Page 79 of Cru's Crush
Cru glanced at my bare left hand, and his eyes scrunched, most likely realizing I hadn’t let on that he’d proposed and I’d accepted.
We stayed another hour, then when my mum suggested Cru had had a long flight and might want to rest, we took it as an opportunity to leave and be alone, which we both desperately needed.
“I haven’t told them yet,” I said once we were in the car, but I hadn’t started the engine.
“You don’t have to explain, Daph.” He reached over and took my hand.
“I just felt like it might cause them more stress.”
Gazing into his eyes, I was reminded that Cru had always been patient with me, always understanding, always accepting. No matter what I’d done or what might have happened, he was forever my stalwart supporter. “I don’t deserve you,” I murmured like I had more than once in the time I’d known him.
Cru shook his head. “That’s because your previous boyfriends never treated you right.”
I chuckled that he’d used the plural form of the word when we both knew there was only one man he was referring to.
I started the car and was exiting the parking area when I realized that, if we went to my parents’ house and stayed in the room I’d had as a child, we’d be forced to sleep in a bed hardly large enough for me, and definitely not for the two of us. I pulled over and rang the housekeeper, asking if she would please get one of the guesthouses ready for us. I was relieved when she said both accommodations Martin and Hewitt had vacated this morning were clean and available for the next guests.
“I hope you’ll at least let me see the balloon mural,” Cru teased when I ended the call.
“It’s embarrassing, really.”
He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. “Everything about you is fascinating to me, Daph.”
I shook my head, and my eyes filled with tears. “You’re so good to me, Cru.”
He smiled. “It’s becauseI love you.”
While I’d fearedit might be awkward between us, the minute we walked through the front door of the guesthouse, we tore at each other’s clothes. Our mouths were fused when we tumbled into the bedroom and fell on the mattress, already naked.
“I need you, Daphne,” Cru said, positioning his hardness at the entrance to my drenched pussy.
“I need you too, Cru.”
Unlike the languid lovemaking he and I had had in the past, this was fast and hard, our passion for each other equally frenzied. Our bodies were intertwined in every way they could be, as if we couldn’t bear it if there was a place where our skin didn’t touch.
Our orgasms came quickly and simultaneously. Still, we held each other tightly, both overwhelmed by the emotion of being together again.
I loved Cru with all my heart, but that didn’t mean I knew what would come next for us. The best-case scenario was, once harvest ended in California, the grapes had been processed, and fermentation began,maybehe’d be able to return to Australia.
My parents might be able to manage for a few days or weeks without me in terms of my father’s rehabilitation, but until matters were resolved with the board of Cullen House, I wouldn’t feel comfortable setting foot outside of Australia. Particularly now that Martin and Hewitt had returned to the States.
After a few minutes, Cru cupped my cheek and I looked into his eyes.
My breath caught when I asked how long he’d be able to stay at the exact moment he asked when I thought I’d be able to leave.
“I’m not sure,” I answered first.
He nodded, but his hurt was palpable.
“What about you?” I asked.
Cru shrugged. “I’m not sure, either. It depends on when and what I hear from Bit. My ticket is open-ended.”
I wished I saw that as a good thing, but it didn’t feel that way. All it meant was he could leave tomorrow if it became necessary.
“Your dad seems…”
I waited for him to finish, and when he didn’t, I said, “Better?”
