Page 30 of Love Songs (Harmony Lake #3)

“PLAY ME A song,” I said later, when all but my parents and Bailey, their retriever, remained after the day had given way to night, and a blanket of winking stars filled the endless sky.

After we’d devoured the burgers and smokies, we’d all sat around the firepit, where the kids roasted marshmallows and the adults bantered.

Liam had strolled proudly from the house with an acoustic guitar in his hand and asked if Dallas wouldn’t mind playing a few songs for them.

Dallas had been gracious, accepting the instrument and strumming a collection of requests with a glowing smile and firelight flickering in his eyes.

Fuck, he was so damn gorgeous.

And kind and funny and an amazing father.

He’d fit right in with my family, patiently sitting through their good-natured pestering and answering all their questions.

The best part was how they’d all accepted him with open arms and immediately pulled him into the Holliston fold.

As my sisters left, they each stopped to tell me how much they liked Dallas and how happy they were for me to have finally found someone special.

Special .

He was so much more than that. In such a short time, he’d become everything to me. I thought about him constantly and the world seemed brighter, my heart lighter, every time he was near.

I was in love with him. Flat out.

“What would you like to hear?” Dallas asked, now that we were alone on the patio.

My parents had gone inside to put away the last of the party paraphernalia, and Jaylin had gone home with Emma and all my nieces. The girls were having a sleepover in a backyard tent, and they’d invited Jaylin, who’d pleaded with big puppy dog eyes I knew Dallas wouldn’t have been able to deny.

“Your choice,” I said, my voice low and throat clogged with emotion.

Dallas looked at me for a long moment, his eyes full of affection and heat.

A smile spread over his face, as slow as molasses, as sweet as honey, and as sexy as fuck.

My heart flipped, and my stomach did a slow roll.

These feelings for this man who had driven me crazy a short while ago were growing bigger than I knew what to do with, bursting at the seams. I wanted to sing and dance and shout from the rooftops that I was in love, and he was mine. I never wanted to be apart from him.

Was this how Sam had felt when he gazed at Ben with hearts in his eyes? How Ryan felt when Adam passed him secret love notes? And Haider, did Phillip make him feel like he was ten feet tall and better than the world’s best chocolate?

“Got it,” Dallas said, unaware of my inner musings. Or maybe he was, because the wink he sent my way felt like a shared secret.

He started strumming chords on his guitar that sounded familiar. It took me a second to identify the song, and I clued in to the lullaby as he began singing.

“You are my sunshine . . .” he sang sotto voce. Private and intimate. Raspy and seductive. “My only sunshine . . .”

He slowed the timing down, somehow making the tune romantic, and dragged out each bar with a subtle, lilting vibrato.

“You keep me happy, when skies are gray . . .”

If I hadn’t already fallen in love with this man, I sure as hell would now.

“You need to know . . . Conor . . .” Dallas changed the words and looked me straight in the eye with that electric stare of his. “How much I love you . . .”

My pulse skipped. Time stopped and even the air held its breath.

He loved me. Dallas Blade loved me.

Dallas set the guitar on the ground, leaning it against his lawn chair, and swallowed. My gaze followed the bob of his Adam’s apple. He leaned forward and reached for my hand.

“I love you,” he breathed, and my heart spun merrily in my chest. “I want to make a life with you. Here, in Caldwell Crossing. If you’ll have me. Have us.”

“You had me at sunshine,” I choked out through a tight throat, and I cut off his chuckle with my lips on his. I pulled back and whispered, “I love you, too.”

A loud sniff drew my attention, but I didn’t look for the source until Dallas glanced over my shoulder and grinned.

I turned to see my mom and dad standing arm in arm on the patio, watching us with happiness radiating from them.

My mom put a hand to her chest. Even Bailey, who sat at their feet with his tongue hanging out, looked like he was smiling.

I shook my head and turned back to Dallas.

“Come home with me,” I said into his ear, earning a shudder that made me smile.

He nodded and launched from his chair so fast it tipped over, taking the guitar with it.

“Sorry,” he called out and righted the chair, setting the guitar on the seat.

Taking his hand, I led him across the yard, hoping my parents would settle for a quick goodnight so I could get Dallas into my bed. Alas, a speedy exit was not to be.

After Dad gave me a hearty hug, he pulled a startled Dallas into his strong arms. Mom touched my arm, her eyes glistening as she gazed up at me.

“Please don’t cry, Mom.” I slid an arm over her shoulders and tucked her to my side.

“He’s perfect, and his daughter is an angel,” she said with a wistful note in her voice. “I don’t think we could have chosen anyone better. Make sure you do right by them.”

I slid my gaze over to Dallas and Dad, deep in conversation.

“I will do my best,” I said, and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head.

“You better go get your man before your father takes him into the study to show off his Hot Wheels collection.”

“Oh no, Dad will have him in there for hours,” I groaned. Dad loved his little die-cast car collection. The cars were little; the collection, not so much.

“Goodnight, Mom.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

When I could finally drag Dallas from Dad, we hustled the few blocks from their house to mine.

I swung my front door open and pulled him inside, our mouths locked in kisses that felt like it had been years since the last time our lips had met—frantic, needy, passionate.

I kicked the door closed with my heel and flipped on the hall light with my elbow, the both of us pausing long enough to toe off our sneakers.

He ground against me, my back to the wall, and his shorts-trapped length was as hard and demanding as mine. I growled into his mouth, unsure if we were going to get to the bedroom in time or strip down right there in the hallway.

“Fuck, you’re so sexy,” he rasped, as I angled him toward my room.

“Sexier in bed,” I joked—mostly—earning a chuckle.

I led us on a haphazard path to the bedroom.

I couldn’t keep my hands off him. Couldn’t stop kissing him.

Couldn’t stop seeking every inch of warm, velvety skin as I tugged at his clothing and he yanked at mine.

Articles of fabric—shirts, shorts, boxer briefs—dropped to the floor as we bounced off walls and crashed into corners like we were a pair of bumper cars.

After an eternity, because seriously, how long did it take to cross a modest two-bedroom house, we stumbled through the doorframe of my room.

I guided him to my bed in the dark, and the two of us flopped down in a tangle of limbs and laughter.

“Turn on a light,” he gasped. “I need to see you.”

I flicked on a bedside lamp, and he squinted against the sudden brightness for a second before his gaze roamed my body, and an appreciative moan rumbled up his throat.

“Fuck, you’re so damn sexy,” he sighed under his breath.

“You already said that,” I teased as I sat back on my knees and slid my hands down his long, lightly furred legs and pushed them open.

“Worth repeating,” he said, taking ahold of himself and stroking slowly, his gaze never leaving mine.

“Hmm,” I crawled up the bed and claimed his mouth again. “I happen to think you’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Meant to be,” he said in a hushed tone, his eyes soft and grin lopsided.

I liked that. No, I loved that. We were meant to be. Maybe I’d never dated anyone before because I’d been waiting all these years for Dallas to come along. I kissed him quick, then leaned over to grab supplies from my nightstand drawer. Leaning back, I stared at him for a long moment.

Fuck. How did I get so lucky?

“What are you going to do with those?” he asked with a knowing glint in his eyes.

“Do you top?” I asked, suddenly nervous.

It had been a long time since I’d bottomed. Mostly because I’d never been one for much more than hookups and the occasional repeat. I’d never known anyone long enough, never trusted anyone enough, to go there. But Dallas . . . Dallas had been different from the start, and I trusted him implicitly.

“Yes.” His answer was a barely audible croak.

Nerves flared as I handed the lube and condom to him and dropped onto my back beside him. He kissed my shoulder.

“Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent,” I said with conviction. There was no lie in my words, no lie in what I wanted.

“How do you want it?”

“Like this,” I said, tracing a finger down his torso from his collarbone to his navel. “I want to see you when you take me. I want to watch your face when we come together and explode.”

“Jesus,” he gasped. “Did I mention how fucking sexy you are?”

I leaned up and kissed him. “You can tell me every day.”

Because we would have an everyday and I couldn’t wait to get started.

Dallas slid his hands down my sides as he leaned back and prepared me with his nimble fingers and decadent tongue, and before long, I was begging shamelessly for him, my thoughts scattered and my pulse racing.

“Ready?” he asked, his voice raspy and reedy.

“ Yesss ,” I hissed, panting already. “So many yeses.”

With a crooked grin and a soft chuckle, Dallas slowly, lovingly, entered me. He rocked in and out in slow short strokes until he was fully seated inside, and my stomach fluttered with excitement. With desire. With joy.

With love.

We moved together as one. Dallas making love to me was like nothing I’d experienced before and everything I wanted to experience for the rest of my life.

Every touch meant more, every hushed word spoken carried more weight, every brush of skin against skin sang the sweetest notes.

And when we came, one right after the other, I knew this was it. He was it.

I found love. I found a family. And I was never letting either go.