Page 120 of CowSex

Kai gives a long, slow whistle of approval.

“You look perfect,” I say. Wishing that I’d got the words out before she had to ask.

“Thank you. You don’t look bad yourself.”

I reach out for her hand and pull her towards me. “You smell good, too,” I let her know.

“Thanks.”

“Kai, stop staring and go get showered, boy, we’re gonna be late.” I bust my kid checking out Gracie’s ass and order him upstairs. “You and I’ll be having a talk later.”

“Yeah, yeah. I was only looking. This is what happens when you send me to live where there are no women under seventy.”

“We’ll talk about that later, too, but not if you don’t keep your eyes off my woman’s ass. You’ll be staying put till you’re twenty-one.”

“Whatever,” I hear him mumble.

I place my hands on Gracie’s hips and pull her against me, burying my face into the side of her neck.

“You doing okay?”

I know that she’s nervous about today, and as much as I hate it, I also find it kinda cute. Gracie likes to put up a feisty, independent persona, but it feels good to know that maybe she’ll need a little support from me today.

“Yeah, I’m all right.” That damn word again. “Are we s’posed to take anything with us?”

“Shannon’s family will have the food covered, and I’ve had a case of Cuvee delivered.”

“Ooh, go you.”

I look down at her and watch as she chews on the inside of her cheek.

“You giving yourself a headache with the overthinking again, Essex?”

With her chin tilted down, she looks up at me through her lashes.

“When people ask how we met, what are you gonna tell them?”

“That you’re a homeless person from England that I rescued off the mean streets of London.”

She looks up and rolls her eyes at me.

“I’ll tell them that you rented my aunt’s cabin, I was there to do some renovations and the instant I laid eyes on you, my heart, my life, my whole damn world flipped. As soon as we started to talk, I knew that you were everything I didn’t know I wanted, and no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I was certain that there was no going back.”

My mouth is dry, and my chest feels tight when I finish speaking, and her eyes fill with tears.

“That’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me,” she whispers and starts swaying from side to side. I move with her.

“Get used to it, Essex, ’cause I plan to tell you beautiful things every day.”

She wipes a finger under each eye to catch her tears, and I suck it into my mouth, swallowing down the salty taste.

“Now you’re making me horny.”

“Good, get used to that, too. I plan to keep you that way all day every day.”

My phone vibrates in my back pocket, and I pull it out to see Lucy’s number displayed.

“Gotta get this, baby.”