Page 24 of Wannabe in Wyoming
“You like it when I talk dirty, huh?” Chuckling softly, he rubbed his hands up and down her back, soothing them both. “I’ll remember that for later. Didn’t mean to get carried away there, but you seem to have that effect on me.”
“I think we have that effect on each other.” Climbing off his lap, she reluctantly retreated to her own side of the swing as he shifted to the other end. She had to fold her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. As badly as her body wanted him, her heart and brain were telling her not to rush things. If Nathan was the man she believed he was, he wouldn’t push her until she was ready to take their relationship to the next level. It was one of the many reasons she knew she was standing on the edge of a cliff, only one step away from falling madly in love with him.
“Come here.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he tugged her back up against his side. “I’ll keep my hands to myself, for now anyway. Here’s a subject change that is sure to kill my hard on, did you find anything else out about your dad?”
Laughing, she shook her head. “The boxes I’ve looked through so far were just full of junk. Nothing worth saving, and none of it told me anything other than the man was a miser. He squirreled away money, but let this place fall apart. I don’t get it. I’d hoped for a journal or some photographs maybe, but so far it’s been nothing but receipts and old newspapers, boring stuff like that.”
“I can help you look through some of the other boxes, if you want?”
“That’d be great. Maybe you’ll see something I’m missing. People in town seem to have very strong opinions about him, and I’m struggling to understand why.” The breeze that’d been light over the past hour strengthened and blew across them, making her shiver. Noticing, Nathan bent down, picked up the blanket they’d both forgotten about, and draped it over them.
“I know you’re chilly, baby, but are you okay staying out here a little longer?” Nathan asked as he tucked the soft material under her chin.
“When I have you to keep me warm? Absolutely.” Sitting snugly against his side, she laid her head on his chest, feeling as if she’d been made to fit there. “Baby, huh?”
“Yeah, is that okay?”
Giggling and feeling happier than she could remember being in a long time, maybe ever, she poked his side. “Sure, you can call me baby—I don’t mind. Not when it’s you anyway.”
“Damn right—no other man better call you baby either, whether I’m around or not.”
Between the blanket and his body heat, she didn’t notice when the temperature dropped a few degrees more. The sun had fully set, and the Milky Way had twinkled to life throughout the big Wyoming sky. She’d never seen so many stars before moving here—the urban pollution in Philly muted most of them. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over being able to see the stars like this.”
“It really is spectacular, isn’t it?”
They sat that way for a long time, holding each other close and listening to the sounds of the night. When a flash streaked across the heavens, Willow pointed and exclaimed, “Look! Did you see? It was a shooting star. You have to make a wish.”
“Nah, I have everything I could wish for right here.” He kissed the top of her head and kept staring up at the vast, inky black sky peppered with sparkling lights from other galaxies.
Beside him, Willow sighed in complete and utter happiness. It was a feeling she wasn’t familiar with, but she wasn’t going to squander or question it.
Chapter Eighteen
The next morning,Willow groaned as she rolled over. She briefly nestled back under her fluffy down comforter before the memories of yesterday came flooding into her mind.
Nathan was here.
In her house.
Right now.
And she was laying around in bed like a lazy asshole.
Checking the time, she saw it was just shy of eight. Hoping he was still sleeping, she rose and stepped into her slippers. After a quick stop at the bathroom, she headed down the hallway, intent on brewing a pot of coffee before making breakfast, but she halted in her tracks in the kitchen doorway.
Nathan was at the sink, rinsing out the carafe and refilling it with water. Scratch that. A better way to say it was a shirtless,half-naked, gorgeous hunk of a man was standing barefoot in her kitchen making coffee. She didn’t bother to stop herself from dragging her gaze along every inch of exposed skin.Holy mother of God!She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Up his sinewy arms, over the tattoo on his shoulder blade, and down his muscled back. She took a few extra moments to admire where gray sweatpants rode low on his hips, revealing two dimples on the small of his back that she was dying to see if they tasted as good as they looked. The sun shone in through the windows and colored his skin in a soft warm glow. She was about to start drooling on herself any second now. Had she died and gone to heaven? Because that was the only reason her muddled brain could come up with for why there was a golden-skinned god standing in her kitchen.
Glancing down at herself, she noted her very un-sexy outfit of ratty, old sweats and a too big slouchy t-shirt that read, “Wyoming Girls Do It Better.”
Shit. Should she go change? That would be dumb though, right?
“You look your fill yet, Wannabe?” Peeking over his shoulder at her, he smiled warmly. “Mornin’, sweetheart. Sleep, okay?”
“Ug . . . um.” Clearing her throat, she tried again. “Er. Yes. Y-you?”
“I slept like the dead,” he said before scooping coffee grinds into the filter basket. “I gave Ethel fresh water and topped off her food dish. Was that all right?” He poured the water into the reservoir, set the coffee pot on the warmer, and then hit the button to start it brewing. Turning around to face her, he crossed his arms over his impressive chest. His bare arms were just as drool worthy as the rest of him. Since when were arms sexy?
The few brain cells she’d managed to rally fled. His front was even sexier than his back. Dark hair covered his pecs and trailed down his defined abs into a narrow line that disappeared into his pants. She’d never really liked hairy guys before, but she was officially a convert. Her fingers itched to scratch through the coarse strands and dig into the muscles underneath. What would the hair feel like against her palms? Her cheek? Her nipples? She shifted her thighs together, surprised at the ache that’d developed so quickly just from the sight of him shirtless.
