Page 56 of All I Need

She waves him off and rolls her eyes. “Oh please. If I weren’t perfectly happily married, they sure as hell are. Have you ever seen them with their women? They don’t even notice anyone else.”

“Whatever. Just don’t scare the poor guys.” Brett grins at his wife, obviously teasing her.

She scoffs and I chuckle.

“Next week,” Courtney says, pointing at Ellie after she hands her phone back to her.

Ellie doesn’t even think when she says, “You got it.”

“You did great today, Ellie. I wouldn’t have known it was your first time,” Brett tells her and I agree with him.

She barks out a laugh. “Right. Like I didn’t totally show off my newbie status when I gagged a little bit at the amount of brown liquid that expelled from Stormy with the force of a hurricane.”

“Okay, so maybe that part,” he teases.

“I’ll call you in the morning, check on Camilla and Stormy. Make sure everyone is doing okay.”

“Sounds good. Thanks for coming out.”

“Worth it for that pot roast.”

Courtney beams and we climb into the pickup, waving goodbye one last time before we head down the long lane.

“So, what’d you think?”

“Amazing. Incredible. Life changing.”

“Yup. Pretty much. It’s incredible what bodies are capable of, huh?”

“It is. I’ve just never seen anything like that before.”

All too soon we’re back at Miss Polly’s but I’m not ready to let her go yet.

“I’m glad you came with me,” I tell her and can’t stop from reaching over to hold her hand. After our too short kiss and her not pulling away from me earlier when I placed a hand on her leg at Brett and Courtney’s, I know without a doubt it’ll never be enough.

“I am too. Thank you, Walker. I don’t know how, but you always seem to know exactly what I need.”

Her words hit me hard. Truth be told, being with Ellie, acting on her behalf, is just natural to me. I should tell her that although I can’t explain it, being with her is seamless. But right now, I want to tell her that she’s all I need.

Instead, I show her, wrapping my hand around the back of her neck to pull her to me and touch my lips to hers. This time, I lick the seam of her lips and they separate almost immediately. She tastes of the coffee we had after dinner and the sweetness that is all Ellie.

Before we can get carried away, I slowly back away, centimeter by centimeter. My body screams at me in protest, wanting nothing more than to continue making out in my pickup like a couple horny teenagers but Ellie deserves so much more than that.

Her sigh turns into a wistful smile as her bright blue eyes shine up at me. “Good night, Walker.”

“I don’t get to walk you to the door?”

“I can make it on my own.”

“You can also make it with me by your side.”

She rolls her eyes, springs out of her seat and kisses me quickly on the cheek and then before I can protest any further, she’s out the door.

I watch as she almost skips up the steps and waves at me over her shoulder before disappearing into Miss Polly’s house.

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