Mission Happy (A Texas Desires Novel Book 3) (22 page)

“Can we take a picnic when we go?” she suggested, thinking how fun it would be to eat outside like that. She loved the idea of country living. In theory, she envisioned herself in a life like this. All except the bugs that Tina had teased her with after googling the topic. Some that were native to Texas looked like the size of her hand. The spiders alone made her think they had to be folklore. No one would live with spiders that big.

“We can do whatever you want,” Connor answered.

Bruno gave a heavier grunt, and he picked up his plate, scooted off his barstool, and headed for the back door.

“Where’s he going?” she asked, watching him walk away.

“There’s a patio table out there. I suspect we’re a little too saccharine for him.”

“I thought the distance he kept was just employee-employer, but maybe I was a too girlie for him,” she said, scooping up another bite of beans.

“You aren’t too girlie for me,” Connor added, attempting to hide his smile behind his napkin.

“That was a real good thing to say,” she nodded, taking her bite.

“Thank you. Finish eating. We have a lot to do.” Connor started gathering different things off the breakfast bar before rising. When he went for the bowl of beans, she stopped him, getting another spoonful before he put them away.

~~~

Connor set his parents’ AM/FM radio to a local country-music oldies station, blaring out a Loretta Lynn tune, while he and Julie danced a slow two-step around his parents’ covered back porch.

Apparently, Julie had never spent a full day in the country. She’d told him the closest she’d ever gotten had been an annual elementary school field trip to the pumpkin patch when she lived in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago.

Today, she’d had a ball feeding the animals, watching him and Bruno shoot—although she hadn’t participated—then having a picnic by the stock tank his family had dug up more years ago than he could remember. When a small snake slithered past, she’d jolted upright, and screamed loud enough to show him exactly how she had won that contest.

After his battle with the creature left him the victor, she’d rewarded him accordingly for such a feat. Since Bruno still hovered nearby, that meant a kiss and tight hug, but he took it with pride and promises of more in the future.

“I had a great day,” she said against his ear, barely moving, close to just swaying with him, which was more than fine. Either way, holding her so closely had her body rubbing suggestively against his in all the right places.

“I can’t see how,” he answered honestly, pulling his head back to gaze into her eyes. He could get lost in the features of her lovely face. She held a patient, kind stare that did something to his heart. He slid a hand up over her shoulder to cup her neck and hold her head as he leaned in to place small, lingering kisses along the corner of her mouth.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to just be,” she said, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist, grinning at him with a dreamy-eyed expression. A Dixie Chicks song came on, and Julie turned her head toward the radio, making his kiss land somewhere along her cheek.

“This is oldies? I used to listen to this when I was younger.”

“Me too. I was twelve or thirteen and gonna marry Martie Maguire,” Connor said, pulling her attention back to him.

“Is that the singer?” They had all but stopped, doing nothing more than swaying to the music.

“No she’s the blonde, taller one. I was almost five-ten back then. We knew I was gonna be tall, so I needed the woman I was going to marry to be tall.” He remembered covering his walls in posters of her. He had quite a thing for Martie back in the day.

“Marry her because she was tall?” Julie said, laughing. “Mine was Lance Bass. Imagine my surprise when he turned out gay. Very disappointing. And yes, I’m taller than him, too.”

“My disappointment came when they talked trash about President Bush. I knew then that I was going into the military, and I hated that they’d talked bad about our country. I was so idealistic. All those posters got ripped down. I was so angry,” Connor said, rolling his eyes at the absurdity of that time. He’d been so passionate about his course of life.

Those thoughts led to others, and he could feel his heart rate accelerating. Not in a good Julie-pressed-against-him way, but in a how-could-the-navy-do-this-to-him kind of way, and he shut those thoughts down. Forced himself to change the conversation.

“You work a lot?”

“Yeah. I’m always so busy all the time. I wish your parents were here. I’d love to meet them,” she said and laid her head on his shoulder, again scooting along the floor as a Hank Williams song began to play. It picked up the beat, but they didn’t. Instead, the simple shuffle had him tightening his arms around her.

“They wouldn’t know what to think about you,” he said honestly.

“Why?” she asked, her breath tickling his neck.

“I haven’t brought a girl home,” he said absently, enjoying the flow of her body against his until her head popped up, her body stopped moving, and she looked at him in shock.

“Not even in high school?” she asked, clearly doubting his words.

“Nah. I did prom once. Didn’t really like any of that,” he said, reaching around to her neck to press her head forward, liking when she laid her cheek on his shoulder. She fought him for a second, but finally gave in, leaning in and running her nose along the length of his neck.

She pressed her lips right below his ear before she whispered, “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s true.”

“So I’m the first girl you brought home? Or did I invite myself?”

“I invited you,” he said, laying his cheek against hers while closing his eyes. They were back to just standing and swaying. His grip tightened, holding her firmly against his body. She’d been perfect today, his perfect partner. Into everything he did, wanting to take part in everything just to be by his side. God, he had it bad for her.

“I think that means you like me…” She teased him, lifting on her tiptoes, slightly dislodging his arms around her, to kiss his neck again. They had even stopped the sway, giving up any pretense to dancing. He just stood there now, holding her.

“I do, very much, but I honestly can’t see how it’s gonna work between us.” Even as he said the words, he knew he had to do whatever it took to keep this woman in his life. That strong sense of possession had him wrapping both arms around her, pressing her against him, head to toe.

“Why? I think it’s going well,” Julie said, lifting a hand to his cheek, caressing him as her caring gaze met his.

He stared down at her worried face. For whatever reason, she was into him. He shouldn’t have said that out loud. Those were his long-time defense mechanisms jumping up to help guard him against the enormous pain he’d face by losing her.

“Why? You’ve got some changes coming. We need to figure out what’s going on with your head, but I’m flexible. I can travel,” she said, now placing both her hands on his cheeks, holding his head as she lifted to kiss his lips. “I like you, Connor. We can figure it out in order to stay together.”

Connor just stared down at her. Those words were the only thing that made him sane, gave him something to hang on to. They were a small hope, most probably unrealistic, but still a hope and the thing that kept him from emotionally tanking over everything going on with his fucked up life.

He’d been trained to not let the unknown intimidate him, but this wasn’t an unknown he could use combat tactics against. His future scared him. He didn’t want to talk any more about what might be. Instead, he placed both hands on her hips and started walking her backward toward the kitchen door.

“How flexible are you exactly?”

Her expression changed to something sensually speculative, and she wrapped both arms around his neck. “Did I tell you I was a cheerleader from seventh through eleventh grade? I took power tumbling for ten years.”

“Why not your senior year?”

“I won the scream contest right before Christmas my junior year…” Her eyes twinkled as she threaded her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the floor. All a sudden, she was moving way too slowly. His girl seemed on board with his plan. Julie wrapped her long legs around his waist.

“Do you need anything?” he asked, walking through the kitchen, his hands gripping her thighs to help hold her up. Julie shifted, moving her head right in his line of sight.

“Just you,” she said, leaning in for a lingering soft kiss.

“Good answer.” Thank God he knew this house like the back of his hand. Lucky for that, the next kiss she planted on him had her tongue delving inside his mouth, sliding eagerly across his. Her insistence fused their mouths together. Only one misstep had him misjudging the doorway and knocking her against the frame before making it inside his bedroom. He kicked the door closed with his foot, never breaking from the kiss. That might have been the most accomplished feat of his life.

Her arms and legs locked around his body as he placed one knee of the mattress, lowering her to the bed. Julie deepened the kiss, tilting her head, exploring the farthest reaches of his mouth while he was able to do nothing more than settle between her parted thighs and cradle his rigid length against her jean-covered core.

Her hands lifted, cupping the back of his head as her fingers caressed across his buzz cut. Seconds later, she arched her hips, grinding against his cock as her legs tightened around his waist. She was too much. She easily built his need to a frenzy. He could feel himself to the point of leaking and wrenched his mouth free of her provocative kiss.

“I need to be inside you,” he whispered as her lips latched on to his neck, mouthing him hard enough to leave a mark.

With great effort, Connor reached for Julie’s forearms, tugged them free from his neck, and lifted them above her head. With the hold, he lifted enough to have her break free of the kiss. “Connor, no. I’m ready.”

He chuckled while looking down at her, then leaned forward to kiss her parted lips. She tried to deepen the kiss, giving a quick lick over his lips as he moved away. When he rose, she tried to follow, refusing to release her legs trapping him to her. His hand reached between their bodies, down to her covered center, massaging through the heavy fabric. “You aren’t ready. We’re still dressed.”

Julie looked down at herself, and he almost laughed when her expression changed with dawning realization. She immediately unlatched her legs from his waist, allowing him to push back on his knees. His still secure grip on her wrist was the only thing that kept her hands from reaching for him.

“I’ll undress you,” she said eagerly. “If you’ll let me go.”

“I’ll undress you, but you have to promise to keep your hands to yourself.”

“Connor, that’s impossible.” She let out a huffed breath.

“Let me do this,” he said and leaned down to slip his tongue back inside her mouth to slide leisurely along hers. When she melted against him, he let go of her arms, testing the move. She hadn’t noticed that he no longer held her, so he lowered his hands to the hem of her shirt, lifting, skimming his fingers over her exposed skin until he broke from the kiss, pulling the material over her head in one sure move.

Connor pushed back on his knees and looked down at her body laid out in front of him. She was so beautiful. Her hooded gaze watched him as she kept her arms above her head. When he went for the clasp in the front of her bra, Julie arched her back, driving her breasts forward as he pushed the material free, exposing her two large mounds.

His mouth watered as he lost all focus except her breasts. He immediately bent forward, dropping to one hardening nipple, sucking the pebble straight in his mouth. He had no idea how long he stayed there, paying homage to her perfection, but it was long enough to have Julie mashing her breasts together, writhing underneath him, urging him to take the other nipple. When he popped the one in his mouth free and sucked the other hardened nipple inside, her panting increased. Only then did he realize she’d slid her hand inside her shorts. She was bringing herself to orgasm.

The idea of her touching herself almost undid him and sent a tremor of anticipation sprinting down his spine. As sexy as that sight was, he wanted to coax that orgasm from her more than he wanted to watch her bring herself to completion. He reached for her hand, pulling it free of her jean as he rose over her.

“Nooo…” she moaned, driving her hips into his groin.

“Yes,” he managed hoarsely. “Hold it for me.”

“I’ll have more.” Her gaze implored him to listen, but he shook his head.

“Julie, hold it for me. Let’s do this together.” He lifted her hand to his mouth, sucking the fingers that had been between her legs moments ago. He loved her taste and licked each finger as her eyes followed his every move. A sexy little groan escaped her slightly parted lips.

“Hurry, Connor.”

“No way. Not this time.” He dropped her hand and went for the button on her shorts. She maneuvered her legs, lifting so he could pull her shorts and panties free. As she parted her thighs, he quickly reached for the back of his shirt, tugging the material over his head and tossing it aside. He unbuttoned his pants and lowered the zipper as he stared down at her hairless core. He loved that she shaved there. He pushed each tennis shoe off with the other foot as he parted her center and lowered his head to take one long swipe up her hot, wet heat.