Page 66 of To Hold and Protect

“You’re just saying that. I’ve barely touched you.” She squeezed her hand and laughed when he growled. “You sound like a grouchy cat.”

“A grouchy cat that’s going to bite you if you stop doing that.”

His eyes were hooded and almost black and staring at her as if nothing mattered more to him than her. She admonished herself for wishing that was true. She couldn’t think there was anything in that look on his face than that he was a man who was into her in the moment. She didn’t want anything more than that from him, so all was good.

Liar.

Was she lying to herself? Maybe. Probably. But this was what it was. A moment in time with the best man—in so many ways—that she’d ever known and would likely ever know. She wanted to make sure he never forgot her, and to get to what she wanted to do, she tugged on the waist of his pants. “Up.” When he lifted, she pulled his pants and briefs down, and when they reached his knees, he kicked them the rest of the way down and off.

“I need your dress gone, Willow.”

“All in good time. First, I have to do this.” She dropped her knees to the floor, lowered her mouth, and wrapped her lips around him. He whispered her name, sounding as if he treasured her, and when he dug his fingers into her hair, she didn’t brush them away. His taste, his scent, the sounds coming from low in his throat sent heat spiraling through her.

“Enough,” he growled, then pulled her up. “I’m taking over.”

A minute later, he had her out of her dress and her panties off. “Like magic,” she said. “One second I have clothes on and in the blink of an eye, I don’t.”

“Is that a complaint?” He pulled her over him so that she was straddling him again.

“No, sir, not from me.”

He reached over to the side table, picked up a condom, opened it, then handed it to her. “Put it on me.”

This bossy side of him was new, and she liked it. Heat turned his eyes dark as he watched her put the condom on. When it was rolled on him, she put her hands on his shoulders, then lowered herself down on him. She’d always liked sex, but sex with Parker was beyond anything she’d ever experienced. The way he filled her, the intimacy of it, his eyes locked on hers...it was intense.

He put his hand behind her head and pulled her to him, then as they kissed, he tangled one hand in her hair while his other one cupped her breast. If this was the last time she’d be with him, she didn’t want it to end. Something felt different between them tonight, a gentleness mixed with sadness, as if they both knew their time was up.

“I don’t want the night to be over.” He flipped her so that she was under him. As he supported himself on his elbows, he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks and stared down at her. “Beautiful girl.”

Beautiful boy. She memorized the way his eyes turned soft as he looked at her. Those soft eyes said that he had feelings for her, as she did for him. Maybe more than either of them expected, but he wasn’t wanting a forever, and her dream—a home on the beach—was in her future. But for tonight, he was hers.

Two days later, Willow was in the garage, sorting through the junk her uncle had crammed in it, most of it going in the construction crew’s trash bin, when a car turned into her driveway, a yellow convertible Beetle. Obviously, she was hallucinating, and she blinked. Nope, it was still there.

Another car pulled in behind the Volkswagen. A man exited the Beetle, and she walked toward him. “Can I help you?”

“Sure. You can take these.” He held out a set of keys.

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, it’s simple. You’ll need the keys to drive your new car. All the paperwork’s in the glove compartment.”

“My new car?”

“Ma’am, all I know is I was given your address and paid to deliver the car to you.”

“By who?”

“The dealer in Charlotte.” He lifted a chin toward the car behind the Beetle. “My ride back’s waiting.”

He tossed the keys toward her, and reflexively she caught them, then frowned as the man got in the other car and they drove away. She’d planned to rent a car until her insurance check came and she could replace Sunshine but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. How and why was another Sunshine magically sitting in her driveway?

She retrieved the paperwork and frowned again at seeing the car was paid for in cash. There was only one person she could think of who might be behind it, so she texted him.

You know why there’s a new car sitting in my driveway?

Parker:Maybe

You can’t just buy me a car

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