Page 17 of Crew

When she’d used the toilet and washed her hands, she peeked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She looked happy. And it was all because of the sexy male in the bedroom.

He’d rocked her world so many times, proven that he’d take care of her in every way. Spectacular wasn’t a strong enough word for how it felt to be with him.

She walked back into the room and slipped back into his arms.

He cuddled her close, burying his face in her neck. “You smell amazing in the morning, love.” His voice was a low growl and a shiver wiggled down her spine.

He smelled good too. Like home. And great sex.

“We’ve gotta leave the bed, huh?”

“I’d rather not, but yeah.”

“Me too.”

He lifted from her neck and smiled at her, looking far too sexy with his tousled hair and stubble on his cheeks. “Shower?”

“For two?”

“You read my mind.”

After a quick bout of getting clean, then dirty, and then clean again, they dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

“It’s weird,” she said as she filled a plate with scrambled eggs from a bowl on the counter and waited for a bagel to toast.

“What’s weird?” he asked as he made up his plate.

“I’m used to being the one who handles the meals. Having Tris do it is very cool but makes me feel weird.”

“You shouldn’t feel weird. Tris is the caretaker and she’s really good at her job. Are you wondering what you would be doing when you join the herd?”

“A little.” She put cream cheese on her bagel and grabbed a few sausage links before joining him at the table with coffee and orange juice.

“You told me you were the main forager before everyone died, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there’s plenty to forage around here. I’m not even sure of all that’s around the territory, actually, but we can make any kind of garden you’d like or even put in a greenhouse. If you’d like to handle the foraging for the herd, you could work with Avi to plan and tend the gardens. Sometimes he can’t handle things because Dexter needs us for a job. There’s always plenty to do on the farm.”

“I’d love to explore the territory,” she said. “Wild blackberries for sure aren’t the only things growing; there might even be wild raspberries and grapes, plus mint and yarrow and even jewelweed. Oh, you know what I’ve always wanted to have? A tea garden, so I could really explore making my own teas.” Her mind spun as she thought about chamomile and rosemary and thyme.

Crew put his hand over hers and gave her a sweet smile. “You look so happy right now, love. You’re glowing.”

Her eyes pricked with tears. “Iamhappy.”

“Good, then I think you’ve got it figured out. We can build you whatever you need so you can have a tea garden. If you plan it out, I’ll talk to Dexter about working up plans for it, and we can do a greenhouse too. The more ways that we’re self-sustaining the better. You can be our forager and our Chief Tea Maker.”

“Sounds like a good title to me.”

“And that lemonade too. It was fantastic.”

“As long as there are fresh blackberries, I’ll happily make it.”

They talked about the day ahead, and even though she was excited to spend time with Crew while he went about his daily chores, she knew she needed to talk to Colton first.

“I can come with you,” Crew said as they stood on the front porch after breakfast.

“I need to do this on my own.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “I’ll catch up with you when I’m done.”

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