“Hey.”
I turned my head to reply, but couldn’t get anything out. She was standing outside the door in a soft pale pink dress, with matching pumps on her feet. She’d done some sort of curly thing with her hair, then pinned it up with bits falling down around her shoulders.
Gazing at her, I coughed to try and clear the restriction in my throat. “Until I saw you, my body was under control.” I stood, walking towards her. “But now.” I smoothed my hand over my hard-on, as I reached her. “Do not lick your lips,” I growled.
She stepped into my space, taking my face into her hands. She brought her lips within an inch of mine. “I haven’t put lipstick on yet.” With that, she gently sealed her lips to mine.
My hands went to her hips as I brought her flush against me. We both groaned, as I deepened the kiss, slipping my tongue inside her mouth to mate with hers. She tasted delicious, and I never wanted to let her go.
“Phoenix, we have to go get Callie from town.”
“What?” I had no idea, what she was talking about.
“Phoenix, stop,” she groaned, while I continued to kiss her neck, moving to her collarbone. “Callie. My best friend is in town, and needs a ride. She’s staying at the inn, so I said we’d go pick her up and take her to the garden party with us.”
“You made me forget about the damn thing.” I moved away from her, took her hand, and led her down the porch steps to my car. “Is Callie a good friend?”
She gave me a funny look. “Yeah. Why?”
“This afternoon is going to be about me and...Mia, it’s going to hurt me and I know it will hurt you so I want you to have someone with you to make sure you’re okay.” I brushed a lone tear from her cheek.
“I know what you have to do. It won’t be easy, although it helps knowing she wants Liam...and not you.” She started to chuckle.
“You find that funny?”
“Sorry, it’s not funny. If I don’t laugh, I’d probably cry.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Let’s just go and get it over with.”
“Okay, come on.” I opened the car door for her, and held in a groan when she climbed in, showing a bit more leg than necessary.
Slamming the door shut, I ran around to slide into the driver’s seat before turning the ignition on. Within seconds, I was speeding down the drive, wanting to get the afternoon over with.
I wished with all my heart that I was going on a date with the woman sitting beside me, and that we didn’t have to go our separate ways once we arrived at Mia’s house. At least she’d have a close friend with her, plus I knew Donovan and Reece would look out for her as well.
“Why’s your friend staying in town? There’s plenty of room at the house.” I cast a quick look at Thalia smiling. She was breathtaking.
“You need to keep your eyes on the road, lover boy.” She was sexy as hell. “Callie is staying in town, because she hates having to be all nice and sweet to people she doesn’t know.”
“Huh. So she’d rather splash out by staying in town instead of getting a free ride at my folks’ place.”
“Don’t worry about Callie and money. Her folks own a huge cattle ranch in Texas.” She turned sideways in her seat and rested her head against the back, looking at me.
“What? Have I grown two heads?” I asked, with another glance at her.
“I love you,” she whispered.
My hands shook on the steering wheel. “God, Thalia.” I took hold of her hand and placed it on my thigh, holding on for dear life. “I love you too. I just want this whole thing over with so I can be with you.”
We stayed silent during the rest of the ride into town and the inn, but kept our hands locked tight together.
“There’s Callie,” Thalia said, sitting further up in her seat.
I looked in the direction she was pointing, and saw a blonde girl in cowgirl boots and a short dress, walking back and forth in front of the inn.
As soon as I pulled to a stop, Thalia was out of the car and running towards her. The girl turned and a smile spread across her face as Thalia threw herself into Callie’s embrace.
Having climbed out at a slower pace, I leaned against the car to enjoy watching my woman. I could have used some earplugs, though. The volume seemed to go up some once we arrived.
Callie looked at me then whistled, only to be nudged by Thalia. “Hey, behave. He’s mine.” She walked over to me, dragging her friend behind her. “This is Jack, but he’s my Phoenix.” She grinned and blew me a kiss.
Shaking Callie’s hand, I wished I could take Thalia back into my arms to claim her as mine, but I couldn’t while in town. Especially with the town gossip practically hanging out of her window two houses up, in an effort to get a closer look.
“It’s nice to meet you Callie. I’m glad you’re going to be here this afternoon. It’s going to be...difficult.”
“So Thalia informed me. Well, let’s get this show on the road.” With that she climbed into the back of the car, leaving Thalia and me where we stood.
“Is she always so...”
“Abrupt,” Thalia finished for me.