Connell (Carolina Reapers 3)

We stood just like that until my knees stopped shaking.

Then I washed her—and me—from head to toe and carried her to bed, where I started all over again. I made love to her softly, slowly, bringing her back to blinding pleasure twice more before we slept.

As she drifted off with her head tucked against my shoulder, I quietly vowed that I’d prove to her that this wasn’t the summer fling she thought it was. This was real. I’d had enough flings to know the difference.

This wasn’t a summer thing.

This was a forever kind of thing.

I just had to prove it to her.

12

Annabelle

“Annabelle!” Blaire squealed from across the parking lot, her heels clicking against the pavement as she hurried toward where I stood next to Echo.

“Hi, Blaire,” I said, awkwardly accepting her friendly hug. “Thanks for coming,” I said, eyeing her heels. “Though it may be difficult to do a 5k in pumps?”

“Oh,” she waved me off. “I came to cheer for Logan. And take pictures. 5ks aren’t really my thing,” she admitted with a shrug.

Echo snorted, not even attempting to hide her eye roll.

I gently nudged her but smiled at Blaire. “Well, thank you for the support.”

“Absolutely,” she said, her cell already in hand. “I’m going to get some great shots and get this event tons of exposure. It’s so neat that you handled all this yourself!”

I beamed with pride, scanning the crowd of Sweet Water citizens that had gathered for the fundraiser and celebration for the opening of the ostrich reserve. “I didn’t do it totally alone,” I said.

Blaire smiled but didn’t glance up from her phone. “Oh, I know,” she said, fingers flying over her screen. “The picture Connell posted of the two of you? To. Die. For!” she laughed. “I think I heard the cry of every girl in town.”

I swallowed hard, heat rising to my cheeks.

Of course, Connell had asked permission before taking our relationship public, but I couldn’t fight off the shock that still rocked me that we were official. Just as I couldn’t squash that small part of me that couldn’t let go of the doubt, of the very possible reality that I would wake up one day and find myself the butt of some twisted joke where I had believed I lived in a world where a man like Connell could love me.

That’s not fair.

No. It sure as hell wasn’t. Connell had been nothing but good to me. More than good. He was perfect. But the world had reared me on pain, and it had taken years for me to learn to love myself for who and what I was. And while I was there, it was sometimes still hard to believe that someone else might…someone who was used to perfection like Blaire, not city clerks from small-town Sweet Water.

“Babe!” Blaire shouted, waving to Logan, who stood near the ticket table, collecting his number. She hurried off without another glance in our direction.

“Something about that girl,” Echo said, her eyes narrowed in Blaire’s direction.

“Stop,” I said, laughing as I hooked our arms together. “Logan adores her.”

She snorted. “Maybe pregnancy has made me more irritable?”

“No way,” I said, a bit sarcastically. She pinched my arm but smiled.

“You sure you want to walk this thing with me?” She asked.

“Absolutely,” I said. “You remember gym class for me. What a nightmare.” I eyed my chest. “Who could possibly run with these giant things?”

Echo laughed. “They are quite glorious.”

We chuckled as we stopped at the ticket table where a slew of Reapers huddled in random groups.

All.

Shirtless.

Sweet mercy, it was no wonder even Charleston’s press had shown up for the event. There were enough muscles on display to tempt even the most chaste of high society. Each Reaper had elected to wear their paper number plastered over the shorts that hugged their massive thighs.

“Not a bad sight,” Echo said, her eyes firmly locked on her fiancé Sawyer. “Not a bad sight at all.”

I smiled at her. “And the generosity,” I said. “Is the real kicker. They’ve all donated. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank them enough.”

“I’m sure you’ve found creative ways to thank one Reaper in particular enough,” she teased, and I nodded.

“Still,” I said. “I’ll never be out of his debt.”

“Is that how you view it?”

I pressed my lips together, electing not to answer.

“Where is he, anyway?” She asked. “I assumed he’d be the first one here.”

I checked my cell again, sighing at the lack of texts. “I’m not sure,” I admitted and hated the way my voice cracked. Hated the way the doubt snaked its way into my blood. “Maybe he got tied up.”

“Every other Reaper is here.”

“Right. But maybe—”

Echo’s eyes widened, and a huge smile stretched her matt blue lips. “Omigod.” She grabbed my shoulders and spun me around.

A laugh ripped from my chest, and I tried to quell the sound by covering my mouth with my fingers.