As for her apartment, McKenna had packed up everything for her, deciding what needed to stay and what needed to go. She trusted her sister completely with that choice, especially when the boxes had arrived with only her favorite items in them. She didn’t need her fluffy towels, though. Because she and Clay had bought new ones, with some of the $10,000 she’d won at the poker game, along with a bench, some softer pillows, and a new set of scarves. They’d considered ropes but they’d always been more DIY when it came to restraints, opting for belts, ties, panties and whatever was on hand, and that was likely to continue.
She pictured returning home tonight after her shift behind the bar. She’d find him naked in bed, sound asleep on his stomach, his strong back on display with the sheets low around his hips. The lights would be dim, the only sound the faint rhythm of his sleeping breath. She’d strip down to nothing, and run her hands along his skin. He’d groan lightly, roll over and pull her on top of him, and they’d have slow, sleepy, middle-of-the-night sex.
That image was burned in her brain as she returned to the bar to serve a new customer. A man in a suit had just sat down. Then she realized that man was her man. Her man in a suit, and by God, did he ever look sexy as hell in it. Maybe it was the little bit of cuff showing, or the cufflinks, or the purple tie he wore.
She rested her elbows on the bar, and flashed him a smile. “What can I get for you there, wearing your lucky tie?”
He ran his fingers down the fabric, and raised an eyebrow. “You noticed my lucky tie.”
“I always notice what you’re wearing,” she said in a whisper, her words just for him. “Are you thinking you’re getting lucky tonight?”
“I’m a lucky man every night because I have you.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere. But you still must pay for your drink,” she said and poured him his standard scotch, placing it in front of him. He took a long swallow, then reached for her hand, threading her fingers through his.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said softly.
“Hey, handsome.”
“What would you think about going to Vegas this weekend?”
“So we can see your brother’s show, then play a little blackjack?”
“For starters,” he said, and there was a twinkle in his brown eyes.
A ribbon of possibility unfurled in her. “Are you going to propose to me in Vegas?”
He laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would like to know,” she said, as the corners of her lips curved up.
“But I love surprises, Julia. So I guess you’ll have to wait and see if I propose, or if maybe I take you there to elope.”
She clasped his hand tighter, her way of saying she liked that idea. Either one. Both. “So I won’t know till you take me to Vegas?”
He shrugged playfully. “Maybe I’ll do neither. But I’ll tell you this much. We will have an excellent time, and I fully intend on marrying you someday. Someday soon.”
“Oh you do, do you?”
“I do.”
“You practicing saying those words?” she said, teasing him like she’d always loved to.
“Maybe I am. Do you like hearing them from me?” he said, and every day she found new ways to fall in love with him. This was today’s.
“I do, Clay. I do.”
THE END
If you’d like to receive an email when my next
title is available, including STARS IN THEIR EYES,
my August release, please sign up for my newsletter.