But he’s not fine. “Rick—”
“I love you,” he says.
“I love you.”
“Then text the asshole back that you hate him.”
I laugh. He doesn’t. “I know you’re joking.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He releases me and walks to the bed, pulling back the blanket and then dropping his pants. He’s standing there, tall, broad, tattooed and naked. I’m stupidly standing here, too far away, drooling. “Motivation for that text,” he says. “Do it, and then get your ass over here. Your naked ass.”
I close the space between us and set the phone on the nightstand. “I’ll tell him that I was too sick to respond at two in the morning.” I drop the robe.
His eyes rake over me, burning my skin in that sizzling, make-me-wet kind of way of his before we tumble into the bed. It’s a long time later, when we’ve cooled the burn, that exhaustion takes over. I fall asleep with Rick wrapped around me, holding me oh so tightly. And I fall asleep feeling that with this man holding me, no matter what happens, I’m whole again in a way that I haven’t been in eight long years. I am better with this man in my life and I’m going to make sure that he doesn’t just know this, but that he never forgets.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Candace
I wake to the warmth of Rick’s strong arms around me, the room awash in a morning glow and cold air. My phone is also ringing. I groan and grab it from the nightstand to find Linda’s number on caller ID. The best friend I’ve been ignoring like a very bad friend. I hit decline and guilt shoots me to a sitting position. “That was Linda. I need to call her back.”
Rick pulls me back down to the bed with him. “I’m naked in bed with you, and you with me, one of the only mornings in nearly a decade, and you want to call Linda?”
“Eight years, not a decade. And yes. Aside from her being my best friend and one who helped get us back together—she called me and got me to that bar the day you got into town—what if she goes by the house?”
He curses and releases me. “Call Linda.” I start to turn away and he catches my arm. “But don’t tell her anything.”
“Oh, good grief,” I murmur. “Talk to her, but don’t tell her anything.”
“Your calls are likely monitored by more than us.”
Now I groan. “I need coffee.”
“I’ll order room service.” He grimaces. “Actually, fuck. The Walker team will be here at nine and they promised to buy. What time is it?”
I glance at my phone. “Eight-thirty. We should have set the alarm.”
“You fucked me unconscious, baby. I forgot.”
“You, are very crass.”
“Yeah. What about it?”
I laugh. “Everything about it,” I say, but I’m teasing. I love how he says whatever he thinks. “I need to shower and get dressed before they get here.”
“Call Linda. I’ll unpack and start the shower.” He kisses me and rolls away.
“I’m not showering with you,” I say over my shoulder, but by the time I finish making that statement, he’s on my side of the bed—tall, dark, and lickably naked. “Maybe I can reconsider.”
“If you look at me like that much longer,” he says, his eyes devouring me with a smoldering look that might match the one I’m giving him. Or it’s a close second, “neither of us will be dressed when they get here.” He grabs his pants and pulls them on before tossing me my robe. “Get dressed before I don’t let you.”
My cheeks heat right along with the rest of my body. God, how I missed this man and how he makes me feel. I don’t know how I thought marrying for anything less was acceptable. I cover up and Rick turns away, but not before I spy the quirk of his lips that becomes his smile. I’ve always loved that man’s smile. I really love that I can make him smile. I aspire to make him smile every day for the rest of our lives.
My phone buzzes with a text and all my warm and fuzzy morning feelings fade into the dark hell of reality. It’s Linda: HELLO?!
I call her. “Hey,” I say.
“What is going on with you?”
“Not feeling well.”
“Ah huh. Still mad is more like it.”
“No, but we can talk about all that stuff later. I’m not mad at you. You should have warned me before you had me come over, but I’m not mad.” I watch as Rick carries one of my bags into the bathroom, his broad shoulders flexing. Even the man’s back is perfect, which motivates my next comment to Linda, who lured me back to his side. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she says. “Which is why I knew you’d want to know about you know who. When can we meet and you explain why you love me because we both know why, but that’s also rather complicated for you?”