Page 45 of Wilde Abandon
“I hope it’s the same way you make me feel.”He brushed his fingertips along her soft skin, tracing the side of her beautiful face.“I’m sorry I fell asleep last night and missed you knocking on my door.”
“Sounds like you should apologize to yourself for that, too, because we both missed out.”
“When I woke up this morning and it was light out…I wanted to kick my own ass.”
She took another bite of the pastry.“I’m not upset.You had a really long day.You were tired.It’s no big deal.”She raised a brow.“Wait.Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“I needed to see you.I waited as long as I could, then I rushed over here to catch you before you left for work.”
He finally took a minute to look around her place.Pictures of family and friends and a large mirror hung on the wall above the entry table.He caught his breath when he found one of them.A close-up.Her lips were tinted blue raspberry from the Popsicle in her hand.His orange.They were both smiling, big toothy grins.She was missing a canine.Adorable.
He looked happy.At ease.The way he always felt around her.
“I love that one.It was a good day.”
Fox nodded.“I was with you on a field trip to some museum.Your mom chaperoned.She bought us the pops from an ice cream truck out front.She took our picture.”He turned away from the pretty little girl to face the gorgeous woman she’d become.“You kept this all this time.”
“To keep you with me.”She waved for him to take a seat in her living room.
She retrieved her coffee and they both plopped down on the couch.
The living room had a wood entertainment center with a flat-screen TV.Several lush green plants sat atop it, catching the light from the windows on either side of it.In addition to the black leather sofa and reclining chair, there was a coffee table and two end tables with wrought iron lamps.
Just past the living room at the back of her apartment was a small galley kitchen and dining room table and chairs.On the right, past the open bathroom door, a short hallway led to her bedroom, he presumed.
She caught him checking out her place as she finished off the cinnamon roll.“Yeah.You could fit my whole place in your master bedroom.”
“This place is so you.I love the blown-up pictures on the walls.”
“They’re my favorite places on the ranch.”
“The one of the apple orchard in bloom is amazing.And the alleyway down the barn with all the horses peeking out of their stalls… How did you get them to do that?”
“Treats.”
“You brought home to your place here.”
“I love the ranch.I just needed my own space to grow into who I want to be.”
He bumped his shoulder to hers.“I think you’re amazing.”
She tilted her head and grinned.“I think you’re biased.”
He shook his head.“I still can’t believe what you did yesterday for my mom.”
She shrugged one shoulder.“I did it for you.”She’d not only fixed the kitchen sink, she’d cleaned the whole house, then gone to work yesterday afternoon until midnight.
“I planned to hire a cleaning service to go out there and take care of the place.”
“Now you don’t have to, and she doesn’t have to contend with all that dust, making her allergies worse.But I do think you need to check in with her doctor about her meds.I think she’s in pain and the meds aren’t working as well as they should for her.”
“Did she say something?”
“No.I just saw her take the pain meds a couple hours apart while I was there.They should last longer than that.”
“Okay.I think she has an appointment day after next.She prefers to do it alone, but I’ll try to coax her into letting me go with her, so I can see what’s what.”
Melody pressed her lips tight, but didn’t say anything.