“Gage?”
“Yeah, Baby girl?”
“Did you really mean it when you said you were in the running?”
He lifted his head from my neck and spun me into his arms. “Yeah, you alright with that?”
Was I going to continue being scared of this man and my feelings for him? Or was I going to be an adult and tell him how I really feel?
I guess I hadn’t answered him quick enough when he asked. “Baby girl?”
He moved his hand to cup the side of my face. “What if I told you there was no competition? What if I told you, you were the only one?”
I saw it.
His eyes darkened as they flared. His grip around my hip tightened. He rasped, “Yeah?”
Nodding, I said, “Yeah.”
“So, I won’t get smacked if I do something I’ve been wanting to do for months now?”
I shrugged my shoulders, “Depends.”
His eyes were searching mine when he asked, “On?”
“If it’s the same thing I’ve been wanting to do since the first time I laid eyes on you.”
And before his lips landed on mine, I brought my fingers to his. In a whisper, I said, “I might be bad at this.”
He didn’t move when he asked, “Why?”
Staring up into his eyes so he could see the honesty in them, I said, “I’ve never done this before.”
“Fucking hell.” In the deepest rasp I’ve ever heard, he said, “You’re mine, Conleigh.” And then I felt the softest feather-light kiss on my lips.
Closing my eyes, letting him take the lead, I kissed him back.
My lips touched the first pair of lips they have ever touched.
And when I nibbled on his bottom lip, he growled. He freaking growled.
Breathing heavily, with my forehead pressed against his, my eyes still closed, my lips tingling, “Collins?”
“Over at the tree with her new best friend, Laci. Got two prospects watching over them.”
“Umm don’t mean to interrupt but I’ll watch them if y’all want to find somewhere quiet?” Michelle’s eyes were dancing.
Before I could shake my head that it wouldn’t be necessary, the words that came from Gage’s mouth, he settled himself deep into my heart.
“Nah. Not rushing this. Not one damn bit. Doing this right. All the fucking way right.”
She simply smiled and nodded. Then as I started to move away from him, he said, “Tell me, how come you haven’t kissed anyone but you have a daughter?”
“I’m not her biological mom. My sister Hazel is. When she found out she was pregnant, she had the nerve to say she wanted an abortion. So I stepped up, got her to sign her rights away. She’s mine.”
“Knew you were something special. Just didn’t realize how special you were.”
And then he placed a simple kiss on my lips.