He lifted the rope in his hand, the one I hadn’t noticed he was holding. “We needed some additional supplies for the getaway car.”
“Ah.” I nodded. “Aren’t you boys entirely too old for that?”
“Nope. It’s how I keep my boyish good looks.” He flashed his pearly whites through the goofiest grin, his eyebrows bouncing up and down.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it.
“The better question is, what are you doing in here?” he asked, nudging my knee with his.
I shrugged, taking another long gulp of champagne. “Just needed a minute.”
We both sat in silence. Oddly, it wasn’t awkward, and I realized somewhere between him being a pain in my ass and an annoying overgrown child, he’d grown on me a little.
“If I tell you something, will you give me the honest truth? No sparing my feelings.”
“I knew it. You want me,” he smirked, stretching out his muscular arms as if preparing to take me on the barn floor.
I shook my head with a light chuckle. “Keep dreaming, Monroe.” I playfully shoved him away.
We grinned at each other.
“Let me hear it, city.”
Last summer…
Walking toward the old barn with the smoky smell of burning wood and barbecue in the air, I felt a strange surge of adrenaline, an anxious fluttering in my stomach. Maybe it was being in a new place, the thrill of a party and good music. Or maybe it was the sexy cowboy who’d caught my eye immediately, the one watching me and making his way toward where I now stood with Lottie, Tucker, and their friend, Leighton.
Men didn’t make me nervous. They didn’t make me question my blond hair, my looks, my confidence. I knew who I was, and I loved it. I may not have the biggest boobs, or the longest lashes, or luscious curves, but I didn’t care. I worked with the assets I was given, and I rocked them.
Maybe it came from growing up with two parents who exuded the same confidence. It’d been engrained in me since birth.
“The only person who defines who you are is you, Hannah. If someone doesn’t see your worth, then they aren’t worth your time. Remember that always.”
These words, among others, were what I grew up hearing. And I lived by them. Believed them. Every single day until the day I met Billy Miller.
It wasn’t that he made me feel like less of a person. He didn’t say anything to put me down or weaken my confidence. He did the exact opposite. He looked at me like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. He looked at me as if I was worth more. Like I had the potential to be even more.
It was what I saw in those gorgeous hazel eyes, heard in the deep tone of his voice, that knocked me off kilter. It made me feel nervous that I wouldn’t live up to expectations. Expectations I wanted to live up to. Ones I wanted to excel at so that even if we only had one night together, it would be one we’d never forget.
It was definitely one I’d never forget…just not in the way I’d hoped.
I stood aside as Lottie hugged the handsome, muscular cowboy, admiring the way his jeans formed to him, giving definition to his perfect ass. She stepped out of his arms to introduce him.
“Billy, this—”
“Must be the friend from Seattle. Hannah, right?” He cracked that killer smile, eagerly taking my hand in his before Lottie could finish.
A weird sensation tickled my insides. “How did you know?” I smiled back, doing my best to not outwardly appear as nervous as I felt while our handshake lingered. “I thought I was doing a pretty good job at blending in.”
His smile was smooth. Confident. Beautiful. One I felt all the way to my core. “I know every pretty face ’round here and yours isn’t one I’d forget. Besides, a face like yours, you’d never be able to blend in, no matter how hard you tried.”
I felt my cheeks heat and for a moment I thought maybe I was coming down with something. His words weren’t anything I wasn’t used to. I’d heard it all. I was used to men’s eyes and hands lingering a little too long on my body.
That, I could handle. That, I could brush aside as a typical hookup. But Billy, I knew immediately, had the potential of being more. The way his eyes held mine, barely perusing my body, that connection, that palpable chemistry encircling us, heating my skin, was what made me take notice. He looked beyond my carefully put together exterior and saw me.
Leighton cleared her throat, knocking me out of the trance I’d been in. “Billy, Aaron was looking for you earlier. He’s needing some help with slicing up the briskets.”
“Sure.” Billy nodded, his eyes barely flicking to his sister before landing back on me. “I guess I’ll see ya ’round.”
“You can count on it.” I winked, my smile stretching wider.
Somewhere in the evening, my whole world started to revolve around Billy Miller—his good looks, his charm, his smile, his woodsy cologne, the way his eyes lit up when he told me stories about growing up with Lottie and the rest of the Billingsley crew, and more importantly, the way he listened when I talked. He was truly interested in me and my life in Seattle.
Between the alcohol and Billy, I was feeling a new high I wasn’t accustomed to. There was no doubt in my mind I wanted him to take me home. I jumped on the opportunity, volunteering him to when Lottie and Tucker were ready to leave. There was no way I was ready to tell him goodbye.
The door slammed against the wall as we tripped over the threshold, a mess of eager hands and mouths.
“Shit,” Billy mumbled between our pressed lips, both of us smiling through our kiss. “If that left a hole, Tucker’s going to kill me.” He lifted his head to look around me at where the doorknob had potentially left a hole in the wall.
“It’s fine.” With my fingers buried in his hair, I pulled his mouth back to mine, our feet tangling as we stumbled into Lottie’s newly renovated farmhouse.
Hands frantically fumbled, buttons popped, clothes ripped until we were stripped bare, a trail of clothing in our wake. Billy’s hands cupped my ass, lifting me into his arms. My legs wrapped around a lean waist, my hips grinding greedily, my head spinning from the sear of his kiss—or maybe it was the alcohol.
My back landed on the bed as he tossed me from his masculine frame. He smiled, his eyes scanning my naked body in appreciation as he sheathed himself in a condom. I lifted to my elbows, anxious and needy as I watched his slow prowl toward me. He bit his bottom lip, and all I could think of was how much I needed that mouth back on me.
I crooked a finger, beckoning him to me. He obliged, crawling over me at an achingly slow pace, settling between my legs. His lips coasted along my skin, pressing to my inner thighs before meeting my middle. My hips lifted from the bed, my body demanding more, more, more. His hands pressed me back to the mattress, a light chuckle falling from his lips as he moved up my body.
Those same strong hands gripped my wrists, pinning them above my head, our eyes locking—mirth in his, impatience in mine.
“Calm down, baby. I’m about to show you how to ride a real man.”
Flipping us expertly, he rolled me atop his body. I mimicked his wicked smile as I guided his full length into me, finally filling my body with his. My head fell back as I began to move, his hips thrusting as he gripped my waist, setting the tempo. Sheets were twisted, pillows were tossed, moans and cries of ecstasy filled the air as we flipped and turned, riding the wave of pleasure, until our drugged bodies were sated and weak and the sun was only hours away.