907 For Keeps Way (Cherry Falls)

My cardigan falls to the floor.

His muscles are hard, the ridges round against my palms. His tongue is hot as it licks the sensitive skin beneath my ear.

I moan before he catches the sound with his mouth. His tongue sweeps across mine.

I gather the hem of his shirt in my hands and tug it over his head. It’s the only reason he stops kissing me.

His eyes are wild as he rids me of my shirt too.

I stand in front of him in my jeans and camisole. A thought flashes through my mind before I can stop it. He’s going to see me naked.

The man—the personal trainer who’s standing shirtless in front of me like a freaking Greek god—is going to see my stretch marks and lopsided breasts and uneven skin. And the extra fifty pounds that started this whole thing.

I want to reach for my cardigan and shrug it back on and hide myself from him. Instead, I’m frozen in place by his curious look.

“What just happened?” he asks.

I shove a piece of hair behind my ear. “Nothing. Why?”

“If we’re going to do this, you need to be honest with me.”

Yeah. Let me tell you all of the flaws I was just cataloging about myself.

He studies me, his eyes narrowing for a long moment. Whatever he was trying to figure out, he must find because he stands tall. Resolute.

“Do you know what I see when I look at you?” he asks.

“Nope.”

“I see joy. I see a life’s worth of stories that I want to hear. I see a beautiful, strong woman who’s endured a marriage that she wasn’t happy in and raised a child—by herself lately. I see intelligence and a business owner. I see a human being who has a healthy fear of the unknown but not enough to stop her from having hope.”

He moves toward me.

I don’t know how to respond to that assessment. I don’t know what to do with the emotions that cloud my vision or the tickle in the bridge of my nose that usually comes just before a tear slips down my cheek.

Because he sees me. Somehow, Dane sees inside me without ever having been there. But how? We just met … “Kaylee, you’re beautiful. I’ve been fascinated by you for years.”

Um … wow.

“I see kindness and beauty,” he says, still not touching me. “I see the woman who has fascinated me since the morning that I saw her in the Cherry Tree Coffee Company ordering a black cherry mocha.” He grins. “I don’t know what you’re nervous about, exactly, but I’m not going to tell you that you shouldn’t be. You’re capable of controlling your own thoughts. But I will tell you this: I will never hurt you or put you in any position that you don’t want to be in. You have my word.”

My hesitations about my stretch marks and the absence of a thigh gap are still there. I don’t think those go away overnight. But I do know that it doesn’t feel as terrifying as it did to think about Dane seeing either thing.

Why is it different with him? Why do I trust him? And I don’t have the answer. I just know that it is and I do.

I wrinkle my nose and grin. “What about doggy style?”

His face lights up—first in shock and then in amusement. “Excuse me?”

“You said you wouldn’t put me into a position that I didn’t want to be in.” My face flushes, but I power on. “What about doggy style? I miss that so much.”

He laughs as the shock completely dissolves, and the amusement turns into pure, unadulterated lust.

I know the look because I embody it too.

Nine

Kaylee

Dane’s eyes hood.

I nearly dissolve on the spot.

He reaches for me with a tentative hand. I don’t move either toward him or away from him. I just stand in place and wait for him to touch me.

His fingers dip beneath the silk of my camisole. His knuckles skim the skin on my stomach. I shiver as our eyes lock, and he brings the material up and over my head.

He steps closer as he undoes the button of my jeans, his gaze drifting down my body until it lands on the tops of my breast. They jiggle against the black lace of my bra as he slides the denim down my legs. I kick off my shoes and assist him by shimmying until the material hits the floor.

I stand in front of him as he undoes his belt in one quick movement. He shoves his jeans and boxers down to the floor before stepping out of them altogether. In the middle of the hotel room, under the crappy overhead lighting, he takes my breath away.

His body is perfection. Not too thin, not too thick, Dane has muscles in all the right places. Broad shoulders, chiseled abs, and a trim waist all lead to what I’m really here for—his thick cock.