My dog.
My dog.
I jerk my head up, looking around, and I groan.
“Relax, B,” Keisha says. “Marshmallow’s inside. Fran?oise has him. She’s almost as good with him as Hayes.”
Hayes glances at me, the furrowed brow turning into resigned realization. “He took our clothing, didn’t he?” he murmurs.
Keisha cackles. “It’s aaaaall over the downstairs. He took Begonia’s bra in to your father, and your mom has your boxers. My dad got the strip of condoms. It’s too bad Liliane left, or maybe she could’ve gotten your tie and Begonia’s panties. This is like, the best morning ever.”
“How is it I still like her even when she’s evil?” I ask Hayes.
He’s giving her the growly eye. “I have no idea. I’m not suffering from the same affliction.”
She rocks back on her heels, and I realize she’s in plain black leggings, which feels almost too bland for Keisha, though her cropped pink sweater is so fluffy, it seems to be made out of cotton candy. “Robert’s coming with clothes for both of you,” she tells us. “But it was just too fun to catch you sleeping outside naked like randy teenagers.”
“Good. I’ll have him throw you out.” Hayes’s hand shifts under the blanket, gripping my hip while his thumb brushes my hip bone, and I wonder how long Robert will take.
Do I have time to sneak under the covers and enjoy an early breakfast?
“But where would I go?” Keisha asks. “You know Millie’s allergic to South Carolina this time of year, so that house is out. There’s a chance of wildfires out west, so those two houses are out. If I head into the city, I’ll eat cheesecake all day, so that’s out…”
“Antarctica,” Hayes replies.
I shift under the covers, rubbing my pelvis against Hayes’s bare body, and his cock immediately stiffens against me.
“Begonia, have you ever seen a K-drama?” Keisha asks. “We should totes have a girls morning and you can explain to me why penises are worth it.”
“Don’t you have work to do?” Hayes grumbles.
“No one works on a forced sabbatical.” She wrinkles her nose, and Hayes cringes, like he’s sorry he brought it up.
“Why are you on sabbatical?” I ask.
“Do you know the best thing about being a distant Rutherford relative? They seriously cover up some shit. And I like you, B, but I’m not telling.”
“Understandable. If you want to talk, though, I’m around.”
Hayes scowls at her. “You have three seconds to leave before I treat you to a full frontal and chase you back to the house and tell Begonia all of your secrets. You told her mine. I’ll happily spill yours.”
She hesitates, but barely. “Fine. I’m going. Come find me for breakfast, Begonia. I want to know how you got that awesome hair color.”
And when she actually traipses away, I frown at Hayes. “Have you chased her naked before?”
“No, but she believes I’d do it. That’s enough.”
“Such a terrible threat, Mr. Rutherford.”
Keisha doesn’t matter. Marshmallow doesn’t matter. Being naked at the edge of a forest without my clothes doesn’t matter.
Hayes matters.
And a ruffled but smiling Hayes Rutherford with his cheeks and chin painted with scruff, his hair a tousled, bedheaded mess, and sleepy eyes slowly waking up, might be my favorite version of him.
“It was you or me, and she already has the advantage of seeing some mystery tattoo that I have yet to discover on your body. I have no intention of letting her see it more before I do.”
I smile back at him. “You didn’t look closely enough in Maine.”
“I was quite unaware of who I’d found in Maine.”
“And you were tired and cranky and expecting an empty house.”
He tilts his head into the crook of my neck again and sighs. “I’m tired of being tired and cranky,” he murmurs.
“Are you tired and cranky right now?”
“I’m far more content than I trust.”
I run my fingers through his hair and wiggle my hips, enjoying the feel of his rapidly hardening erection against my belly. I can’t imagine how vulnerable he must feel to confess that out loud. “Don’t question it. Just let yourself have it.”
“Begonia, I—”
“Your clothes, Mr. Rutherford,” Robert says from nearby. “Merriweather called and reported you’ve been requested for interviews with several news networks this morning.”