Page 80 of Hand Picked
“Don’t tempt me,” Luke mumbled.
“Why not? Aiden’s not expected home for hours yet, and the dresser is still in front of the door.”
The low rumble of his chuckle made me smile. “Barbarian.”
I kissed the back of his neck and behind his ear until he woke up a little more and turned around to face me. His cheek was creased and his eyes half closed.
I’d never seen anything better.
“Morning,” he said before snuggling into my chest. “God you smell good. I don’t ever want to leave this bed.”
“Your mom comes today, so unfortunately, we can’t stay here forever.”
Luke pulled back to give me a mock glare. “Boner killer, thy name is Webb.”
I kissed his cheek, his forehead, and his temple while reaching down to stroke him. “Bet I can bring it back to life.”
We kissed and stroked each other lazily, teasing and flirting, until we were both hard and ready to come. It didn’t take much. I wondered if it would ever take much with this man who seemed to turn me on simply by breathing near me.
We brought each other off with our mouths in a reversed tangle on the bed. As soon as I caught my breath, I grinned up at him proudly.
“First-ever sixty-nine,” I admitted. “Five out of five stars. Highly recommend.”
Instead of laughing, Luke frowned. “You never did it with Amanda? Ever?”
I thought back to my time with her. “No. Not that I can remember.” I moved around until Luke and I were settled back on the pillows face-to-face. “I was obsessed with making sure my partner came first.”
“I’ve noticed,” Luke interjected. “And let’s be clear, I’m not complaining.”
I reached for his hand and threaded our fingers together. “So I usually focused on her first. And if we came at the same time, it wasn’t through oral. Not sure I’d want someone’s teeth near my junk while they were losing control during an orgasm.”
Luke tilted his head. “But you let me do it.”
“That’s different,” I said without thinking. “I trust you.”
The words landed heavily in the room, killing the mood stone dead.
I muttered a curse and an apology. “I didn’t mean for her to come up.”
Luke reached out and stroked my cheek. “I’m the one who brought her up. And… I’ve been meaning to ask you about her anyway.”
I blew out a breath and turned onto my back. Leave it to Amanda to ruin my morning with Luke. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t want to know anything if it’s going to upset you.”
I turned my head to face him. “She brings out the worst in me, and I don’t necessarily want you to see the worst in me. That’s all.”
Luke nodded. “That’s pretty expected with exes. But I’m curious how things ended with you two to leave such animosity between you. It…” He hesitated.
I reached out to hold his hand again. “Go on,” I urged softly.
“It upsets Aiden. He feels like he needs to defend her to you and protect her from you. I’d imagine he does the same with her. Defends you and protects you. That’s a lot for a kid his age.”
His words were kindly meant, but the blade still cut deeply.
I rolled toward him and buried my face in his neck. “Thank you for being brave enough to tell me that,” I mumbled against his warm skin. “You’re right.”
We lay like that for several minutes while I processed what he’d said. When I got my thoughts together, I pulled away again. “I married her for the wrong reasons. My dad was sick, and when he passed away… it made me panic a little. With him gone, I realized how short life was. I had the orchard to manage, but I also had young siblings. Em was only eight at the time. I was desperate to keep us together as a ‘normal’ family, whatever normal means. I guess I thought it meant I needed a wife. I needed to start a family.”
