Faked (Ward Family #2)(47)

"I hope Scotty has Advil downstairs," she said.

I hummed. "You sore today, princess?"

"Wipe that smug ass grin off your face."

My laughter had her smiling.

The smile was the best thing I could've woken to. Not only was Claire not ducking out of bed, avoiding eye contact or explaining to me why it could never happen again. Explaining why she hadn't been thinking when she'd let me do all sorts of filthy things to her incredible body.

Thump.

Scrape.

Claire frowned, looking up over my shoulder. Her mouth fell open in comprehension.

My palm slid up her arm and cupped the back of her neck. My fingers tangled into that hair and she finally looked at me with a sigh.

"The plows are out," I said.

"So I hear."

Which meant we'd have no problem getting back to Seattle.

We both fell quiet, and her eyelids closed when the sound happened again.

If I thought my heart pinched when she smiled at me, it was doing a veritable fist-pump at the disappointment on her face.

"Pancakes for breakfast again?" I asked her, smoothing a hand down the sleek line of her back.

Claire's fingers traced the clock face inked on my chest. "Why a clock?"

Her evasion made me smile. "Time eventually runs out for everyone. Better make the most of it while it's on your side."

That lifted her head, and she stared at me so intensely that I fought the urge to fidget uncomfortably.

Whatever she had turning around and around in that brain of hers, which, in truth, intrigued me just as much as all the other parts ofmou her, had the power to ruin this little pocket of paradise we'd found ourselves in.

I found myself holding my breath at what she'd say next.

"What plows?" she said.

My brow furrowed in confusion.

"I didn't hear anything out there," she continued. "In fact, I'm pretty sure they won't be coming until tomorrow morning."

A slow smile curled my lips, and I not-so-gently gripped her hips and pulled her over me. Claire settled on my lap, the sheet pooling around her waist as she straddled me like a freaking dream I'd conjured.

"Is that so?"

She bit her lip and nodded. The picture she made was so tempting, I could only shake my head in disbelief.

No woman, not a single one, had made me think about the future. About dates and anniversaries and popping out babies and rings and lace.

But after just one night with her, something had me cycling through every single one of those. It made zero sense, but damn if I would waste my opportunity while time was on my side.

"I didn't hear a thing either, princess."

The smile that spread over her face was victorious, and I sat up to take a taste of it with my lips. She kissed me deeply, tugging my hair with her hands.

We turned over, and I yanked the sheets back up over our heads, blocking out the world just for a little while longer. If she was going to give me this day, I'd take it without an ounce of guilt.

And I think I knew, buried underneath whatever physical pleasure she was giving me, I'd give Claire a hell of a lot more than that if she wanted it.





Chapter Eighteen





Claire





For the entire day, I allowed myself to be immersed in what was unfolding between me and Bauer. Nothing else existed, and there was a strange, beautiful feeling of suspended reality that I'd never experienced.

We ate breakfast slowly in front of the fire, no rush to get dressed.

Once we did, we bundled up again and added two figures to our snow family. The sight of the freshly plowed driveway was summarily ignored by both of us.

There was a brief snowball fight, where I clocked him straight in the side of the face, and he tackled me in the snow.

What I learned in the aftermath was that making out in the snow was a lot like making out on the beach. In theory, it was romantic, something Instagrammable. In reality, the offending natural elements ended up places you'd never want them. Snow ended up down the back of my coat and down my boots when he tried wrenching my snow pants away from my body to get his frigid hands on my skin.

That was about when we went inside.

On the counter of the kitchen, I saw my phone light up with notifications. Those, I also ignored. My family knew I was safe and would be coming home the next day.

Lia and whatever freak-out she was having about me being stuck with Bauer could wait.

I'd never made a decision like this, to purposely pause every single responsibility that waited for me. The sense of liberation it gave me was like bottling the highest high. This was a decision for me. About me.

And Bauer.

The look on his face when I told him I didn't hear the plows still brought a giddy grin to my face. How no one had uncovered that heart of his buried underneath the fa?ade blew my mind.

I wanted to know more. I wanted to see more. Hear more. Touch more.

And so did he, even if he wasn't ready to admit it.

The sound of running water made me smile for a different reason, the heated look he'd given me when we swapped places in the bathroom. He and I decided to shower separately from a purely logistical standpoint—Scotty's shower was tiny.

It was while I was towel-drying my hair and he was taking his turn to warm up that I fought against the thoughts of what would happen when we got back to the real world.