Page 20 of Bouquets and Buckles

“You have to join me, cowboy.”

Luke blows out a chuckle and drops his head against my chest. “I’m trying my damnedest to be giving you some rest, Skylar. Not trying to get inside you at every opportunity.”

“Can I be honest, and you promise not to laugh?” I just want to hold him here, pressed against me, weighing me down against the mattress.

His lips brush my collarbone as he speaks against my skin. “Anytime. You know me.”

I bite my lip. Trying to find the courage to ask for what I want, when eventually, I just blurt it out. “I’m a cuddler… after sex… and since we’ve, well, you knowa lot… it’s feeling extra intense for me right now.”

Luke nuzzles my neck and runs his nose down to my cleavage. “Sounds like a dream. A hot as fuck girl who can’t keep her hands off me. What’s not to get excited about in that scenario?”

I try not to give away with the look on my face or the immediate tension that fills my limbs, the number of guys—my asshole ex included—who would never give me that kind of simple affection afterward.

The man pinning me to the bed senses it all the same.

“Don’t even answer that question because I don’t need to spend the next hour talking myself out of going over there and sorting that piece of shit out.”

I can’t help but laugh. Luke picks me up off the bed, sets me on my feet, then herds me toward the bathroom, as if I’ve got any intention or interest in going anywhere else. Before long, we’re both soaking in divine steaming water, with him at my back and his big palms running soap leisurely over my arms, my stomach, and my breasts.

He’s not trying to start anything, but treats me to a constant stream of touches that make my bones dissolve with bliss.

At this point, I’m willfully ignoring the fact my heart has formed a little puddle of besotted happiness, too.

Chapter 16

Icould die a contented man if I never have to leave this damn bathtub.

The sweetest, most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met is wrapped against my chest, and time feels like it has gone into hibernation while we’ve been soaking in here together.

“Don’t you need to go take care of the horses this morning?” Skylar plays her fingers over my forearm, sending tiny sparks swirling beneath my skin as she does so.

“Already done.”

“What? When?” She tries to tilt her head around to look at me.

“Earlier... I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Oh my god. I could have at least come and helped out, you know.”

I shake my head ruefully, quietly laughing to myself at how pouty she sounds. “Sweetheart, it’s freezing outside, and everything is buried under three feet of snow. I’ve done that routine what feels like a million times, it’s easy for me. The fact I could climb back into bed and have you soft and warm and moaning my name… now that’s the best gift you could give me.”

Skylar makes a little noise, part protest and part embarrassment. Fuck, she’s so cute, the way she starts to squirm.

“I still can’t believe this is real.” Her voice is quiet.

How much do I tell her?

How much do I dare admit?

“Why wouldn’t it be?” My hands roam freely because there’s every chance I’m more than addicted to the way her delicate skin feels beneath my rough palms.

“I didn’t thinkLucas Rhodeswould ever notice someone like me.”

Fucking hell. If only this girl knew…

“I’ve always noticed you,” I speak against her hair. Sitting like this, it’s impossible to ignore the way she fits so perfectly, nestled into my chest.

“Really?”