Oh man.
I was such a dork!
I pulled the brush out of my mouth and covered with, “A long time.” Then I recommenced brushing.
He grinned at me and commenced shaving, muttering, “Must be why your teeth are so white.”
He was wrong. One of the first things I did when Cooter and Vanessa accidentally made me rich instead of making me dead was go to a dentist and have my teeth professionally whitened. I didn’t have ugly, yellow teeth but I found the idea of having your teeth whitened decadent. I always wanted to do it. So when I got my windfall, I did.
Deciding my work on my teeth was done and Sam might think I was a little crazy if I brushed longer and stared at him shaving like I wasn’t his girlfriend who was now apparently living with him but instead a rabid fan who was living the dream of standing in a bathroom with him, his razor and his hips encased in nothing but a towel, I pulled the brush from my mouth and garbled, “Sink.”
Sam gave me room; I spit, rinsed, put my toothbrush away and wiped my hands.
Then I muttered, “I’ll bring you a cup of coffee,” and started out of the bathroom but found myself unmoving and in Sam’s arms looking up at Sam with a shaved neck but jaws and cheeks that were still foamed. In my perpetual freak out at all that was happening, I therefore blurted, “Only you could look supremely hot with shaving cream on your face.”
Sam’s loose arms went tight as he burst out laughing.
And that was when it hit me, staring up at the man I loved who loved me, standing in his arms in his bathroom, him shaving, me about to go down and get him a cup of coffee, that not only could I do this, I wanted to.
North Carolina. Indiana. The moon. I didn’t care.
Knowing each other a month, a year, a lifetime. I didn’t care.
It wasn’t too soon.
I loved him. He loved me. And wherever we were, it didn’t matter, just as long as it was a place that had him.
Sam quit laughing, looked down at me and instantly proved that my earth-rocking decision was right by saying, “Well, baby, you look good in your little dresses and your heels, in your shorts, in your nightie but the best you ever look is in the morning when you roll outta my bed.”
See what I mean?
“Stop being sweet in the morning before I’ve had coffee,” I returned. “I don’t have the energy to demonstrate my gratitude.”
He grinned but ignored me, his face dipped closer and he went on in a low, rougher than usual but still velvet voice to finish, “Especially a morning after I fucked you hard, I fucked you long and I made you come often. Fuck, baby,” his voice went even more velvet as his gaze heated, “your eyes are dreamy, your hair’s a sexy-as-hell mess and your lips are still swollen.” He touched his mouth to mine and whispered, “Beautiful.”
Then he got shaving cream all over my face and he did this by kissing me for a really long time.
When he was done, I was breathing hard and Sam was swiping at the shaving cream on my face with his thumb when I decided my only reply could be, “I love you, Sam,” so that was what I said.
His thumb swept shaving cream across my jaw as his face got soft, his eyes went warm and he muttered, “Good.”
I grinned at him.
He grinned back.
Then he ordered, “Get me some coffee.”
“Bossy,” I murmured, he grinned again, gave me a gentle push to the door, I took his direction, nabbed a hand towel on the way and swiped at the shaving cream.
Then I got myself a cup of coffee and took one up to my man.
I went back downstairs because I’d seen Maris on the deck with Memphis so I took my coffee out to join her.
Memphis bounced to me, yapping.
Maris turned to me, smiled and called, “Good morning.”
“Morning,” I called back and asked, “You want time alone or are you good with company?”
“Live alone, honey, so company.”
I joined her, sitting in a chair already pulled up next to hers. Memphis joined us by jumping in my lap. I moved my feet to the railing of the deck, my fabulous robe dropped open to expose my legs and Memphis settled in a curl in her Momma’s lap so I could sip my coffee.
“Got shaving cream on your face,” Maris muttered, her sweet velvet voice vibrating with amusement.
Shit!
I swiped at my face, asking, “Where?”
“Right cheek,” she answered, still sounding amused.
I moved my fingers there, encountered Sam’s shave cream and wiped it away. Then I rubbed my fingers together to get rid of it. Then I started petting my dog.
“That robe sure is pretty,” Maris noted.
“Thanks. Luci has one like it and I admired hers so she took me to the place in Como that sells them.”
“They’d be hit at my shop but exporting is a pain in the behind. Tried it a couple of times, had to up the prices because of duty, stuff sat on the rails forever, even in Malibu.”
Knowing the cost of this robe, add duty, even in Malibu, I could imagine.