Oh, Hugh,” she whispered.
He laid her on the bed, and as their bodies became one, the anxiety from the morning evanesced, leaving his heart whole and his mind free to embrace the woman that he loved.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
THE BEGINNING OF the week went by in a blur of work, romantic phone calls and texts, and nervous excitement. Brianna was finishing up her shift Wednesday evening at the tavern when Kat sidled up to her.
“So, any more bride talk?” She leaned back against the bar and lifted her eyebrows. Today she wore a coral-colored lipstick, which gave her a fun, youthful appearance.
“I haven’t seen Hugh since Monday.” She had hoped to see him before work that morning, but he’d had to meet with a sponsor. Each time they’d spoken since Monday, they’d talked about Layla and caught up on what each of them had done that day. They swooned about how much they missed each other and both professed how they couldn’t wait to see each other again. Brianna should have been over the moon, but she realized that morning that Hugh hadn’t brought up what he’d said while they were making love—I’m going to make a bride out of you one day—and the worry had expanded like a sponge in water throughout the day, lodging itself in her chest. The clock couldn’t reach five fast enough.
“Does this mean you’re going to move away from me? What will I do all alone here with no one to talk to?” Kat smacked her gum and dropped her gaze.
Brianna tucked her hair behind her ear and let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t think that’s what it means, Kat. I really don’t know what it means.” She threw her towel down on the bar.
“Whoa. What’s up with that?” Kat picked up the towel and folded it, then tucked it back into Brianna’s belt.
“Ugh.I don’t know.” She bent down and whispered, “He hasn’t brought it up again. At all. Should I worry? I mean, what does that mean? Does he regret it?”
“Of course not. The man’s crazy about you. He rented a freaking carousel, Bree.” She poked Brianna in the side of her head. “Think. Use your head for a minute. He told you he’s going to make a bride of you. The guy who rented out an entire park, who fixed your car, who bought your daughter a hundred-dollar game. Do you really think he says things he doesn’t mean? Or…do you think he can’t bring it up again unless he’s really ready to propose? In case you haven’t noticed, this guy doesn’t do things halfway.”
“Maybe.” Brianna looked up at the ceiling. “But he could regret it,” she said quietly.
“You’re insane. What does your mom think?”
Brianna bit her lower lip.
“Brianna! You didn’t tell your mother?” Kat crossed her arms. “You are worried.”
“I just want to know he’s sure. I don’t want to get all”—she waved her hands up over her head and used a high-pitched voice—“I’m getting married!only to find out that he said it in the heat of passion and didn’t really mean it.” The stupid lump she’d been fighting all morning lodged itself in her throat and pressed tears to her eyes.
Kat put her arm around her shoulder. “Bree? Has he done something to make you think he doesn’t adore you?”
