Laughing, I pull her legs over my lap. “Maybe.”
“Maybe not,” she laughs too.
“At first it was a good way to have fun. Being a Landry alone brings a certain amount of . . . let’s say attention,” I wink. “But being in office gives you another dimension. Now, though, I feel like I can do something with that power. I’ve seen kids not have a safe place to play, families really skimping to get by. I can do certain things to help fix that now.”
“Which is why you’ll make a great governor.”
Her voice is careful, her words enunciated very crisply. I furrow my brow, but don’t have time to call her out on it before she speaks again.
“You’ll do all kinds of great things for the state.”
The Land Bill crosses my mind and my spirits begin to sink. It’s one huge thing I can possibly make happen, yet I know it’ll be a battle from every angle.
“Barrett? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I say and then look at her. Her eyes are filled with concern, not for the bill or for her agenda, but for me. “I’m more than okay.”
I pull her up and position her so she’s sitting on my lap. Her grin in infectious, her little peacock feather catching the light as it heaves with her rapid breath.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her throat. “Today was really shitty and getting your text made it turn around.”
“Getting beautiful flowers delivered today made mine. Thank you for thinking of me.”
She wraps her arms around my neck, her vanilla scent filling the air. If I could pause time, I’d do it right this minute and sit here looking at her face for the rest of my life.
“I don’t think I’ve stopped thinking about you at all,” I grin. “I have some pretty vivid imagery in my brain of you and—”
“Stop!” she says, her cheeks turning pink. “Don’t embarrass me.”
“Baby, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Her chin drops, her face still flushed, and her realness is almost unbelievable. I want to squirrel her away from the world, keep her protected and just for me in some little box. My little treasure.
“Huxley saw your flowers,” she says, her voice wavering a little.
I chew on my bottom lip, wondering if I fucked up. I didn’t think about her kid and I kick myself for that. “Was it a problem?”
“The only problem was that you don’t know how to play baseball,” she teases, looking back up at me.
“Ah, hell. Why did I have to fall for the girl with a kid that’s a fan of Linc’s?”
She giggles, running her hands down my chest. Her eyes turn from an easy sparkle to a heated twinkle. “You
fell for me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Well . . . I mean . . .”
“I know we said slow and I’m all about going slow,” I say, trying to assuage any second thoughts she might be having. Because of all the women I know, all the women I’ve been interested in, this is the one that might really walk away. “But going slow is still going, Alison. And every minute that ticks by is another I’m thinking of you. I want to see you, want to get to know you.”
“I want to get to know you too.”
She starts to move and the change in pressure on my cock, coupled with feeling her pussy brush over it through my workout pants, sends a jolt of energy through my body. I force a swallow, not wanting to push my luck or make her feel like all I want her for is her body. This is one girl that I have to deal with carefully, because more than anything, she deserves it.
“Barrett . . .” she whispers.
“Yeah,” I gulp, trying to control my growing length.