Page 72 of Sugar
His stare turns near-lethal.
I grin, turning back around to continue on.
By the time we make it to the house I figure I’ve won our little game, since Kasey hasn’t uttered another word, but just as I’m about to round the corner to the front of the house, a thick arm curls around my ribs and yanks me backward.
I’m pulled off my feet by the sheer force of it, hurling into a wall of stone that turns out to be Kasey’s chest. I forgot what it was like to behandledby him. How he used to lift me like it was nothing, used to overpower me in the best of ways—a wildly underrated benefit of dating a cowboy who regularly works ranch chores.
Kasey spins me around so I’m facing him, then backs me into the side of the house. My heart hammers as he wraps a palm around my waist, squeezing, pulling my hips against him. “Have I told you lately how crazy you make me, sugar?” His eyes glow with fierce desire and wicked challenge.
I grin, arching into him. “You know, I think you may have mentioned it once or twice, but I honestly don’t remember. Care to remind me?”
“Reallyfucking crazy,” he murmurs, eyes dipping to my cheek before falling to my mouth.
“Well, that’s too bad.” I hold up the back of my hand to show him the ring on my finger. “I think you’re kinda stuck with me now.”
He doesn’t look at it, keeping his gaze trained on my lips, his eyes growing distant and murky. “Yeah? You think?”
“Yeah. Well . . . at least until?—”
I’m interrupted by a kiss so fierce it buckles my knees.
Kasey devours me.
Calloused fingers drag against the skin beneath the hem of my shirt as his tongue strokes deep into my mouth. His hips press harshly into mine, trapping me against the wall with a low grunt. I’m consumed by the heat of him,everywhere, all over me, as his other hand angles my face to better fit against his, like two long-separated pieces of the same puzzle, finally slotting together.
There’s no mistaking it:thiskiss isn’t to prove anything to anyone else.
This one is just for us.
“Be good, Ava,” he says roughly into the curve of my ear as he tries to pull away from me.
“You’re the one pinning me against the house like the world is ending,” I rasp, clutching him tighter, not ready to let go.
He groans as he reaches for my wrist and tears himself loose, like it’s the last thing he wants to do.
“Behave,” he begs.
“Orwhat?”
I’m pushing too hard—I know it. I see it in the way he’s obviously fighting a losing battle. And yet, I can’t stop.
His eyes are so dark they match the night sky.
“Fuck,” he growls, turning away from me, reaching to adjust himself through his pants. “Let’s go.”
He leaves me panting and breathless and much colder than I was mere moments ago.
But as I push off the wall to catch up to him, I can’t help the wide smile that pulls at my cheeks. I feel more alive than I have inyears.
Dinner goes well,all things considered.
I feel like a fish out of water sitting at the table with Kasey (who won’t look at me), both of his parents, Layla, and all three nephews. Rhett and Wells are tending the bar—they’ve picked up shifts for the next few nights to give Kasey and me a chance to “get comfortable” with our new living arrangement—and Brooks opts out of dinner altogether. Without any of his brothers around, the spotlight of everyone’s attention falls on Kasey and, therefore,me.
But I expected it. How could I not? Kasey just committed fraud for this family, to protect their home and their assets. Everyone at this table knows our marriage isn’t real—except maybe the boys who probably don’t even know the ranch was under threat to begin with—and it’s honestly kind of freeing not to have to lie or put up any pretenses about it.
“So, Ava,” Mrs. Bennett asks over her plate of barbecue chicken and collard greens, “what brought you back to Saddlebrook Falls?”
I swallow down a mouthful of food. “My job sort of went . . . sideways,” I explain.
