In her journal, she’d prepared a list of questions to get them started, covering habits, preferences, priorities, hopes and dreams. If she was going to rebuild her life with Kieran at the center of it, she needed to know more about the man than how good he felt naked, his heavy, muscular body pressing hers into the mattress as he moved deep inside her…
She huffed a laugh. Yeah, keeping her mind on their shared future and out of Kieran’s pants would require some serious discipline.
Drawn by her laughter, Snoot dropped into play posture, forequarters low, butt in the air, tail wagging a mile a minute.
“Okay, bud, let’s take a beach break.” She scratched the soft fur behind his ears. “I’ll miss those almost as much as I’ll miss Kieran.”
“Closing time, folks. Good evening to ya.” Kieran gave his last visitors—a talkative couple from Minnesota—a gentle nudge toward the door. If he couldn’t dislodge these friendly barnacles, he’d be late for his date with Addy.
She’d asked to spend their last night together at his place, and he still had to shower, check the Irish stew bubbling in the slow cooker, and make sure the bed linens and bathroom were up to snuff.
This wasn’t goodbye, he reminded himself, just a temporary parting while she sorted out that ‘unfinished business’ she spoke of. Over tea and bagels this morning, she’d promised him big news but refused to give him even the slightest hint. The suspense was killing him.
He was arranging a lopsided bouquet of supermarket daisies and sea grass when a soft knock and a loud woof announced their arrival.
“Right, here we go,” he muttered, giving his breath a final check. He needed tonight to be perfect—cozy, sexy and memorable enough to lure her back ASAP.
As soon as he opened the door, Snoot nearly bowled him over, wiggling joyfully from snout to tail tip.
“Easy, now,” Addy scolded through her laughter. “We want him in one piece.”
“Welcome, love.” Ever since that magic word left her lips two nights ago, he’d been repeating it, trying out its shape in his mouth, whispering it during his park ranger duties, singing it in the shower. A new buoyancy filled him, transforming his steps into a giddy dance, brightening the colors around him—and still, an element of fear nibbled the edges of his happiness.
She was leaving tomorrow, and he worried the magic they’d found might pop like a soap bubble if stretched over a long distance.
So that was his goal tonight: make a plan to stay in touch and get to know her better despite their separation.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, breathing in her fresh scent, relishing her softness, her warmth. He needed to memorize this moment, a comfort he’d need in the rough days ahead when Addy would only be a voice on the phone, a moving picture on his screen.
“Mmm, you feel so good,” she murmured into the crook of his neck, and his cock stiffened at her hungry tone. He’d get her into bed soon enough, though. Before that, they had more important ground to cover.
When Addy finally let go, her beautiful features were etched with sadness. “Our last night.”
“Just for now, love,” he corrected her, hoping she couldn’t hear the tightness in his voice.
“Of course.” She slid her hand down his back and—heavens!—inside his trousers to squeeze a big handful of his arse. “No worries there, Keeper. I’m coming back to you. Now—” She wriggled her hips against his. “Food first, or a pre-dinner quickie?”
This time, Snoot didn’t protest their long, deep, steamy kiss, instead making himself comfortable on the cushion Kieran had provided near the hearth.
But Addy’s phone did protest—with a snatch of AC/DC.
“Highway to Hell?” He chuckled into her hair.
“Ugh.” She dug the phone from her pocket, silenced it, and tucked it away again. “It’s my Aunt Tish, chief flying monkey for my mom’s cause.”
“Flying what now?”
“You know, fromThe Wizard of Oz?”
He shrugged at the unfamiliar name.
“Wow.” She slid her hands into his hip pockets and grinned up at him. “We’re going to have so much fun learning each other’s cultural references. But in the meantime…” She kissed him again, then drew his lower lip between her teeth and gave it a tiny nip that shot fire through his veins.
He gripped her hips and angled his, teasing her with shallow thrusts. “Well, I was planning to woo you over my gran’s Irish stew, but—”
Her phone vibrated beneath his fingers.
“Ugh.” She wriggled from his grasp and pulled the electronic pest from her pocket. “Is one night’s peace too much to ask?”
