Page 107 of Major Love

Her fingers weave through mine and my chest pumps faster, wanting her closer.

“What are we gonna do at your place?” she asks.

First of all, we’re going to move her back in. But after that?

“You said that some shit went down in Nashville, so I was thinking that I could teach you a little” – I squeeze her fingers with mine – “hand-to-hand combat.”

And with yesterday’s fears behind us, her eyes light up.

“Are you serious?” she squeals, that rasping voice of hers making my quads flex.

“Yeah,” I rumble, laughing quietly when she yanks me down to her.

She wraps her arms tight around my shoulders, her chest pumping quickly against my pecs. And heat floods my body,making my muscles grow heavier as I pull her close, and I brush a kiss against her neck before pulling back, my eyes half-mast.

Then I lean back over to the driver’s side and try to put as much room between us as possible, so that she can get out of my truck without me getting my hands all over her.

I open the driver’s side and step heavily down into the snow, jogging around the hood to open up Sunday’s door. And the second that she steps out, Haven’s entryway bursts open.

“Sunday!” Tucker squeals.

Sunday laughs as her brother’s kid hurtles toward us like a little racehorse.

“Jesus, he’s fast,” I say, and Sunday giggles against me as she murmurs, “But if you give him a second–”

Tucker’s legs can’t catch up with the speed of his feet, meaning that one second he’s upright and in the next he’s rolling through the snow.

I shake my head, hiding my smile, but he rights himself pretty quick, flinging himself toward her.

“Oh yeah, he’s a faller,” Sunday giggles, leaning down slightly so that Tuck can reach up and cuddle his arms around her neck.

And something stirs deep in my abdomen at the sight of her with a kid – paternal instinct kicking in as she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and tells him to run back to his mom.

When she stands upright again, I run a hand through my hair, and my chest swells to twice its size as she runs her fingers up my jaw. My stubble scrapes against her skin and my abdomen burns, despite the chill.

“Get in there, sweetheart,” I murmur, “before I put you back in my truck.”

Sunday laughs gently, her hands stroking my nape, and I push my fingers up the back of her sweater, massaging her firmly, showing her what I really want.

“You’ll come get me tomorrow?” she asks softly.

“The second I finish my shift,” I promise.

Then my heart’s thundering in my chest as she presses her perfect lips against my stubble, touching me more gently than anyone ever has before.

“See you,” she whispers up to me, the feel of her rubbing against me driving me crazy.

“Yeah,” I say quietly, releasing her from my arms when she finally pulls back. “Tomorrow,” I add hoarsely, dropping my forearms to the roof of my truck and watching her over the hood as she makes her way up the snow-covered drive.

Then I drop my head between my shoulders as the door finally closes, and I trudge toward the driver’s side, hunching down as I heave my body inside.

I glance at Haven’s front window for a long moment, before reaching inside my jacket and pulling out my cell.

It doesn’t matter if I don’t get any reception while I’m outside of Haven’s place, because the messages will deliver as soon as I set foot through mine. I just need to get this dealt with right now, before anything more happens between us.

I tap open the mail app, thumb hovering over the recipient line.

And then I type in Casey’s Army email address and click the white space beneath it, hammering out the message before I can doubt that it’s the right thing to do.

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