I handed her a towel when she walked back in the kitchen grinning from ear to ear. I pulled her to me. Our eyes met, and her smile widened. I covered her lips with mine, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. The kiss was deeper than I had intended, but with her, it was an all-in, all the time kind of thing. When I pulled away, we were both breathing a little heavier. I kissed her nose and looked up to see Ryan watching us. He saluted me then turned and walked toward the back porch.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Emerson
“When did Ryan leave?” I asked Luke as we sat in one of his chairs in the backyard.
“Not too long ago. I think it may have been when the kissing started.” He kissed the side of my head and pulled me a little tighter against his chest. “He may be a little jealous.”
I felt his smile against the side of my head. “I’ll give him hell for not saying bye later.”
“When do you have to go back to Portland?” His rich timber filled the quiet.
“Wednesday, so I'll probably leave here Tuesday night so I don't have to drive super early.”
“And you'll be gone until?”
“I should be back Friday night, maybe Saturday morning. Just depends on if I get everything done. I have to gather some root ball samples to send to the lab before I leave, so I’ll probably be in the woods most of tomorrow and Tuesday.”
I didn't want to do anything but be in his arms. Rachel had disappeared when she first started dating Charlie, and I had sworn I wouldn't be that girl, but here I sat wanting to blow off all of my responsibilities just to be with him. I didn’t even want to go next door, but I knew if I didn’t, one thing would lead to another, and we weren’t ready for that just yet. At least, I wasn’t.
“Tonight was great, this is great.” I stood, bending at the waist and kissed his beard and then his cheek, then his mouth. I ran a finger over his forehead pushing his hair behind his ear. “Thank you.” I kissed him again and then pulled away.
“Let me walk you home.” He stood and followed me to the porch. When I reached the steps, I turned back to him. The light from the porch lamp illuminated his smile. I reached up and fingered his beard, and pulled his face down to mine. His lips pressed a soft kiss over mine that quickly turned into more passion than I had ever felt. The burning in my gut told me I should hold on very tightly to him. My body was on alert and sometimes wanted to go further, but he always slowed it down. I wanted to experience it all with him, but I also didn't want to rush this.
“I'll see you tomorrow.” He brushed his lips softly over mine again and then turned and walked back to his door. Stopping, he looked over at me.
“Goodnight,” he said then pulled at his door handle and waited for me to go inside.
“Night.” I turned and walked inside my house.
I laid in bed that night thinking about how close yet how far away he was.
***
I shuffled through papers, thinking about how just the night before I’d had to force myself to send Luke home for the second night in a row, especially knowing I wouldn’t see him for a few days. I imagined that would only get harder to do—make him... let him leave.
“I didn't know you were going to be here this week,” Chris said as he walked into Granddad’s office, distracting me from my thoughts.
“Just for a couple of days.” I turned back to my papers and continued filing them. He sat down in front of me. I glanced up and found him looking at me.
“What? Did you need something?” My tone was friendly, but distracted.
“I didn't know you knew Ryan and Luke.”
“Yeah. I have for a while.”
“It was just weird seeing you there. As long as I have competed, you've never even asked about it.”
“I actually didn’t even know that’s what you competed in. When they asked me to come, I did.” I shrugged.
“So, you and Luke?” He was fishing.
“Yeah, me and Luke.” I smiled and continued to work on getting the paperwork straight. With Granddad being out so many days, it was piled up. More reason I was glad Chris was taking on more work and making sure things were right when I wasn't there.
“Hey, I'm gonna grab a late lunch, you want to join?”
“Sure, give me just a minute to wrap this up,” I responded as I finished the last of the first pile of paperwork.