Page 60 of Back in the Country
“What do you think about hosting a party?”
“Like with my family?” I ask, confused because I might murder Otto in a setting like that.
“No.” She smiles and my stomach flips like it always does when she looks at me like that. “Like advertising amake your own signparty. We could keep it local for the first one to work out the kinks, but I think you’d make a killing.”
“Would people actually come to that?”
“Oh, hell yeah! It’s like girls’ night out. I went to one in Nashville. It would be a lot of setup work, but once you do it the first time, I think you’d be set for future events if you wanted to do it. Oh! Maybe make it a theme!”
“A theme?” My girl is on a roll, and I am just along for the ride.
“Yes! Like—let’s just pick Christmas to make it easy—you premake stencils that say wintery things likeLet it SnoworJingle Bells.”
“You know this is Tennessee, right? We almost never get snow.”
She growls before looking at me.
“Iknowit’s Tennessee, Waylon, but that doesn’t mean people don’t like cute season-appropriate décor.”
Leaning over, I place a quick kiss on her pouty, delicious lips before pulling back and making more notes about themedmake your own signnights.
For the next hour, we brainstorm each of my three events and how we will lay them out. Yes,we—because apparently Marlee is determined to help me every step of the way. She’s already strong-armed me into letting her overhaul my website.
The noises she had made while doing her overview of my current site were somewhere between disbelief and disgust. I had shown her just how much I appreciated her help with my mouth and then something else that had her screamingherappreciation.
God it feels good to be like this with her. It feels natural, like we were always meant to end up here together, and maybe we were. It is a strange thought but I am not sure it matters. She is my life and she always has been.
After exhausting our ideas for each event, I gather all my papers and place them back inside my binder. Then I scoop up the love of my life and throw her over my shoulder as I march us into the bedroom. Laughter falls freely from her delectable lips and, God, do I have plans for those lips.
Marlee giggles as she bounces on the mattress and then sucks in a deep breath as I climb on top of her.
“Thank you for your help tonight,” I murmur against the column of her neck.
“I’ll always help you, Way.” She sighs as I kiss and nip my way down to her shoulder, her body arching into me with each touch.
She is pure fucking heaven, and I’ll never get enough as long as I live.
Pulling back, I strip her clothes off, leaving her completely bare to me. Lust pumps through every vein in my body, and my smile is probably somewhere around feral.
“I’m going to show you how much Ilikeyour help.”
She moans as my mouth finds her core, and she doesn’t stop for the rest of the night as I worship every inch of my blonde-haired goddess.
24
MARLEE
Iam still waiting on my boss in Nashville to verify the details on my new remote position. We’ve gone back and forth on project management details and how I’ll balance my current job with the official launch ofWillow Creek Designs.Robin has been hugely understanding and supportive through the entire process, and I can’t wait to tell Waylon.
He’s been working so hard; I want to show him that I am too. Our lives are finally coming together in ways I’ve only ever dreamed of. Hopefully, I’ll have good news to share soon.
In the meantime, Waylon and I had mapped out his final project and I threw myself into anything and everything I could to help keep myself busy. The farmers’ market had been the ‘soft’ opening for his events. He’d made a number of signs of different sizes and shapes both generic and specific to Clementine Creek. The one with the coordinates of our hometown was my favorite, and he promised to make me my own.
I’d surprised him with T-shirts printed with his logo on the breast pocket and the larger design on the back. He’d told his family about everything at dinner right before the farmers’ market. Mama had cried, and Daddy had wrapped him in a big hug and whispered in his ear something just for them.
His brothers had shaken his hand, slapped him on the back, and asked how they could help. I made sure everyone had a shirt and arrived bright and early to show their support.
Waylon looked so handsome that morning that I’d dropped to my knees in the living room of his trailer and almost made us late. He didn’t complain and neither did anyone else when he sold out of all his premade stock halfway through the day. We’d collected email addresses and special order forms for the rest of the day, and by the time we were done, Waylon had enough work to make an honest-to-God living doin’ what he loved.
