Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
I paused, one hand on his hip, the other cupping his jaw. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“Better than okay,” he said, eyes searching mine. “Just… don’t stop touching me.”
Never planned to.
When I finally moved inside him, both of us slick with sweat and shaking with need, it felt like coming home. Not to a place but to a person.
“Stay,” I whispered against Adrian’s neck as he moved beneath me, his hands gripping my shoulders like I was his anchor. “Stay with me.”
“I’m here,” he gasped, misunderstanding. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I meant more than just tonight, and I think he knew it. The words hung between us as we moved together, building toward something that felt too big for my small apartment, too real for the careful distance I’d been trying to maintain.
When Adrian cried out my name as he came, arching beneath me with an abandon that stole my breath, I followed him over the edge with an intensity that left me shaking. We collapsed together in a tangle of limbs and racing hearts, both too overwhelmed to speak.
Later, as he dozed against my chest, I stared at the ceiling and tried to process what had happened. Not just the sex—though that had been incredible—but the shift in what this was between us. The way he’d looked at me, confided in me, responded to me. Like I was something precious and trustworthy instead of convenient and fleeting.
His phone buzzed from somewhere in the pile of discarded clothes, probably another message from his manager or a notification about his social media. But he didn’t move to check it, just burrowed deeper against my side with a soft sigh.
I’d planned to keep my distance, to enjoy whatever this was while it lasted without getting attached. But right now, with Adrian Hayes sleeping in my bed, wearing nothing but my old flannel sheets and the scent of our lovemaking, I realized I’d failed spectacularly.
I was already attached. Already imagining mornings that started with his sleep-warm body against mine, evenings that ended with his laughter filling my quiet apartment.
Already dreading the day he’d realize Legacy and I weren’t enough for him.
The snow continued to fall outside my windows, the flakes randomly catching the sparse moonlight. In a few hours, the town would wake up to another perfect winter morning, and Adrian would probably remember all the reasons why staying was impossible.
But for now, he was here. Real and warm and mine, even if it was only temporary.
I tightened my arms around him and tried not to think about tomorrow.
#ToothCrush #DiscountChains #ComeInside #Mine
19
#DEALSORFEELZ
ADRIAN
I woke up in stages—first to the sensation of warmth, then to the soft rasp of the world’s scratchiest sheets against my skin, and finally to the realization that it was Maddox Sullivan’s chest hair tickling my cheek in the most perfect way imaginable.
Snow fell steadily outside the bedroom window, muffling the sounds of Legacy waking up. The only noise was the distant hum of the hardware store’s ancient heating system and Maddox’s steady breathing beneath my ear. His arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me against him like I might disappear if he loosened his grip.
I didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to break whatever spell had been cast over this small apartment above Sullivan Hardware, where mismatched furniture somehow felt more welcoming than any five-star hotel I’d ever stayed in. Where the scent of cedar soap and coffee and something indefinably Maddox made me feel safer than I could remember feeling in years.
This was what I’d been missing in my life. Not just the sex—though Christ, that had been incredible—but this. The quiet intimacy of shared space. The weight of another person’s arm around me, keeping me tethered to something real.
It had been seven days since the first time I’d shared this bed with him. Seven days since the night he’d invited me into his home and into his life.
In that time, we’d filmed four more dates for the project—including ice skating with Fannin (Maddox’s least favorite date), cookie making (Maya’s favorite), the barn dance at Nate’s place (my favorite because he’d been possessive as fuck), and Sullivan Hardware’s Holiday Open House just last night, where I’d been voluntold to play Santa for the kids in full beard and padding (which made it Maddox’s favorite).
Almost every night, we ended up together at his place or mine.
Maya was insufferably smug these days, but I’d overheard Maddox reminding her several times that this was only temporary.
Only temporary.
While the words were true—if I stuck to my original plan, I’d be leaving in just three days—the reminder had stung every time. With each passing day, I felt more and more at home in this quirky little town and with this warm, down-to-earth family.
Maddox stirred, his hand moving to brush across my cheek. “Morning, Santa,” he murmured, his voice rough with sleep.