Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112762 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Pride swamped me as I reached out to caress his bearded cheek. This big macho man wasn’t too macho that he wouldn’t seek help when he needed it. I was so used to boys pretending to be men that Walker’s maturity was a massive turn-on. “You amaze me. You know that, right?”
His expression softened with affection. “Right back at you, baby.”
I shivered at the words, the endearment, and lightly brushed a tender kiss on his chest before nestling back into him. His last scar, a small, jagged line low on his gut, drew my fingers. “And this one?”
Walker’s entire being seemed to tense, and I swear the mood iced over in an instant. He took my hand and lifted it away from the scar. Suddenly, I was being maneuvered onto my side as the little spoon curled against Walker’s front. “Get some sleep,” he murmured in my ear.
Okay, so maybe there were some things he wasn’t emotionally mature about.
I forced myself to relax, but I couldn’t sleep. Staring unblinkingly into the dark of my bedroom, I listened to Walker’s breaths even out as he eventually fell asleep. It was our first time spending the night together. And I couldn’t even enjoy it.
That scar on his belly was like the woman on Princes Street.
There were things Walker didn’t want to tell me, and I didn’t want it to hurt … but it did.
This man knew everything about me.
Yet there were things I didn’t know about him, and I wondered if he’d ever really let me in. Why was I the first woman he’d decided to try a relationship with? What had made him remain a bachelor until me? Who was the woman on the street? Was she his mother? If so, why did he treat her like a stranger? What caused that small scar on his belly? Why did he take off for two weeks every year on the same date? And if I was so different from all the women who’d come before me … why wouldn’t he talk to me?
Why wouldn’t he let me in?
I drifted off for an hour before I awoke again. Walker had rolled over onto his back. Restlessness agitated me and my toes curled with the sensation. Needing to do something, I slid out of bed and fumbled quietly in the dark for my gown. The cottage was cold at night, so I shrugged on a robe and gently pulled open a drawer to grab socks. I held my breath, hoping I wouldn’t wake Walker, but he didn’t so much as twitch on the bed.
Leaving the bedroom, I made my way downstairs and turned on the kitchen lights. Unable to use my fancy new electric mixer because of the noise, I took some joy in mixing the chocolate cake batter by hand. As the cake baked, I melted chocolate for the buttercream. Removing it from the heat, I switched off the stove and leaned against the sink, bowl cradled to my stomach, as I stirred out the last of the lumps, trying not to think about the man upstairs in my bed.
Just then I heard the creaking of the stairs and looked up. Seconds later, Walker appeared in the kitchen doorway wearing only his jeans. He was so tall, his hair brushed the top of the doorjamb. Leaning against it, he crossed his arms over his bare chest, and I tried and failed not to ogle him in his half-naked state.
“What’s up?” he asked, voice gruff with sleep.
“Nothing.” I pushed away from the counter. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Feeling naked beneath his perceptive, inquiring gaze, I held up the wooden spoon. “Want to lick it?”
Walker pushed off the jamb and crossed the room. He stopped to wrap his hand around my wrist to bring the spoon to his mouth. My breath caught at the intensity of his gaze as he licked off the chocolate.
A tingle of desire woke into a full-fledged pulsing.
“Good?” I choked out.
He nodded slowly, not releasing my wrist.
“I should … I should finish the buttercream. Cake’s in the oven.”
Walker released me, but only to lean over and switch off the oven.
I frowned, but he took the bowl out of my hand and rested it on the counter. “I have a better use for it.”
He pressed a hand to my stomach and gently nudged me back against the counter.
“Walker?” My chest rose and fell with confusion and anticipation.
Without a word, eyes still holding mine, he unknotted the tie on my robe and pushed it off my shoulders so it fell to the floor. And then he nudged down the straps of my nightdress until it pooled around my hips. My naked breasts prickled in the cold, my nipples tightening to hard buds.
Walker opened the cutlery drawer, took out a small spoon, and dipped it into the now cooled melted chocolate. Understanding made me gasp seconds before he poured the chocolate over my nipples. I sucked in a breath at the sensation, feeling it drip down my stomach.