Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
And then it stopped. Drifted away like a cloud on a summer’s day, leaving a peaceful hum and deep contentment behind.
I held her close, trying to understand the intense passion we shared. How everything we did together felt right.
How much more I wanted with her.
She pushed on my chest, and I eased back, brushing the hair off her flushed face. “Hi,” I whispered.
“Hi.”
“Great dessert.”
She giggled, then snorted and began to laugh. She covered her mouth, but I pulled her hand away. I kissed her fingers. “I love hearing you laugh. Don’t cover it up.”
“I expected you to drag me to the bedroom, not defile your dining room.”
I shrugged. “I’m an equal opportunity sort of man.”
“That was, ah…”
“Intense? Hot? Fecking unbelievable?”
“All of the above.” She traced a finger over my face, outlining my lips. “I’ve never felt the way I do when I’m with you. Free. Wanted. Desired.”
“You forgot one thing.”
“What?”
I cupped her face and kissed her.
“Loved.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
AUTUMN
Ihad difficulty concentrating the next day. Thoughts from last night kept invading my head. The intense passion between Sully and me. The feverish sex in the dining room.
His spoken words.
He had held my face and whispered the word loved. Then as if to make sure I understood him, he held my gaze. “I love you, Autumn. I know it’s fast and I know it’s unexpected, but it’s real.”
I gripped his hands, staring back at him. There was no doubting the sincerity of his words. The truth blazed in his eyes. He had already shown me in so many ways, but now, he said the words.
I swallowed.
“I love you too.”
He wrapped me in his arms and held me close.
“Thank you,” he breathed out. “Make a life with me here, and I promise I will ensure you never regret it.”
All I could do was hold him. He knew he was asking a lot of me, but I knew he was what I wanted. He would be there for me.
“Yes,” I replied.
His kiss said everything.
Then this morning, he had leaned down to kiss me before he left, his gaze serious.
“Stay.”
“What?”
“Don’t go back to the hotel. Stay here with me.”
“Sully—”
He cut me off. “We only have a few weeks left. Less now. I want you here. I don’t want to be figuring out what nights you’re at the hotel and which ones you’re here. Just stay.”
“The office pays for the hotel.”
“Then you’ll save them money. Bring your things here.”
“And tell them what?”
“That you have a friend. That you hate the hotel. That your lover wants you with him. Whatever you want.”
I bit my lip, thinking.
“I have to work late sometimes.”
“I already told you I don’t want to control you. I have to work late at times too. But you have a key. Keep it. When I get home, you’ll be here. If you’re late, I’ll be waiting.”
Everything in me wanted to say yes. He grinned, knowing what I was thinking. “You worry about us not knowing each other. Living together would solve that fast.”
“And what if I hate it?”
He bent and nuzzled my neck. “You won’t.”
“What if you hate it?”
“Not going to happen. We’re gonna be great. Then when you go back to Canada, you’ll be all the more anxious to return to me.”
I hummed as his lips traveled up my neck to my mouth, softly kissing his way, his voice beseeching. “Please.”
“I’ll think about it.”
He stood, brushing my cheek. “I’ll collect your bags later, once you pack them.”
“So sure of yourself.”
“So sure of us.”
And he left.
All day, I had been thinking. I groaned as I dropped my head into my hands. I always did that. Thought things through to death. Overanalyzed. Talked myself out of something I wanted. Auntie Lynn always scolded me about it. She had been a free spirit her whole life and encouraged me to stop overthinking everything.
“Go with your gut,” she’d tell me.
“And if it doesn’t work?” I asked once.
“Then the story isn’t over. You keep moving forward.”
I thought about my first reaction to coming here. I was worried, then decided to go for it.
And because of that, I met Sully. I knew she’d tell me to keep going forward with it.
Feeling homesick, I picked up the phone and called her. It was earlier there, and I knew she’d be watching a game show, shouting at the TV and calling the contestants idiots. Evenings were her favorite, though. She loved the crime shows the best and often cackled as she watched. She subscribed to a channel of true crime and loved to pass an evening filled with murder and mayhem.
“Amateurs,” she’d mutter. “You never wear jewelry when you’re going to kill someone. Blood splatter,” she informed me with a knowing look, as if she made a habit of offing people. “They can find it in the smallest little crevices.”
Her voice was cheerful when she answered. “Autumn, dear girl. I was just talking about you. How is Scotland? Been lifting any kilts lately?”