Page 42 of Bound By Temptation

Her breath stopped,but I didn’t push it. I knew Indie. Knew how much she could take at one time, and for what I had planned it would take a little finesse. “Thought you said you needed to get to the bakery?”

Her eyes flared. “Let me guess … you know we close early on Saturday.”

“Of course. And you’re off on Sundays. It’s on your door.” He smirked. “Baby, been comin’ to your shop damn near every day since you opened; I know the fuckin’ schedule. I also know Meadow has a thing with cleaning, and she’s quite particular about it. She prefers to close the shop so she stays on top of the sanitation.”

The light dawned on her as she shook her head. If she could, I had no doubt she’d want to strangle me. Too bad that just made her hotter, and I’d love to see her try.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” I challenged.

Was I a fucking douchebag for what I did to her? How I hurt her? Absolutely, but not for one second had she ever left my mind. I remembered everything about her and her family because as much as her siblings could drive her crazy, one thing about the Fallon family, loyalty was everything.

The pup was cute and all, but licking my face was getting old, so I set her down and took in the space.

Shock? I wasn’t sure that was the right word for it, but something close to it.

Now I knew that Indie’s mom was a hippie back in the day, and her GramO, who was fucking awesome too. But I had no idea that Indie liked that feel for her space as well.

It wasn’t full-blown hippie. More of that boho thing that Austyn talked about wanting to change her living room into, and we gave Ryker shit because of all the bright colors and plants that Austyn would kill in the first week.

Stepping further inside the entrance, the colors hit me at once, and I questioned myself about giving Ryker shit.

The living room had a subtle orange on the walls, but the couch, pillows, and carpet were all bold in your face colors of blues, purples, greens, bright oranges and every other color under the sun. And plants. The woman had them in so many different sized pots on the floor, on tables, and some hanging from the ceiling in these net things, making me wonder how the hell she got them up there.

The coffee table looked as though it was made from recycled wooden pallets that had been sanded and stained. The floor had a rug with every color in the rainbow woven together in shapes of diamonds, squares, and rectangles.

The couch was a bright bluish-green color that she had to have custom made because I’d never seen the color before. Tossed on it were so many pillows, she had to throw some on the ground to even sit on it.

Taking a few more steps, in and off to the right was a dining area. It was slender as opposed to the living room, like it had something behind it. The walls had lower cabinets and shelves filled to the brim with books and other stuff. I made a note to check that out later when I could actually stop and look at the pictures.

The large long table was wooden as well and looked as though it had the shit beat out of it. More plants in the middle of it with chairs and pillows pushed into the sides.

“Sure. Why don’t you make yourself at home and go through my house looking at all my personal stuff? I mean, I did invite you into my space.” Sarcasm dripped from her tone.

“I’m gonna fuck you on this butcher block table,” I announced, moving through the dining room, and my finger skated on the table as I went into the kitchen. Yeah. This was what took up a ton of space. It had a wall of windows that showed off the backwoods in Sumner.

Orange. She had fucking orange cabinets and a refrigerator. Never fucking seen that before. Didn’t know they even made that shit. The walls were a bold green, and even with all the different colored bowls, it all felt like it went together.

“Yeah … that’s not happening. Fucked me once; it was fun. Have to say grown man Ax knows what he’s doing. But you won’t fuck me twice,” Indie said from beside me. I knew the last part was laced in memories of the past and not just about the sex we had. “Can we get on with the talking portion of this conversation? I’m ready for you to leave.”

The dog started barking, then ran over to the door and rang some bells. Indie followed and knelt to pick her up. “Does Gizmo need to go potty?” she cooed in a voice I’d heard moms talk to their children in, and I raised my brow at her, not ever hearing her like this.

“Shut up. No one asked you.” She turned on her heel, slid the back door of the kitchen open, and let the dog out. She didn’t shut the door and stood there keeping an eye on Gizmo. She was trying to distance herself from me. Too bad that shit wasn’t happening.

“Gizmo, Huh? Thought you’d choose something like Marley or Hendrix.”

She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and crossed her arms over her chest, pushing up those beautiful tits. “Why on earth would I name my dog after my brothers?”

“They both bark and shit a lot. They both think they have a bite.”

A smile tipped the corner of her mouth. I fucking loved that. Teasing. Joking around. It felt like we’d never stopped seeing one another, yet everything had changed. So much had changed with the both of us. But my feelings for her never had. If anything after today, I felt her through every cell of my body.

“Talk, Ax. Time’s a tickin’. I really need some sleep. I’ve been working on Mazie’s cake around the clock, and I’m wiped. I don’t have the energy to fight with you. Just say it already.”

“First, you need food.” Moving to the orange fridge, it was one of those old-fashioned looking ones with the handle horizontal, I opened it. It was stacked and had a built-in freezer at the top but didn’t have a separate opening from the cover.

“What are you doing?” she asked from further away, so I knew the dog hadn’t come in yet because she was still at the door.

Inside I found some ground beef, a bottle of red wine, and a small container of crushed garlic. I pulled it out and set it on the counter. Then I started opening and closing the cabinet drawers, trying to find what I needed or a close second.

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