Page 74 of Nothing to Deny
His gaze dropped to her mouth; he swallowed hard. Had she missed something? Caught up in her own swirling thoughts, she hadn’t taken time to ask how he’d felt since they were together and if everything was okay in his life.
“What about you?” This wasn’t only about her. “Do… Do I make you happy?”
“You…?” He scoffed. “I can’t get you out of my head, Lil’ Skit… You’re the most incredible—yes, you make me happy. But the things I can’t give you…”
All she needed was him. Dangerous? Yes, but it was the truth.
“Don’t think about that,” she said, pushing up to trace her mouth over his. “Think about lying in bed with me… about how happy you make me.”
Because in her bed, she’d been happy with him. They’d both been happy. It was only in waking alone that she faced the reality of being with him.
He got even closer. “I do that and I’ll embarrass myself here in the fancy car.”
Freya pressed herself against him. “We’ll wake up next to each other for the next two weeks.”
And then maybe never again. She wouldn’t relax her smile or give him any more cause for concern, but how would it be? For the next two weeks, they’d have each other every minute. Be spoiled with each other. Real or not, they would belong to each other for the duration of their stay. And when they got home, they’d go back to how things were. He’d return to Squires and she would wake alone.
“Baer, hey,” Donaghue said. “Holly says this place is on like this massive estate. It’s this big building made to look like some fancy country house or something, divided up into apartments inside.”
“Yeah,” Baer said, retrieving their champagne. He handed hers over and took a mouthful of his own. “I know, I looked it up.”
“You did?” Freya asked, lowering her glass before tasting the champagne.
“Why do you think I asked for the name of it?”
If memory served, he’d asked while they were in bed, while she was recovering, so her memory wasn’t exactly clear. Even she hadn’t known the name at the time and had to text Holly to get it. At some point, her cousin got back to her. Her phone had chimed anyway, Baer was the one to check it.
“Holly says there’s like fishing and hiking and stuff,” Donoghue said, screwing up his face. “You know how to fish?”
“You never went fishing as a kid?”
Donoghue laughed. “Any time I went to the water, I was busy catching babes in bikinis.”
“Won’t be doing that this time,” Baer said, tucking his arm around her.
“You won’t?” Wriggling a little lower, she angled to lean against him. “Maybe I’d like to be caught.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Then break out the bikinis, baby.”
It was hardly the weather for it but…
Sigh. They were only a few hours into the vacation, and already she was frisky. The things his proximity did to her. He should come with a health warning, a Squires disclaimer that absolved the company of responsibility for minds lost and abandon embraced. God, what was wrong with her? Smart as it seemed at the time, the no sex rule weighed heavy on her.
Did he have to be so hot? So magnetic? It wasn’t fair. He was hers, but not hers. They were together, but not.
“Maybe we should have a no flirt rule too.”
“Baby, guy can only restrain himself so much. You want me to keep my hands to myself, and now my words too? Cool, I can do that, so long as I get to look at you. That’s enough to sustain me a lifetime.”
Lifetime? Would they have one of those together? Too early to be thinking that way. She wouldn’t cloud her judgment, otherwise she’d be acting on confirmation bias. If they were meant to be, they’d figure it out on the vacation. Wasn’t that what it was for?
They rode a while, finishing their champagne, admiring the view. The outside view, not inside. Though she may have done a little of that too. They talked about the plane ride, andvarious members of the Piven family, both those joining them, and those absent.
When they slowed to turn onto a gravel driveway flanked by forest, the conversation hushed. Intrigue took over, fizzing in the air, tantalizing them with what was to come. Her fingers linked through Baer’s tightening as they advanced.
This was it, no going back now. Her family weren’t that bad, ordinarily. Spending so much time with them in such a concentrated environment wasn’t something she’d done for years. Years, as in probably since before puberty. They spent few holidays together; she tended to stick with Truman whenever there were celebrations to be had. He had no one else, and her fondness for him outweighed what she felt for the Pivens. Maybe she shouldn’t think like that, but, believe it or not, she and her grandfather did enjoy each other’s company, most of the time. Once, when she was a teen, Truman had joined her for Christmas, Thanksgiving, one of the holidays, with the Pivens. Note: once. Turned out once was enough.
It wasn’t like he wasn’t gracious. He had invited them to the house to spend holidays. While exuberant, they weren’t bad houseguests. Though it was easy to say that when in such a vast house with considerable grounds. The Pivens may have been present, but Truman didn’t have to hang around with them.
