Page 34 of As It Was (Strawberry Springs #1)

CAIN

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Hu Gh

Can someone tell me if this is infected?

Comments:

Jade Clark : Your entire ass?? ON MAIN?????

Kerry Winsor : @Henry Connor !!!!!!

Henry Connor : Come to the clinic. Now.

Atticus Thompson : You ruined my breakfast. Gross, man.

Marjorie Brown : @Henrietta Brown IT HAPPENED AGAIN.

Henrietta Brown : Do you hate me? WHY would you tag me in this?

“I met Wren right before high school,” Mollie said as she fished out another cookie dough piece from the tub of ice cream.

“And we instantly connected. She was working on the playground of my mom’s neighborhood, and I followed her around like a lost puppy under the guise that I was helping.

She’s the kind of girl who can figure out anything, so I doubt she needed me .

She’s the thing I miss most about Nashville.

She’s so busy, though, that I’d probably miss her even if I was there. ”

Mollie handed me the ice cream tub, and I took a bite of the vanilla that she was avoiding. “Is she different than she is on TV?”

“Not really,” she replied. “But I’ve hardly seen her date, so getting to see her fall in love is really nice.”

I bit down on my reply as I handed the ice cream back over. There was something about the romance in the show that was either forced or fake. But maybe that was my cynicism getting to me.

I was up way too late, but once Mollie had opened the doors of her past, she’d been giving me little details of who she was, and I finally got to see the whole picture. It was a stark contrast to where we’d been this morning, where I’d thought she’d pulled the wool over my eyes for money.

“Aw, man.” Her bottom lip poked out. “Is there no more cookie dough?”

“I’ll get the kind with extra pieces next time,” I replied, and took the container from her.

“Sorry that I didn’t save any for you.”

I hadn’t had a single piece of cookie dough since we’d gotten it out. I’d left them all for her.

“It’s fine.” I got off the couch and went to the kitchen to wash our spoons.

She followed me. “I’m not bothering you with how much I’m talking, right?”

“No.” I tried to keep my expression level, but I knew my own downfalls. “I asked to know more about you. You also have to remember I’m terrible at talking, but I’m good at listening. I promise.”

“You’re not that bad at conversation,” she said. “But I’m also not used to guys wanting to know much about me.”

“Is that something Trevor taught you?” I swallowed the instinctual feeling of rage.

I’d worked on that over the years, especially since Eric had come into my life.

It hadn’t worked out well for me to go after Donny when I’d found out what a piece of shit he was, yet I knew I would pummel Trevor if I saw him.

But Mollie didn’t need that. She needed someone to be here with her. To listen without making it about how I felt.

It was another thing Jackie had taught me in the years since Donny had no longer been in our lives.

“Unfortunately, yes. He would play the part of listening, but I think he really wanted a girlfriend who never had problems. Who could be a trophy with no feelings or emotions.”

Fuck that guy. “Then he should get a blow-up doll as a girlfriend.”

Mollie laughed. “Now there’s an idea.”

I set the clean spoons aside and turned to find Mollie looking at me, eyes bright with hope. People usually didn’t look at me that way, and my mind immediately flashed to when she would be looking at me like everyone else did.

I tried to push it away, but I was too used to being let down.

“Actually, Mollie, there’s one thing we should talk about.”

She nodded. “What is it?”

“It’s the whole boss and employee thing. If this doesn’t work out ... We should talk about what happens with my employment.”

“O-oh, right. I mean, should we really be worrying about if this doesn’t work out? We don’t even know what this is.”

“I don’t know about you, but if I’m sleeping with someone, there’s only one person involved. And it’s you. ”

“There’s no one else for me either.”

“So, this is an exclusive partnership ... where you also pay me.”

“The farm pays you.”

“You own the farm.”

“Ah, right.” She ran a hand through her hair.

“I’m not trying to say you would do anything, but you have the power here.”

“Right, which I’m not used to having.” She bit her lip as she considered it. “I mean, be honest, does this really feel like I’m your boss? We both tend to make decisions.”

“It doesn’t change the facts, princess.”

“What I’m trying to say is, Papa Bennie hired you. So you’re a part of this. I’m not interested in dismantling anything he had a part in. Even if ... even if this doesn’t work out. Emotions”—she gestured between us— “have nothing to do with whether or not you have a job.”

It was hard to take her at her word, just like it would be with anyone else.

But her word carried weight. I’d already seen the offer thrown into the trash. She’d done everything she said she would since her arrival.

And if I was doing this with her? I needed to trust her.

Even if I felt like things were too good to be true.

“Okay,” I said. “That makes me feel better.”

“Oh! I have an idea to make it even better.” She ran out of the room, coming back in with a piece of paper and a pencil.

She leaned on the counter, scribbling something down.

She then turned and handed it to me. “Here’s a contract of employment.

As long as you want it, you have at least five years at the farm.

I can’t rescind it unless there’s fraud. ”

I read the words, which matched what she’d said. “Is this legally binding? It’s written in pencil. ”

“It still counts. I’ll file it away with everything else. If I break my end of the deal, you can take me to court.”

“I’ve got enough court dates coming up.”

“Still, it gives you recourse. Which I think you need.”

A knot loosened in my chest. She was right. “Thank you, Mollie.”

She smiled. “Sometimes I have good ideas.”

“You have them a lot of the time.” I took the paper from her and signed my name. “They just come with a lot of work.”

“Well, at least I’m willing to get my hands dirty.”

“That you are,” I replied.

“So, now that all of the legal shit is out of the way ...” She took the paper and set it on the kitchen counter. “Can I finally kiss you?”

“You feel the need to ask?”

“Eric was awake earlier, and I don’t wanna make you have to explain anything you’re not ready to.” Dammit. She was thinking way ahead of me. It only made me like her more. “And I wanted to be sure all of this was cleared up before making a move. So, now I’m making a move.”

She looked through her lashes at me and I couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled her to me and kissed her.

A giggle escaped her as I did, and her hands slid up my chest and around my neck.

As her sweet scent invaded my nose, I had to remind myself that there was no rush. We could do this whenever we wanted to. This kiss was simple, gentle brushes over her lips, just like the ones in the truck had been.

It was an intimacy that I didn’t usually allow myself. I kept emotions and longing away from anyone, not willing to be let down in the end. But there was something about Mollie that made me want to try.

There was no one else that I would kiss in the kitchen of my home. No one else I would let get so close to Eric. No one else that I’d opened up to. I was bad at words, so I tried to convey all of my thoughts in the slow and steady kisses we shared in our quiet intimacy.

“Come back to my room,” I murmured into her lips. We didn’t have to sleep together. We didn’t have to do anything. I just didn’t want to let her go.

“Gladly,” she replied.

We walked upstairs, yet I kept a hand on her, whether it was the small of her back or the space between her shoulder blades.

I sat on my bed, expecting her to find space next to me.

But then my heart skipped a beat when she sat on my lap.

“Too much?” she asked, her voice quiet.

“No, princess.” I grabbed her hips and pulled her closer, making sure she couldn’t fall off. “You’re never too much.”

I had only a second to notice the reddening of her cheeks before her lips were on mine again. Now that she was secure in my lap, one of my hands slid from her hips to the warm skin of her back, hidden beneath her blouse.

Mollie was soft, yet firm, and the muscles of her back tensed as I touched the area near the band of her bra.

“If you want me to stop, say the word.” It was a reminder she shouldn’t have needed. An attempt to give her the power she should have had all along. I knew how men could take and take and take.

I refused to be like that.

“No, keep going,” she said breathlessly. “I think I’m just losing my mind a little bit.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re way too good at this. I wanna keep kissing you. But I also want you to throw me on this bed.”

Her words sent liquid heat through every part of me. “We’ll have to make both happen,” I said, reaching to unhook her bra and tug off her blouse.

“ Yes ,” she murmured with a gasp as I trailed my kisses from her mouth down to her jaw and neck. She let out a soft moan every time I dragged my teeth lightly over her sensitive skin, and I filed that away for future use.

Her breasts were hot and heavy in my hand, and I couldn’t get the image of them out of my mind. It started the day she’d sprayed herself with water and had only gotten stronger when we’d fucked, and made them all the more mouthwatering now.

Mollie was responsive like this. I knew what I was doing was making her feel good, judging by her tiny noises and the way she arched into me. I knew her. Even before I knew everything about her.

I wanted to make her come again. Multiple times, in many different ways. I loved feeling her slippery wetness on my fingers and on my tongue. I just didn’t know which one to do first.

But then her hips ground down onto mine, and I knew where I wanted to feel her.