Free Restless Spirit by Sommer Marsden Page A

park.
    ‘I’m sure. I need a shower then I need to call Irv and see if he needs me to work today.’
    ‘And if he doesn’t?’
    I shrugged. ‘I’ll write.’
    ‘That’s right. You’re the writer.’
    I shook my head. ‘Only in my imagination and apparently my Nan’s.’ I got out, clutching the bag of berries. ‘Thanks for rescuing me.’
    ‘I’d rescue you any day of the week,’ he said. ‘Come pick berries tomorrow?’
    I imagined us picking berries. And somehow it ended with us rolling around covered in squished berry juice, fucking. I tilted my head down to hide my red face.
    ‘Sure. If I don’t have to work.’
    ‘Give me your phone.’
    I handed it over and watched him push a bunch of buttons. Then he handed it back. ‘I’m in there now. Come here.’
    I never thought about denying him. I leaned over the seat and let him take my face in his hands. He kissed me softly and then ended with a nip of my bottom lip that made me jump a bit and gasp.
    ‘Call me.’
    ‘I will.’
    He drove off and I stood in my driveway. To one side the barn. To the other, across an expanse of lawn was Shepherd. Was he watching? Did he see? Was he angry?
    I needed a shower and to think. I hobbled inside and put the berries in the fridge. I shucked my clothes and climbed into the shower.
    When I got out, I threw on leggings and Shepherd’s jacket. I’d made up my mind.

Chapter Nine
    He was in the barn working on the lawnmower.
    ‘I need a favour.’
    Adrian looked up and grinned. ‘Good morning to you, runner girl. I saw you take off. Good run?’
    ‘If you call an almost twisted ankle a good run.’
    ‘What do you need?’
    ‘The door to the storage room is stuck. Can you get it open?’
    ‘You should have just called me if your ankle’s hurt.’
    ‘Didn’t punch it into my phone,’ I said, shrugging. I started limping to the house so he’d have to follow. And yes, I exaggerated it a bit. It would make the whole outcome better, I thought.
    Damsel in distress. Adrian ate that kind of shit up.
    Halfway to the house, he laughed suddenly, danced in front of me, bent low and scooped me up.
    ‘Adrian,’ I hissed. My first thought being a watching Shepherd.
    But he kept laughing and jogged to the house, jostling me in the fireman carry he was using. ‘You were taking too damn long, slow poke.’
    He took the steps fast and I shut my eyes to avoid vertigo. In Nan’s room, he set me on my feet and steadied me until the world stopped moving. His eyes were dark and kind and I could tell he wanted to kiss me. Instead, he tucked my still damp hair behind my ears and said, ‘I’ll fix that door.’
    ‘About the door–’ I leaned against the bed and watched him.
    He turned the knob and opened the door. ‘The door appears fine,’ he said, cocking an eyebrow at me.
    That look of his made my stomach hot and my pussy hotter.
    ‘I … um … yeah.’
    Adrian was in my face then. Smiling, his eyes sparkling and as I watched, his nimble hand reaching toward me. A gentle line of fire raced along my skin when he touched me, tracing my clavicle with just a fingertip. The touch of his skin to mine so subtle it was as if I were imagining it.
    Back and forth, back and forth. I was the cobra in the basket. But then he went from clavicle to belly button and the startled muscles in my belly flickered and danced. ‘Do you need something from me, Tuesday?’
    Heat and moistures pooled in my panties and I shifted a little. Cleared my throat. ‘I do.’
    That finger ran up and down, up and down, drawing an unseen zipper on my stimulated skin.
    He leaned in and kissed me softly. His tongue tracing my lower lip, mimicking his finger. ‘What do you need?’
    ‘I’m worked up,’ I confessed.
    ‘Are you, now?’
    ‘I am.’
    I let him push his hand into my leggings and my slippers whispered on the hardwood floor when I spread my stance. He found me instantly, zooming right in to those tender, agitated nerve endings that