“Okay, we’re talking about you and my brother having sex, we need to stop this conversation right now,” Reese said with a small chuckle. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Isabella’s perspective. Did she think it would be as easy as a little sex to make Gus love her? No. But…she had a good point. Men often let their guards down during intimacy, when they otherwise might keep their emotions in check.
The two women shared a smile just as both their phones started dinging.
Pulling hers out from her pocket, Reese saw a message from Gus.
Gus
Are you all right? Alaska and Luna returned from your outing, said you and Isabella were going to the store. Just wanted to check and make sure all is good.
Looking over at Isabella, she saw the other woman smiling as she read the text she’d received. She looked up. “It is Woody. He is worried and wanted to check on me.”
“Same with Gus.”
“I told you,” Isabella said a little smugly. “If he did not care, he would not be texting to check on you.”
“How about we assure our guys that we’re okay, go inside, get the stuff on our lists, and get back to The Refuge?” Reese asked.
“Yes.”
Reese’s fingers flew over the screen as she responded to Gus.
Reese
We’re good. Just having some girl talk. Some soon-to-be-sister talk before shopping. I’ll be home soon.
She hit send, then what she’d written sank in.
Home. She’d said she’d be home soon. She worried for a moment that she was overstepping. Gus’s cabin wasn’t her home. But it had sure felt that way over the last couple of weeks. Being there with Gus felt more like a home than the apartment she’d lived in for years in Kansas City. She couldn’t decide if that was sad or exciting.
Gus
Will you pick up some heavy cream? It’s in the cooler next to the milk and creamer. I found a recipe for bacon ranch chicken that I think you’ll love and I want to try it out.
She couldn’t stop smiling. The fact that Gus thought about her when he saw a recipe and wanted to go to the trouble of making it for her made Reese feel really special. And that he had to tell her where to find what he wanted in the store was kind of funny. But he obviously knew she’d have no idea where the heck to find heavy cream, because it wasn’t as if she’d ever bought it before. She hadn’t lied about not being a good cook.
Reese
Of course. Anything else you want or need?
Gus
Nope. Just you getting home safe and sound.
There it was again. That word. Home. But this time he’d said it, not her. Once more, her thoughts returned to what Isabella had suggested. About sex. She and Gus had both been holding back. And all of a sudden, she had no idea why they were both waiting. They wanted each other, that was obvious. From the way Gus was always touching and kissing her, he’d made that very clear.
She quickly texted back before she could talk herself out of it.
Reese
It feels as if it’s been days since I’ve seen you rather than just hours. I want you, Gus. I don’t want to wait anymore.
She nervously waited as the three dots danced across her screen, letting her know he was typing a reply.
Gus
You want me, you’ve got me. Drive safe.
Looking over at Isabella, Reese saw she was smiling as she texted with Woody. She was still grinning when she put her phone in her purse. “Shall we get this done so we can get back to our men and reassure them that we can leave their sides for a few hours without incident?”
Reese didn’t know what she and Woody had spoken about in their texts, but by the pink in her friend’s cheeks, she had a good idea. “Absolutely,” she said as she turned and reached for the door handle.
The shopping trip didn’t take long, as both women were eager to get back to The Refuge. Butterflies swam in Reese’s belly. Was she really going to do this? Have sex with Gus Fowler? Get naked with him, let him see her body without a stitch of clothing?
Yes.
Hell yes, she was. And she couldn’t wait.
“She good?” Woody asked Spike after looking up from his phone.
“Yeah,” he replied. They’d talked to Alaska and Luna when they’re returned from Los Alamos, and when Isabella and Reese hadn’t arrived shortly after the other women, they’d both gotten concerned.
After texting to make sure they were all right, Spike was even more impatient than he’d been a few minutes ago. He had no idea what Reese and Isabella had talked about, but if it had given her the courage to come right out and tell him she didn’t want to wait to be with him, he was grateful.
Then he promptly began to second-guess himself. What if she wasn’t talking about sex? What if she was talking about waiting for something else? He racked his brain, trying to think of anything else she might be insinuating, but he came up blank.
Now that he was thinking about sex with Reese, he couldn’t stop. He wanted to get his hands on her. Wanted to feel her curves against him. Needed to taste her, feel her around his cock, hear her moan as he took her.
He was having a hard time keeping his erection at bay, and the last thing he wanted was for Woody to see him getting turned on.
“I’m leaving in less than two weeks,” Woody reminded Spike.
“I know.”
“Have you talked to Reese about staying yet? I heard her talking to Angelo yesterday, using that app she found that translates her words. She was telling him how much he was going to like Missouri, and all the places she wanted to show him.”
Spike tensed.
“I looked on Los Alamos National Laboratory’s website at the jobs they currently have open. There’s an Accelerator Operator position available. It’s in their Engineering, Operations, and Physics department. It’s not exactly in her wheelhouse, but I have no doubt she’d be able to not only convince them to hire her, but excel at it as well.”
“You’ve checked out jobs for her?” Spike asked incredulously.
“Of course I have. She quit her job back home, which tells me all I need to know about how serious her feelings are for you. Get your head out of your ass, Spike. My sister could get a job anywhere she wanted, but she’d be an asset to our country right here in Los Alamos. You want her to stay, don’t you?”
Spike didn’t even have to think about the answer to that question. “Yes.”
“Then give her a reason,” Woody said, quietly but intensely. “I’m going to hate not having her down the road from me, so to speak, but if I made a relationship with Isabella work and she was thousands of miles away in a foreign country, I can remain close to my sister if she stays here in New Mexico. Especially when I know one of my best friends is looking out for her, along with his six former military badass friends.”
Eagerness and anticipation swam through Spike’s veins. He’d been dreading Reese saying she was leaving basically from the moment they’d arrived back at The Refuge. He’d frankly been surprised she’d stayed as long as she had. There really wasn’t a good reason. Her brother had healed remarkably quickly. Chatter online had died down in the last week, indicating the cartel in Colombia may have given up the idea of coming after Isabella or her brother. Even if Woody stayed for a bit longer…it was probably safe for Reese to get back to her life in Missouri.