“I’m glad you did.” I cup her ass in my hands, giving it a squeeze. “It turns me on, knowing I only get you once so I’d better make the most of it. Boundaries can be hot.”
She arches a skeptical brow. “Hmm…maybe you are too boring for rock ’n’ roll.”
I laugh and bite my lip. “Keep it up, woman, and I’ll show you boring. With your hands tied to my headboard while you get that spanking you’ve been begging for.”
“Oh, yeah?” Her eyes glitter. “You promise?”
“Cross my heart.” I swat her bottom, making her laugh as we start for the door. But when we reach the foyer, I stop, remembering her shopping plans. “Just a second, let me grab some bags for the groceries before we head out.”
“Oh yeah, good thinking.” She takes her purse from the table by the door and slings it across her chest, pulling out her phone. “You get those, and I’ll call Nancy and tell her we don’t need her to cook for us tonight.”
“Perfect.” I jog into the kitchen, opening cabinets until I find a soft cotton tote small enough to wad up and shove in my pocket.
I’m about to head back to the door when my phone dings. I cross to the counter, glancing at the screen to see half a dozen text alerts from Chip, but I don’t read them.
Instead, I reach down and turn the phone off.
Colette’s my focus right now. The battle with Chip will still be here in two days; she won’t.
Unless I can change her mind.
I’m a nice guy, but I’m not afraid to play hardball when it comes to the things I want. And right now, there’s nothing I want more than this woman in my life.
For now and for the foreseeable future.
Chapter Eighteen
Zack
We decide to start our hike out of the backyard, wandering past Nancy and Jed’s cottage as we start toward town.
“Have fun!” Nancy waves from the vegetable garden, where she’s camped out on a tiny portable bench pulling weeds. “Call if you decide you want a ride back.”
I lift a hand, and Colette calls, “Thanks so much! Will do.”
As we disappear down the tree-lined path, moving into the cool shade, she adds in a whisper, “But I want to walk back if that’s okay with you. I want to walk a ridiculous number of miles.”
“I thought you said you were tired.” I peer down at her, searching her face.
“I did, and I am.” She shakes her head with a heavy sigh. “But if I’m going to be able to fall asleep without pouncing you tonight, I’m going to have to be really, really tired. Like a bone-deep level of exhaustion.”
“We can pounce all you want,” I say, my cock thickening for the twelfth time since this morning. This woman is turning me into a sex fiend, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. “I can’t come, but you can, and I insist you do. Preferably on my mouth while I’m playing with your—”
“Stop!” She reaches up, covering my lips with her hand. I nip at her fingers, making her laugh as she pulls them away. “I told you how I feel about coming without you. No. We’ll both be good and abstain. It’ll make tomorrow morning even better. Delayed satisfaction can be fun.”
“Isn’t that what you were just teasing me about?”
“No, you said boundaries could be fun. I don’t like boundaries.” She scrunches her nose. “Or possibly I just don’t like talking about them. My mom dated this guy named Chad when I was fourteen.” She rolls her eyes. “He was always talking about how important boundaries were, but only when it came to people inconveniencing him with their needs. Like if my mom needed a ride to the grocery store because her car was in the shop, he’d remind her that they weren’t dating exclusively and that taking her shopping infringed on his boundaries. Meanwhile, dating a woman he was supposed to be sponsoring through her recovery was fine. And of course, anytime he needed a favor, my mom was supposed to come running.”
“Sounds like an asshole,” I say.
“Totally.” Colette shrugs. “But all my mom’s boyfriends were assholes in one way or another. Growing up, I thought getting mixed up with a man was the stupidest thing a woman could do. As far as I could tell, it just made you a miserable, insecure wreck who couldn’t be trusted not to turn on your daughter when she clashed with your Dickhead of the Month.”
I hug her closer to my side. “I’m sorry about the dickheads. But I’m glad you decided to give guys a chance.”
“Once I was older, I realized my mom was the problem. Gram always said her chooser was broken.” She glances up at me. “How about you? Did you want to get married when you were a kid? Or have a serious relationship or whatever?”