Page 106 of Opposites (Never) Attract
That took me off guard. “Why? I slept here last night. You asked me to stay.”
“You did and I did,” he said, his jaw tight. “But I don’t think we want to make that a habit.”
“Two nights is hardly a habit,” I muttered, feeling rejected. I rolled off the bed and stomped my feet into my boots.
Sleeping with people wasn’t something I’d ever done before. Not the whole night. And I realized this morning I liked it. Not just because I’d been able to sleep through the whole night without waking up, my brain turned off like Tag knew exactly where the switch was.
But, because sleeping curled up with Tag was the safest I’d felt in my life.
Now I had to get back on the ATV and ride through the night back to the Lodge and my lonely guest bed.
What a letdown.
“This isn’t because you’re afraid of my brothers, is it?” I asked him, as I stomped, yes, stomped, after him toward the front door.
“I’m not afraid of your brothers,” he grumbled. “I could take every one of them if I had to.” He paused a beat. “Maybe not Seth, but he wrestles steers for a living.”
Then a darker thought occurred to me. “You’re not…embarrassed? Of me?”
He frowned as if he was genuinely confused.
“You know,” I said. “I wasn’t exactly the most popularkid in school. Or in town. I’m still not. Especially, if I don’t pull this financial trick off. One false step and they’ll probably run me out of Last Hope with pitch forks. Go home, city girl, all over again.”
Again, his brow furrowed. He shook his head. Opened his mouth and shook it again. “Your brain, Sunshine. It can be a scary place.”
“You’re telling me.”
He cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. Look into him. “You think I care about what anybody thought of you in high school?”
“It’s a small town. People talk.” I shrugged, and tried to pull my face free. This was stupid. This was why I should keep my mouth shut and not ask for more than what I’m given.
One arm at a time, he wrapped himself around me. Pulling me against that wide chest that I was learning by heart. I dropped my head on to his shoulder and just let him…hold me.
“Darlin, I don’t care what anybody thinks, or says, or even shouts at some damn council meeting. I like you. I fucking love fucking you. And tomorrow, I’m going to teach you how to ride because you’re not afraid of anything. Who doesn’t want to be around a person like that?”
I lifted my head to meet his eyes. His expression was soft and I knew everything he said was true.
“Okay,” I whispered, moved by his words.
“Now, you’ve done it,” he grumbled.
“Done what?”
“Made me change my mind,” he said, as he took my hand and pulled me with him back to his bedroom.
“But you said I couldn’t stay.”
“I said I didn’t want to make a habit of this,” hegrumbled, even as he led us back to his room. “Habits can be hard to break.”
I watched him undress. His shirt, his socks, his jeans and his boxer briefs. He was semi-hard and it made me smile, because I knew it was because he was thinking about being in a bed with me, even if he had no intention of doing anything.
Come to find out, Tag was a very neat cowboy. Instead of tossing his clothes to the floor, he had a hamper in the corner of the room and tossed them there. Then he pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms from a dresser drawer and tugged those on, completely unconcerned with his hardening cock.
“You like looking at me naked, darlin?” Giving himself a long, slow stroke before pulling the pajamas up over himself.
“I like looking at you any way,” I said, honestly.
He opened another drawer in his dresser and tossed me a shirt. It was just a white cotton tee, but it smelled like him.
