Page 54 of Long Hard Road
“Just waiting to say goodnight.”
“You aren’t staying with me?”
He shrugged. “Thought it would probably be better if I stay in the guest room tonight.”
“Why would that be better? Are you afraid I’m going to take advantage of you?”
“You’re not the one I’m worried about.” He sighed regretfully as I walked over and slid my arms around his waist, locking them behind his back. “I don’t want to rush this with you, Madison. If I get in that bed tonight, I don’t trust myself to take it slow.”
“I trust you,” I said honestly. “Besides, who says I want to take it slow?”
“You deserve a little bit of wooing, angel. I want to take you on an actual date before I have you screaming my name.” He brought one hand up to smooth down my hair. “Will you let me take you to dinner tomorrow night?”
I nodded as my arms tightened around him. “But only if you sleep in my bed tonight. I promise to keep my hands to myself.”
“You need to work on your sales pitch, babe.” He gave me that perfect smile that made me want to melt into a puddle. “Get in bed. I’ll shut off the light and join you.”
“Yay.” I returned his smile and pushed onto my toes to give him a quick kiss. “I didn’t expect you to cave so easily, Sullivan.”
“That’s because you have no idea how much I love to see you smile.” He gave me another kiss and then nudged me toward the bed.
It was my first time sharing a bed with a man and I wasn’t sure about the proper protocol. Nate had made it clear that we wouldn’t be having sex tonight, but did that mean that I couldn’t snuggle into his warmth? Because my body ached to be in his arms again.
I decided to keep my promise to him and not touch him. I curled onto my side and tucked my hands under my head while he settled next to me. “Good night, Nate.”
There was a long pause and more shuffling and then I felt his heat at my back. “Good night, Madison.” His arm came around me and he pulled me flush against his chest. He brushed my hair away from my neck and pressed a soft kiss there. “Sweet dreams.”
The dreams I had that night were far from sweet. They involved Nate doing many naughty things that had me screaming his name over and over. When I woke up before dawn, I was still nestled in his arms. I stayed there, breathing in his scent and memorizing the gentle wave of his breathing. When he murmured my name, my heart responded with a happy thump.
He woke up almost an hour later, groaning softly in my ear. “Sorry.”
“For what?” I asked innocently. We both knew he was apologizing for the giant erection that was pressed to my ass. I rocked my hips backward and he let out another groan.
“Easy, babe. You were torturing me in my dreams but there is no need to do that in reality.” He moved his hand to my breast. “Unless you want me to retaliate.”
“Yes please.” I moved my ass again.
“You aren’t keeping your promise,” he growled, sucking gently on my neck. His fingers found my nipple through the thin shirt I was wearing and he pinched it gently, eliciting a loud gasp from the pleasure that rolled through my body. “Let’s go to Amelia’s for breakfast. My treat.”
“But you’re taking me to dinner tonight for our date.”
“I can only take you out for one meal? Bullshit. I’m buying you breakfast.” His teeth bit gently on my earlobe. “I want to have all my meals with you, Madison.”
He didn’t know how good it felt to hear that. I had missed him so much over the last week and had been sure that our time together was over. Hearing Nate talk about us having a future was an answer to a wish I’d been too afraid to make.
“Not that I don’t love that sentiment, but don’t you have other things you need to be doing? You can’t just drop your life to spend all your time with me.”
“Why not? It’s my life. I should get to do whatever I want with it.” His nose nuzzled into my neck. “The bar is closed again tonight. I was planning to go do some work on the house later. Would you like to come with me?”
“Really?” I rolled onto my back to look at him. “Heck yes I would like to come.”
“Good. I’m putting you to work. How are you with a paintbrush?”
It took us another twenty minutes to finally make it out of bed. We were both content to stay snuggled under the covers talking about nothing important, but hunger eventually gave us the motivation to move.
Amelia’s was busy and the tables were full so we took our breakfast and coffee to go. We ended up eating in Nate’s truck before he drove us back out to the ranch. Only a couple of inches of snow had fallen overnight and the main roads had already been cleared. The sun was shining bright and Nate had my hand wrapped warmly inside his as he hummed along with the song playing on the radio.
We drove under the familiar arch and then past the beautiful main house. The roads out here hadn’t been plowed and I had no idea how Nate even knew if he was still driving on the road or across a field. The closer we got to his house, the more my excitement began to build. I wanted to see the house that Nate had built and learn more about him. What did his dream house look like? Would it have a big kitchen to feed all those kids he wanted? Would it have a porch where he could sit and watch those kids play in the yard?