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She burst into laughter as he reached their bedroom. “And you are always turned on.”
“Around you, ain’t no other way for me to be.”
“Hmm, just as well we’re in the bedroom then, isn’t it?” she asked as he set her down on her back. He moved towards her feet, pulling off her slippers. Then he reached for her jeans, undid them and slipped them off. Underneath she wore white panties with rainbows on them.
“Sit up,” he commanded, pulling her up before she could obey him. He pulled off her sweater, throwing it away. Then he reached under her t-shirt and undid her bra.
Um, this wasn’t the way he usually undressed her before they had sex.
“Clint? What’re you doing?” she asked.
“Getting you ready for a nap.”
Oh, hell no. That trickster! He knew what she thought they were doing in here. She did not need a nap; she didn’t have time for a nap.
“I don’t need a nap.” She tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed, but he sat down and trapped her against the mattress by placing an arm on either side of her body. He leaned in. “I have more cookies to bake.”
“Darling girl, you’re exhausted. You’ve been running around like a madwoman trying to get this all done for Ellie, trying to make it perfect, when all Ellie wants is to spend some fun time with her friends.”
She bit her lip. “So, what you’re saying is I’ve overdone things.”
“What I’m saying is that it all looks beautiful, but you most certainly do not need more cookies. Or anything else. Should have put my foot down days ago but I knew this was important to you. However, my foot is coming down now. You’ve got four hours until everyone arrives. You’ll be up late tonight, playing and eating your weight in junk food so right now you’re going to take a nice long nap. Then I’ll bring you up a healthy snack and help you get ready, okay?”
Part of her knew he was right. Damn it. But the other part of her was too hyped up to sleep.
“Darling girl. Sleep. Eat. Get ready. In that order.”
“I don’t think I can sleep. I’m too wired.”
His eyes filled with warmth as he studied her. Then he nodded. “Then I’ll just have to help my girl, won’t I?” He reached for her t-shirt, drawing it off. Her bra was hanging off her breasts. He slowly drew it down her arms, stopping every so often to lay a kiss against her skin.
“My baby has been getting herself all wound up, hasn’t she?” he murmured. “Ellie’s hen party. The wedding. Christmas.” He threw the bra away then grasped hold of her chin in his hand. “And I’m guessing you’ve been stressing about whether I want to marry you?”
Shoot. Shoot. She should have known he wouldn’t let what happened downstairs just pass.
He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “How long you been worrying about that, darlin’?”
“Not that long,” she whispered.
He leaned in, kissed her gently. “How long, Charlotte?”
“I guess when Bear and Ellie got engaged. That wasn’t that long ago.” It wasn’t. They’d gotten engaged just before Halloween and their wedding was set for Christmas Eve. Meant things were a little frantic, trying to organize it in such a short time but Ellie wanted a Christmas wedding and Bear didn’t want to wait until the following year.
“You should have told me this was eating at you.”
“It wasn’t really. I mean, I guess I was kind of jealous or something. Petty, huh?”
“Not petty,” he said firmly. “Charlotte, there is nothing I want more in this life than to have you in it, by my side. You mean everything to me. Understand?”
She nodded, her eyes filling with tears once more.
“But what I don’t like is you stressing over stuff and not telling me. Getting worked up. Is this part of the reason you’ve been so driven to make this party perfect?”
“I felt bad for being jealous. Plus, if I keep busy it keeps my mind off other stuff.”
“After this party is done with, you and I are headed to the cabin for a few days,” he decreed.