“Terry.” I smiled and waved it off like it wasn’t a big, thousands-of-dollars deal. “It’s cool. We haven’t had any problems for years. I know a guy who knows a guy.” I laughed. “You mind if he comes inside tomorrow?”
He smiled back at me. “Make sure he’s hot.”
“I’ll make sure he’s hot and a good plumber.”
***
By the time I called a plumber—one I’d picked up a card for in the grocery store and now hoped he was good looking and skilled—then cleaned up that mess, Holst was walking through the front door.
I was baking a pie.
“Honey.” He smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’m home.”
“I’m baking,” I murmured through each delicious touch of his lips on the skin of my neck.
“Why are you baking?”
“I’ll tell you later, when we eat it.”
“What are you baking?”
“Pie,” I managed to get out while I let my hands move into his thick hair.
“Okay then. Your pie first. Can’t stop thinking about your pussy, Katherine.”
“I had a bad day, Holst,” I said quietly.
He turned me in his arms, his hands slowing, and said, “Thank you, baby.”
“For what?” I asked, letting my head fall against his shoulder.
“For telling me. New guy is opening, and he’s training a woman who has two kids who just left the nest and doesn’t care how much she gets paid…which means, we get to sleep in tomorrow.”
“You’re not…running a marathon or surfing the coast of our great state?” I teased.
“Even better, I’ll be waking up with you and getting my exercise another way.” He grinned, but when he did, his face softened. His eyes searched my own, and out of nowhere, he said, “I told you to say the words when you’re ready…”
“Holst—”
“I’m in love with you, Katherine.”
My entire body began to shake when I asked, “Is it this easy?”
He brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear and said, “Apparently, when you’ve found the one, it is.”
“Damn,” I mumbled.
“Damn?” he enquired with one thick, dark eyebrow raised.
“I wanted to say it first.”
“Baby…” He laughed quietly, his chest moving up and down as he held me.
All I had to do was say the words I knew were inevitable, ones that rolled off my tongue without reluctance, without fear right from my heart, to him.
And I did.
“I love you, Holst.”
“I hoped so, my Katherine, but to hear you say the words…I’ve never heard anything sweeter in all my life.”
***
I made us sandwiches and hot cherry pie for a late dinner. We always tried to get to sleep before ten, since six came early, and for Holst, even earlier if he wanted to go for a surf. We also had a healthy sex life, and late nights might have started with the intention of a quickie, but lasted much longer.
I told him I’d had a bad day, but hadn’t elaborated yet. Not until I asked, “How many women have you slept with?”
I was eating pie, so was he, my feet in his lap with CSI Miami on in the background.
“Would you really like to know?” he asked.
“Actually, it never mattered to me before because I’ve never been emotionally invested in the men I sleep with. Hm, let me think about that for a sec,” I told him and continued to chew.
“What prompted this inquiry?” he asked and finished his last bite.
“Ah, something I think you already know. About Frodo.”
He contemplated his response. I could only assume, if Frodo did tell him, he must’ve asked him to keep it quiet, like Dee had asked us.
“Is his past the reason he and Dee are no longer not dating?”
“Yeah. I mean, there was more to it than that, stuff with her ex, but in addition to all that, she basically called me a slut in front of Ruby and Tor.” I waved my hand like it was no big deal, deciding at that moment to make light of it. I didn’t want Holst to think badly of Dee. “It was the heat of the moment. She was pissed. I pushed her—”
“That’s not an excuse.”
He set his plate down on the floor and took mine from my hands. He wiped the corner of my mouth with his thumb and sucked the gooey pie filling into his own. For a minute there, I forgot what we were talking about. Then he hit me with.
“If the fact you had many men before me, and I had many women prior to you, infers we are both…sluts…” He grinned. “I’m grateful. I’ve learned your body, your tells, what sends you flying, and what makes you moan deep in your throat…something I now strive for, by the way. But I hold no judgement over you or your past, and, unfortunately, Dee slung her arrow to a wound that seems to be frequently opened for you. I can’t tell you how to feel, but I can tell you I’m exactly where I want to be, no care of who came before me, with the woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with and—”
“Excuse me?” I started to push back from him. I needed distance. I needed CPR.
“Katherine, relax.” He chuckled and grabbed my ankles to keep me put. “I’m not hiding a gold band in my pocket, waiting for that perfect moment. I also won’t lie to you about what I’m feeling, but if it’s too intense, too much too soon, I won’t mention it again.” He paused and studied me before his smile widened again. “Until I’m hiding a gold band in my pocket, waiting for that perfect moment.”
“You did it,” I whispered, tears clogging my throat.
“What did I do, baby?” He put his hands on either side of my face, his long lashes closing down over his deep brown eyes.
“I had this top-of-the-line force field built around me…and you got through. I mean, I’m kinda bummed in a way, because I worked really hard on that thing.”
“Katherine.” He smiled and brushed his lips against mine.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “But after tonight, I think I’m done with this crying bullshit. For years, I kept that shit locked up tight, and then you come along, and it’s a Sob Fest.!” I let out a dramatic crescendo at the end of my brief tirade. But Holst held me, didn’t say a word, and let me slow down enough to say, “I can handle the arrows, as long as I don’t have to handle them alone.”
“You don’t have to handle them alone,” he said gently. “Pace yourself, Katherine.”
“Pace myself?”
He let his long fingers glide down the outside of my neck, over my collar bone and shoulders, until he reached my bra straps and pulled them down, one by one. “Arms up,” he requested and lifted each garment over my head and down my arms. Then he set my body on fire as his lips moved across my skin. Every curve and dip from my jaw to the top of each breast was explored. He was slow and casual in his actions, but every single one of them counted.
His lips touched the corner of my own, his breath awakening my mouth with the promise of his kiss.
“I like waking up with you,” I breathed and let my tongue give the briefest touch to his bottom lip.
“I do, too,” he agreed.
“I also like going to sleep next to you.”
That time, he didn’t reply. He only chuckled.
“I want you here, Holst. Before the gold band, I want this to be your home.”
Fuck, I couldn’t believe those words just came out of my mouth. And as he pulled back, slowly, painfully slow, his hands moved to my hips and squeezed.
“Living together and working together…” That was all he said. It wasn’t no. It wasn’t yes. It was noncommittal, and that freaked me out.
I didn’t move or even bother to cover myself up, but I called him on that shit. “Thirty seconds ago, you were preparing me for a future of china patterns.”
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and, once again, opened them. “And I need to make sure you get there with me. It’s all new,” he said, his hand brushing across my bottom lip. “You’ve never done this. I have, and I know all too well how it can end,” he breathed. “I’ll be next to you every night and wake with you each morning, and when the time is right, we’ll talk about what comes next. But…” He grinned. “I’ll tell you what that is and when it’ll happen, and I promise, you’ll be ready for it when it does.”