Waking up with Masyn covering my left side-her thigh between my legs and her breasts pressed to my ribs-was like experiencing sunshine for the first time. The entire world looked different when the alarm went off. Her sleepy eyes recognized where she was, and a lazy grin lifted her lips. "Mornin', sweetheart." I kissed her forehead and tried to adjust my body so my erection wasn't firmly pressed against her thigh."Hmm." She wiggled to stay as close as she had been when we woke up. "Good morning." Her lips were like heaven when she teased my chest with peppered affection. As much as I didn't want to get up, we both had to be at work in an hour. "If you hurry, we can still do omelets before work."She moved her hand down my side and trailed her thumb over my abdomen. "We should call in." If she thought she could entice me to stay in bed, it wouldn't take much, but I knew she'd regret it."You and I both know that neither one of us is going to call in, and certainly not at th
If I'd thought being injured and having to work the docks made for the slowest day possible, being injured and having to work the docks while dreaming about spending an afternoon alone with Masyn curled up in my bed was far worse. I was impressed with her ability to keep things about us quiet while we were at the shop. She hadn't gotten all bent out of shape when I didn't kiss her goodbye. She didn't try to hold my hand at lunch where we'd be forced to answer questions. And she hadn't acted any differently than she had since the day we'd started at Farley's. Outside of my house, Masyn was the same girl she'd always been-and I loved it, except, where she'd only entered my thoughts occasionally before, she plagued them now. I swear, I counted every second that ticked by on my watch, making the day infinitely longer.I had to stop myself from sprinting to the time clock at the end of the shift. But not even the group of men gathered near the breakroom could stop the grin that took ov
Once we'd finally gotten rid of Beau and Peyton-who'd shown up with nothing to do, looking for entertainment-Masyn and I spent the evening and the better part of the night wrapped up in each other. There were so many things we'd never experienced, and I loved having the pleasuring of being her first. And as much as I'd already fallen in love with being inside her, having my face between her legs came in a close second-tied with having her go down on me. Masyn was as much fun in bed as she was playing pool, arguing about music, or hanging out on the lake. And when she said we had a lot of years to make up for, she committed to righting that wrong and gave it her undivided attention.I struggled when the alarm clock went off at five thirty. Neither one of us had had much sleep to speak of this week, yet where I was groggy and the fog lingered in my mind, Masyn was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "You know we have to go over to your house before we go in?" I muttered with my arm draped
The agitation for the cellphone violation quickly vanished when he realized what I was telling him. He and his pops were close. If anything happened to Old Man Farley, we wouldn't see Farley in here for days."Get the hell outta here. Once you get there and know more about what's going on, give me a call and let me know if you'll be in on Monday, but don't worry about this place, we've got it covered."I was about to turn around and race to my truck when I remembered Masyn. "Hey, Farley, can you do me a favor?""Of course.""Can you tell Masyn what happened and that I'll call her when I know more?""Definitely. Now, go."I slapped the metal door casing and gave him a curt nod. It was as close as I could get to saying thank you when I was on the verge of losing my shit. My dad and I hadn't been super close since he'd moved to Atlanta, but he was the only family I had-at least by name and blood-and I loved him just the same. And he'd done his best to be a good father after my
"What do you mean there've been complications?" No one could tell me anything other than to have a seat and wait. "It's been almost five hours since he went into surgery." I estimated based on when I'd gotten the call and when the woman told me he was being prepped to go under."Open-heart surgery is complicated, Mr. Carter. As soon as there's an update on your father's condition, someone will come out to speak with you." Simply averting her stare, she dismissed me as though the conversation were over.The hospital needed to consider classes for their staff in patient-family management. This place currently sucked at compassion.Beau stepped between me and the nurse on the other side of the desk. "Come on, Lee. Let's take a seat. Eating her for dinner won't get you any answers."I turned and let him push me toward the waiting room. "This is insane. He's been here for hours. They have to know something.""I don't think they're withholding information just to get to spend more
True to her word, the nurse returned a short time later to tell me I couldn't stay. It was torture to leave him helpless and alone in that room, but if sitting in the waiting area kept him alive, I'd suffer in silence."You can come back every two hours." The rest of the people in this place could stand to take a lesson in kindness from this nurse. It wasn't what she said so much as the sympathetic way she said it. "I promise, if anything changes, I'll come find you."Rounding the corner to the waiting room that was going to be my home for the next few days, I was thrilled to see Beau sitting in the spot where he'd left me last night. He'd showered and shaved, and he looked like he felt a hell of a lot better than I did.I sat down next to him."How's he doing?"I shrugged with one shoulder and continued toward him. "Okay, I guess. He looks dead. It's eerie.""I brought your bag so you could change clothes and freshen up.""Thanks." I reached out to take it from him. "Hav
Beau picked up the check after we had another beer, which I appreciated but didn't need. And then he took me back to the hospital. I assumed he'd drop me off at the front door, so when he pulled into the parking garage, I was a little confused. He'd been here all day, and he had shit to take care of at his house. He was starting a new job on Monday morning, and all of his crap had been moved while he was in Harden in anticipation of his returning from Paris tomorrow with his wife. He'd dodged that bullet. I chuckled, thinking of him in the Matrix because that's how it seemed. He'd defied fate in that twist of events, and I still wasn't sure how he'd managed to get out unscathed. "You know you don't have to come in, right?" I asked as the glass doors slid open and the medicinal smell of the hospital came barreling out. Nothing like the scent of cleanser and death to welcome you to a building.He leaned over and pressed the up button on the elevator. "How are you going to get to my
The color in his cheeks began to wash away when he no longer felt pressured. "Dude, she loved Harden. And I know things were rocky with Masyn, but Peyton seemed like she genuinely wanted to get to know her. She was willing to try anything we wanted to do-I couldn't have paid Felicity to go off the rope swing. But more than anything, my mom loved her. They hit it off the way I thought Felicity should."It was no secret in Harden that Beverly Chastain approved of the marriage between the two families; she just had no intention of adopting Felicity as her new daughter. Daughter-in-law was the only title she would have ever held in the Chastain household, and that didn't come with affection."Your mom has a sixth sense about things, Beau. She's been pushing Masyn and me together since I learned to ride a bike. If she embraced Peyton, you might want to consider it. You just need to go into it with your eyes wide open, and make damn sure that Peyton knows what she stands to lose on her e