Chapter Ten
Kayson
My eyes fluttered as I woke up, but I tried not to move. I loved the early morning where I was the only one awake, especially after a night as incredible as last night with Reid.
My hand rested lightly on his hip, but the rest of our bodies weren’t touching. He was turned away from me, the ends of his hair curled up. There was a freckle right in the middle of his back. I tried to take it all in, commit it all to memory.
The boy slept hot. He’d thrown off every bit of covers little by little through the night and turned the fan on sometime in between. The only strip of sheet lay across his knees. I chuckled with my hand covering my mouth as not to wake him. It seemed Reid was always on fire.
I stayed like that for a few minutes, denying the need to check the time. Time would mean I needed to get up, face reality and bridezilla.
Time would mean this bubble we had created would have to pop, if only for a few hours.
Not ready didn’t even cover my resistance.
Closing my eyes again, I listened to the sound of Reid’s breathing. The rhythm pulled over my body and warmed me from the inside out. This man beside me was my omega. No point in denying the fact.
Even with my eyes closed, the sunlight creeping into the room forced me to face the morning.
Damn you, sunshine.
“It’s almost seven.” His voice startled me, gruff and hoarse, so different from his usual smooth lilt, sending delicious shivers down my torso and into my thighs.
I made some indiscriminate noise. “I figured. Just not ready to face the day.”
I opened my eyes as I felt the bed shift. Reid had sat up and was stretching, arms over his head, bending left and right, letting me watch his muscles contract and roll like he was Zeus and I was the simple human allowed to be in his presence.
“Coffee,” he groaned further. He might be even more of a caffeine addict than I was, which said something.
“I can get it for us. Just let me…” I scooted across the bed and sat behind him, wrapping my arms and legs around his torso, taking in his scent as my face lay against his back, his silky skin hot to the touch.
“That’s almost as nice as coffee, Kayson. Almost.” Reid’s hands wrapped in mine as his head tipped back. “As much as I love this, aren’t you going to be late?”
I’d mentioned to him, sometime before going to sleep, that I needed to catch up on making the last-minute arrangements. I would stay up all night finishing the rest of those horrid flowers if it meant a few more minutes of us like this, skin to skin, enveloped in each other.
I spoke, now trailing one of my hands up and down his tight stomach. “Technically, we don’t open until eight.”
“I need a shower.”
I laughed. “I might skip it. I kind of like smelling like you. Someone should bottle it.”
“That’s true. I do smell good. But, seriously, I need coffee. How about you jump in the shower, and I’ll go pick up some breakfast.”
Reid was definitely serious about his caffeine in the morning. Wait until he saw my vintage espresso machine at home. I could imagine Reid there, reading my books, drinking coffee in the nude on my couch.
Work could wait.
I squeezed him tighter. “How about I jump you instead?”
“There’s time for that tonight.”
“Yes, there is. Okay, you win. I’m going to the shower. Are my feet on the floor yet?”
I still hadn’t let Reid go.
“You’re ridiculous. I’ve talked more this morning than I do before noon most days. You’ve turned me into some kind of human person who communicates with others before coffee. Shame on you.” With a smile, he pried my arms off his torso and rose to get dressed. I pretended not to watch, grinning from ear to ear the entire time.
Reid was mine.
“Stop staring at my ass and get in the shower. Go!”
Such a grump in the morning.
An hour later, I got to the shop. Reid had ended up joining me in the shower, and I didn’t take my first sip of coffee until after I’d left his room. The taste of him was still in my mouth. Reid was addicting, and the more I got of him, the more I wanted.
I’d almost walked straight into a street post on my way to work.
“About time, dear. I finished up those horrid little corsages—extra pins, of course. I heard Celeste nagged you one more time yesterday.”
“She did.” I attempted to keep my voice clipped and emotionless.
“Wait a minute.” Aunt Viv came over with a showman’s saunter and assessed me head to toe, whistling as she did, like I was a racehorse.
Damn, I knew I couldn’t get away with it.
“Seriously, Kayson. You didn’t even bother to change clothes? Walk of shame, indeed. You should keep some extra clothes here if you’re going to sleep around. But then again, I’ve seen Reid. No shame in your game.”
All of a sudden, Aunt Viv talked gangster.
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”
She laughed. “And on the first date, you little ho.”
I scoffed, but there was no point in denying the facts. My clothes were wrinkled and looked like I’d found them on the floor, which I had. My hair was still wet from the shower, and I was sure there was a big purple hickey on my neck.
I kind of hoped there was a mark on me.
“I’m not giving you details, Aunt Viv. You can forget it.”
A pout formed on her bright-orange lips. “None? I’ll tell you my juicy story from last night if you tell me yours. Or...I could just threaten to take you out of my will.”
She wouldn’t dare.
“Go ahead. I’ll be a millionaire once people see these baby’s breath creations—the next Picasso of flower arrangements.”
Her face grew serious. “Those things might put us out of business. I gagged a little just finishing up.”
A blush captured my cheeks. “He’s fantastic, Aunt Viv. Like, once in a lifetime fantastic.”
I flattened my hands on my work bench, leaning against it as I let the realization sink down deep into my marrow.
I can’t let him get away. I won’t.
Aunt Viv cooed and then wrapped me in one of her incredibly comforting hugs. “Kayson, I’m so happy for you. That look on your face, the one you had when he walked in yesterday, it told me everything.”
“I hope this works out.”
She whispered into my ear. “Make it work out. You’ve got to grab life by the balls, sometimes.”
Such eloquence.
“I need to get home and change. Then I’ll swing back here and collect everything and set up for tonight. Is there anything else you need me to do?”
“No, Kayson. I’ve got the store locked down today. You take care of the flowers and that new little petal, Reid. When are you seeing him again?”
I smiled, bigger than I had in years. “Tonight. He’s my date. Or, I’m his date. It doesn’t matter. We’ll be there together.”
“No, it doesn’t matter. Call me when you get in if you want to share some details. If I don’t answer, don’t come over. Henry, from last night, well, he might just be a keeper, too.”