Page 73 of Smokin' Situation

“A girl gets stranded on a deserted road in peril once and she never hears the end of it.”

“A gorgeous woman intentionally puts herself in danger multiple times in a few days’ span and I have to come to her rescue more than once,” I teased, squeezing her waist.

“My favorite hero,” she whispered, laying the side of her face against mine.

“Your favorite sweaty hero that wants to get out of this sweltering barn and take a shower before I do unspeakable things to you now that you’re back where you belong.”

Phi was a good girl and held still while I slipped off the back of the saddle, extending my hands up to help Rhey dismount. She fell into my arms, and I tightened them around her waist, my nose grazing her chin. She laughed when I didn’t put her down, leaning back to look into my eyes.

“I think I could love you too,” she confessed, and I sighed, letting her slip lower in my grip until our lips were level.

“Good,” I whispered into them, our breath mingling as hers pulled into a smile against mine. “I was worried it’d take you a while to catch up.”

Not giving her time for a retort, I surged forward, kissing her hard as I backed her against the barn wall, pouring every ounce of relief into reconnecting with her.

WhileIwantednothingmore than to fuck away the stress of the day, I knew it was more important that Rhey and I talk about everything that had happened before we let ourselves get distracted.

Even if she was looking gorgeous—stretched out on my bed in just a towel—watching me dry my chest after our shower. While our handshadwandered as we kissed underneath the spray of the shower until the water ran cold, I’d tried to keep my baserinstincts at bay. She deserved a genuine conversation about where our relationship went from here. I knew where I wanted it to go, but I also didn’t want any other surprises.

“Is it time for you to do those unspeakable things to me now?” she asked, crooking a finger and beckoning me toward her like the siren she was.

Climbing onto the mattress, I tried not to laugh at how her eyes lit up as I stalked toward her. The way she looked at me had me falling harder and harder the more time we spent together. I’d never felt as wanted as I did with her. The fleeting thought that she might have looked at Jay the same way at one time had me groaning and falling to her side on the mattress.

“That didn’t sound like a sexy groan,” she mused, turning to her side and tracing her fingers down the damp skin on my back. “Everything okay?”

Turning my face, I looked over at her, hating I’d put that little crease between her eyebrows again. Sometimes being honorable was a gigantic cockblock.

“Maybe we should talk.”

Her eyes flashed with something that looked like fear as she shifted away from me and sat upright against the headboard, clutching her towel to her chest.

“Not that kind of talk,” I murmured, reaching for her hand and tugging until she settled on her side, mirroring how I was lying on top of the covers. Lifting her hand toward me, I kissed her palm and settled it on my chest as I scooted in close to drape my hand over her hip. “I just don’t want the tough conversations to get clouded by my desire to fuck you into this mattress until you can’t remember your own name.”

Her eyes widened, and she tilted her head to the side. “I don’t know, forgetting my own name sounds pretty good right now.”

Leaning forward, I kissed her nose, shaking my head at yet another one of her dirty comebacks. While I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in our connection, I didn’t want the emotionalone to suffer because we were too afraid—or too distracted—to talk.

“I want you to know that I’m not just interested in a fling with you. I know we talked about how this felt different, but I also know how guarded you can be sometimes. I’m laying my cards on the table. I want a relationship with you.” She opened her mouth to respond, but I put my fingers over her mouth so I could finish. “While he wasn’t exactly thrilled about finding out about us at first, I told Jay the same thing. You aren’t a distraction in a new town; you’re the reason I want to stay.”

“He’s not mad?” she asked, her gaze trained on where her fingers played with my chest hair. Crooking a finger, I tilted her chin so she’d look at me.

“Jay is gonna have plenty of distractions on his plate here soon. He’s the one who encouraged me to go after you when I told him how I feel about you.” And provided the interference so I could escape our mother and having to explain why my date had run away from the family barbecue.

“I don’t want to cause problems with your family. I know how important they are to you,” she murmured, averting her eyes.

“Rhey, sweetheart…” She tried to pull away, but I banded my arms around her back, pulling her further into my chest. “You’re important to me, too. And while it might be a little awkward for a while, I still want you to meet my family.”

“Do they—”

Cutting her off with my mouth, I captured her lips, kissing her until we were both breathless. “Reid is the only one besides my dumbass brother who knows what happened.”

Rhey’s body relaxed in my hold as I kissed her again, her anxiety melting with each pass of my lips. When we finally came up for air, she still looked worried, but there was some relief lingering in her gaze.

“It’s gonna be so awkward when I meet them,” she whined, burying her face in my chest. I combed my fingers through her hair, enjoying the way she burrowed closer with each caress.

“No, it’s not. Because they never need to know. You gave me the impression that you and Jay kept things discreet as far as my family was involved, so unless you feel the need to tell them, I won’t say a word. And I’ll make sure my ding dong brother doesn’t either.”

“Are you sure it’s not too much?” she asked, shifting back so she could look into my eyes.

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