Free Quiet Nights by Mary Calmes Page B

face-to-face.
    “Will you stay?” I said shyly, hopefully.
    “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “You could have anybody you wanted.”
    “I want you , Coz,” I entreated, wriggling closer, smoothing my thumb over one of his thick, dark eyebrows. “Only you. Please say yes.”
    “Well, yeah, I’m gonna say yes, ’cause I want you so bad,” he conceded, leaning close, sealing his lips over mine.
    There was a promise in that kiss, and because I’d never had one like that before, I felt the difference, and when he eased back, I gave him one of my own.
    “I love you, Kel,” he murmured between kisses.
    I’d loved him for so long, it was natural to say so. “I love you too, more than you know.”
    “No, baby, I know. I swear I know.”
    And I got the feeling he actually did.

Chapter Seven
     
     
    I FELT heat on my face and slowly opened my eyes. Rolling my head sideways, I released an involuntary sigh upon finding Coz there beside me, eyes closed, long lashes resting on his cheeks, chiseled lips parted, still kiss-swollen from the night before. Lifting myself on my elbows, I admired his toned, cut frame, the contrast between my white sheets and his bronze skin, and the dark hair on my pillow. I wanted him badly, and it was my first thought even as I squinted at the morning sun streaming into my bedroom. I had not remembered to draw the curtains, which were now lifting and billowing like sails in the breeze. As I focused my vision, I realized I was not the only one admiring the prone man in my bed; my neighbors were also quite interested. Mrs. Sorrel was on her back porch with a pair of binoculars, probably checking out my boyfriend’s gorgeous naked backside. I immediately covered him up with the sheet, and I was certain I heard her swear.
    Sitting all the way up and looking to the window on the other side of the room, I saw Greg and Candi out on their deck with cups of coffee. God, I really needed to plant a hedge.
    “Nice goin’, bagging the police officer!” Greg called over.
    I groaned and fell back down beside Coz.
    “What’re you doing?” he grumbled, because I’d jostled him.
    It was an excellent question: what precisely was I doing? Did I have any idea what was going on with me and Cosimo Renaldi?
    “Are you breathing, baby?”
    What if we didn’t work out? What if he figured out that I was messed up, more so than he already knew about? I could make a million mistakes to drive him away from me and—
    “Stop,” he yawned before I caught an elbow in the ribs. “I can hear your brain working.”
    I was going to start hyperventilating, and he thought it was time for jokes?
    “We’re good,” he said with a sleepy smile.
    “How do you know?” I asked, getting worked up and scared, having tiny heart palpitations just looking at him.
    God…. Coz in my bed….
    “What?” he grunted.
    His eyes were soft and warm as he stared at me, the stubble on his cheeks was sexy, his tousled hair, languid sprawl—all of him just breathtaking.
    “I have dragon breath or something? What’s wrong with you?”
    “You’re in my bed,” I marveled.
    “Yeah? So?”
    “So?” I repeated. “It’s a really big deal, Coz.”
    “It’s just the first of always,” he assured me. “After more days and nights, they’ll all start blending together.”
    “I just—I don’t wanna do anything to—”
    “Knock it off,” he ordered, shoving me over onto my stomach and pinning me under him. “Have a little faith in me.”
    “In you? Are you kidding? I have all the faith in the world in you.”
    “Well, see, there ya go.” His voice became a seductive chuckle. “I feel the same about you.”
    I looked over my shoulder at him. “You do?”
    “Yes, baby,” he said, sliding off me, only his hand remaining to cup my ass.
    “Close the curtains, will you?”
    “Why would I wanna do that?”
    “So you can have me again before breakfast,” I said, arching an eyebrow for his benefit. “Unless, of