“You’re right about that.”
She whipped her head around. “I’m right about what?”
“You’re nothing like Monique Patterson, thank God and,” he paused because this was important. “You’re nothing like Marley.”
“So what exactly are you saying?”
He took a step toward her.
“I’m saying that I want you to move in with me.”
He took another step. “I’m saying that I want to wake up with you next to me every single fucking morning. I’m saying that I want you. I want you in my life and I don’t want anymore of this ‘let’s see where it goes’ bullshit, because I’ve got to tell you, Abigail. We’re already there.”
“We are,” she repeated softly.
“We’ve been there for a while, and I think that I’m just now getting it. But…”
“But?”
“I’ve got some shit to sort out. Hell, Marley hasn’t even been declared legally dead yet, and it might take a while for me to deal with some of it, so if you can’t wait…or you need to think about it.” He blew out a hot breath not really sure what else to say. “I’ll understand but you have to know I’m not giving up, and if you need a break, I get it. But you also need to know that as soon as I get this stuff squared away, I’m coming for you. When I think ahead, when I think of tomorrow or next week, I see you. When I think of next Thanksgiving, it’s you I see, Abby. No one else.”
He watched a play of emotion run across her face like the tide rolling in from the ocean. He knew what she wanted to hear and Christ, but he wanted to say it…those three little words that were game changers. But there was still a part of him that felt as if he couldn’t go there until everything else was dealt with.
He needed to deal with Marley’s death. Only then could he move on with his heart 100% free. He just hoped like hell Abby would be there for him when he was done.
Abby’s bottom lip trembledm and he couldn’t help himself. He traced her generous mouth with his forefinger and swept his lips across hers.
“I’m not going anywhere, Tucker.” Her voice was so soft that at first he wasn’t sure she’d spoken.
He rested his forehead against hers, some of his tension gone. “Okay.”
“So,” she said, voice husky and full of all kinds of sex and smoke. “What exactly are you going to do with me now that you have me out here in your little bunky?”
He kissed the corner of her mouth, so relieved that it felt as if a hundred pounds had just been lifted off his shoulders.
“Well, Miss Mathews. I’m going to get you naked and wet. I’m going to lay you down on that bed and I’m going to spread your legs and then I’m going to fuck you hard and fast.”
Her chest rose and fell. His girl liked the dirty talk.
“And then I’m going to taste every inch of you, with my mouth…my tongue, my fingers.”
She made that noise that she did—the one that told him she was already close. He smiled, licked her, and stole another kiss.
“And then we’re going to go nice and slow. I’m going to worship you, Abby. Your mouth. Your breasts. That delicious ass of yours.” His voice was ragged now. “I’m going to kiss you between your legs until I make you come. And then I’m going to start all over again.”
She reached for the top button of her blouse. “So worship, Mr. Simon, because I’m halfway to horny and you kind of had me at hot and wet.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Abby woke just as dawn was breaking. The air was cool on her nose and outside the wind howled, but here, under the covers with Tucker, she was warm.
She was warm and content and so in love that there was no turning back now. If that had even been a consideration before, it was long gone. Especially after the night they’d just shared. She and Tucker had connected on a level she’d never thought possible.
She knew he loved her. He might not have said the words, but she knew. It was in the way he touched her—as if she was a breakable. In the way his eyes watched her while his mouth was on her. The way he held her face and kissed her with a tenderness that had brought tears to her eyes. It was in the way he held her and caressed her temple.
They’d talked with their hands, their bodies and with their eyes. The words weren’t said, but they were there. Just beneath the surface. Waiting for the right moment.
And Abby was willing to wait. For Tucker, she would do that.