Page 73 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

Pain flickered across his face.“Is that what you think this is?Charity?Pity?”

He dropped his gaze, scrubbed a hand over his jaw, then looked back at me with startling, naked honesty.“Everything about me being here is selfish as hell.”

He moved closer, voice low and unguarded.“I was surviving all these years you’ve been gone.Existing.There was work and raising Sofia.I was breathing in and out.”His eyes held mine.“Then I saw you again and realized what was missing.”His hand slid over mine.“You.But…” He took a deep breath.“I pushed you too fast.I’m putting on the breaks and instituting the slow-down plan so we can make sure you don’t panic again.”

I trace a finger along his lower lip.“I want you so much right now.”

He swallowed hard.“I think you’re missing the fundamental idea behind my slow-down plan.”

I straddled his lap and kissed him hard.“Maybe you can explain it to me after you let me have my way with you in the back of this truck.”

ChapterTwenty-Five

TIMOTHY

I glanced behind me,concerned about anyone’s back on the floor of the truck bed.“How about the back seat?There might be nails or something out here.”

“I need you half naked by the time you get me there.”

I leaned in and kissed her until she opened her mouth and let my tongue tangle with hers.Then we were in motion, me carrying her.I swiped a few things off the back seat.But then I paused.I remembered my dad’s warning to not rush it.

She kicked off her shoes and shimmied out of her pants.The beauty of her pale skin and smattering of red hair… shit, she was half naked and I was…

She sat up and started working the top of my pants.Each small bend of her fingers against my stomach sent tingles everywhere.“You can explain the slow-down plan in a few minutes.”

“Gia… I…” I swallowed hard.“I don’t do this kind of thing in the middle of the day.So, I don’t have what we need for this.”

“Are you worrying again about knocking me up?I just told you I can’t.”

“No, you told me youdidbut then things didn’t work out.You saying you can’t means you’re not on birth control.So, maybe we shouldn’t…”

She released the button and zipper of my pants.I inhaled hard when she palmed everything inside my underwear, questioning my own hesitancy.

“What’s the worst that could happen?”she asked.

A humorless laugh slipped out of me.“You get knocked up, and my dad drags us to a courthouse or church at gunpoint.”

I meant it as a joke, but the ugly truth of it sat heavy in my chest.My father had ironclad rules about things like honor, family, and doing thingsthe right way—except when it came to Milly.Then suddenly rules had been bent, twisted, and broken.They’d done whatever it took to keep me away from her.My parents had been right about her.But Gia… I had a feeling Dad would see an accidental pregnancy as an excuse to get her as his daughter-in-law.

“Your dad?Gunpoint?”She laughed out a bright, reckless sound that made some tight place in my chest loosen.She did some wicked little movement that sent heat flashing through my whole body and stole every coherent thought I had.

“He’d pay for my dress,” she teased, grinning up at me.“He’d force us to do a ceremony in front of that nightmare llama he pretends to hate.He’d cry during the vows and insist on dancing with me at the reception.Hell, he might even walk me down the aisle.”

She tugged me down to her and kissed me—slow, warm, and sure—like she could taste every fear in me and wanted to replace it with something softer.

“I might just get a beautiful little mini-Rye out of it,” she whispered against my mouth, giggling.

“Let’s not joke about things like that.”My chest clenched painfully at how badly some traitorous part of me wanted that picture—something small and wild-eyed with her smile and my stubborn streak.Someone for Sofia to pretend-parent.That was a life I’d never let myself imagine.

“It won’t happen right now,” she said gently, reading the storm on my face.“The timing for me isn’t right.”Her smile turned wry.“Trust me, after a year of trying, I’m an expert at timing.”

She slid my briefs down and pulled me toward her.“Forget the world and all those things that need you…other than me.Ineed you right now.”

“Is this you saying you’re going to marry me?”I whispered, trying to keep my head in the game when I was steadily losing my ability to think straight.

“That’s clearly a part of the speedy plan that you said we’re not on.”

She was right.When I asked her, I would do it right.Not with some cheap ring or backward ass ceremony.