Megan
“Morning, babe.”
The words came out around a yawn as I stretched and enjoyed the sight of my husband, Casey, in striped pajama pants and nothing else. The muscles in his back, honed from a youth spent rock and mountain climbing, bunched with every move. Despite spending his days inside an operating room, he had an impressive sun-kissed tone I envied as much as I lusted after it.
“Something smells good.” I inhaled deeply and took in his welcoming smile.
“I haven’t started the coffee yet, Megs.” The amusement in his tone made me smile.
“Must be you, then.” I walked into his arms and buried my face in his chest, taking another breath that was nothing but Casey. The love of my life. “Yep, definitely you.”
He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed with a grunt. “Morning, sweetheart. Sleep okay?”
I shook my head, face still buried in his chest. “I would’ve slept better in your arms.” Sleeping in an empty bed was difficult, and I hated it.
“I know.” He groaned and dropped a kiss on my forehead before turning his attention back to the coffee pot. “The overnight shift isn’t my favorite, but Suzie is determined that every doctor does their part, including me. Just another week,” he promised.
“Nine days,” I corrected with a shrug. “Gus and Persy have both said they’re happy not to be on that rotating schedule.”
Casey laughed. “I can go into nursing or general medicine, if you prefer?”
I rolled my eyes. “After all those years apart while you finished up medical school and then a neuro fellowship? I don’t think so, mister. We’ll just have to get up close and personal when we can.” I tilted my head up and puckered for kiss, and my man did not disappoint.
Kissing Casey always felt like that first time. Okay, not the very first time we kissed in the second grade on a dare, but the first kiss that really meant something, when he was fifteen and I was fourteen. It was at that age when you finally become aware of the opposite sex, or rather the appeal of them. It was then that everything between us changed. That kiss took us from friends to something more, and that something brought us to this early morning make-out session in the middle of our kitchen.
His lips brushed mine, gentle at first, but the kiss grew more intense by the second. Moments like this hadn’t happened nearly enough lately, with both of us always rushing off to our respective jobs—Casey as a neurosurgeon at the Jackson Ridge Medical Center, me as a baker. I savored this moment of heat, of passion, this moment that belonged only to me and my husband, as his tongue swept into my mouth and tangoed with my own. He tasted like toothpaste and Casey, and it was better than coffee this early in the morning.
“Way better,” I moaned when he pulled back and smacked my ass. “That’s a nice way to say hello.”
His lips kicked up into a crooked grin and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “I love seeing you like this, all sexy and rumpled.”
“Should I bribe Suzie with chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies? She always buys them by the dozen when I make them.”
Being the best, and only, baker in town had its perks when it came to bribing the locals, coaxing favors out of them. Or, my personal favorite, getting them to keep a secret.
“I love you for the offer, but I don’t think it’ll work. On the upside, I managed to get plenty of research done.”
My eyes widened in surprise as the gurgling coffee pot startled a gasp out of me, and then a laugh. “That’s wonderful, Casey!”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Who knew having no patients was the key to successful research?”
“I’m proud of you, babe.” I pushed up on my toes and wrapped both arms around him, kissing him because I loved him. Because I was so damn proud of the man and the surgeon he’d become. All the sacrifices we’d made, all the years apart, were worth it because his dreams had come true.
Our dreams had come true.
We kissed for a long time, the hissing coffee machine forgotten again in the heat of our passion. His hands cupped my ass and my fingers tangled in his hair as we pressed our bodies as closely and as tightly together as we could get. In a flash, I was in his arms, legs wrapped around his waist, allowing me to feel just how hard he was under his pajamas. A low growl escaped from inside of me and I deepened the kiss, smiling against his lips.
My phone beeped and vibrated on the countertop, a not-so-subtle reminder that I had no time to take this kiss to its inevitable conclusion. My shoulders fell in disappointment as I let my legs drop.