Justified Love (The Southern Gentleman Series Book 1) (17 page)

              “Oh, I bet they want to get down and dirty, just not in the way you want them too,” I zinged back.

              “Naw, I’m pretty picky about the women I date,” he said.

              “Oh yeah, how so?” I asked.

              “Well, I don’t like pretentious girls who use a pound of make up, and hair spray to mask their horrible attitudes. I like a girl who can throw caution to the wind, but mostly follows her heart. Plus, I am strangely attracted to redheads, especially those who wear cute camo hats while baiting a hook,” he said with a wink.

            “We’ll aren’t you a smooth talker, Sherlock?” I said.

              “Nope, you are just my type of woman, Carrington Grace Mason,” he responded.
Holy shit! He is totally and completely into me and I with him!
I felt so special in that moment that I could hardly find the words to make a coherent sentence.

              “What about you, Watson? What’s your ideal man like?” he asked.
Is it inappropriate to say him? Probably.

              “Well, I’ve never sat down and made a list to be honest. I’ve only ever had one boyfriend, and he was horrible,” I confessed.

              “Only one boyfriend? I’m shocked, but impressed at your judgment of character,” Colt said.

              “After my ordeal with Tad, I decided that getting an education was more important,” I stated.

              “Tad? Are you fucking kidding me? You dated a d-bag named Tad? He sounds like some country club schmuck,” he choked back.

              “
Right
. That’s exactly what I said. He was a putz, and a total asshat,” I said as we laughed together.

              “So you never answered my question Dodgy-McGhee,” he piped up.

              “Ahhh, I thought I was going to sneak by with that one. Damnit!” I said with a scrunched nose.

              “Hmm, well, I like a guy who goes after what he wants. He’s determined and confident in his decisions he makes. He cares about his friends and family, even if they can be a pain in the ass sometimes. A guy who is proud of me and isn’t ashamed to call me his. A man who is athletic, preferably a football player of course,” I said

              “Oh, well obviously,” he mocked.

              “No, but in all sincerity, a guy who has morals and values, but most importantly wants a strong relationship with me,” I said with a smile.

              “I like your thinking, Watson. Maybe we can find you a guy like that,” he said winking, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I couldn’t help but blush.

              “Why do we have to look? I thought he was supposed to be sitting right next to me,” I said in a shocking omission.
Go head Carr. Grow you some balls!

              “Alright, alright. I like your thinking, Red,” he said smiling and bumping shoulders with me.

              Trying to switch topics, “Sooooo, why the apartment?” I asked.

              “Well, I wanna buy a house, but I can’t decide if I wanna build a brand new one, or buy one in town. A huge part of me wants to renovate an older house. I know it sounds cheesy.”

              “I don’t think it’s cheesy at all. I love it,” I said.

              “It will be a lot of work and take some time, but it would be nice to say I fixed it up. Where I can say, I painted those walls pea green, or I picked out those ugly tiles,” he said while envisioning his creation and laughing.

            He’s dreamy expression stirred something inside of me. This man had, God knows, how much money, and he wanted to renovate a house? I admired his conviction. Colt had a passion for things he believed in, and I loved that about him. He didn’t let his money cloud his judgment, which was a rare quality that I found so appealing about him. But then again, it wasn’t his money, but the families.

            “Have you thought about your ultimate goal in life, besides renovating a house to call your own?” I asked.

              “So inquisitive today. Maybe I should be calling
you
Sherlock?” he said with a laugh.

              “I’ve known you my whole life, and yet I barely know who the real Colt is,” I said honestly.

              “Fair question. My ultimate goal, hmm. Well, I want to start my own after school football program for kids in Avery. Mostly kids who have been neglected or never felt loved or appreciated. A place they can go to feel safe and secure while not feeling bullied,” he said in all seriousness.

              My heart melted as he poured his heart out for his vision.

              “What’s stopping you?” I asked. “My problem lies with my dad. He wants me to keep working for his company so, hopefully, one day I can take it over.”

              “And, you don’t want that?” I asked.

              “No way. I’d rather give myself a thousand paper cuts, and then to take over his company,” he said in disgust.

              “Graphic,” I laughed.

              “I didn’t know you and your father didn’t get along that well.”

              “He and I have never seen eye to eye on anything. Do you know he and my Mama actually set me up on a date with Paisley one time?”
You have got to be shitting me.

              “I had no idea, but by the sound of it, things didn’t go so swimmingly?”
I lied. I just wanted to hear his side of the story.

              “My parents thought if I went on a date with her, we would fall in love and combine our fortunes or some bullshit like that,” he said angrily.

              “Why didn’t it work out?” I asked with genuine interest.

              “It was honestly the worst date I’ve ever been on. She insulted the waiter just to make herself feel better. At the end of the night, she tried to kiss me. I had to dodge her advances. I felt a little sorry for her, just a little, but not a lot,” he said with a laugh.

              “So, I guess there won’t be any blonde hair, blue eyed babies roaming Avery one day?” I chuckled.

              “Naw, maybe red-ish brown, with blue eyes, but not any sort of spawn of Satan from her,” he said with a grin. 
Wait. Was he serious? Was he actually insinuating us having a lasting relationship to the point of children? YES! Yes, please.
That immediately had me thinking about sex, and I turned red and frazzled.

              “You ok, Carr? You look a little flustered.” he asked.

              “I. Sex. What?”
I am a complete moron. And we’re back to high school. Why can’t I form a single sentence without sounding like a complete idiot right now?

            Laughing hysterically, he said,” You know, you don’t have to be nervous around me, Carr,” he laughed

              “That’s easy for you to say.”

              “If it makes you feel any better, you make me extremely nervous too,” he said, looking confused.

              “How the hell do I make
you
nervous?” I said.

              “Well, I’m sitting here, on the dock, with the sexiest woman in the world, watching this incredible sunset and having the best second date of my life.”

              “Do you really mean that?” I asked.

              “Carr, I would never lie to you, sweetheart.”

             
I’m totally and completely falling for this man, and it scares the shit out of me.

Chapter 13

Just as the sunset, I felt the need to break the silence.

“Getup, give me that,” I said packing up the poles and bait.

“What? Why? I thought we had a good time,” he said.

“Oh, we’re not leaving. We’re just moving to the second part of our date.”

Heading back to the truck, I dropped everything next to the back tire.

“Ok, close your eyes, and don’t peek,” I said building my courage.

“There’s only one way to get rid of these nerves. Granny always said to do the one thing that scares the shit out of you and you won’t be afraid anymore,” I said.

“Umm, ok. Should I be nervous?” he questioned with a grin.

“No, not at all. Not unless you have a problem skinny-dipping? Close your eyes.”

“
Yes ma’am. Amen to Granny,
” he said like a twelve-year-old boy with his first boner. I was positively petrified to strip down in front of Colt. Even though he “said” he had his eyes closed, I’m pretty sure I saw him peeking through his fingers. Tossing the hat aside, I tore off my tank and slithered out of my jean shorts.
Here goes nothing, Carr.
If anything made me panicky it was being in front of Colt, but being in front of Colt naked terrified me. I pulled the ties of my bikini in the back and undid the ties around my neck. Tossing the top aside, I took a second to breathe.
You can do this, Carr.
Slipping my thumbs under the bikini bottoms, here goes nothing, I pulled them down.

“Don’t peek. When you hear a splash, I’ll close my eyes, and you can come in after me,” I said.

“Deal?”

“Deal,” he said with a grin.

Making a mad dash down the dock, I couldn’t help but feel completely liberated. I guess this is why Skye is always naked. It’s so freeing. It was dark now so no one could see us. Jumping off the dock, I pinched my nose and squealed like a little girl as I hit the water. Floating to the top, I brushed my dripping hair away from my face and covered my eyes.

“You can undress and come in now,” I yelled.

I’m not going to lie; I peeked.
Holy shit did I peek.
This man was insanely gorgeous with his clothes on, but sweet Mary, he was magnificent naked. Watching him, undress was so erotic. I felt like I was looking at a peep show and seeing something I wasn’t supposed to see.
Well duh, Carr. You weren’t supposed to be seeing this. You just had to peek, didn’t you?

He took his shirt off slowly as if he knew I was watching. Pulling it up over his head, he used it to wipe down his sweaty body, which was glistening in the moonlight. Running his hand down his six-pack, I felt my eyes popping out of my head. I could tell he was already turned on from the prominence in his jeans. Unbuttoning his jeans, he pulled them over his sculpted thighs exposing his boxer briefs. Gripping the waistband he hesitated before pulling down his briefs.
Wow. I gasped. Sweet Jesus, I hope he didn’t hear that. Remember Carr, this was your idea!
He totally exceeded my expectations in the erection selection department.
Carr, get it together. You have to pretend you didn’t see anything.
Bethany Campbell was totally right; he was hung like a horse.

“Uh, are you coming in, or are you going to leave me out here like an idiot?” I asked trying to act as normal as possible. Just then he jumped off the dock and made a huge wave taking me off guard. At least I could open my eyes now without feeling like a creeper.

Keeping our distance from one another, “So, why did you pick skinny dipping?” he asked.

“My one fear in life is letting people see the real me naked, especially after being overweight my entire life. I still feel like I have flaws I don’t like, but I’m willing to take that risk with you, if you take that risk with me.”

“Trust me when I say, it doesn’t matter to me what you look like. I will take that risk with you any day. What you look like has never bothered me. It’s you that I always liked. Don’t doubt that about yourself. That or you just wanted to see me strip. I saw you peeking. You can’t hide those baby blues from me,” he said laughing.

“Busted,” I admitted.

“That’s ok; I peeked at you too. I must say Carr; you had nothing to worry about. You look stunning to me,” he said with admiration in his eyes.

“You mean that?” I said.

“Yep, and it doesn’t hurt you have a nice rack too,” he said with a laugh.

              “That’s it. You asked for it,” I said sailing a splash of water in his direction.

              “Oh, come on. You can do better than that,” he said splashing me back. Trying to splash with all my might, I just couldn’t get my waves big enough.

Calming down from the water fight, we floating in the moonlight covered lake gazing at each other. Gingerly, I started to make my way to him and him to me.
Here’s the moment of truth baby girl. Balls up.
Reaching out, I grabbed his shoulders to stabilize my body next to him. He responded by wrapping his arms around my waist. Feeling more comfortable, I wrapped my arms around his neck and circled my legs around his waist. After that, I’m not sure who made the first move. We dove in, and he kissed me like it was the first time all over again. His kisses offered me a sense of comfort and safety I wasn’t used to. It soothed my soul to feel so at ease with someone, especially someone who was seeing me fully naked, and so turned on. Colt was right; he would shatter me from any other man ever again. No one will ever compare.

Pulling back catching our breaths, I just looked into Colt’s eyes looking hopeful and relieved he hadn’t run away even after peeking when I was undressing.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked.

“Absolutely. Ask me anything you want,” he said with compassion.

“Why are you here with me right now? What is this we’re doing? If you’re looking for a fuck buddy, you’ve come to the wrong girl,” I asked almost dreading the answer.

I was panicked his response was going to be similar to Tad’s, “to win a bet”. Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for his answer.

“To be honest, I couldn’t imagine being here with anyone else, Carr. And, no I do not want to be fuck buddies. That’s not the type of guy I am.”

“I have a confession,” he started.

“I’m not sure I want to hear the answer,” I chuckled pulling him closer.

“I’ve thought about you every day since elementary school. Consider me a pussy, but you’re the only person I wanted to be with.”

I couldn’t believe what I heard right now.

Interrupting, “I fell for you even before that,” I said embarrassedly.

“What? When?”

“Mama and I were having our annual shopping trip to Martin’s, and I ran straight into you and your mama. I mean, I literally ran into you and we fell down on the department floor. Your mama got so mad at mine, but you were so sweet and gave me your lollipop. I never looked at another boy the same way after that day. You had me then and even now. I still see you that way,” confessing as my eyes welt up. I can’t believe I’m telling him all this. He’s probably going to think I’m crazy now.

“Carrington Grace Mason, come here,” he requested. Shivering, I clutch him tighter.

“Don’t ever be afraid to tell me what you’re thinking. That is one of your most attractive qualities, your sincerity, and kindness,” he said with admiration allowing myself to accept his compliments finally.

“When you left after graduating, I had this whole speech planned out. When I went on my morning run the day after graduation, I was coming to your house. Seeing you leave crushed me. I haven’t been the same since. When I didn’t hear anything from you, or from word of mouth, I figured you didn’t feel the same and had moved on with your life,” he confessed. Did I hear this right?

“There are very few things I regret in life, but the one I regret the most is not saying anything to you. Now that you’re back, I’m not letting go.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was not expecting this to come out of his mouth. I had spent nights, days, months, years thinking about this man, and now, he was confiding in me with his genuine feelings. I was so overwhelmed.

Stopping to collect my thoughts, I continued, “I was definitely not prepared for that. This is a lot to take in. Why did you stay away from me for so long? I felt you must’ve been annoyed, or embarrassed to be around me. I mean, I’m Muffin Top Mason for crying out loud,” I said down casting my eyes.

“Look at me,” he said meeting my eyes.

“You were never “Muffin Top Mason” to me. What Paisley did to you was ridiculous. I hated I allowed her to bully you for so long. I only stayed away because I was scared if I were near you, she would retaliate and just bully you even worse than she was already doing. Looking back on it now I should have stood up and put my foot down. You didn’t deserve that, and if it takes the rest of my life, I will prove that to you.

With tears in my eyes, I pulled Colt toward me and gave him the deepest kiss I had in me. I was so connected to this man right now. He had shocked me with his words and captured my heart. Taking in the sweet sensation of his tongue against mine, I couldn’t help but run my nails down his back making him moan in pleasure. I could feel his heart racing against mine, and our breathing starting to pick up. Embracing my newfound confidence, I pulled us apart and began to swim to the shore.

Not questioning my motives, Colt watched as I emerged from the water and walked back to the truck. I turned to look at him motioning my finger for him to follow me.

Waiting for Colt, I laid a blanket on the bed of the truck. Hopping on the tailgate, I slide back on the blanket. Watching Colt walk toward me stark naked was such a turn on. Water dripping down his muscular physique had me so wet and not from the lake. As he got closer to me, I continued to coax to him with my finger.

Lying back on my elbows, I bit my bottom lip and gave him an innocent look.

              “Don’t give me that look. We both know you’re no angel, baby,” he said as he climbed into the bed of the truck.

“Who said I was trying to be an angel?” I said with assurance.

“Exactly,” he whispered, grabbing my chin and tilting my head away from his face. Hearing his voice against my neck sent chills up my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Running a finger between my swollen breasts I inhaled, and held my breath at his sensual touch. I had never been touched so intimately in my life, and Colt seemed to be a master at seduction. The simplest of touch made my nipples stand at attention. Goosebumps enveloped my body at his tender touch.

Trailing kisses down my neck, “You taste so sweet, baby. I just want to lick every inch of this incredible body,” He said trailing his fingers down the length of my body.

“So what’s stopping you?” I said confidently.

“There’s my girl,” he said bringing his hand up and massaging my breast. Looking at me with lustful eyes, he inhaled my nipple, swirling it with his soft tongue. The feeling alone was almost enough to make me come. Throwing my head back, I took in the sensation, letting my body responded on its own. Letting my inhibitions do the talking, I let out a moan, “Oh God, Colt….”

Colt lifted his body slightly hovering over mine. Spreading my legs slightly, he ran his palm done my chest and across my stomach.

Trailing his fingers lower he looked into my eyes, “You have no idea how much you turn me on, baby,” he said as he met his lips to mine.

I moaned in pleasure from the warmth of his touch. He really knew how to read my body and how to interpret my sounds perfectly. Hovering over me, he smelled so good and looked incredible from this angle. I had only dreamed of this and I could get used to it.

I’m so turned on right now; I can feel the moisture gathering between my legs making me tremble with need. Getting lost in our world I completely forgot that we were out in public and for anyone to see. Oh, but who cares. I don’t want this to end. Colt had this way of bringing out the sexiest parts in me. I felt invincible when he was touching me. All the wiggly bits I was terrified of were put aside when I was with Colt. He made me feel safe and wanted. I’ve never been desired by a man as much as I do at this very moment. Feeling brave, I took his hand and rested it on my thigh. He looked up at me with lust in his eyes wondering what I was planning to do. I gradually moved it up higher and higher then let him take the lead. He squeezed my thigh playfully as his breath become rigid against my neck.