The early morning sun forces me awake. Opening my eyes, I take in my surroundings. I’m in Kacen’s living room. Last night comes rushing back to me. I’m still snuggled on the couch with him. My back is to his front and his face is buried in my neck. I can feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest and each breath as it hits my skin. That’s not all I feel. His groin is nestled against me. I can feel it . . . feel him.
“Morning, beautiful.” His sleepy voice startles me, causing me to jump. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I thought you were still asleep.”
“It’s like my body is so in tune with yours that I knew you were awake and trying to figure out how to slip out of my arms. No way was I missing this again, waking up with you.”
He’s making it so damn difficult to fight my heart. He’s this gorgeous, tattooed, body- made-for-fantasies, rock star who uses his wordsmith ways on me. His words cause a flutter in my belly and my heart to race. Kacen is temptation at its finest, and right now, in this moment, I’m not sure how strong I am to keep him at bay.
My mind continues to tell me to fight like hell to protect myself, protect my heart. My foolish heart is ready to jump head first into the unknown with him.
“What are we doing today, love?” his sleepy voice asks.
Love? There he goes again, one word making me feel like I matter to him. “I . . . I don’t know. I thought the guys were coming back today.”
“Mmmm.” He nuzzles my neck, placing a tender kiss just below my ear. “Not until later tonight. Have you to myself the entire day.” He says this as his hand slips under my bikini cover-up and rests on my bare stomach.
“Oh,” I say, not trusting my voice not to betray me if I say anything more. I remember the last time his large calloused hands were on my bare skin. Even though it was weeks ago, I can still see the entire night in vivid color in my mind. I’ll never forget it.
“Maybe we—” He’s interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone.
Reaching out, I grab it from the table and hold it so I can see the screen, Daniel.
“Let me answer it. I need to remind him that you’re mine,” he grumbles.
Do I do that? It would help to make Daniel realize it’s over. Kacen takes the phone out of my hand and places it to his ear. I guess he’s made my mind up for me.
“Hello?” His voice is raspy and deep. It’s obvious he just woke up.
“She’s sleeping. I thought I told you to leave her alone. I’m not real thrilled that you keep harassing my girl,” he tells Daniel. “She doesn’t want or need to hear your bullshit apologies. She wants nothing to do with you.” His face breaks out in a grin as he hands the phone to me. “He hung up on me.”
“Maybe he finally gets that it’s over,” I say.
“If not, I’ll be here to remind him. I’m not just saying you’re mine because I want him to leave you alone. It started out that way, but if we’re being honest, in my mind, you were mine before I said the words. Now that I’ve told you what I want, I need for you to really believe them. I want us.”
“So what were you going to suggest we do today?” I ask, changing the subject.
“What if I said I want to stay right here, in this spot, until the last possible second? That I want to spend the day holding you?” he asks.
“Why would you want to do that?”
He releases a heavy sigh. “Because I have no idea when I’ll get to do this again. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for you to understand that you’re who I want. Because right now, in this moment, nothing even touches the idea of spending the day with you in my arms.”
“Kacen . . .” I stop there because I have no words.
He chuckles. “It was worth a shot. Okay, so what if we jump on the side by side and take a drive around the property? There’s a pond and some great shade trees. We can have a picnic,” he suggests.
Turning over so we are now face to face, I ask, “You want to have a picnic?”
“Yes,” he kisses my nose, “I want to have a picnic. Why is that so hard for you to believe?”
“Well, I guess it’s not, really. I guess the shock is more that I’m with a man who wants to do something so . . . romantic,” I confess.
“Logan, he’s a dick. He didn’t treat you right. You deserve someone who will always put you first. I’m that guy. I got you.”
“Well, let’s see what you got, Mr. Rock Star.”
His grin is infectious. With a slap on my ass and a chaste kiss to my lips, he’s climbing over the top of me. “Let the master do his thing. We’ll head out in an hour.”
Looking at my phone, I see that it’s already ten in the morning. We slept late. Kacen sprints off toward his room. I assume it’s for a shower. He has a picnic to prepare. My excitement grows, wondering how he’s going to pull off a romantic picnic in an hour’s time. Then again, all he needs to do is open his mouth and let the words he’s been spewing the last two days fly and I’ll be in a puddle at his feet. The man has skills . . . in more way than one.
I lie on the couch for a few more minutes until I decide I need to get my butt in gear. Just as I reach my temporary bedroom door, Kacen opens his. He flashes me a devilish smile as he reaches out and snakes his arm around me. He drops his lips to mine and kisses me slowly, teasing me. “Forty-five minutes, sweets,” he says, pulling away with a wink. Then he’s gone, sprinting down the hall to prepare our romantic picnic.
Reaching down, I pinch my leg and pain erupts. I needed something to prove that I’m not dreaming. Something to prove that this is real.
I’m not dreaming.
He wants me.
He wants an us.