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“It’s Corbin’s now. So I thought I’d help him clean it up. It’s in pretty rough shape.”
“Why would he want to clean it up? He can’t be planning on keeping it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I saw it when his uncle owned it and it was pathetic then. I’m sure it’s even more so now. And I’m sure he has a nicer home or apartment.”
“He does.” Jesse shrugged. “But maybe he wants to keep his uncle’s place because of the memories.”
Liberty snorted. “Not likely. His uncle wasn’t what you would call a good memory maker. The only memories I have of him are coming drunk to the high school games and making scenes or getting in arguments with people in town or my daddy. He was an angry man who never had a kind word to say to anyone. Especially poor Corbin. I’m surprised Corbin didn’t tell you.”
Jesse’s eyes held a sadness Liberty had never seen before. “No. He never mentioned it.”
That wasn’t so strange. The men she knew struggled to talk about anything but business, sports, or ranching. She started to go back to her list when Jesse reached over and took her phone.
“Hey! Give that back.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t invite you on a picnic so I could sit here and watch you tap away on your phone.”
“You weren’t sitting. You were lying.” She held out a hand. “Give it back.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Or what?”
“Or I’m going to make you pay.”
His eyes twinkled. “Really? Then make me pay, Libby Lou.”
She hesitated for only a second before she lunged for her phone. But he was much faster and moved it out of her reach . . . and kept moving it out of her reach as she kept trying to grab it. Finally she got so angry, she growled and tackled him back to the blanket. A wrestling match ensued. Not that Jesse did much wrestling. He mostly just lay there, laughing, as he moved his arm to keep her phone just out of her reach.
“I’m warning you, Jesse Cates, if you don’t give me back my phone—”
He easily rolled her over until he was on top.
Just like that, she forgot all about her phone. All she could think about was the way her body felt tucked beneath all those muscles.
She had never liked men being on top. It made her feel trapped. But with Jesse, she didn’t feel trapped. She felt . . . safe. Like being wrapped in her great-grandma’s quilt. Except instead of patched material, the blanket was made of hard muscle and a rapidly thumping heart. As she looked into his soft brown eyes, she felt no need to be on top. No need to take control.
“Or you’ll do what, Libby Lou?” he said in a voice that was husky and sexy.
Only one thing popped into her mind.
As it turned out, she took control after all.
She slid her hands over the broad width of his shoulders, enjoying the feel of his sun-toasted skin, before she glided them up the corded muscles of his neck and cradled his whiskered jaw. “Or this.” She kissed him.
As soon as their mouths collided, she realized how much she had longed for this. She felt ravenous and Jesse was the only one who could feed the hunger inside her. But instead of joining in on her frenzied kiss, he drew back and whispered against her lips.
“Slow down, Libby. There’s no rush.” He sipped at her mouth a few times before he deepened the kiss, teaching her the difference between a rushed devouring and a slow, unhurried mating of lips and tongues. He didn’t just taste her. He savored her, turning her into a puddle of want and need.
He wanted her too. She could feel him growing hard against the top of her leg. She shifted to get that hardness exactly where she wanted it. When he rubbed his erection against the aching spot, she groaned with the pleasure it ignited.
She was losing the bet. Her mind knew this. But her body didn’t seem to care. It wanted more. She opened her legs as he continued to rock against her. When he wasn’t moving fast enough, she slipped her hands to his butt to urge him on. He chuckled against her lips before he followed her instruction, rubbing his hard length against her until the pulsing ache between her legs turned into an explosive release.
As she dug her fingers into his butt cheeks and arched into him, he slowed his movements and eased her down from her orgasm with feather-soft kisses and words of encouragement.
“That’s it, Lib. Ride it out, baby.”
She wilted down to the blanket and sighed, completely spent and relaxed . . . for about three seconds. Then her mind plopped back into her head and she realized what she’d done.
