Page 39 of Light on Love
Laurel looks around at the three cowboys relaxing in various places in the kitchen. Brett has come to lean over her, Grey is propped against the counter across from them, and Floyd is still seated beside her. She raises her eyebrows at them and says, “I can cook.”
An excited smile spreads across Grey’s face as Floyd lifts his head hopefully. Only Brett doesn’t seem excited by the suggestion. All eyes turn to him as he plays with a strand of Laurel’s hair.
“This is a dozen people you’d be cooking for on short notice, it’s a lot to ask of you.”
“Well then it’s a good thing I’m offering, so you don’t have to ask.”
“And I bet Mary, and even Gracie, would be happy to help. Gracie used to help Mary,” Grey adds.
“Can you guys spare Gracie today? And can she bring Mary down so we can start planning? Should we have it on Friday after the last shipment leaves?” Laurel’s brain is already thinking of the menu, her excitement growing.Finally, a way to show my appreciation to this ranch family, she thinks.
Brett sighs as she loops her hand around his arm and squeezes reassuringly. “Alright, I guess it’s happening. Grey, get one of our cows set aside for this. Floyd, you heard the lady, she needs Gracie and Mary.”
With thanks to Laurel, both men don their jackets and cowboy hats and head out. Once they are outside, Brett turns to Laurel. “You’re sure?” he asks.
She reaches up to cup his jaw with one hand. “I’m sure. This is going to be great.”
Brett spins around the barstool to face him. He leans in for a kiss, his arms winding around her back and thigh before lifting her. Laurel wraps her legs around his waist as he murmurs against her lips, “if you’re going to be busy with this all week now, I’m not wasting any alone time.”
—
In three days, the ladies have planned the whole menu, sent Gracie out with a shopping list a mile long, and begun preparations for the feast. It’s Friday morning and Laurel is in the kitchen pulling her hair up in to a claw clip when Brett enters. She leans back against the counter as she takes him in.
Brett stalks towards her, his eyes darkening as a smile pulls at the corner of his lip. He closes the distance between them and lifts her in one swift motion, setting her on the counter. Laurel widens her legs so he can come to rest between them, and he runs one hand up her thigh while the other grasps the back ofher neck.“Sleeping in without you was lonely,” she pouts, lifting her face up to his.
“How about I make it up to you now?” he growls.
“Except Mary and Gracie are going to walk in that door any minute.”
“I’ll chance it,” Brett says, leaning in for a kiss and tightening his grip on her thighs, now wrapped around him. His fingers pressing into her, Laurel can feel her core burning for him, needing to feel him inside her. She moans into his mouth and grasps for him, her hands running down his chest.
Brett’s hand leaves her thigh and slides under her cropped sweater to cup her breast. The material of her black bralette easily shifting with his touch so he can run his thumb against her nipple. Heat ripples inside her and she takes her hand down to run along his raised length through his jeans.
Laurel revels in the way Brett shivers from her touch, even with the thick denim between his cock and her hand. His mouth moves down her throat, the hand at the nape of her neck freeing it from the clip and wrapping the blonde mane in his grasp. With a tug, he guides her head back to have better access to her neck as he bites and sucks his way down. Brett is dragging his lips along her hollow of her throat when she sees Mary and Gracie coming up the back steps from the corner of her eye.
“They’re here,” she mumbles with disappointment.
Brett pulls his hand from her sweater but remains standing between her legs, discretely trying to adjust himself in his pants. He places a soft kiss on her lips as they reach the door.
“Honestly Brett, don’t you have a ranch to run?” Gracie scolds with a teasing tone.
“We have too much work to do with you hanging around, get outta here,” Mary adds with a shooing wave of her hand.
“Good luck with these two,” he tells Laurel, kissing her forehead and heading for the door. Brett stops and shoots her awink over his shoulder on his way out. Laurel smiles in a daze after him, until Mary brings her attention back.
“You’ve got it bad, sugar,” Mary tuts with a smile.
Laurel jumps down from the counter and pulls her hair back up in the claw clip, her cheeks flushing at Mary’s comment.“Is it that obvious?”
“Yes,” Gracie laughs. “But don’t worry, so does he. I’ve known Brett since grade school, and I have never seen him like this.”
“It’s true,” Mary adds. “The question is, do you have it bad enough to stay?”
Mary’s question seizes Laurel, a heaviness settling in her chest. She loves him, she definitely has it bad enough to stay. But what does that mean for her? For them?
“He hasn’t said anything about wanting me to stay when all this is over,” she admits, speaking aloud a thought that has been gnawing at her.
“He could never, that man is selfless to a fault. And the chance of you staying to please him when it’s not what you truly want, he’d never risk that.”