Free Colby (Season Two: The Ninth Inning #6) by Lindsay Paige, Mary Smith

schedules and occasional time differences. The door opens before I can knock. The grin on her face nearly sends me to my knees.
    “I was starting to worry you were going to stand out here all day. Buster let me know you were here by the time you parked the car. He doesn’t miss much.” Her head drops, and I follow her gaze to see her petting the dog’s head.
    “So it’s unlikely that I’ll ever be able to surprise you?” I ask as she steps aside to let me in. Buster sticks close to Ariella, eyeing me like he might lunge to attack at any second.
    “Yep, I hope you’re hungry.” She takes a step toward the kitchen, but I grab her wrist and tug her toward me. Now that she’s here and I’m here, the urge to kiss her is out of control. “Colby.” Her voice is soft, her breathing hitches, but she’s waiting for me.
    I tilt my head down and press my lips to hers. She melts against me, my tongue delving into her mouth to deepen the kiss. I swear, this woman. She seems a little guarded, like she’s holding back, and I can’t wait for the day when I make her bare herself to me completely. Buster nudges his nose between our legs, but I ignore him, kissing her harder to ensure she’s focused on me and not the dog.
    Then, the dog pushes his way to stand between our legs, causing Ariella to break the kiss with a laugh.
    “Damn dog,” she mutters with a smile.
    I give her another quick kiss. “I didn’t want to wait until later,” I explain myself, allowing my lips to run over hers as I speak.
    “Glad you didn’t. Let’s eat.” Ariella takes my hand to lead me into the kitchen.
    “Nice place,” I tell her.
    “Thanks. It’s a bit larger than I need, but maybe one day it’ll be the perfect fit. Spaghetti is okay, right?”
    “Sounds perfect.”
    We fix our plates and then sit at the table. Ariella realizes Buster needs his bowl refilled, so she gets up to do that before sitting down again. She asks about my trip and I fill her in on most of it, the things she wouldn’t know. We make small talk, not talking about anything important, while seeming to do so anyway. I get to hear more about her job and her family, all the things that are important to her.
    We clean up the kitchen together before going into the living room. I put an arm around her shoulders and tuck her into my side while Buster jumps onto the couch on the other side of her to lie down. The TV makes for subtle background noise, but I’m not paying any attention to it.
    “Tell me what you want from life, Ariella.”
    She could answer a million different ways. She could tell me what she wants from her job. Or she could tell me what she wants for herself. Or she could tell me what she wants for her family. However she answers will say a lot. It’ll tell me what she wants the most, what’s most important to her right now.
    “I want the fairy tale happily ever after,” she finally says. And there we go. Ariella wants to fall in love and find the person she’s going to spend the rest of her life with. She lifts her head. She looks a little surprised as if she wasn’t expecting to tell me the truth. “How about you just kiss me now?”
    I grin because I think she’s a little embarrassed and because I can most definitely do what she’s asked of me. I grab her hips, pulling her into my lap so she straddles me. A grin quirks her lips as she rests her hands on my shoulders. “You want to kiss me, Ariella?” She nods. “Then what are you waiting for?”
    Her smile grows before she leans down slowly. Having her straddle me was both my best and worst idea. Worst because she’s straddling me and I won’t be able to hide anything. Best because it’ll allow Ariella to set the pace, and that’s what I want today. Her mouth grazes over mine, and I decide this was definitely a terribly good idea.
    Ariella takes her sweet time acquainting herself with my mouth as if she’s never kissed me before, and she has to explore. All I can do is follow along,