Carlise hung up, not sure how to feel about the conversation with her best friend. She and Susie had always been brutally honest with each other, but all her worry aside, today she seemed . . . weird. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly why, but the feeling persisted. Maybe it was because Susie seemed almost more angry than concerned.
She hated that her friend couldn’t be supportive of her relationship with Riggs, but she knew Susie had good reason to be wary, considering Carlise’s last relationship. And she probably hadn’t said anything that wasn’t expected. But she also didn’t know Riggs. Once she met him, she’d see that he was nothing like Tommy. That his feelings for Carlise were genuine.
It wasn’t until she got up and put the phone back on the kitchen counter that she realized Susie hadn’t told her anything about her new boyfriend. She’d neatly changed the subject.
Mentally shrugging, Carlise decided that would be the first thing she asked when she talked to Susie next. She wanted to know all about the new man in her life.
At the moment, though, she needed to see Riggs. Talk to him. Reassure herself that he was the man she thought he was and not the monster Susie seemed to assume he could be.
She put on her boots and jacket and stepped outside. Baxter saw her and immediately ran in her direction. He came close enough for her to just brush her fingers over his head before he bolted away and grabbed a mouthful of snow, throwing it up in the air.
Laughing, Carlise turned toward Riggs . . . and stilled. He was headed in her direction with a look she couldn’t interpret on his face. If she had to guess, she’d say he looked upset.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with a frown as she stepped off the porch.
“That’s what I was going to ask you. Were you not able to get ahold of your mom or Susie? Are they sick? Do we need to get you to town or back to Ohio? We can probably be there within a day if we drive, or we could head up to Bangor and catch a flight to Cleveland.”
Carlise stared at him in surprise. “Are you even real?” she blurted.
“What?” he asked, looking completely confused.
“I didn’t know men like you existed. You don’t even know if anything’s wrong, yet you’re talking about taking me to Ohio because you think I might need to see my loved ones.”
“So they’re okay? Then what’s wrong?”
Carlise shook her head. This man. Susie was so wrong about him. This right here was reason number five hundred and sixteen that proved it.
She stepped close and put her arms around his neck. Riggs immediately pulled her flush against him. Then he put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up so he could see her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Is your mom okay?”
“Yes.”
“Susie?”
Carlise nodded.
Every muscle in Riggs’s body relaxed. “Talk to me, sweetheart. Based on your expression when you came outside, I’m imagining the worst here.”
“My mom was thrilled for me. Said she can’t wait to meet you.”
“I want to meet her too,” Riggs said with a small nod.
“Susie . . . She’s not so sure. She thinks I’m insane, actually. That there’s no way I can love you. She’s basically worried. Wants me to come home before you steal all my money and knock me up with one of the fourteen babies she’s sure you must want.”
“Four,” Riggs said immediately.
“What?”
“I’d like four kids. I’ve always wanted a big family, and four kids seems like it would be perfect. They’d always have a friend and someone to play with, someone to have their backs in school, and someone they can lean on for the rest of their lives. I don’t care if they’re boys or girls, just that they’re healthy.”
Carlise swallowed hard.
“What about you? You want kids?”
She nodded.
“Am I freaking you out with the four kids thing?”
Carlise shook her head slowly. “When I was little, I used to tell my mom I wished I had brothers or sisters. I thought that maybe if there were more of us, we could’ve protected Mom better. Or Dad wouldn’t have been so mean. I don’t know. But actually . . . I always thought four would be perfect.” She practically whispered that last part.
“Really?”
She nodded.
Riggs grinned. Huge. “We were meant to be, honey. That’s just another sign.”
Carlise had to agree. “You about done out here?”
“Not yet.”
“Oh,” she said with an exaggerated pout. “I thought maybe you might be too cold. Or hot. Or sweaty. That maybe a shower would sound good right about now.”
“I’ve got about twenty more minutes to—oh. Right. Yeah, now that you mention it, a break would be great. I wouldn’t want to get overheated.”
Carlise grinned, happy he’d picked up on her meaning. “Exactly. And it wasn’t too long ago that you were sick. Maybe I should assist you in the shower. You know, so you don’t fall and hit your head or anything.”
“You want me?” Riggs growled.
Carlise’s cheeks felt hot, but she smiled and nodded anyway.
“You want me, all you have to do is say the word. Because I will never pass up the chance to get inside you.”
His words were blunt, but he somehow made them sound romantic at the same time.
“I want you,” she told him.
Without a word, Riggs turned and grabbed hold of her hand and headed for the cabin.
Baxter barked, as if to ask where they were going.
“We’ll be back, boy. Go on and explore. Make sure things around here are safe. I’ll come back out and finish my chopping and throw more snowballs in a while.”
“Do you think he’ll be okay out here alone?” Carlise asked worriedly, looking back at the dog, who’d already gone back to rolling in the snow.
“He’ll be fine,” Riggs told her as he pulled her up the porch steps.
The second they were inside and the door closed behind them, Riggs’s hands got busy peeling off her coat, and Carlise wasn’t thinking about Baxter or her mom or Susie anymore.
Riggs picked her up and carried her toward the bed. He dropped her on the mattress, and she giggled as she bounced.
“You have ten seconds to get naked,” Riggs warned.
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll do it for you.”
Carlise grinned and threw her arms above her head, smirking up at Riggs. “If you think that’s a threat, you’re wrong.”
He whipped his T-shirt over his head, and Carlise practically drooled. The man was gorgeous, and he was all hers.
He leaned over, unlaced his boots, kicked them and his socks off, shoved his pants and underwear down his muscular legs, then climbed onto the bed.
She and Riggs didn’t get back outside to play with Baxter for an hour and a half. They also didn’t get the shower she’d suggested. But she wasn’t complaining.
No, she had not one complaint about Riggs making her feel like the most beautiful and desirable woman in the entire universe.
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Chappy asked for the hundredth time.
“Positive,” Carlise told him with a smile. “I’m behind on this translation because someone keeps distracting me by taking their clothes off and being too damn sexy.”
Chappy chuckled and pulled her into him. They were in the kitchen after a morning spent in bed. He’d woken up with her mouth on his cock, and he honestly thought he was going to die with pleasure. She’d ended up making him come that way, which was actually a blessing because it gave him enough control to thoroughly pleasure her before he needed to be inside her again. She’d come twice—once on his face and again on his fingers—before he’d pushed his way inside her and orgasmed a second time.
Chappy couldn’t stop thinking about having a child with Carlise. She was beautiful now, but she’d be even more so round with their baby. He had a feeling the first time he came inside her without a condom, he’d knock her up. Of course, life didn’t always work that way, but with how lucky they’d been so far, he was pretty sure they wouldn’t have any problems conceiving.