Page 74 of Always Be Mine

Somehow, he didn’t think it would be a hardship.

Craig knelt and gently scooped his arms underneath Lucy. He stood slowly, and she naturally fell toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Unable to resist, he paused to kiss her softly on the cheek before moving carefully down the hall to her room.

Garfield was curled up in the center of her bed, and the cat did not look impressed to see him. Especially considering it meant moving. Craig nudged the cat over, and Garfield mewled in protest but jumped off the bed long enough for Craig to pull the comforter back before carefully lowering Lucy to the mattress.

He stifled a yawn and pulled the blankets up over her still-sleeping body. “Good night, Lucy.” Craig bent to give her one final kiss.

“Don’t go.” Her eyes weren’t open, and he almost thought she was talking in her sleep, except she said it again before adding, “Please?”

It was already after one in the morning. He was exhausted. Still…

“Only for a second.”

Before he could talk himself out of it, Craig moved to the other side of the bed so he could spoon Lucy from behind. Cognizant that he couldn’t stay, he didn’t get under the blankets. Which was probably a good choice, because when Lucy wiggled backward into him, his body forgot his exhaustion and reacted with intensity.

He groaned a little and nuzzled into her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her.

The last thought in his head before he drifted off to sleep was that he was going to need a miracle to drag him away from her.

Fortunately for Craig, that miracle came in the form of a large, very heavy cat with no sense of personal boundaries who walked over his face a few hours later, startling him awake an hour before his alarm was set to go off.

ChapterEighteen

Lucy stifleda yawn and poured the hot water over her teabag. She was exhausted from the late nights spent with Craig, talking, cuddling, and sneaking kisses over movies that neither of them actually watched.

Despite the lack of sleep and the fact that they still hadn’t been together physically, for the first time in her life, Lucy felt like she was building something solid with a man.

It was definitely worth the lack of sleep.

After the first night when Craig had carried her to bed and she’d convinced him to stay with her—something she did not remember doing—they made an agreement to be more careful. If it hadn’t been for Garfield’s lack of personal space, Meri could have found them that way in the morning, and the last thing either of them wanted to do was scare or confuse her in any way.

Craig was right; they needed to move slowly and cautiously where Meri was concerned. Initially, she hadn’t loved the idea of keeping their blooming relationship a secret, but she could see that it was the right choice. At least for the time being.

She swallowed back another yawn and eyed the coffeepot she’d just set to brew. It was mornings like this one where she was tempted to shift her caffeine source. Or maybe double up. She was up extra early this morning for a very special reason.

“Good morning.”

Craig, somehow looking much more rested than she was, walked into the kitchen, fresh out of the shower. She poured him a cup of coffee, but he ignored it in favor of giving her a kiss.

“Good morning to you,” she said as he pulled away. She was suddenly much more awake, her senses filled with the sexy scent of him.

He moved in for another kiss, but she put the mug of hot coffee between them. “The birthday girl is going to be awake any minute. Did you see what I did to her door?”

Craig laughed. “I did. It’s amazing. What’s the idea again?”

It was Lucy’s turn to laugh. “It’s something my mom used to do for me. She’d string crepe paper back and forth across the door and then when I woke up, I would burst through the doorway and into a new year. I thought it might be fun for Meri.”

“She’s going to love it.” For the first time, Craig looked around and took in her early morning efforts. “And she’s going to love this.”

Lucy smiled. Birthdays were important, especially to six-year-olds, and she wanted Meri to feel extra special when she woke up, which was why she’d sacrificed sleep in favor of blowing up dozens of balloons that now hung from ribbons attached to the ceiling. There was also a banner taped to the wall over Meri’s spot at the kitchen table and a tiara at her place setting.

“You’re amazing.”

“I know.” She winked in his direction and laughed as he shook his head.

“I mean it, Lucy.” Craig reached for her and pulled her quickly into his arms. “You’re absolutely incredible.” He kissed her at the same moment they heard the crack of Meri’s bedroom door.

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