“You said you liked to star-gaze in the summer but I can’t wait that long, so I thought we could tonight.”
Audrey couldn’t breathe as she looked up at her gorgeous giant of a boyfriend. She shot him a grin before climbing up into the bed of the truck. He followed behind her as she sat down, pulling the blankets over her legs since it was the beginning of December. When her heel got caught in the blanket, she let out a curse, slipping her shoes off as Tate handed her a balled up pair of socks, and she knew from that moment on that she was going to love this man forever. “I figured you wouldn’t want to wear your heels with the blankets on you,” he said.
“You are pretty awesome, Mr. Ooooodder.”
Tate flashed her a grin, showing his gap. “I think you are too, Ms. Parker.”
She laid her head on his chest, looking up at the sky as his arms snaked around her, holding her close. Nothing was said as they enjoyed the night and each other. Then Tate interrupted the peaceful silence.
“Hey, you haven’t told Fallon about us?”
Audrey shook her head. “No, I didn’t know if we were official.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t we be official? I don’t understand.”
She smiled. “Well, we kinda just started sleeping together and you declared me as your woman, but you never really asked. I guess we both just assumed.”
A grin tugged at Tate’s mouth. “So I have to ask you for this to be official?”
“It would be nice,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “But I mean if you are cool with me hollerin’ at other guys, we can go on the way we’ve been.”
Taking a deep breath, Tate shook his head. “You drive me mad, you know that?”
Audrey smiled as she nodded. “And you still like me, apparently.”
He laughed. “I do, so say it.”
“Say what?” Audrey asked, confused.
“Say you are my woman, that you are my girlfriend.”
She smiled as she rolled her eyes. “I guess I am.”
He laughed, taking her closer in his arms as he kissed the stuffing out of her. Then they both lay back against the plush pillows and looked up into the sky. Blissfully happy, Audrey cuddled against Tate’s side, taking in his profile. He glanced down at her, caught her staring at him, smiled and kissed her temple. Pulling back, she looked up at him. He laughed and said, “What?”
“Question.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Have you loved a lot of people?”
It was something she had wanted to ask him for a while. She knew of his ex, but nothing more. He really didn’t know much about her past lovers either. They had talked about everything under the sun except that. And since she was pretty sure she was falling in love with him, she wanted to know everything.
Tate shook his head. “No. I loved Elsa, but other than her, not really. I dated a lot, and had sex with a lot of women, but no, I’ve only loved one.”
“Wow,” she said, feeling stupid. Not only had she dated a lot, but she loved every single one of those guys. Or at least she thought she did.
“What?” he asked.
“I have loved every man I have been with. Pathetic, huh?”
Tate shook his head. “Maybe you never really loved them, you just thought you did.”
Well, didn’t he just read her mind? Audrey giggled. “That’s a little deeper than I thought you would ever go. Isn’t a guy your age only supposed to think of sex, sex, and maybe sex?”
Tate laughed, then pinned her with a lusty grin. “If you put your hand down my pants, you would know very well that I can be deep and think very much about sex. Sex with you, to be blunt.”
Laughter bubbled at the base of her throat. Sometimes Tate blew her away with his flirty, cocky swag. Not only did it shock the hell out of her, it made her want to jump on top of him and hump his face. He was just so insanely hot. “I’m not really sure if I should be offended, turned on, or disgusted right now.”
He bit down on his full bottom lip as he held her gaze. “Turned on is way more fun, don’t you think?
Why were his words like hot caresses?