I could be wrong, but I swear a laugh bubbles in his chest. He rubs his forehead and lets out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll meet you on the back patio in fifteen minutes.”
“If you stand me up, I’ll tell everyone it’s because you’re afraid you’ll get beat by a girl.”
He stands and a knowing smile forms on his lips. “You just admitted I run faster than you.”
“No. I said I’ll run faster if you’re ahead. I highly doubt you will be though.” I head to the door and toss over my shoulder, “You like checking out my ass too much.”
This time I’m sure it’s a laugh that escapes him. I smile and practically skip through the kitchen, surprised to see Maria already up.
“Oh, my word. You’re pure evil. It smells delicious.”
“You’re up early. A morning run, I take it?”
“Yes, so I don’t feel as guilty when I go in for my third cinnamon roll. This is great motivation to run fast and far today.”
Cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven. Stone without a shirt on. Both are motivators. Both are warm and sweet.
Sweet. I chuckle as I stretch outside. Sweet isn’t a word anyone would use to describe Stone, even though he has his moments.
Giving me a tablet so I can talk to my mother whenever I want.
Bringing me to see her for our honeymoon.
Playing cards with Mama and me our first night.
Holding me during my panic attack.
I nearly forgot it wasn’t his first time. He’d been gentle and didn’t make fun of me during my panic attack when I first came here.
Of course, for everything sweet he’s done, there’s a list longer than my arm of the jerkish things he’s done. I bend forward and touch my toes, stretching my hamstrings.
The one that hurt the most is how he treated me after we’d had sex. Only now I understand where his anger had come from. It doesn’t give him the right to talk to me the way he did though.
A pair of sneakers appears in front of me. I slowly roll up to standing and take in the sight. Stone is sexy as sin in his suits and all black stuff, but holy smokes. Wearing normal people clothes, or closer to normal than his mafia-looking stuff, brings on a whole new level of sexiness.
His plain navy-blue shirt is surely worth hundreds and fits him like a glove. Tight in all the right places. I can’t see his ass, but I bet it’s delicious in his gray shorts. His legs are toned and have a light sprinkling of dark hair.
Like his chest. God, I want to see his chest again. Clearing my throat, I say, “Ready?”
He waves his arm out indicating he wants me to lead the way. I almost make a comment about him wanting to check out my ass but bite it back. Let him check it out. If I can distract him from his painful past, I’ll do it any way I can.
We run in silence along the coast, up hills, down hills, then through the vineyard. I’m sure he can run faster than we’re going, but he stays by my side, matching my pace.
I see Elena in the distance. She waves to us and we wave back, not breaking stride. I’m not up for conversation. She’ll want to know about our honeymoon or make small talk. I don’t think Stone is up for it either. I bring us down to the little pond at the base of the vineyard and slow to a walk.
We still don’t talk. Stone lifts the hem of his shirt and wipes the sweat from his brow.
“I’m not mad at you.” The words slip out of my mouth. I hadn’t intended on having a heart to heart right now.
We walk a bit, Stone not saying anything, before I continue. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” I pause again. “I wanted to have sex with you.”
Stone stops. “We’re not talking about this,” he barks then continues around the pond.
I have to jog to keep up with his fast walk. “Yes, we are. I came on to you. I may have been a virgin, but you didn’t manipulate me into having sex. I’m twenty-six, plenty old enough to have sex, and plenty old enough to make my own decisions.”
“It’s done.”
I reach for his arm and hold tight until he stops walking. “It’s not. I wanted you that night and I want you again. If we weren’t out in the open right now, I’d ask you to pin me to the grass and make...have sex with me.”