“I’m good with secrets.”

I laugh at her goofy smile. “My heart’s tangled up in you too.”

She sucks in a breath. “Does that mean you’ll kiss me?”

Reaching up, I run the pad of my thumb over her lips. “I’ll kiss you anytime you want, but not tonight.”

“Then you lied.”

“Tonight, you’ve been drinking, and I refuse to let you make a decision about us while you’re intoxicated.” No matter how badly my lips ache to taste hers.

She sits up straighter. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay,” I reply, tucking her hair behind her ear. I know she’s not tanked, but she’s different. Sure, I’ve been drinking and picked up a woman who was also drinking, and we’ve hooked up. That was me in the past. This is me with Parker, and everything about this woman sitting in my lap is different. I could kiss her, and we’d both enjoy it, but I’m trying to show her I’m not the playboy she thinks I am, especially now that she’s wormed her way inside my chest.

“You’re really not going to kiss me?”

Is that hurt in her voice? “Oh, baby, I’m going to kiss you.” My eyes flash to her lips. “Ask me again tomorrow and see what happens.”

“So, what? You’re never going to kiss me if I’m drinking? You had no issue with it at the club.” Her blue eyes turn darker with not only hurt but anger.

“Things are different now.”

“Explain that.” She moves like she’s going to crawl out of my lap, but I lock my arms around her.

“I admit, I wanted you then. But Parker, what you don’t realize is that want is more now. It’s need. It’s waking up next to you each morning and falling asleep next to you each night. It’s calling you first when something good happens and leaning on you when it’s bad. What we are is more than a hookup in a club. That might be how we started, but baby, this is beyond the play.”

“You play, Holden. That’s what you do.”

“Not with you.” I press my forehead to hers. “Trust me on this. Please. I don’t ever want you to think that you’re not different. Tomorrow, I’ll spend the entire day kissing your sweet lips if that’s what you want.”

“What do you want?” she asks.

“I want you, Parker Monroe, anyway I can have you. Once you decide completely sober that I’m what you want.”

“I can decide that now,” she says, leaning in and pressing her lips to mine. She pulls back, and her eyes find mine. “I wanted to do that, and tomorrow when I’m sober”—she rolls her pretty blue eyes—“I’ll remind you of this very moment.”

“I hope so,” I admit. I really hope she has no regrets come the light of day. “Now, how about a tour of the house?”

“I’ve already seen it.”

“I know, but now it’s mine.” I grin and wink.

“You’re just a boy in a sexy man’s body,” she teases. She moves to crawl off my lap, and this time, I let her. She’s right. I feel like a randy teenager where she’s concerned, and to be honest, I’m almost afraid to take things further with her, just like I would have been as an inexperienced teenager.

With a smile on my face, I turn off the truck and hit the button to close the garage door. “Go on in,” I tell her when she turns to look at me over her shoulder where she’s standing next to the door. The same giddy smile on my face graces hers as she turns the handle and walks inside with me hot on her heels.

“I think you made the right choice,” she says, linking her arm through mine. We casually stroll through the kitchen once we step out of the mudroom. “This kitchen is perfect for get-togethers and holidays. You’re going to have so much fun entertaining here,” she says.

I don’t reply, and I don’t need to. Besides, I’m afraid if I do, it will be something along the lines of we can have get-togethers here. Together. We’re not there yet.

“Can you imagine a Christmas tree here in front of this window?” She stops walking and smiles up at me. “This place will be gorgeous. All decked out for the holidays.”

“You think so?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, let’s do it then.”

“What?”

“Let’s decorate. I admit I don’t have a lot of decorations for the holidays at my old place.”

“What’s not a lot?” she asks.

“None.”

“What? How is that possible? This is your off-season, and you’re home to enjoy it. How could you not decorate?”

“Well, I usually spend the month of December here with my parents, so I never really bothered to buy decorations. I’ve only lived there for two years. It was my first purchase when I signed my contract with the Tomahawks, and it’s much smaller than this place.”

“Walmart is smaller than this place,” she jokes.

Tags: Kaylee Ryan Out of Reach Romance
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