Chapter 60

Meredith had Jason Aldean flowing from her playlist and Garrett reached for her hand, pulling her up tight against him. As they swayed to the tune, his head dipped and his lips brushed hers.

He whispered, “Meredith Jane, I think you really are the most.”

Her heart swelled. “The most, what?”

“The most, everything.”

Emotion burned her eyes. She said, “Doesn’t that just make us a pair, cowboy.”

“Mm, it sure does.”

He gently pushed her away and twirled her in the middle of her living room, in front of the fireplace. He lightly hauled her back up against him, so she was pressed to him.

Meredith sighed. “This is my idea of bliss. Heaven. Take your pick.”

“You don’t mind that we’re not out in Austin or in San Antone?” he asked.

She wrested her hand from his and wound her arms around his neck, snuggling close to him and rubbing her body along his. Until he groaned.

She murmured, “Anything happening in Austin or in San Antonio that’s more interesting than what’s happening right here, right now? Or what might be happening in oh, say, five or ten minutes from now?”

He chuckled, low and deep. So the sound rippled deliciously through Meredith. And she melted a little more into him.

“I’m guessing you’re not planning on feeding me this evenin’, are you, darlin’?”

“Oh, that…” She mockingly rolled her eyes. “You and your stomach and your appetite, Garrett Slater. Well, if you insist on eating, I did pick up an item or two from Portofino’s before I enjoyed my bath—and then slipped into something ‘comfortable.’ Or rather, nearly nonexistent.”

“You know my stance on lingerie when it comes to you,” he reminded her. “I prefer it piled in the corner.”

“So you’ve said.”

“And yet, I’m not opposed to this slinky number,” he coyly told her. “Or any other one you entice me with.”

“Point taken…” she teased. “I duly note that you like something scant covering me for mere moments. However—above all else—you prefer me naked.”

“Most definitely.” He grinned. Then he added, “As for the food…That is not what I’m smelling currently.” He inhaled deeply, sniffing her hair and her skin. “And whatever this scent is that you’re wearing, it’s making me want to get you out of this sexy nightie and into bed. Right this very minute, Meredith Jane.”

“That’s sort of the purpose of the perfume, cowboy.” She gave him a long, heated look. “So if you can hold off on dinner for just—”

His mouth sealed to hers. He kissed her possessively, hungrily—and that craving of his was not for food, she instantly discerned.

Oh, hell, no.

Garrett’s hands slipped under the hem of her nightie and—true to his word—she was out of the satiny garment in a heartbeat.

They had to break their kiss in order to whisk off the lingerie, up and over her head, but then his mouth crashed over hers again and he had her in his tight embrace so that all her soft curves melded to his hard muscles.

His kiss deepened, his tongue toying with hers, gliding and tangling until she was putty in his hands, so she was boneless and malleable…and so grateful he had his strong arms wrapped firmly around her.

Meredith gave herself over to the fiery moment—for once not questioning, not doubting, not faltering.

Not feeling inadequate.

Not fearing she was inadequate.

This man—who was one of God’s grandest creations—was wholly and solely into her. He was attached, addicted, accepting of who she was, and he was loving on her fully and unconditionally.

She, in turn, fully accepted all of that.

She had no idea if her sudden confidence was a byproduct of the way she’d stood up to her parents, or the huge new success of her Wildfire Passion line, or…whatever else.

All Meredith knew was that somehow—despite all the odds stacked against her—she was in the arms of Garrett Slater.

He was captivated by her.

And his hands were roaming her body.

Moreover, she knew he’d be scooping her up and carrying her to her bedroom in three…Two…One…

Well.

She was right about the countdown.

But Garrett didn’t make it to her room.

Rather, he lifted her up and she twined her legs around his hips. He sat on the sofa, with her straddling his lap.

He shifted his hands and threaded them through her loose curls, whisking her hair off her shoulders. His head lowered and his warm lips glided over the crook of her neck and slowly—so, so slowly—along the side of her throat.

He kissed the underside of her jaw and then his tongue flitted against her earlobe. He kissed the spot just below it and she sighed.

Her fingers curved into his thick biceps at the hem of his short sleeves that strained against the flexed brawn.

A wave of exhilaration through her had her squirming a bit in his lap and he groaned sexily.

“Garrett,” she whispered.

“Darlin’?” he quietly countered.

“Do you suppose it’s okay that we just hole up in my apartment some nights with takeout and country music and—”

“Skimpy lingerie and this incredibly alluring scent that is driving me absolutely wild?” He finished her sentence for the both of them. Then he murmured, “Meredith Jane.”

He suddenly—though lightly—gripped her shoulders and stared deep into her eyes.

“What the hell is this scent?” he asked. “Cuz, honey, I swear it’s the perfect fucking complement to everything about you this evening. It’s sexy and provocative and sultry and suggestive and…”

He halted.

He chuckled again.

Then he shook his head. “It’s Wildfire Rumor, isn’t it?”

With a smile, she told him, “I haven’t committed to the name just yet, cowboy. But…This is the best batch I’ve come up with and I’m hopin’—”

“Stop hoping, Meredith Jane.” A primal sound fell from his lips that shot right through her. “Holy hell, honey…This is another hit you’ve got on your hands.”

He tenderly pulled her head to his again and he kissed her passionately.

Meredith instantly got lost in the scorching liplock, the way he commanded her senses and made her forget everything but him.

Garrett twisted her slightly so she was propped against the mound of pillows in the corner of the sofa.

His kiss smoldered more intensely as his fingers coiled in the sides of her thong panties and he worked them off, with a bit of wiggling of her legs so they shimmied downward and she kicked them away.

His palms swept along her outer thighs and then cupped her ass cheeks. Massaging them.

Her hands clasped fistfuls of his shirt at his waist and she tugged forcefully, yanking the material from his jeans.

Rather than divest him of the shirt entirely, though, she slipped her hands under the hem and ran them along his spine, to his shoulder blades.

A leg crooked around his jean-clad one and she kept him right where he was, pinioned between her thighs.

Meredith’s blood turned molten and flowed searingly through her veins.

Garrett wasn’t wearing one of his championship rodeo belt buckles this evening—he wasn’t wearing a belt at all—and his erection pressed to the apex of her legs through his faded and sinfully fitted jeans. One of her hands skated down his back and slipped beyond the snug waist of the denim.

He casually worked a hand between them to pop the buttons and her hand slid lower to clasp a cheek, with the give of material.

Her hips rose off the sofa to grind against his pelvis.

He dragged his mouth from hers and muttered, “Meredith Jane.”

He was hard and his hips were responding to her seductive rhythm.

“Honey,” he whispered as he delivered feathery kisses across her cheek and then tangled his lips with hers. “You’re all kinds of everything a man could possibly want in a woman. Every single damn thing about you, darlin’, makes me want to drown in you.”

His hand skimmed around to her backside and two fingers slid into her from behind.

She gasped in surprise…and in delight.

As his mouth wreaked the most exquisite heaven on her neck, his fingers pumped into her and his cock slid along her slick folds, the thin material of his boxer-briefs not camouflaging the heat emitting from him.

Meredith longed to feel him inside her, thrusting deep and hard. Driving her crazy and making her want him more and more.

But she also liked his subtle seduction—and his fingers inside her.

He ignited blistering sensations within her that flamed through her and had her closing her eyes and letting Garrett incinerate her.

“Make me come,” she whispered.

“You know I’m going to,” he softly replied. “Repeatedly.”