Page 126 of When There Was You
“Ohhhhhh,baby…that’smy good girl,” Butch croons, voice husky with wondrous praise.
My eyes tear from the sheer intensity. He pulls me gently onto the bed and into his arms, kissing my hair and whisperingI love youandbaby, baby, baby. I’m shook…speechless…spent, my mind and body blown.
Butch rolls over top of me and kisses my forehead, eyelids, cheeks. He’s reverent and tender, tugging my heart nearly out of my chest. My legs part, wrapping around his waist as he eases his hard length into me, his massive size stalling my breath until he’s all the way home. His strokes start slow and decadent but soon lead to hard, possessive drives, the kind that hammermine mine minewith each thrust. If I wasn’t his before, I am now. Fully. Unequivocally.
The revelation knots my throat as I stare up at my beautiful man and find his eyes fastened on mine in an unspoken love letter. A man who pulled me from the trenches of despair and healed some of my brokenness. Patched the worst holes in my heart. Restored my faith in men, in desire, in two hearts beating in harmony.
I’m yours.
After, he wraps me in his arms, murmuring more praise, adulation, appreciation.
When we’ve sufficiently recovered, Butch draws us a bath and pops the champagne. With a lazy smile, he holds out his hand to help me into the tub. My back slides against his front as I sink into the soothing bubbles.
He lets out a contented sigh. “I could get used to this.”
Without even looking, I know he’s smiling. My toes peek out of the froth before submerging again. “Better get busy making those billions.”
The arm he has wrapped around my chest squeezes as he kisses the top of my head. “I’m already the richest man alive.”
Sixty-One
Idecide to look for another job. It’s April and I’m still getting crappy assignments with the occasional feature, just enough to keep me dangling on the proverbial hook like a sucker fish. When I ask Tyler for an update on the bogus “complaint,” he says there’s no new information, meaning this is now the status quo.
Don appears to be waiting me out—or maybe he no longer cares, now that Tanya’s fulfilling his needs. Insufferable, predatory, chauvinist pig.
I’m casting my net wider in hopes I can move closer to Butch. Moving would be difficult for him, between Emmy and his role in the family business, but there’s nothing shackling me to Richmond aside from more opportunities.
Unfortunately, the early prospects prove dim. The only publication in Hampton Springs isThe Gazette, a weekly newspaper, and they’re not hiring. No magazines operate in the small towns and the next one worth applying for is based in Virginia Beach—just as far from the lumberjack as I am now. I’m trapped until further notice.
I relay all this to Butch on Friday night when I’m back at his place.
“Something will open up,” he says with confidence.
“You’re refreshingly optimistic.”
He shrugs. “Youhappened. I never predicted that, so now I think anything’s possible.”
I move in closer and circle my hands around his waist, tilting my head up at him. “You sure know how to sweep a woman off her feet.”
In answer, he corrals my legs from under me and hefts me into his arms, bride-style, causing me to squeal.
Emmy barrels into the kitchen with the dog scrambling behind her.
“Dogpile!” she chants, jumping into the fracas.
Hemi follows, and Butch exaggeratedly falls to the floor without letting me go. Our peals of laughter fill the air as our limbs tangle and Hemi gives our faces big sloppy licks.
After Emmy’s dance class,we stop by his parents’ house so I can say hello.
“Come here, cutie pie,” Gus hollers at his granddaughter. “Give your PopPop a squeeze.”
“I’m not pie!” she answers with a touch of irritation, as if she’s explained all this to her grandfather before.
“You know I think you’re sweet enough to eat.” He bends down and Emmy wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his cheek.
I’m awarded hugs by Gus and Jerri too, par for the course these days.
“I just made coffee cake,” Jerri says. “You all come in and have a slice.”
