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“I think I like the sound of that,” I whispered against him, feeling him shiver as my breath tickled his skin. Tracing my tongue over his neck, I peppered tiny kisses all around his jaw, eventually finding his lips again. I could feel his erection pushing against me, and I ground my hips intohim.

“Sav,” he moaned, pulling away again. “It’s not happening here,” he told mebreathlessly.

“Spoilsport,” I said grumpily, pushing my hips against him again. I laughed as I heard himgroan.

“Let’s get to Austin baby. The room I booked has a king-size bed and a walk-in shower. I plan on spending a lot of time naked with you in both of them,” he told me, his eyes never leaving mine. I nodded and smiled, so turned on that I felt like I needed a cold shower. He gently lowered me to the ground and softly kissed me on the lips. Reaching around me, he opened the door, the alarm beeping as we walked in. He punched in a number on the control panel on the wall before turning back and reaching for my hand. “Come on, I’ll just grab my stuff.” I followed him blindly through the entrance hall toward the winding staircase that led to the first floor. There were large vases dotted around the hall, full of wildflowers, and the fragrance from them hit you more the farther into the hall youwalked.

Following him upstairs, we passed four or five closed doors before he stopped in front of one. “This is my room,” he told me, grabbing the handle and stepping aside so I could enter first. Like the rest of the house, his room was massive; you could probably drop my entire cottage into just that room. His double bed was against one wall with a nightstand on either side, and a long chest of drawers was placed across from the end of the bed. There was a large picture window on the other wall, which I could see looked out over the back garden. Two doors led off his room; I could see one was the bathroom since the door was open, and I was guessing the other was his closet. Snaking his arms around me, his chest pressing against my back, he kissed the back of my head. “Make yourself at home. I’ll be right back.” I nodded, walking farther into the room as he disappeared into thebathroom.

Looking around, I noticed some pictures on his nightstand. Moving to sit on the bed, I picked one up and gasped—it was a picture of me, and he had it right next to his bed. I was about 17 and we must have been at the lake. I was in the water, splashing Brody and laughing. I looked across to the other photos and there was one of the three of us—me, Josh, and Brody. The boys looked about eight, so I would have been about six. My dad had built me and Brody a tree house in one of the old oak trees on the ranch, and we were sitting side by side, our legs dangling off the edge. I was between the two boys and they both had their arm around me. I didn’t remember the photo being taken, but since we were all in it, I guessed my mom or dad must have taken it. I wondered how Josh had gotten a copy when I’d never seen itbefore.

“Ready beautiful?” I heard Josh say from behind me as he came out of the bathroom. I turned around to look at him, his eyes dropping to the photos in my hand. I watched as his cheeks flushed pink and he gave me an embarrassed smile. “Shall we go?” he asked again, busying himself with hisbag.

“Josh,” I said, waiting for him to look at me. When he lifted his head, I smiled. “You have pictures of me on your nightstand? How long have you had these here?” I askedquietly.

“Since they were taken,” he repliedquietly.

“Who took this one?” I asked, holding up the photo of the three of us sitting in the treehouse.

“Yourdad.”

“I’ve never seen itbefore.”

“That’s probably because that’s the original,” he said quietly. “A few weeks after it was taken, I was around your house playing with Brody, and we found the pictures in the den. When Brody went to get a drink, I snuck it into mypocket.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “And this one?” I asked, holding up the picture of Brody and me messing around in the lake. He smiled and took the picture out of myhand.

“I think you were 17 here. I took it when you and Brode weren’t looking. I love this picture. You look so beautiful and happy. I knew then how I felt about you, but I also knew I couldn’t tellyou.”

“I wish you had,” I told him with a sadsmile.

“Me too baby,” he replied, placing the photo back on hisnightstand.

“I think it might be time for a new photo. Where’s your phone?” I held my hand out to him. Grinning, he dug in his pocket before handing it to me. Clicking on the camera icon, I stood up and pulled him toward me, my head touching his. Turning it around, I held it out in front of us. “Smile,” I said as we both looked at the camera and grinned. I clicked the button two or three times before turning my head and kissing him, clicking away as we kissed. Pulling away, I checked the pictures, turning the screen around so he could see. “The first of many,hopefully.”

“Definitely. Thank you,” he said, smiling down at the images. “Let’s get going.” I nodded excitedly, watching as he walked across the room to open his closet. Pulling out a shirt on a hanger, he turned to face me. “Ready?”

“Er, Josh…” I said nervously. “What do you need that for?” I asked, gesturing to hisshirt.

Looking down at it, he frowned. “The restaurant tonight, why? Don’t you likeit?”

“No, it’s a great shirt, I just didn’t pack anything fancy enough for a restaurant.” I looked down at the floor, heat flooding mycheeks.

“That’s okay, we can swing back past your place on the way and pick up something for you towear.”

“I don’t have anything nice that fits me anymore,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around my stomach. “I haven’t had time to buy any new clothesyet.”

“Then I’ll take you shopping, if that’s what you want—or we can get room service if you don’t want to go out.” He walked over to me, placing his bag and shirt on the bed. “I don’t care where we go or what we do, I just want to spend some timetogether.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?” I told him, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him. He stood a good foot taller than me and I loved how small I felt when I was wrapped in hisarms.

“I think you’re pretty amazing,” he said against my lips, and I smiled as I took hishand.

“Come on, let’s get this datestarted.”

Josh carried both of our bags and once outside, I looked around the driveway. “Josh, where’s your truck?” I asked, wondering how we were going to get to Austin if he didn’t want to take mycar.

“Still outside the bar in Marble Falls. I only intended to stay for one drink last night,” he said sheepishly, pulling me gently toward thegarage.


Tags: Laura Farr Healing Hearts Romance