Page 24 of Laying it Bare on the Run

I wasn’t exactly sure how she had misinterpreted that stuff but I would set her straight right now. “The invite to the more comfortable bed?” I gave her a mischievous grin.

“That one threw me.” She paused for a moment as her face scrunched in concentration. “Did you just want me in your bed to comfort me?”

Well, didn’t she just put it out there? Now it was my turn so I pondered my next words, carefully. “I wanted you to get a good night’s sleep and be comfortable, yes. But I also enjoyed having my arms around you, whether it was the hugs or having you on my lap. And I just knew I’d love having you wrapped up in my arms in my bed. I know you aren’t ready to think about things like that and I’m okay with that. But I won’t lie to you. I want you to trust me. It wasn’t just for comfort. I wanted you there because I like you and I still want you there.” I held my breath as she absorbed my words.

I couldn’t read her face. I wasn’t sure if she was surprised, upset, or happy about my confession. “Thank you for being honest. So I’ll be honest with you too. I was afraid to get in your bed for fear I wouldn’t want to leave it. No, I’m not ready to deal with this right now so thank you for being okay with taking things slowly. But I liked being there too.”

Score. I really wanted to keep her there. So I had to make sure I carried out my plays perfectly. I had to make sure I never gave her an opportunity to doubt I was sincere. “Can I kiss you again? And then we’ll finish up in here and go relax on the couch or something. I would really like more than that taste I just got but it’s okay if that was enough for you for right now.”

“It wasn’t.” She shot me a shy playful smile.

Pulling her into my arms, I dropped my mouth to hers and lightly ran my lips across her pillowy softness. Then I ran my hands up her back and into the hair at the sides of her face. Gently, I tilted her head to the side so I could deepen the kiss. When a quiet moan escaped her lips, I slid my tongue across the seam and rejoiced when she opened to me on a sigh. Slipping my tongue inside, I tangled mine with hers and relished her taste. Chocolate chip cookies but something else just as sweet flooded my taste buds. I could just eat her up. She was probably even more delicious elsewhere. And didn’t my dick perk to attention with that inspiration, wanting my tongue to encounter and sample even more places and hoping he would be invited along to indulge as well.

But before I ravished her on my kitchen bar among the cookies and the mess, I pulled away and touched my forehead to hers. “We’ll revisit this later, if you want to. I don’t want to push you. Your mouth on mine was driving me insane. I think I like your taste better than my pancakes.” I winked at her, hoping to lighten my confession. I didn’t want to come on too strong but shit; just tasting her mouth had my dick turning to granite.

Her cheeks pinkened as she placed her hands on top of mine. “I may have to agree on a couple of your insights. But I really do like your pancakes.”

I pulled back slightly, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then smirked at her. “Good on both of those accounts. Let’s get this cleaned up. Then we can find something to watch on T.V. and after dinner we can sit outside when the temperature will be a little more comfortable.”

We set to work washing the dishes, cleaning up the bar and counter, and storing the remaining cookies – after eating several more of them first. Then we headed into my living room and plopped down on the couch. I twisted sideways so that Harper could sit between my legs with her back against my chest while I wrapped my arms around her waist.

“So what do you want to talk about? I’d like to get to know you better.” I nuzzled my nose into her hair, inhaling deeply. Traces of lavender still clung to her but to me she smelled like home and something uniquely Harper. She didn’t need perfumes to smell delectable.

“I can tell you about my family, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I’d love to know all about you. I just don’t want to make you sad. I want to hear as much as you want to tell me. They had to be pretty spectacular because I see how you turned out. I would like to hear about them if you want to share.” I lowered the volume on the comedy show I had paused on.

She took a deep breath and snuggled closer to me. “My dad was an emergency room doctor, so he worked a lot of crazy shifts and sometimes had to pull doubles when things got wild. My mom worked part time as a bank teller. She didn’t need to work but needed something to do since my dad was gone a lot. But when my dad was able to take time off, we would do things as a family. Either a movie night out which was common or occasionally we would head out to Reelfoot Lake State Park to go boating and fishing for the day. When we got older and started working and my sister got really busy with dance those trips became less and less so we’d have a dinner and game night instead.”

Harper shifted slightly, like she was trying to burrow closer. “My sister was ten years younger than me so she was still living at home and pursuing a career in dance. I’m a year older than your sister and the middle child.” Grabbing one of my hands that was across her stomach, she entwined our fingers. “My brother was five years older than me and he did some sort of techie stuff at the hospital. He was really good with technology. I worked at an accounting firm.”

I kissed the top of her head. “Your family sounds a lot like mine. You guys were really close.” Hoping I didn’t sadden her, I pressed on hoping the more we talked the better she would feel, remembering the good times. I didn’t know much about dealing with loss and grief and only hoped that her talking about it would help lessen her pain. "My dad was a cop like me. He retired about five years ago. He loved his job and worked a lot of long hours too but still made time for his family. I followed right in his footsteps. I had to wait until I turned twenty one to join the academy but within two months of graduating I got hired where I am now. So until I could enroll in the academy, I worked for a local construction company. My mom worked part time just to pass the time, like yours did. She worked at a little craft store. And then she’d use her discount to buy crafting supplies and work on that while my dad was gone. When my dad had time off, we would sometimes head out to Grand Lake for the day to boat and fish.” I squeezed her. “Our families have something in common.”

Harper released a small giggle. “So we have some things in common, I guess.” She shrugged. “I guess that means we’re somewhat well-matched.”

Her response made me smile. I wanted to get to know her but wasn’t sure at what point her sharing about her family would be too much and upset her. I didn’t like to see her hurting. “My sister was a late bloomer for figuring out her life.” I chuckled slightly. “She bounced among so many things I don’t even remember what they were because I stopped paying attention.” I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it. “That’s why she was staying with me for a while. But she finally got settled and became a web designer and moved closer to my parents. They’re only about an hour from me.”

“I like talking about our families. I mean thinking about mine still makes me a little sad but it felt really good to talk about some of the good times we had.” Harper twisted in my arms so that she was more lying across my chest rather than sitting up against it.

Hopefully she didn’t feel my dick twitching in my jeans at her movements against him. But if she did, she made no indication of it. I kissed the top of her head again.

She was quiet for a few moments and I was getting ready to ask her what else she wanted to know about me when her even breathing signaled she had fallen asleep on me. Smiling, I ran my fingers gently up and down her back. I really loved how comfortable she was with me already. And even though I had just met her, man I couldn’t imagine not having her here with me. I wasn’t sure I believed in love at first sight but I could feel myself falling for her. Leaning my head back against the cushion, I closed my eyes and within moments, I fell asleep too.

* * * * * * * *

Quiet moans and someone deliciously rubbing her body along mine had my dick perking to life. Opening my eyes, I glanced down at the beautiful girl sprawled across my chest, wiggling and squirming about as if coming out of a really good dream.

Her eyes popped open and she looked up at me in confusion.

“We fell asleep. I think you were dreaming.” I ran my fingers through her hair, swiping a few unruly strands from her face. “What were you dreaming about?” If her surprised expression was any indication, I was pretty positive I really wanted to know. But a huge part of me doubted she would divulge any details.

As an adorable blush crawled up her neck and face, she shook her head. “I don’t remember. I’m not sure if I was even dreaming. Sometimes I just roll around in my sleep.”

I would have loved to have called bullshit, but I hadn’t known her long enough to tease her that much. She hadn’t moved a muscle last night but maybe that was because she had been beyond exhausted. But still, I wasn’t going to say anything. It was enough to be fairly certain she was having a sexy dream and I could pretend I was the star of it.

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep. We just wasted some of your day off. I doubt you wanted to spend the time napping.” Her lips pulled down into an endearing frown.

“Actually, if you remember, I had just come off of eight straight days and part of my plans included catching up on sleep. And sleeping here snuggled with you was just an added bonus.”

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