Sweet as Honey (Aster Valley 2)

Truman sighed. The warmth from his breath washed across my arm and made my skin tingle. “He thinks it’s childish. He’s embarrassed by them. It was the same way with my dad back in Durango.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I volunteered at the library there, they asked me to stand in for one of the ladies who worked at the botanical garden. She wore a caterpillar costume for her preschool visitation days, and the kids loved it. So that day I kept it on and read The Very Hungry Caterpillar during circle time in the library. Oh my gosh, you’d have thought I was Superman! The kids loved it. The librarian loved it. After that, I tried making or buying costumes to go with some of the books I read.”

I pictured Truman as a shy, awkward teen waddling up to the library in his bumblebee costume with his stinger bouncing from side to side.

“I think that’s amazing,” I said, pulling him closer against me and pressing a kiss to the side of his face.

“My dad hated it. It was the closest he ever came to acting homophobic toward me. Comments about being flamboyant and how a town like Durango would never go for a drag queen library hour. It wasn’t drag. It was Clifford the Big Red Dog and Winnie the Pooh, for heaven’s sake. So I hid my costumes from him. And when I moved here, I spent an entire weekend cleaning out the goat shed so my costume collection had its very own home on my very own property. It was freeing.”

His words hammered home just how painful it must have been seeing someone he trusted throwing his beloved costumes in the trash.

“I’m sorry he did that. And I’m sorry your dad wasn’t more understanding.”

Truman was quiet for another moment. I enjoyed the feel of his warm body against mine. Providing physical comfort wasn’t much, but I had a feeling it was more than he was used to.

“I promised myself when I moved here I would remember my promise to Aunt Berry. That I wouldn’t let anyone try to turn down my sunshine.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by that, but I had an idea. Truman continued.

“She taught me how important it was for people to feed each other’s growth. That we are all affected by the energy around us, and we thrive or languish based on that energy. I want to be the sunlight for others.”

I turned him toward me and met his eyes. “You are. You are the brightest light I’ve ever known. And that’s saying a lot because I’m friends with Mikey Vining.”

Truman’s face flushed, and his eyelashes fluttered a little as he lowered his eyes to stare at my chest. “Thanks.”

“Why does Barney think you have enemies in town?”

His eyes widened. If it was possible, he looked even younger without his glasses on. “Because I do,” he said. “The Stanners.”

“But he made it sound like there were more than that. Who else still makes you feel bad for what happened all those years ago?”

He opened his mouth to respond but then closed it with a click. “Um…”

I brought a hand up and ran a finger along the side of his face. He was so beautiful. “Is it possible Barney exaggerates the fear to keep you close? He seems to like being protective of you.”

“No. That’s not about him. He’s protective because it’s justified. Anyway, can we not talk about this right now?”

“Mpfh.”

Truman laughed. “I kind of like it when you’re grumpy and vengeful.”

“That man treats you like a wayward child. It’s rude.”

He held his arms out to the sides, and I noticed he was wearing a Rigby General Contracting T-shirt. It swam on him. How had I not noticed it before? “Maybe he was annoyed because I was wearing this,” he teased.

Holy fuck did he look good in my shirt.

“Where did you get that?” I asked with a chuckle.

“You left it here last night after our dinner date. When you grabbed your clothes, you must have only taken the button-up shirt you had on over it. I hope it’s okay I stole it.” He gave me a cheeky grin that invited me right back into his bed.

“Hell yes,” I said before leaning in and nipping at the side of this throat. He threw his arms around my neck and pulled me down on top of him. We kissed for a long time—slow, searching kisses and faster, hotter ones. I ran my hands underneath the shirt to the warm smooth skin of his slender body. Every time he sucked in a breath, I learned more about what he liked and vowed to repeat it.

Who knows how long we would have continued on like this if it hadn’t been for the buzz of his gate alarm. I’d completely forgotten about the fire investigator’s visit, so we had to scramble to make ourselves presentable. When Truman invited Dirk Bromley and one of his coworkers into the kitchen for coffee, I quietly asked if he wanted me to stay or leave.