Southern Player (Charleston Heat 2)

“Yes?”

“You’re a city girl who fits right in on a farm. How are you so damn good at it?”

I tangle my fingers in Luke’s cravat. Fist it, pulling him to me.

“I just am, Your Grace.”

His eyes soften. “Just you. Just right.”

And the way he kisses me then—that’s just right, too.

THE ENDEpilogueLukeThree months laterIt’s a gorgeous fall day. Crisp, sleep-with-the-windows-open weather that makes you glad to be alive. Big blue sky above.

Gravel crunching beneath the tractor’s tires below.

Gracie’s on my lap. Sunshine catching on her hair, turning it to gold. She’s got the sleeves of my jacket pulled up over her hands.

A bite mark peeks out over the collar. I grin, body warming at the memory of when I put it there earlier this morning. Her sigh when I turned her onto her stomach and lifted her hips and took her from behind. Arm looped around her middle, her tit in my hand. Curling my body around hers so I could kiss and bite and suck on her neck.

I lean in and do it again. Soothing the little mark with a quick kiss and a whisper of air.

Gracie shivers, glancing at me over her shoulder. A big old smile on her lips as she wiggles her hips, grinding down into my groin.

“You and the love bites,” she says, voice raised above the hum of the tractor.

“Can’t help it,” I reply. “You’re too delicious. I love you too much. Makes me wanna devour you, baby girl.”

She leans in and nips at my jaw. Right where it meets with my chin.

“If I’m delicious, then you’re positively scrumptious. As evidenced by the way I devoured you last night.”

Girl literally devoured me. Took me to the back of her throat and made me come so hard I saw stars.

Bless.

I got one hand on the wheel. I wrap my free arm around her waist and pull her to me. Squeeze her. Bury my face in her hair and inhale the scent of her shampoo.

Gracie laughs. Then sighs, melting against me.

Everything swells. Heart and dick and my adoration for this woman.

We been together for more than a few months now. But I’m just as ravenous for her today as I was that first night we were together. The kind of ravenous that has one or both of us waking each other up in the middle of the night, every night. Unable to go more than a handful of hours without touching.

It’s total insanity. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“You excited?” I ask.

Gracie nods, glancing over my shoulder at the little wagon we’re towing behind the tractor. We’ve got coffee makers and mugs and, yes, a couple pony kegs of our favorite local beers back there. Folding tables. Outdoor heaters.

“So excited.” Her eyes are back on me. “I don’t want to jinx our very first event. But I have a good feeling about today.”

I smile. Lordy, I been smiling nonstop these days.

“I got a good feeling about us,” I say.

Gracie bites her lip. “Me too, Luke. A really good feeling.”

A lot has happened since my Duke convinced Grace’s Lady to give me another chance. Gracie and I have worked hard to create a nice little routine for ourselves. Took some trial and error, and we’re constantly readjusting and reworking it. But we try our best to split our time evenly between downtown and Wadmalaw. A couple nights at her place, a couple at mine.

I was able to hire some more help on the farm, so I get to take more than my customary afternoon or two off. Gracie’s busier than ever, but to clear her schedule a bit, she promoted Dylan to a chief operating officer position in the newly established Holy City Roasters Group, Inc. Gracie and I make sure to constantly communicate so we can coordinate our free time and days off.

It’s not a perfect arrangement. Gets exhausting sometimes, driving back and forth. But I can’t stand to be away from my girl for even a single night, so I suck it up and try to catch up on my sleep whenever I can. Nice bonus of all this time we spend together is that our circles are slowly starting to overlap more and more. When I’m downtown, I make a real effort to be around not only Gracie but her friends and colleagues, too. Instead of spending time at the library doing research, I check the books out and bring ’em to Holy City Roasters, where I’ll camp out at a table on the new outdoor patio. Greeting Gracie’s regulars right beside her.

We’ve done a lot of double dates with her friends at all the hot spots on Upper King Street. I don’t feel so overwhelmed or intimidated doing one-on-one stuff with her people, so that’s what Gracie and I have been doing rather than cocktail parties or larger events. It’s actually fun grabbing a bite and a beer with, say, Elle and Charlie, or Dylan and whoever her flavor of the week is.