Page 59 of Ridin' True

Then, just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, he buried himself deep and stilled, his face tucked between my neck and shoulder. He freed a soft groan, pulled out and thrust back in one last time before he was spent.

“That was. So hot,” I managed, still short of breath.

Jed chuckled then pressed a wet kiss against my neck before shoving an arm underneath me and rolling us both. My feet dangled over the side of the bed as I straddled his lap, and my ponytail slid over my shoulder and draped over his as I stared down at him.

“Come over tomorrow night.”

I shook my head in confusion. “Um—what?”

He was still inside of me, I hadn’t caught my breath, and I was sure I hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Tomorrow night. I’ll have a little cookout, invite a couple brothers and their clans. You can come over, meet the kids and hang out.”

“Oh,” I murmured, totally in love with his idea.

It was subtle and low-pressure.

I mean, aside from the part where I’d be meeting his kids.

That felt kind of huge.

But so were my feelings for him.

“That sounds perfect.”

“Good.” He pressed a quick kiss against my lips then asked, “You got time left for lunch?”

“Probably just enough to grab a quick sandwich on my way back to the office.”

“Alright. I’ll leave you to get dressed while I go deal with this condom.”

“Okay.”

I climbed off of him, he pulled up his pants, and then he left me to get dressed. When I was as put together as I could be, I met him in the hallway, and he walked me to my car.

After a short parting kiss, I headed back to the office.

Rather than disappointment at having spent so little time with Jed after so many days apart, I was sated and excited at the prospect of seeing him the next day.

Finally, I was going to get to meet Marlowe and Axel.

More than that, I was going to get to see Jed asdad.

Ichangedmyoutfitfour times before I told myself I was being ridiculous. Then I changed one more time, putting on the first thing I picked out.

I had on sage green shorts with a high paper-bag waist and a matching belt that tied in a bow at the front. I wore them with my white, short-sleeved body suit and my cute, leather, slip-on sandal wedges. My curls had lost most of their body, as it was getting late in the day, so I ran a brush through my hair a few times and settled for a completely casual look.

It was almost seven when I grabbed my phone and my purse and headed for the door. Jed knew I’d be late coming from work, but seven was pushing it. Fortunately, my GPS told me I’d be at his house in only six minutes.

When I arrived at his address, I knew I was at the right place because there were four Harleys parked in the driveway. He had a three-car garage, which meant his driveway was also big enough for the SUV that rounded out the vehicles which belonged to anyone who was already inside. I parked along the curb and gaped at Jed’s house.

I wasn’t the kind of woman who was ashamed of where I came from. The house I grew up in, the neighborhood where I was raised—it was part of me. But as I stared at Jed’s house, the back of which butted up against Burlington Lake, I found I was a little intimidated.

He spent two nights in my tiny, one-bedroom apartment, and he had a house situated on at least a quarter of an acre.

It wasn’t the money he had that got to me. He’d been overpaying child support for six years, and he tossed ten grand at Rocco like it was nothing. That wasn’t what impressed me. It was, in a word, hismaturity.

He hadn’t gone through life without making some mistakes, but Jed left home when he was eighteen and he didn’t look back. He’d lived and he’d learned. He found a family to which he belonged, and then he made another one for himself. He didn’t have a college degree or a white-collar job, but he was smart and level-headed. For the first time, I realized how much older than me he was. Not just in years, but inlife.