Hosed (Happy Cat #1)(49)
My bed doesn’t feel right.
There’s something missing.
Someone missing…
I reach a hand out to the cool side of the mattress, wishing Cassie were here. This is the first time I’ve slept here alone since that first night. It’s amazing how quickly I’ve grown addicted to the feel of her next to me, the smell of her shampoo lingering on the pillowcase, the comfort of knowing she’s close enough to touch.
“But it’s four in the morning,” I mumble to George, who is curled up at the foot of the bed, waiting for me to nod off so he can take up his preferred position nested in my hair. “If I go over there now, she’ll think I’m crazy.”
No sooner are the words out of my mouth than I hear a soft tap-tap on the window. I sit up, squinting in the moonlight cutting through the crack in the curtains, heart lifting even as I warn myself that it’s probably just a tree limb hitting the glass. I swing out from under the covers and pad barefoot to the window in nothing but my boxer briefs, parting the curtains to reveal a wish come true.
Grinning so hard it makes my jaw ache a little, I unlock the window and pull it up. “Hello there, beautiful. I was just lying in bed, wishing you were here.”
She smiles and the night is instantly brighter. “I heard your truck pull up. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was too excited. I wanted to be the first person to give you a happy firefighter-iversary present.” She pulls what looks like a stuffed animal on a small black circular stand from behind her back and holds it up in the air. “For you.”
It’s a squirrel, I realize. One of Gordon’s taxidermied squirrels, dressed in a tiny firefighter hat and coat and holding an…ax? Yes, an ax.
It’s creepy.
And weird.
And oddly heroic looking, and I adore it nearly as much as I do this woman.
“Get in here,” I murmur roughly. “I need to thank you properly for this amazing present.”
She reaches up, and I grab her beneath the arms, drawing her inside as she walks her flip-flop-covered feet up the side of the house. “You really like it? You promise?”
“It’s perfect.” I set her on her feet, taking a quick beat to close the window so the mosquitos won’t get in, before I turn back to her, accepting the squirrel for closer inspection. I hold it up to the moonlight, admiring the detail on the costume. “It’s the best firefighter-iversary present I’ve ever gotten.”
It’s also the only firefighter-iversary present I’ve ever gotten. I can’t believe she remembered the date I mentioned offhand a few days ago.
“Oh, good.” She clasps her hands together in a fist at her chest, drawing my attention to the thin white tank top and tiny striped sleep shorts she’s wearing. “Savannah said you would think I was crazy.”
I set her gift on top of the bureau and turn back to her, sliding my hands around her waist. “It is crazy. But I love it.” I pull her against me, cock stirring as a closer inspection of her tank top reveals no bra beneath. “How can I ever thank you for your thoughtfulness?”
“You could take my shirt off,” she teases, dimple popping. “I think you’ve already disposed of it with your eyes. Might as well get rid of it in real life.”
“Have I told you how smart you are today?” I reach for the bottom of her top only for her to stop me with a hand on mine.
“No, you haven’t. But you can—and take off my shirt—as soon as we put George out. I believe in protecting the eyes of the innocent.”
“And the obnoxious,” I agree, starting for George. I scoop him up from the bottom of the bed, ignoring the grumbling sound he makes as I carry him across the room. “Get used to it, buddy. We’ll let you in later if you’re good.” I set him on the floor in the hall and close the door.
And then I spin and jog back to Cassie, making her laugh as I tackle her around the waist, sending us both tumbling onto the bed.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were happy to see me,” she says, looping her arms around my neck.
“So happy.” I nudge her thighs apart with my knees, settling my hips between her spread legs, loving the way her lashes flutter as my erection presses against her through our clothes. “Forty-eight is way too many hours to be away from you.”
I kiss her and she hums her agreement against my lips, the vibration making her kiss taste even sweeter. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been away from her for two days straight, spending every second thinking about her, worrying about her, wishing I could be there for her as this ridiculous investigation pushes forward with Cassie as the prime suspect in the Sunshine Factory fire.
I’ve told Jessie and the sheriff and anyone who will listen that they’re not going to find anything—Cassie is innocent—but it’s clear from the look on their faces they think I’m blinded by lust.
But it’s not lust. It’s something more than that, something that makes my heart do a slow-motion dive into a vat of warm honey as I draw Cassie’s shirt over her head, baring her gorgeous breasts.
“I’ve missed you,” I murmur against her sinfully soft skin, kissing my way from one tight pink nipple to the other.
“Are you talking to me?” she asks, her breath already coming faster. “Or to them?”