I Saw Her Standing There Read Free

his inner caveman was trying hard to break free.
    “You made it.”
    “Somehow.” Lucy Mulvaney’s tone was filled with aggravation as she pushed past him into the house, dragging a suitcase behind her.
    As she went by, he relieved her of the shoulder bag that was so heavy he assumed it contained her laptop. She’d warned him she would have to do some work while she was there.
    “The GPS took me the craziest way. I think I was on forty-seven different roads on the way up here.”
    “Well, you made it, and that’s what matters.”
    “Yes, it is,” she said with a warm smile for him.
    As always when they were first reunited, he sensed her shyness and was grateful for the diversion of the dogs dancing around at their feet, waiting to be noticed by the new arrival. “Lucy, I want you to meet my best friends in the whole world, Sarah and Elmer. Sarah has the pink collar.”
    She bent to give the dogs her full attention, which earned her tons of points in his dog-loving heart. “Hi, guys. Aren’t you beautiful? I’ve heard so much about you! Your daddy talks about you all the time.” She let them smell her and kiss her and Elmer even dropped to his back and gave her his belly to rub. Lucy did as directed, laughing at his shameless appeal for attention. “They’re adorable.”
    “They’re spoiled rotten, but I love them.”
    “This place is incredible.” She rose to take a good look at the house while Colton leaned against the counter and indulged in a long look at her until she brought her gaze back to him.
    “Took you too long to get here.” He smiled and held out a hand to her.
    She took his hand and let him draw her into his embrace. “You live too far away.”
    During the five weekends they’d spent together, he’d learned to go slow at first, to ease her back into their relationship rather than going right to where they’d left off, the way he’d prefer. Haste wasn’t what she needed, and since he wanted her to keep coming back, he aimed to give her what she needed.
    Colton couldn’t deny that the two steps forward, one step back approach to dating Lucy was sort of frustrating. He’d found someone he enjoyed being with, and for the first time in his adult life he was interested in a genuine relationship. But he wasn’t sure she wanted the same thing, thus his approach to following her lead when he’d much prefer to take charge and make things happen for them.
    “Something smells good,” Lucy said after a long moment of silence as he held her.
    “I made dinner.”
    “I was talking about you,” she said, looking up at him with big blue eyes.
    Without giving much thought to what he was about to do, he bent his head and kissed her. He knew a moment of pure satisfaction—and relief—when her arms came up to curl around his neck and her mouth opened to welcome his tongue. They didn’t normally get right to it like this, preferring to ease into the physical stuff after some food and conversation, but Colton wasn’t about to complain.
    Things had gotten pretty hot and heavy last weekend, and he was glad to know they might be able to pick up where they’d left off rather than taking the usual step backward. He loved how she felt in his arms, the way her soft curves pressed against him and the taste of her on his tongue. Framing her face with his hands, he focused entirely on the kiss, not touching her anywhere except for the tight press of his body against hers.
    By the time they finally came up for air, Colton wanted to drag her to the nearest bedroom and see this through to the conclusion they’d been heading toward for weeks now. But again he chose restraint, afraid to scare her away by showing her how badly he wanted her. He kept his arms around her as he kissed her neck and made her shiver.
    “What a long-ass week,” he whispered, breathing in the scent he’d become addicted to.
    “Mmm. A very long week.”
    “I couldn’t wait to see you.” He’d never come right out and said that