Page 44 of The Naughty List

She sure as fuck didn’t expect me to call her out on it, though.

I’ve spent my morning at Hardin’s Hardware picking up a few things to help Blair with the leaking laundry sink after getting stuck talking with Bessy at the grocery store. She made sure to remind me that I’d volunteered to be Blushing’s most eligible bachelor for the Catch A Cowboy contest at the Christmas fair in a few days. Though, I don’t know if volunteer is really the right word for it. It was more like being sucker punched into it by the horrifying visual of Blair catching another man.

Fuck. I wonder if she knows I’ll be the cowboy she’ll be trying to catch. The thought puts a wicked grin on my face. I hope it’s just as much of a surprise to her as her arrival in Blushing was for me.

Pulling up outside her home, I grab the few tools I’ll need and the replacement heater that I really should have picked up days ago before making my way to the door. She’s not exactly expecting me today, but I have some free time, and if she tries to fix the sink herself, I’m only going to end up here trying to fix her fuckup anyway. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. Truth be told, I’ve been dying to come back here since the second I left her panting in her bed.

Things are starting to shift. The anger in my chest has finally started to dissipate, and I’m seeing things more clearly. I think seeing the way she so easily fits back into life here in Blushing has put things into perspective, and I’m seeing my future flash before my eyes.

Blair has always been mine, and now the idea of her packing up and leaving again has me in a nervous sweat. I don’t think I’m ready for her to leave quite so soon, and yet, here I am, showing up with bullshit excuses to help her with her renovations, which in reality, is only going to help her get out of here sooner.

God, I’m such a fucking idiot. If I were smart, I’d be coming up with reasons why this renovation needs to be extended. But at the end of the day, if she’s going to remain in Blushing, I want it to be because she wants to be here with me, not because she has no other choice.

My knuckles rap against the old wooden door, and I take a step back, putting space between me and the door so that Blair doesn’t have to barrel right into me the moment she opens it. Though come to think of it, maybe that wouldn’t be such a tragedy. I’ll take any chance I get to put my hands on her and feel that smooth skin beneath my palms.

The cheesy Christmas music stops, and I hear her moving around inside as she makes her way toward the door.

Fuck. Why is my heart racing like this?

Be cool, Nick. It’s just Blair. It’s not as though your whole future with her could slip away in the space of two seconds if you fuck this up. It’s not as though this is the woman you’ve been desperately wanting to make your wife.

Shit.

As her footsteps reach the door and the handle turns, I hold my breath as she finally pulls it open.

There she is. So fucking gorgeous, and the way her cheeks are already flushed with paint smears across her forehead tells me she’s been busy this morning.

Her eyes widen just a fraction, and I watch as she sucks in a breath. Hell, I wonder if her heart is racing just as fast as mine. “Oh, Nick,” she breathes, clearing her throat as though there’s suddenly something blocking it. “What are you doing here?”

A smirk pulls at the corner of my lips. “Your phone broken?”

Her brows furrow. “Huh?”

“I’m assuming you didn’t get a new number.”

Understanding dawns as her eyes widen again. Her jaw slackens, and I know without a single doubt that she’s going to try and play this off, acting as though she doesn’t know what I’m referring to. But let’s be honest, it’s not only been circling my head for the past two days, it’s been circling hers too. “What are you—”

“Tsk. Tsk. I saw the read receipt, baby,” I say, inching toward her, watching as her gaze lifts, always remaining on mine as though just as captivated by me as I am by her. “There’s no denying that you got my message. The question is, why haven’t you responded?”

Her cheeks flush a deeper shade of red, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I step right into her, my arm circling her waist as I drag her back inside her home, kicking the door closed behind her as the sounds of that night play on repeat inside my head. I press her up against the closed door and she gasps, her hand pressed firmly against my chest. And damn it, those beautiful eyes are still locked on mine. All it would take is for her to look away, to break the connection, and I’d be able to pull myself back. But the thought of letting her go pains me now that I have her in my arms and her sweet scent pulses around me.

I lean into her, my lips grazing the soft skin of her neck, and as she tilts her head, opening up for me, I can’t resist taking a small taste. My lips work their way up to the sensitive space just below her ear, and when she scrunches her fingers into the material of my shirt, holding on for dear life, I almost fucking lose it. Hell, at this point, I don’t even know what happened to her replacement heater, all I know is that it’s no longer in my hands.

A deep groan rumbles through my chest, and my arm tightens around her waist as though terrified to let go. “What is it, B?” I rumble as her chest heaves with heavy, panting breaths. “Why didn’t you respond to my message? I know you’re not ashamed that I heard you. I know you better than anyone in this town, remember? Better than anyone you could have met in New York, too. You liked that I heard you screaming my name because you know what it did to me. Don’t forget that I have seen you at your most vulnerable, seen the way you look when you come, tasted you. So don’t fucking lie to me, Blair, and don’t even think about pulling theI was embarrassedbullshit.”

My lips return to her throat, and I feel the way she swallows, her fingers bunching even tighter into my shirt. “At first I was humiliated, but just like you said, you’ve touched me in ways no other man ever could, and the second I remembered that, the humiliation faded away. But then I was just . . . disappointed.”

I pull back enough to meet her stare, refusing to loosen my hold around her waist. “What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t come to me, Nick.” She lets out a heavy breath, and seeing the confusion in my eyes, she goes on. “You sat out here when you heard how desperate I was for you, and you didn’t come to me. In another life, back before I walked away, you never would have let that happen. The second you knew that I needed you, you would have run to me. You would have torn down the fucking door just to get inside my room and give me what I needed. But the reality is, I don’t get to have you like that anymore. You’re not mine to hold on to. Not mine to touch or kiss—or love. And that’s on me. I screwed us up, and I suppose that your message just put that into perspective.”

My lips press into a hard line, and I drop my forehead to hers, needing this moment of peace with her more than I could have ever known. “No matter where you are in the world, Blair. No matter how much we’ve pushed each other away, if you need me, tell me. I will always come running.”

My thumb slips beneath the material of her shirt, skimming over her bare skin. “Trust me, not storming down that fucking hallway and giving you exactly what you needed was killing me, but despite how much I wanted to, and despite the fact that you’d been drinking, I couldn’t do that to you.”

Her brows furrow. “What are you talking about? I wanted you to.”

“Believe me, I fucking know that, and had you known I was sitting out here, I can imagine that you would have come out here and seduced me until I broke—and it would have fucking worked. But you’re leaving, Blair. At the end of the day, getting to touch you like that again, getting to hold you and taste you is only going to make it that much harder when you inevitably walk away. I don’t want just a piece of you for a fucking night, Blair. If I’m going to touch you again, it’ll be because you’re mine.”

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