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Freya appears beside Wes, dooking inquisitively as she climbs over his legs, clearly wondering what game we’re playing here. He strokes her back with a shake of his head, “I don’t know. Personally, I would assume the person I loved and the animal they loved were a package deal. And Freya’s not an unreasonable creature. Look how much she’s warmed up to me in a few days. I think if Nancy’s man had put in a little effort with her, they could have been friends.”
I scratch Freya’s scruff as she sniffs the floor around me. “No, they couldn’t have been. Freya isn’t friends with assholes. She only likes nice people.” I shoot him a wobbly smile. “Like you, Preston.”
He grins. “Exactly what I was thinking, Lady Gray. Lady Gray doesn’t strike me as the type of woman who’s afraid of leprechauns.”
I shake my head, my grin stretching wider. “No way. Lady Gray eats leprechauns for breakfast.” I raise my voice, calling out to the rest of the quiet room and the forest beyond, “I mean that. Literally. I fry up leprechaun patties to eat with my scrambled eggs and toast, so you’d better stay far away from bungalow nine.”
“Damn straight,” Wes booms, making Freya flinch and leap into my arms. We laugh and he apologizes, “Sorry, Freya. Just wanted them to know we mean business.” Shifting his focus my way, he asks, “Want me to go get your coat before we unload? Or I can get whatever you and Freya need from the camper if you don’t want to go outside. Just give me a list.”
I shake my head. “No. I can come. But I’m going to need my hat. Feeling like brave, adventurous Lady Gray is easier with my fedora.”
He smiles. “Understandable. I’ll wear mine, too.”
He starts to stand, but I reach out, taking his hand. “Thanks,” I whisper. “For not thinking I’m crazy.”
“Never,” he promises. “I’ve got your back, Lady Gray. For as long as you’ll let me.”
I release his hand and crawl out from under the table, feeling even more mixed up than I did before. Yes, I’m still spooked by going out into the dark with the evil leprechauns, but a part of me is more spooked by the look in Wes’s eyes, the look that assures me he wasn’t kidding. He’s here for me, for Tessa, every bit as much as my adventurous alter ego.
Even after the things I told him today, even after watching me freak out and hide under a table like a kid who watched too many scary movies at a sleepover. Even after the way I’ve pushed him away for the past year and a half…
Suddenly, it seems so clear.
This man isn’t here with me, on the run from his ex and her volatile sister because he feels obligated to clean up a mess he helped create. He’s here because he cares about me, because that night in the woods meant something to him, too. I mean something to him.
On impulse, I reach out, catching his hand before he gets to the door.
He turns back, the curiosity in his eyes quickly turning to something more intense when his gaze locks with mine.
“We should probably check the bedroom before we grab our things,” I say, my pulse throbbing in my throat. “Just to make sure it’s going to be okay for us to sleep up there.”
“Good idea,” he says, his voice a deep rumble that sends electricity prickling across my skin. “Lead the way.”
“I think it’s up here,” I say, holding onto his hand as I start up the stairs and Freya darts back into the dungeon to play with her blocks. Anticipation building with every step, I’m practically hyperventilating by the time we reach the small bedroom tucked beneath the sharply slanted roof.
Wes has to duck down until we’re in the center of the space, but he seems as charmed by the bedroom as I am.
“Very cute,” he says, gazing down at the large bed festooned with wispy cream-colored curtains hanging from the ceiling on both sides. The comforter showcases a single red rose, like the one in Beauty and the Beast, and the wall behind us is all bookcases, displaying hundreds of hardcover books in various colors.
“It’s more than cute,” I say, squeezing his fingers. “It’s perfect. I mean, Beauty and the Beast is all about leaving home. About finding out who you are and what really matters to you, while in exile from everything you’ve ever known, right? About realizing that things that look perfect on the outside aren’t always what’s best for you and…vice versa?”
Wes pulls me closer, looping one arm around my waist as he cups my cheek. “Lady Gray are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Call me Tessa,” I say, my pulse spiking as I add, “Or good girl. I really liked that, too.”
His arm tightens on my waist, making my breath rush out as he crushes me against him. The hand at my cheek dives into my hair, fisting there, holding me captive as he whispers, “I don’t want just a night, Tessa. I don’t want this to be a lapse in judgment or a vacation fling. I want to be yours. And I really want you to be mine. The thought of another man fucking you makes me crazy. Just seeing Nate’s hands on you on the dance floor was enough to make me lose it.”
“I know.” I loop my arms around his neck, my entire body humming as he backs me toward the bed. “It was sexy.”
“I thought it pissed you off.”
“It did,” I say, my pulse spiking again as the backs of my knees hit the mattress. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t sexy. Or that I didn’t want to drag you into the hayloft and do filthy things to your body.”
“Once I get you in that bed, I’m not letting you out,” he says, his hand shifting to squeeze my ass through my soft travel pants. “You’re going to have to stay there, naked and well-fucked, while I get our things, feed Freya, and take her out to pee.”
My lips curve in a wicked grin. “I think I can get on board with that. Will you deliver snacks to my naked and well-fucked self, if needed?”
“Snacks, gold, your phone charger, the heads of your enemies,” he says. “Your wish is my command, beautiful. Now lift your arms. I need your tits in my mouth ten minutes ago.”
