Page 36 of Cherished Lands

"I think you're missing a letter."

She pulled back, positioned her thumb and index finger in the shape of an 'L' then placed it on my forehead. "There we go."

"Such a fuckin' brat." I flipped us, pinning her to the bed.

How many times had I lain on these navy blue sheets and jerked off to the image of someone I refused to admit looked anything like Tessa Belmonte underneath me?

Too many.

I rocked my hips against her once, twice, three times, never breaking eye contact. I teased her until she was panting.

Then I stopped.

"You ready to go get engaged, Princess?"

"W-what? Now?"

"Now." I leaned back on my haunches and offered a hand to pull her up. She ignored it and climbed off the bed.

"You're an asshole."

"Yeah, but now I'myourasshole."

"Isthis seriously how you hold hands?"

My boots scraped against the worn brick sidewalk as we made our way down Main Street toward Callaghan's. It was still early—not even six o'clock—but this late in the year, it was already darker than shit.

We'd had to make a stop before heading into town. I'd never imagined being in the Belmonte family's mansion of a house. Even if Ihadtried, my imagination wouldn't have done it justice. Those people had some seriousmoney.

Tessa knew her parents went to dinner at the club in Ashford every Sunday, so we snuck in and packed as much of her shit as we could fit into the five-piece luggage set she pulled out of her massive walk-in closet.

I stood awkwardly in the center of the room, peering around, while she unloaded a bunch of stuff onto the bed. The space was nothing like I'd pictured. The room looked fit for some foreign queen, not a thirty-one-year-old small-town woman who drank tequila and swore like a sailor.

"Don't just stand here.Help." She gestured to the pile of clothes in the center of her bed.

"Help how?"

She made a tsking noise and threw her hands in the air. Then she turned and walked back into the closet, throwing instructions over her shoulder. "Fold those and put them in the suitcase."

Right.

When she came back out with another load in her arms, she groaned. "Good lord. You are hopeless."

"What? Why?"

"That is not how you properly pack a bra,Elliot."

"Well, I'm fucking sorry,Tessa. I don't own a lot ofbras,and I never leave this town, so I'm not really an expert onpacking." Her eyes softened. I didn't want her pity or her concern or whatever was making her face look like that, so I did the only thing I could think of: I spun her up. I dropped my voice and gave her a crooked grin. "Plus, I can think of a lot better things to be using this bed for than a goddamn folding table."

Her pupils blew wide.Mission accomplished.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. My parents will be home soon, and you donotwant to be here when they get back."

Fuck, she's got me there.

"Here." She handed me the packed suitcase she'd just finished zipping up. "Take this downstairs."

We continued that way for the next twenty minutes. Lugging suitcases was a far better use of my skill set. I hauled the final bag down to the truck while she slipped into her en-suite bathroom to get cleaned up.