Page 53 of From Grumpy to Forever
No matter how many overgrown shrubs I’d pruned, dead plants I’d dug up, or invasive weeds I’d pulled, I still didn’t have the answer to that question.
I cranked the faucet to the left until the water was steaming and almost scalding as it washed over me. The steam filled the bathroom and only belatedly did I realize I should have started the fan. But it didn’t matter. If there was condensation on the paint or water damage, it was just one more thing on my list that would need to be fixed.
The thought of the ever-growing list would’ve made me cry if it wasn’t for Reid. If I didn’t have Reid, all of this would be so much harder. I don’t know how or when it happened, but somewhere over the last few weeks, I’d started to rely on him for more than just fixing up the inn.
He’d become my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, and…
“Avery?” I heard my name and the knock on the door almost at the same time. “Are you in—what the…it’s like a steam room in here.”
“Reid? Oh. Yeah, I forgot to turn the fan on.”
A moment later, I heard the flick of the switch and the creaky old fan in the ceiling started up. “Sorry,” Reid said. “I didn’t mean to barge in on you. I just saw the steam and I didn’t want anything to?—”
“It’s fine.” My voice shook with a surge of emotion for this man who’d known me for such a short time but cared more than some of my own flesh and blood about the inn—and me.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the waver in my voice. “Avery? Are you okay?”
Normally, I’d lie. Especially considering I was naked and only inches away from him with nothing more than a thin plastic sheet between us. But with Reid, I didn’t have to pretend. “No,” I said after a moment. “I had a rough day with Jacob and…I just…”
“Can I help?”
Suddenly, my best friend’s voice popped into my head. Could he help? Yes. If help meant taking my mind off my worries and stress, even for a few minutes, then yes, Reid could definitely help.
Besides, as Carrie had made clear to me, we were married, after all. Why not consummate it?
Before I could let logic or good sense get in the way, I tugged the shower curtain open to see Reid looking sexy as hell in sawdust-covered jeans and a T-shirt that strained against his chest and tightened over his biceps.
His eyes darkened as he took in the sight of me. His nostrils flared and he took a step closer.
“Yes,” I said softly, my gaze locked on his. “I think you can help me very much.”
* * *
Reid
Fuck yes. I could help her. I could help her very much. As long as the help she needed involved my mouth on her lips, my hands on her body, and my currently rock-hard cock buried very deeply inside her.
My shirt was off before my next breath. My hand on my belt as I took another step toward her. I didn’t take my eyes off hers. Afraid if I looked away from the need in her eyes, I’d come to my senses about what I was about to do. Then again, Avery was my wife. We were consenting adults. And she had invited me in.
I’d be a damn fool not to get in the shower with her. And I was a lot of things, but I was absolutely not a fool.
Not when it came to the beautiful and very naked woman in front of me.
“Avery?” I dropped my jeans to the ground. My dick, free from its confines, stood hard and proud. I watched as her eyes dipped lower before once more meeting my eyes. “We’re good?”
She bit her bottom lip, sucking it between her teeth in a way that sparked something primal deep inside me before she nodded. “Oh yes. We’re good.” Avery stepped aside, making room in the shower for me. “Very good. Now get in here.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
In a flash, I was under the spray of hot water. I took a moment to take in the magnificent sight in front of me. Damn, was she ever beautiful.
Avery was all soft curves, from her round, perfect tits to the swell of her hips and the delicious ass cheeks that had been teasing me in those cutoff shorts from the very first day I’d met her.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous.” It was the only thing I could say before my lips crashed onto hers and I pushed her back against the tile wall.
She tasted even sweeter than she looked, and it wasn’t long before I knew I was never going to get enough of her. A moan slipped from her lips as I deepened the kiss, twisting my tongue with hers.
Every inch of my body was pressed against her slick skin, but I still couldn’t get her close enough. Without moving my mouth from hers, I let one hand slide down her side. “You feel so good, Avery,” I moaned against her mouth before once more claiming it with my own. “Every fucking part of you feels so amazing.”
