Page 65 of Will Bark for Pizza (Bluebell Springs #1)

FIFTY-FOUR

BECKETT

When I dropped Husker off at the farm, I was surprised not to see Kira’s red Jeep in the driveway. It was late; late enough that Husker was struggling to keep awake, despite his best efforts to fight his heavy eyelids. Although that might be attributed to his eventual sugar crash.

Connie was already in bed, and Dale was snoozing to episodes of M*A*S*H reruns in the living room. I left Husker by Dale’s recliner, curled up on a dog bed, and snuck out the door.

Beckett: You okay?

I waited for a couple of minutes, but there was no response.

I hadn’t heard back from Kira all day. Not after I sent her a text about celebrating the books arriving this morning.

Not after I sent her another picture of Husker “helping” me renovate the Kniffen Street house, which amounted to Husker stationed at the sliding glass door watching a chipmunk while I installed vinyl planking in the living room.

I was concerned.

I drove to the bookstore, not surprised to find a faint glow in the curtained window. I parked beside her Jeep on the side of the building and walked around front.

“Kira?” I called out, entering and locking the door behind me.

“Back here,” she replied, sounding tired but not in distress.

The tension I carried in my shoulders relaxed.

I paused at the filled bookshelves in the front of the store, amazed at the vibrant displays.

The group had been at work all day, preparing for what Kira called a soft launch.

The doors would be open to customers, but there’d be no big announcement about it until the grand re-opening in two weeks.

I didn’t know much about bookstore setups, but it felt like they’d set themselves up for success, despite all the setbacks.

None of this would be possible without Kira’s conviction. Her drive and dedication. I wondered if she had any idea how much of a force to be reckoned with she really was.

I moved behind the terrycloth curtain we hung to divide the open part of the store from the construction zone, but I still didn’t see Kira.

I did, however, spot a faint light coming from the back area.

The office.

“Are you still working?” I asked, stopping in the doorway.

She sat at the desk, rubbing both hands over her face. Her red hair was piled into a high messy bun. One tank top strap hung to the side, revealing that dragonfly tattoo again. I wanted to ask her about it. Did it mean anything? Or was it a spontaneous walk-in tattoo from a girls’ weekend trip?

Before I could ask, my gaze zeroed in on the strap of her red lace bra.

Fuck .

I forced my gaze around the office instead, noting framed pictures, book quotes, and a filing cabinet that was on its last leg. But I didn’t need to see those puckered nipples to visualize them. The way they looked teased between my fingers as I entered Kira’s hot, wet channel.

“I’m almost done.”

I cleared my throat. “It’s late.”

“I know. Where’s Husker?”

“He’s watching M*A*S*H .”

Kira’s eyes widened, as though she was just now processing how late late really was. She leaned forward, pulling her phone from the back pocket of her denim shorts. I tried not to stare at the way her ass popped when she arched her back, but I was only a man.

A man who was fucking crazy about this incredible, hardworking, talented, beautiful woman.

I wanted to tell her.

The words begged to be released from my clamped lips, but I forced them to stay put. Once the grand re- opening and her first book signing as Diana Davenport were over, I’d show her the finished apartment upstairs.

And lay it all on the line.

Until then . . .

“Beck?”

“Yeah?”

“If you’re going to stare at my ass, the least you can do is touch it.”

Our gazes locked and held. There was exhaustion in her blue eyes, but there was also mischief.

“I’d apologize, but it would be a lie,” I admitted, scrubbing a hand over the back of my neck.

“I’m sorry I missed your texts. I silenced my phone earlier, and we just got so busy?—”

“You’re fine. I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

“How are you even real?” The question that escaped her lips was so quiet I barely heard it. “Beck?”

“Yes, Red?”

“You remember that thing you said to me when we were outside on the bench the other night after family dinner?”

Blood rushed below my belt. I knew damn well what she was talking about, but I enjoyed making her work for it. “You’ll have to refresh my memory.”

She pushed the rolling chair aside and stood. “You don’t remember?”

“I might.”

Kira leaned back against the desk, bracing her ass and both palms against it. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Say what? ”

She rolled her eyes, but it was playful. Suggestive. Seductive.

“You said if I wanted you to make me come, then all I had to do was ask.”

I pushed off the doorframe and closed the door behind me. There wasn’t much room in the cramped office, but we’d make do. Seemed we were good at making the best of tight spaces.

“Then, what are you waiting for? Ask.”

“Beckett?” she purred my name, gripping the edge of my T-shirt and tugging me to her. “Will you please make me come?”

“With pleasure.”

I cupped her cheek and drew her in for the kiss I’d been desperately craving since the day she left my cabin. Despite my best efforts to find time alone with Kira while my sister was in town, Madeline was more concerning when left to her own devices. I had to stay close to keep an eye on her.

I didn’t just want Kira.

I fucking craved her.

My hands slid down her body until my thumbs caught in the waistband of her shorts.

I quickly undid the button and tugged down the zipper, revealing a pair of red silk panties.

A matching set. Another day, another time, I’d admire them more.

But tonight, I gripped them with her shorts and pulled them to her ankles.

“Lean back,” I insisted as she tugged her tank top over her head.

“Like this?” she asked, pressing her palms into the side of the desk and spreading her legs wide for me .

“Exactly like this.” I unhooked her bra and tossed it aside.

“Why am I the only one who’s naked?”

“Because you’re the one who’s coming, Red.” I slid my hand around the back of her neck. “Now, be a good girl and just enjoy what I’m about to do to you.”

I lifted her ass to the edge of the desk, spreading her wider and stepping in between her legs.

My thumb swirled circles around her swollen button as we made out like that night on the side of the country road.

She moaned into my mouth as I plunged a finger inside her.

Then two. I sawed at her pussy, not slowly, but methodically.

Reveling in her sexy whimpers and the way those fingernails dug into my biceps as she edged closer to that delicious climax.

Kira raked greedy fingers up the back of my neck, kissing me like I was the oxygen she needed to survive.

She came apart hard.

“That’s it, Red.”

Her body convulsed against mine, her channel contracting around my fingers. Fingers I really fucking wished were my cock.

Apparently, she had the same thought, because her shaky hands tugged down the zipper of my jeans and reached inside.

“Red,” I growled.

“Please?” she pleaded.

“I don’t have a condom with me.”

“I’m on birth control,” she said, pushing my jeans and boxers over my hips. “I’m clean.”

“I am too. ”

“Then, please?”

“You’re sure?”

Kira pulled my shaft to her drenched center, stroking me through her wetness. She locked her fierce blue gaze with mine.

“I want you to come inside me, Beckett.”

I drew her in for a wild, untamed kiss as my cock slid perfectly into her depths. It felt so fucking good to be inside her that I could hardly fathom this was reality. That anything else was ever enough.

Her legs snaked around my waist, and I slid my hands to her hips as I set a savage pace.

We held onto one another as though there were no other choice.

I kissed her so hard I worried I’d bruise her lips.

But she didn’t allow me to back off as she dug her fingernails into my shoulders and I slammed into her over and over.

I held out until the moment Kira exploded, and then I stopped fighting it. I came so hard I left my fucking body.

When the world finally stilled around us, we both noticed the mess we created. The books, papers, and trinkets strewn all over the floor and desk, as though a windstorm had blown through. One of the desk legs cracked, and I pulled Kira into my arms seconds before it gave.

“I’ll fix that,” I promised, kissing her again.

“That doesn’t count as my favor, right?” she teased.

“No, Red, it doesn’t.”

“Good.” She kissed me once more. “Because I’m saving it for something really good.”