Page 58 of It's Only Love

Chapter 20

The drive back to Christy’s was steeped in tension with Dean calling himself every name under the sun. He glanced over at Christy, the sunlight shining down on her, highlighting her golden curls as she looked out the window, her body turned away from him. Last night had been…he didn’t have words. Nothing and no one had ever felt as right as she did when she was in his arms, he hadn’t wanted it to end. His body couldn’t get enough of her, he couldn’t get enough of her, and he didn’t think he ever would.

He watched her sleeping this morning, so beautiful and serene in her dreamworld. He tore himself away figuring that when she woke up, she wouldn’t appreciate his morning breath or him staring at her. After his shower, his body primed for round four, he went to find her to see if she was interested in stretching out this casual one-time fling. She hadn’t been where he left her, so he had gone looking for her and found her in his study and that’s when his world tilted on its axis.

He watched her, in his robe with her hair all disheveled, the sun bathing her in its golden rays as she jotted down notes, mumbling to herself and pacing. At one point she started arguing with herself, he just stayed silent and watched her. He knew she had been struggling with writer’s block, she must have had a breakthrough and he didn’t want to interrupt. He loved watching her mind work, sorting through the detailed intricacies of the story she was planning.

The feeling he got watching her, the sense of rightness of her being there, in his house and in his clothes hit him right in the chest. He just knew she would be at home in his place, it was one of the reasons he brought her here. Only he wasn’t prepared for how he would feel seeing her, so comfortable in his world. It was something he didn’t want to look at too closely.

She was clear she only wanted casual, that she wasn’t staying in town, she was leaving soon and going back to her life. He could feel himself beginning to get attached and he didn’t want to get even more so for her to rip his heart out when she drove off into the sunset. He was looking for forever and that wasn’t what he and Christy would have. Fuck, he was an idiot. He shouldn’t have gotten involved with her, but it was too late now. He couldn’t change what happened, wouldn’t want to change it for the world but he could protect himself.

When she finally spotted him, smiling shyly, his heart clenched in his chest. Her sweetness, her sexiness, it drew him in like no other, but now he had to reset the boundaries. His thoughts distracted him the entire drive and too soon they arrived at her father’s house. He turned off the engine and faced her, clearing his throat.

“I need to go to the garage today, I’ve got another friend of Beau’s dropping their Ferrari off and I need to be there. Bear could accidentally mangle something if I don’t supervise.”

She turned to face him, her eyes searching his face, trying to read him, but he kept his features carefully blank. A curl fell across her cheek, he clenched his hands tightly on the steering wheel to keep from reaching over and tucking it behind her ear.

“Okay.” Was all she said.

“But I’ll come back tomorrow, we’ve got lots of painting still to do,” he added, not wanting her to think that now he had gotten her into bed, he didn’t care about her. They had developed a strong friendship prior to last night and he wanted to be around her as much as possible, even if he couldn’t touch her how he wanted to.

“Great,” she smiled, he reached into his pocket and held out her keys to her. She stared blankly before realizing what they were.

“Thanks for dropping me back,” she said, taking them and holding them in the same hand that held the notes she made on his notepad. He wondered if she was going to write today now she had broken through her block, did she have somewhere set up to do that?

“No problem, see you tomorrow,” he smiled at her, she nodded and stared at him again before getting out of the truck and going into the house. He drove to the garage, greeting Bear with a grunt before shutting himself in the office, going through his emails on autopilot. Beau’s friend, Will, turned up on time with his Ferrari.

Will was a businessman himself, something of a celebrity, he had one of those entrepreneur reality shows, like Shark Tank. He knew that Will had a reputation for being a ruthless hard ass but Dean thought he was actually a pretty nice guy. They chatted while Dean worked, talking about their companies, telling each other stories and sharing advice. Will promised to bring his car back for detailing later in the year, both of them exchanging business cards as he left.

Dean stayed late at the garage, trying to bury himself in work before getting a late dinner at the diner. When he finally went home and stepped inside his house, it felt empty and quiet. He walked into the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge before heading out onto the terrace. He tried to think about other things, distracting himself from his thoughts. He rang Beau for a quick chat, the guy would be back soon, thank God. Dean was already used to having him around and knew he would miss him like mad when he finally returned to L.A. for good.

When they hung up it was time for him to do his drive by at Taylor’s. It didn’t take long and he was soon back home again. He went into the living room and spotted his robe draped over the arm of the couch. He grabbed it, fighting the urge to bring it to his nose and inhale Christy’s lingering scent. He decided to end the day and went to bed. Tossing his robe over the end of the bed, he stripped down to his boxers and slipped between the sheets.

He lay there, his mind tired, but not letting him sleep, instead playing a reel of his night with Christy. The images of them together, the sound of her moans in his ears had his cock hardening. He bit his cheek and put his hands behind his head to keep from reaching for himself. The memories continued to plague him, making him increasingly frustrated and angry. He could smell her scent in his room, had she come in here during the day or was it just drifting from his robe?

After fighting it as long as he could, he gave in and grabbed his robe, burying his face in the material and inhaling her scent, groaning. One hand reached under the duvet to grip himself tight, his mind played through all the things he wanted to do to her. What he wanted her to do to him, until he was panting and moaning her name as he climaxed. He removed his boxers and used the material to clean himself up, then lay there willing sleep to come.

By 4 am he had given up, got out of bed, and was padding around the house wrapped in his robe. He found himself in the study, he didn’t really use it much, but tonight it was drawing him. He surveyed the room and then started rearranging his desk, moving his computer, picture frame, and troublesome bonsai to one side, and arranging more notepads and pens across the top of the desk. That way she would have plenty of space and writing material. He didn’t know where the thought came from or why he needed to rearrange his desk the way he had when he knew she wouldn’t be coming by again. He only knew that if he didn’t do it, he wouldn’t have been able to sleep at all.

*

Christy’s mind was cluttered with thoughts. More thoughts than she had in a long time and it was wonderful. The only problem was, she had nowhere to put them. When Dean dropped her off in the morning, she was eager to start writing and get some of those thoughts down on paper. She had gone inside, grabbed her notebook and sat on the porch, ready for the inspiration she experienced earlier to take over. She waited, pen poised, sun shining down on her. But no. After an hour she hadn’t written a word, she forced the nib of her pen onto the paper, leaving a mark, but she couldn’t move her hand to draw letters.

“It’s fine, I just need a change of scenery.”

She went inside, grabbed her purse and keys, and went to her battered car. She drove to the Rusty Bucket Inn and went in. The place was pretty quiet for once, perfect for writing. She waved to Taylor and got comfortable in a booth. She loved her friend, but right now she wanted to avoid an in-depth conversation with her. Otherwise, Christy would end up blurting out that she spent the night banging Taylor’s brother and telling her how amazing it was when he made her come apart, awkward. Taylor was busy showing Kayleigh how to make cocktails which, thankfully, meant she wasn’t free to talk.

Christy pulled her notebook and pens out and lined them up on the table in front of her, she was ready. Ready to end this writer’s block and start writing.

Just write.

Write.

Any second now...

After two hours, three coffees, and one trip to the bathroom which resulted in memories of her and Dean’s first kiss, she still had nothing. A knot was forming in her chest, her frustration palpable. After a little while, a defeated Christy packed up her stuff. Maybe she was too relaxed, maybe being in a more formal setting like an office would help her focus. With a hurried wave to Taylor, she was out the door and driving into the town, parking outside Justine’s office, and avoiding looking down the road at Iris Motors. She rushed inside the building, accidentally slamming the door against the wall, and came face to face with Hilda. Hilda frowned at her for a moment before a smile lit her face.

“Hello dear, can I help you?”

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