Page 83 of Playing it Country

“I want to know why you’ve let everyone assume you’re the playboy and not this incredibly talented man.”

“Can’t I be both?” I roll my eyes and he blows out a breath. “I said it before—I don’t need approval. Otto and I have our business and we’re expanding. We do good work and we have the contracts to prove it. And for my personal life—not everything is what it seems.”

“So you’re really a private person pretending to be an outgoing, extroverted playboy.”

“Again, why can’t I be both?”

“Because you’re not. You’re humble and genuine and you treat people with kindness and compassion. You make people feel special—appreciated.”

You make me feel special.

I should tell him right now. I should tell him about the job as the silence stretches out between us. God, I want to tell him, but I can’t form the words and sweat coats my hairline.

Just when my panic has reached an all-time high and I think he’s going to ignore me altogether, he speaks.

“I’ve been keeping up a balancing act for a good long time, and I finally get to cut out some of the things that don’t fit anymore.” He picks up a pair of pruning shears and starts working on the plant in front of him. “It’s why everyone suddenly wanting to play matchmaker was so hard on me.”

“It’s you but it’s not you,” I say as everything he’s said finally sinks in.

He gives a single nod. “It’s hard keepin’ up sometimes. And I just thought”—he swallows hard but doesn’t look at me—“I thought that I’d be able to relax a bit and settle into being truly me. And then I met you.”

For the hundredth time today, I can’t read his expression, and I hate feeling like he’s keeping something from me. But I can’t be mad when I’m keeping something from him too.

I wish I could take him away from here. I know a million hidden gems all over the country where no one would ever find us. My feet move across the floor, and before I know it I’m standing right next to him.

“I don’t like it.”

He turns to face me. “Don’t like what, Han?”

“Dammit, Case, I’m mad for you. What’s going to happen when I leave? Isn’t it just going to be them chasing you again?”Come with me.

“I can’t worry about that now or else I’ll lose my mind.” He swallows hard and that sadness is back. This time, however, he doesn’t try to hide it. “Why can’t we just enjoy this while you’re here, and I’ll worry about the rest later?”

His hands grip my hips as he lifts me onto the bench and immediately steps between my legs. My dress rides up my thighs, his hands pushing the fabric higher as his gaze drops from my eyes to my lips.

“I knew what I was doin’ back then for my brother, I knew what I was askin’ you the moment the words left my lips, and I’ll know what to do when you’re gone.”

His declaration knocks the air from my lungs faster than his fingertips sliding under the lace of my panties.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He breathes the words into my mouth, and I inhale the carnal need that radiates from him.

“Me either.”

His lips crash against mine as my hand knocks his hat from his head, my fists clenching the strands of his hair as I fight for dominance.

I need it.

He needs it.

And we need it more than air in this moment.

Tongues clashing, teeth gnashing—it’s not pretty and probably not sexy, but it’s all-consuming as his finger slides inside me and my legs wrap around his waist.

I gasp and he growls as his teeth nip at my collarbone. “Don’t come until I’m inside you.”

“Don’t make me wait.”

“You’re so fuckin’ bossy.” It’s part an accusation and part praise as he backs away far enough to unbuckle his pants and slide a condom onto his magnificent cock.

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