“I said cute.”
“I hate you.”
“Liar.” I kissed her hard and trailed my hand in between her thighs, smiling more when her gasp filled the cab of my truck. She opened her legs wider and I moved my hand up her shorts; and just as my fingers touched the edge of her underwear, I removed my hand and pushed her back into her seat. “Put your seat belt on, the light’s green.”
“Kash!” she gritted as she angrily yanked at her seat belt.
I smiled and put the car in drive before taking off again. “There’s a word . . . I’m having trouble remembering it right now. Oh, right. Frustration . . . Enjoy that.”
She looked back at the road for a second, turned her body toward me, and released her seat belt. “Maybe you should learn to enjoy frustration.” Leaning over, she grabbed for the buckle on my belt and I grabbed her wrists in one of my hands.
“I don’t think so. This doesn’t go both ways, Sour Patch.”
“It’s about to.”
“Don’t make me handcuff you.” When she didn’t make another move toward me and didn’t say anything, I glanced over at her and I swear to God my jeans shrunk when I saw the heat in her eyes and the way she was torturing her bottom lip. “Shit. Put your seat belt back on.”
We need to get home. Now.
I pressed harder on the gas and forced myself to focus on the road rather than imagining Rachel cuffed. Jesus. Drive, Kash! By the time we got home, I didn’t have the patience to wait for her to get out of her own door. As soon as she had her seat belt off, I grabbed her and dragged her across the seat. Bending low, I pressed my shoulder into her stomach and lifted her out, kicking the door shut behind me.
“Your shoulders are still super uncomfortable!” She laughed, but didn’t make any other complaints as I unlocked the door and walked inside with her. “Okay, now put me down and go let Trip inside.”
I set her on the ground but slammed her body back to mine and captured her lips with my own. A soft needy sound rose up in her throat, and she gripped my shirt in her hands, trying to bring our bodies even closer together.
“Kash,” she moaned.
“Go get in the bedroom. I’ll be right behind you.”
She took off for the back of the house after I released her, and I locked the front door before going to the back to let Trip inside and feed him. Taking off my badge, gun, holster, and belt, I laid them on the breakfast table before putting the handcuffs in my back pocket and heading down the hall. I pulled my shirt off my body and let it fall to the ground, and awkwardly tore off my boots and socks without stopping my advance.
Turning the corner in the hall, I stopped dead when I saw things hanging from the ceiling between the bedroom doorway and me.
“What the hell?”
Flipping on the hall light, I walked closer to the pictures hanging and slowly turning from the air blowing through the vents in the ceiling. As I grabbed the first one, my eyes widened and my breathing quickened.
It was a picture of an August calendar, and Rachel’s engagement ring was circling August 23. Next to her ring, on that day, was a question mark.
Stepping quickly to the next picture, I stopped it from spinning and looked at the words I LOVE YOU ALWAYS in Scrabble tiles. In between the YOU and ALWAYS was a green Sour Patch Kid.
Letting go, I walked to the last picture and stopped it from spinning. It was the upper left half of Rachel’s back, and she was looking behind her, and down. Most of her back was bare, but she looked like she was wearing a dress. I flipped the picture over and read the words I had seen as the picture spun.
I’M READY FOR YOU TO SEE THE REST OF THIS DRESS. I’M READY FOR FOREVER WITH YOU. YOU’VE TAKEN MY HEART; CAN I TAKE YOUR LAST NAME?
Walking into the bedroom I turned and found her worrying her bottom lip as she leaned against the wall. Her blue eyes bounced between mine, and as she took in my expression, her face relaxed and a soft smile spread across her face. Stepping up to her, I cupped her cheeks and kissed her softly twice.
“You’re back.”
Her brow scrunched together, and she opened her mouth to respond before it shut and her eyes widened. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, you took exactly how long you needed. I’m just so damn glad I have you back again,” I told her as I kissed her again. I pressed my knee between her legs and swallowed her soft whimper.
“Was I just proposed to?” I asked teasingly.
She laughed loudly and pushed against my stomach. “No. I just—I don’t know, I wanted . . .”
“You don’t have to explain, Rachel. I got it, and August twenty-third sounds perfect.”
“Yeah?” she asked, her eyes brightening.
“Yeah, and I can’t wait to see the rest of that dress either.” I released her cheeks and slowly lifted her arms above her head, grasping her wrists in one of my hands before pinning them to the wall. “But I’m going to love taking it off you even more.” Trailing my lips along her neck, I loved how her head rolled to the side when my teeth grazed the soft skin there. “Every night while you were gone”—I whispered along her jaw—“I dreamed about you coming back to me. I dreamed about taking you in my arms, and pressing your body to mine. About moving against you . . . with you.”
Wrapping my other arm around her waist, I turned us and walked toward the bed. Just before her legs hit the mattress, I stopped walking and slowly took off her clothes, bra, and underwear. Her hands fell to my jeans, but I didn’t let her get past unbuttoning them before I pushed her back and lowered her onto the bed. I watched as she sensually crawled toward the center, and lay back, waiting for me. She was so damn beautiful.
Crawling over her, I covered her body with mine and gave her the faintest of kisses before going back to teasing her. “I dreamed of the way you would look as you fell apart beneath me.” I smiled and kissed her collarbone when a shiver worked its way through her body. “The way you would tremble around me. How you would gasp out my name as you came.” I gently raked my teeth over one nipple and looked up to see her watching me, her blue eyes full of want.
“But most of all,” I said as I brought myself back up so I could look directly in her eyes. “I dreamed that when I woke up the next morning, you would be there.” She brought a hand up to cup my cheek, and I kissed her lips softly once before asking, “Can I love you, Rachel?”
“Please,” she begged and wrapped her long legs around my back, bringing me down to rest against her.
I moved against her twice and smiled when a breathy exhale left her, and her head fell back onto the mattress. I loved seeing her like this, and I’d missed it. With a kiss to her throat, I slowly made my way down her body and ran my fingers along her folds to her opening before leaning forward and tasting her again for the first time in way too long.
“Kash, oh God,” she whispered, her body already writhing against the bed.
She came fast, and hard, as I worked her with one hand and tortured her relentlessly with my tongue. I hadn’t had enough, but I needed her—needed her around me, needed to be moving inside her. I shed my jeans and boxers quickly and positioned myself over her again. She grabbed the back of my neck and met my mouth hungrily as I lowered myself to her. I groaned and stopped moving completely when I was finally inside her, just to enjoy the feel of her again. And when I moved . . . Christ, I didn’t know how long I was going to be able to last.
Kissing her hard once, I began teasing her mouth with my tongue and about died when she bit down on my lip ring and smiled coyly as she gave it a little tug. Fuck, I’d missed that.
“I don’t like it when you tease,” she whispered when she released the metal, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Liar.”
But I didn’t have the patience for teasing her any more than I already had. Keeping one hand firmly fisted in her hair, I lifted myself higher with the other and quickened my pace. Her eyes fluttered shut and a needy moan sounded in the back of her t
hroat seconds before she urged me to go harder.
“I need you to go with me,” I said into her ear as I reached down between us and began teasing her sensitive bud.
“Oh God—”
“With me, Rach.”
I locked my jaw and pushed into her harder as she tightened around me until I felt her shudder and come undone, causing me to fall over the edge with her. A low growl tore from my chest as my thrusts slowed to a stop and I shakily lowered myself onto her body. Kissing her softly, I rolled us to the side and let out a labored breath.
“Christ.”
“Ditto,” she said breathily and kissed my bare chest.
I laughed softly and put my fingers under her chin, raising her head back so I could look into her dark blue eyes. “In a little over a month, you will be my wife. This time . . . nothing is stopping us. I’m going to marry you, I’m going to make you mine, and I’m going to keep you by my side for the rest of my life.”
She took a deep breath in through her nose, and a smile crossed her face when she released it. “I can’t wait, Logan. I’m so ready for my life with you. I just hope it’s really boring compared to this first year.”
I laughed hard and kissed her forehead. “Me too, Sour Patch. Me too.”
22
Rachel
IT’S FUNNY, the things that used to seem so big—so hard to deal with—suddenly seemed like nothing more than having a bad hair day. The situations that threatened to ruin my life now seemed like nothing more than stubbing my toe on the coffee table. The events that seemed impossible to get through without my parents, all seemed as easy as stepping over a microscopic hurdle.
I was ready for anything. I was prepared for whatever difficult or unexpected situations might arise for Kash and me, or our families. I trusted Kash to take care of us, and was finally opening up to the family that I did have. My parents were gone, that would always be hard . . . I would always wish they were here. But I had to give my future in-laws and Candice’s family the chance to be there for me in their place.
As soon as I saw Candice and Maddie walk into the café, I closed my journal and put it away in my bag. Kash had surprised me with Candice almost a week after Trent had gone into witness protection, and it couldn’t have been more perfectly timed. She’d been able to help plan the wedding, and when she wasn’t with Mason, we were spending almost all our time together.
I was glad Maddie and Candice were getting along now. There was a little over a week left until the wedding, and it had been tense between Candice and Maddie when they first met. Maddie wasn’t exactly thrilled that Candice was one of her brother’s fuck buddies. Who could blame her, though?
“Hey, Rach!” Candice bounced her way over to me and hugged me hard. “Guessing you’ve been here a while, since you were writing when we walked in?”
I nodded and hugged Maddie after Candice handed me off. “Just an hour or two . . . or four.”
“Mason said you’ve been writing a lot more since you came back.”
“Wait”—I shot Candice a confused look—“how would Mason know that I’ve been writ— Oh . . .”
“Kash,” we all said together and shrugged.
“It was worse at first, I’d gotten so used to having nothing really to do all day except write, so it was hard to get off that. But I’m getting back to a point where it’s normal. Well, uh, for me anyway. I just had a lot to say today.”
Maddie raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest as Candice’s green eyes widened. “Oh really? Do tell!”
I laughed and sat back down in my chair. “Nothing to tell, just all the wedding stuff with it being a week away. I figured with your parents, Eli, and his fiancée, Paisley, coming in a couple days, I wouldn’t have a lot of time to write then. So I’m getting it out now.”
Candice frowned. “Well, that was boring.”
Maddie laughed out loud before covering her mouth and looking around. “Uh . . . I’m gonna go get some coffee. Want anything?”
“I’m coming with,” Candice said as she picked up her purse, which she’d dropped on the chair earlier. “Rach?”
“No, I’m good.” When Candice eyed me curiously, I lifted an arm out to the side before letting it flop back onto my lap. “What? I already had something earlier. I’m good. I won’t sleep if I have anything else.”
“Whatevs.” She turned, and the ever-present bounce in her step was even more prominent than usual as she made her way to where Maddie was in line.
I wanted to tell her she didn’t need any more caffeine or she’d turn into a squirrel on speed, but that would probably just make her get an extra shot of espresso in her drink. So I kept my mouth shut.
“You okay, Rachel?” Maddie asked when they sat down at the table again. “You look like something’s bothering you.”
“No, I’m fine.”
Candice snorted and crossed her legs as she took a sip of her drink. “Fine. Good. Keep using those words, Rachie, see if I start believing you.”
“But I really am!” I said on a laugh. “I’m having a great morning, I’m excited to see everyone, I’m ready for this week to be over so I can get married. I really am fine.”
She studied me for a few moments before pointing at me with her coffee cup. “Are you and Kash okay? Are you having sex regularly?”
Maddie made a gagging noise and my lips twitched as I fought back a smile.
“Yeah, we’re fi—”
“Don’t say that word!” Candice nearly shrieked in the café.
The three of us looked around at the people giving us odd looks, and I nodded awkwardly at the old woman closest to us, who no doubt had heard Candice’s questions.
“Okay, Candice, we’re incredible. Is that better?”
She didn’t reply to my question before asking her next one. “And the sex?”
“Oh God,” Maddie said, and made another gagging sound.
“Uh, Candice, that’s so not your business . . . but I know you love sharing yours. So how are you and Mason doing in bed?”
“Shit.” Maddie didn’t need to fake the gag that time. She looked like she was about to throw up what little she’d already drank. “Can we stop talking about them? Just . . . gross.”
“She’s being weird,” Candice hissed to Maddie.
“Yeah, caught that. Don’t need to talk about my brother and Kash right in front of me, though. Jesus, let’s just get to what we were going to talk to her about.”
I raised an eyebrow and waited.
“Oh, yeah!” Candice set down her cup and did her little happy clap. “Totally forgot. Rachel, which one of us do you love more?”
“Uh . . .”
“That’s not fair, you’ve known her longer.”
Candice looked at Maddie with an expectant expression. “Exactly.”
“What is this about?” I asked.
“We’ve been fighting over who gets to babysit Trip while you and Kash are on your honeymoon,” Maddie responded. “I think I should get to, since I’m the one who led you to him. Technically I led Kash, and then you. But, you know.”
“And I think I should get to, since I don’t actually live here and won’t be able to see him whenever I want, once I go back to California. Well, and because I’ve known you forever.” Candice sat back in her chair and crossed her arms like she knew she’d won.
“Hmm, both valid arguments,” I mused.
“What? Hers didn’t even make sense!” Candice said at the same time Maddie laughed. “She’s using her time of knowing you as her argument. So not fair.”
“I was being sarcastic. Both those arguments sucked,” I said and drummed my fingers on the table. “You both sounded ridiculous, but why don’t you both babysit him? One day at Mason’s, the next at Maddie’s.”
“Well—” Candice began, but I cut her off.
“We’re not even really going anywhere. We’ll still be in town, and it’s only two days. So this way you each have a day, and we’ll pick him up
from Maddie’s on our way home.”
“I guess that works.” Maddie sniffed as though she wasn’t happy with it.
“I don’t see how neither of you came up with that before. You really thought you had to have me choose who got him for that time?”
Despite Maddie’s hate for Candice the first few weeks, they were just alike. Well, if you didn’t count Maddie being Candice’s opposite in looks. Their personalities were the same, and as I sat there watching them defend their arguments to each other, I realized that must have been why Maddie and I had gotten along so well when I first moved here.
My phone vibrated and I looked down at it.
KASH:
I’m home, where’s my Sour Patch?
Café with Maddie and Candice. I’m coming home now.
“I’m tired, guys. I think I’m going to go home and take a nap.”
Candice gasped and Maddie snapped before pointing at me. “I knew there was something wrong.”
I paused from putting my phone in my purse and eyed them curiously. “Meaning . . . ?”
“You’re tired,” Candice answered for her.
“Yeah, and . . . ?”
“So there was something wrong. You weren’t normal Rachie.”
I laughed and stood up. “You’re both just crazy today. Maybe I’m being perfectly normal, and there’s something wrong with you.” Before they could say anything, I blew a loud, ridiculous kiss toward them and hurried to the door. “Love you two, see you later.”
I sped the entire way home and practically ran into the house. Launching myself at Kash, I kissed him hard and wrapped my legs around his waist as he laughed against my mouth.
“Well, hello. I missed you too.”
I smiled and kissed him again. “Take me to bed, babe.”
He pulled back to study my face. “Bed? It’s four in the afternoon. Do you still feel sick from this morning?”
Curling my hands around the back of his neck, I pressed against him harder and watched his gray eyes become hooded. Grinning to myself when he began walking us toward the bedroom, I thought about Candice and Maddie as I said, “Nope. I’m just fine.”
Kash