Page 79 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
“Oh, you know…” She moved her food around on her plate, looking up at him under her dark lashes. “I wrote you a note.”
And his libido took a kick to the groin. “A note?” he asked, trying not to sound disappointed. He’d read her wrong. Her surprise was sweet, not sexy. “Can I read it?”
Julie’s lips curled softly. “Yes. But you’ve got to find it first.”
His libido kicked back up. “Where is it?”
She shrugged a shoulder, still swirling her fork on her plate. Finally, she set her fork down and leaned back in her chair. “It’s hidden somewhere on my body.”
His pants tightened around him. He stood.
“You haven’t finished eating yet.” Her eyes widened.
“Oh, I’m finished here. I need to do a thorough search for this note you wrote me. Sounds important.” And he needed to get his hands on her. Pulling her up to stand, he kissed her, pressing his hands around her waist. He played with the hem of her shirt for a moment and then pulled away from the kiss to lift it over her head. “Mmm,” he moaned, laying eyes on her black lace bra. “Now there’s a surprise.” He liked the image, but not nearly as much as seeing her with nothing on. He kissed her softly again, running his hand along her sides. “This could take a while. I might need to lay you down.”
“The bedroom?” she asked.
“Too far away,” he growled. If he had to wait one more second he was going to explode. “Here. Now.” He dropped to his knees on the floor beside the kitchen table and started to peel off the rest of her clothing. Unbuttoning her jeans, he ran his thumb over her navel. “Not there,” he said, looking for this note of hers. He continued searching, and kissing, stroking. “Not there…Nope.” He pulled her down on the floor with him, loving how she looked in black lace and candlelight. His eyes stopped searching when he met hers. “You know you’re beautiful, right?”
“I know I feel beautiful when you look at me that way.”
He hovered over her. “Then I’ll keep looking at you. Now where is this note?” He looped a finger in the strap of her bra, making it fall and revealing the Post-it. “Aha,” he whispered, meeting her gaze again.
She lifted a hand to stop his. If he wasn’t mistaken, she suddenly looked nervous.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just, you’re a man who prefers not to talk about his feelings. So, instead of talking, I thought…” She pulled that pouty lower lip of hers between her teeth.
“Can I read it?” he asked.
She nodded. “Okay.”
Unfolding the paper, he held the note up against the flicker of light from the table.I love you.Three small words. Lowering his body back over hers, he kissed her mouth.
“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know how I—”
Silencing her with another kiss, he stopped her nervous chatter. Then he pulled back and looked at her, as serious as he’d ever been. “I love you, too, Julie.”
He’d never said those words to a woman before. Never felt this way about a woman before. “I don’t mind talking about my feelings when it comes to how I feel about you. I love you,” he repeated, loving how easy it was to say. “I’ve said it. And now I’m going to love every inch of you, if that’s okay with you, darling.”
She smiled. “Only if I can do the same to you.”
His jeans were so tight now that the only thing to do was take them off. He unbuttoned and stripped down. Then they made love on the floor, and the couch. The shower. By the time they found their way to his bed, they were so spent that the only thing to do was hold on to one another, which was fine by Lawson. He planned on holding on to Julie longer than just tonight. A lot longer.
Chapter 23
The roar of a Huey pricked Lawson’s ears as he strode up the sidewalk toward a metal building at the entrance of the airfield on Monday morning. He didn’t ignore it this time. He was about to go up in one. Sucking in a breath, he continued walking.
He had to do this. For Beth. Sabrina. And Julie. No way was he letting a little anxiety keep him from staying in Seaside, and from the best thing that had ever happened to him.
He opened the building’s door and walked in, thankful for the drone of the air-conditioning unit.
“Captain Phillips.”
Staff Sergeant Andrews stood at attention. Was that uncertainty in his eyes? Pity? Was everyone here aware of the fact that he’d stayed away from this place because it physically hurt to be here?
“Good to have you back,” Andrews said.
