The ceiling fan wasn’t quite cutting it when it came to cooling us off. It was one thing to melt with sexual satisfaction, another to melt from overheating.
I peeled myself away from his back, secured the condom within my fingers and warned him I was pulling free.
Once I did, I removed the full condom and knotted it, as Rett flopped onto his back with a long, drawn-out sigh. I yanked a couple of tissues out of the box next to the bed, wrapped up the used condom and wiped off my fingers.
With a long groan, he stretched. “I’ll go clean up, then take the dogs O-U-T.”
“How about if I take the dogs O-U-T while you clean up?” I suggested.
“I accept that offer.”
We both rolled off the bed, and he immediately pulled on his boxers before tossing me mine. I snagged them mid-air and yanked them up my legs while he released Onyx from her crate. Timber was already on high alert the second Rett told him they were going “out.” This time not spelling it out.
The puppy would need to learn that word, too. The puppy would need to learn a lot of things. Unfortunately, since I knew hardly anything about puppies, I was going to break it to Rett later that he would be responsible for Onyx’s training. That would be the penance for surprising me with a dog I didn’t want.
When Timber rushed out of the bedroom in his excitement of heading outside, the puppy was on his tail. Literally holding onto his tail and being dragged behind the much larger Shepherd.
I scratched my ear and shook my head. She was going to be a handful.
I stared at the other handful in my life as he headed to the bathroom. I needed to head out the door, too.
“Rett,” I called out.
He paused in the doorway and glanced back over his bare shoulder at me. It took me a second to collect myself because seeing him standing there—handsome, sexy and freshly fucked—made me not only lose my breath, but my train of thought for a second. I also realized how lucky I was for him sticking around and helping me through my darkest time.
He didn’t have to do that, he did it anyway. Because of that, I owed him the truth and I needed to be upfront about what was going on in my head.
“I know we’ve known each other for a few months and have only gotten closer in these last few weeks, but I hope I made it clear tonight how much I want you. How much I appreciate you being in my life. How much you mean to me. With that said…”
“With that said...?” he prodded with his expression cautious.
I didn’t want to put him off by saying what I was about to say, but it needed to be said so there was no misunderstanding. “I hope you agree that we still need to take this slow.”
His concerned look fled and a grimace replaced it. “I guess I need to cancel the tux rental, then. I’ll lose my deposit.” A grin appeared. “Sorry… Yes, I agree, we need to take it slow.”
Since that grin reached his eyes, I had no doubt it was genuine and he wasn’t hiding his true feelings from me. Still, I wanted to be sure. I didn’t want to assume anything since I had made that mistake before. “That won’t be a problem?”
“Baby, I’ve been taking it slow since the day I saw you across the diner. Despite being a grumpy grizzly, I wanted you then and planned on having you. I just didn’t know the mountain I’d have to climb to get you or whether it was worth the work.”
“Was it worth the effort?”
“It took a while… But, yes, that difficult climb was worth it.”
I nodded and, with a wink, he disappeared.
Still sporting that handsome grin.
The second my eyes opened I realized it was way too early for me to be awake.
I probably woke up because of all the lumber being sawed in my bedroom.
Unsynchronized, of course.
Rett was glued to my side, with one arm and one leg thrown over me, pinning me to the bed.
He always slept like that. As if he was afraid I’d sneak out and disappear forever.
I didn’t blame him since that was how I left Long Island. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving until I was already gone. At the time I didn’t want anyone talking me out of my plans to move to Eagle’s Landing.
While I was glad I did it the way I did, I somewhat understood Rett’s worry. However, I would have to assure him he had nothing to worry about.
I wasn’t going anywhere. I found my place here and even though I thought I’d never find my happy again, I did.
I carefully extracted myself from Rett and got out of bed, trying not to disturb him or the dogs.