Page 76 of Will Bark for Pizza (Bluebell Springs #1)

SIXTY-FIVE

KIRA

My palms grew sweaty at the sight of the black truck pulling into the clearing. I watched Beckett park beside my Jeep, feeling my throat suddenly go dry.

He came.

But did I wait too long?

My heartbeat pounded in my ears as he stepped out of his truck in his usual T-shirt and jeans. Maybe I should have warned him to wear shorts. The man had to be tired of soggy jeans when it came to me and this lake.

I had Husker by his leash, but I let go of the handle when he spotted Beckett.

He raced to his favorite person, looking a little ridiculous in his bright yellow and black life vest as he ran, but if he was self-conscious about it, he didn’t show it.

He nearly took Beckett out at the shins.

Luckily, the man had learned to brace for impact.

“Hey, Husker.”

My heart melted at the sight of him crouched down and greeting my dog as though he were his own .

If I had any doubts left over, they evaporated in this moment.

“Hey,” I said as he approached, leash in hand.

“Hey,” he said, his smile hesitant but still there. Like a constant.

Beckett was my constant.

I still didn’t fully understand what I did to deserve him, but I was done pushing him away. I wetted my lips, willing my frayed nerves to calm as I found the words I’d been rehearsing all day. It’d only been a week apart, but it felt as though a decade had lapsed since I last saw him.

“You doing okay, Red?”

“I love you, Beckett.”

Shit. Okay. Not the way I planned this. But, well, shit. It was out there now.

I rubbed my sweaty palms on the back of my shorts, looking at the hard-packed rocky ground, the calm waters, the two paddleboards I set up. At Husker. Anywhere but at Beckett.

“Let me try that again?—”

“I love you too, Red. But I think you already know that.”

“What?”

When did Beckett close the distance between us? How was he standing right in front of me when I didn’t even remember him walking up to me? Dammit, this had to be a dream. A really good dream, but a dream. A dress rehearsal. Fuck, I didn’t want to do this a second time.

“Did you really have any doubts about the way I feel about you, Kira?”

Beckett reached for my cheek, and my entire body hummed to life. As though winter was giving way to spring.

Okay, not a dream.

Thank God.

Except, I just blurted my feelings without apologizing. Without explaining myself. Without?—

“You don’t need to overthink this,” Beckett said gently, caressing my temple with his thumb. “I told you I wasn’t going anywhere. That I would be here when you’re ready. So, there’s just one question to answer: Are you ready?”

I flickered my gaze to meet his, wondering how the hell it was possible a man like Beckett Campbell existed.

“I’m ready.”

He drew me in for the kiss I’d craved since I told him to go. I sank into him, wrapping my arms around his neck and dragging him down to me as our bodies molded into one. Holding on too tightly because I refused to ever let him go again.

“I’m sorry, Beck,” I said when we came up for air. Which was only because Husker was impatiently whining and wedging his way between our legs, letting us both know he was not enjoying being left out.

“You don’t have to apologize, Red.”

“I hurt you, and that wasn’t fair. I wish I could just show up as this completely healed version of myself that never let anything knock me down, but that’s not realistic.

It felt really fucking good to tell Travis off.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not a little battered and bruised.

But I want to try again. I want to put myself out there, and well, I kind of already did that?—”

“Kira? ”

Shit, I was rambling. “Yeah?”

“I’m battered and bruised, too. In case that escaped your mind.”

“The redheaded curse,” I said, laughing.

“Yeah.”

“Just so you know, I think I’m leaving my hair red. It’s really grown on me.”

“Good. Because I’d call you Red even if your hair was green.”

“Green?”

Beckett’s smile stretched his cheeks and lit up his eyes, reminding me of its potency. If we didn’t get on the water soon, I might do something reckless like tackle him and take him right here on one of the paddleboards.

“All I’m saying is that I’m all in,” Beckett said.

“I am, too.”

He kissed me again, and this time even Husker’s insistent wedging wasn’t enough to slow us down. Beckett’s warm hand roamed up inside my shirt, settling on my breast. His thumb brushed over the peak of my nipple, and I whimpered.

“I fucking love that sound,” Beckett said, his words a near growl. “I love making you make that sound.”

“We could go back to the cabin,” I suggested, snaking my hands up the back of his neck.

“Yeah?”

“But it’ll have to be after we get on the lake,” I said, nodding at Husker, who was pacing around us in circles, his leash wrapped around our legs. “He’s been cooped up all week while I finished my book. He deserves a little adventure on the water first.”

“You finished your book?”

“I did.”

“Number twenty-six.” Beckett kissed me again. “I’m so damn proud of you, Red.”

My entire body flushed from the compliment. “Well, you certainly helped with the inspiration.”

“Good. I hope I help inspire many more books to come.”

“I think that’s a fairly strong possibility.” I kissed him once more, and then proceeded to untangle us from Husker’s leash before someone on the other side of the lake saw us making out and called my brother to report an indecent exposure.

I turned to the boards before I remembered Beckett was wearing jeans.

“Did you want to grab shorts?”

“Nah.”

“Really?”

“I’ve gotten pretty used to swimming in jeans when it comes to you, Red.”

I gave him a flirty shrug. “I’ve gotten used to getting you out of wet jeans.”

“Are you planning to fall in the lake today?” Beckett asked, a twinkle in his hazel eyes that I hoped would always be there.

“God, I hope not. That water’s fucking cold !”