Tease (Cloverleigh Farms, #8)

by Melanie Harlow

He leaned down and kissed my temple. “I’ll clean you up. Give me a second to grab a towel.” “Okay, but Hutton?” “Yes?” “Can you take my shoes off? My feet are killing me.”

After we got out, he dried me off with a giant fluffy towel and brought me one of the plush white robes. I combed out my hair while he put on some pajama pants, then he came into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around me from behind. His hair was wet and wavy, messy in the front like it usually was. As gorgeous and sexy as he was all put together in a suit and tie, there was something so familiar and cozy about this Hutton. He made my heart pound just as hard.

“Can you get in to see her before you leave?” “It won’t work.” “How do you know?” She sat up. “This is something new, right? An approach you’ve never tried?” “Doesn’t matter,” I said stubbornly. “It won’t work.” She looked at me for a moment. “You can read minds and predict the future. Maybe you’re the witch!”

“Enough. I’m set in my ways and not going to change. Take me or leave me.” “I never want you to change, Hutton. I’ll always take you. I just wish you could see yourself like I do.”

I didn’t believe her, so I did my best to distract her with my mouth and my hands and my cock—I knew exactly how to kiss her, touch her, make her body arch beneath me. I knew what would make her gasp, what would make her sigh, what would make her cry out again and again. I knew how to bring her right to the edge and pull her back, and I knew when she’d had enough of the game and needed the release. I knew the taste of her, the scent of her, the sounds she made when I was so deep inside it hurt. I knew how it felt to have her fingernails rake across my back and her fists tighten in my hair and her body clench mine as I lost myself inside her.

“What would you wish for?” I’d wish for the guts to tell you I love you. Because I don’t need you to be perfect or magical. I just need you to stay with me.

But it struck me that this was the first night I’d been here that we hadn’t reached for each other in the dark. Rolling away from him, I squeezed my eyes shut against the tears and curled into a ball. When I woke up, he was gone.

I listened to her come in, get ready for bed, and slide in beside me. But rather than pull her close like I wanted to, I feigned sleep. My heart ached when she rolled away from me, and I heard her sniffle. But I kept my eyes shut and my body still. Avoidance was my specialty.

That night, when I got ready for bed, I found the small plastic bottle of lotion she’d tucked into my toiletry bag. At first, I thought she’d done it by mistake, but then I noticed she’d written on it—in one of those eyeliner pencils?—using our code. Breathe, it said. You got this. I unscrewed the top and held the lotion to my nose, inhaling. The lavender and vanilla scent hit me like a tidal wave. Allie was right. Felicity was so good for me. Was it possible I could be good enough for her?

“My problem is that I love this woman you’re talking about like she’s a fucking piece of meat. And I can’t think of anything better than having her to myself for the rest of my life. The thought of being with someone else is absurd. The thought of her being with someone else makes me want to put my fist through the wall. The thought of losing her because I’m a fucking idiot is unacceptable.”

It took me less than ten seconds to decode the dots and lines on the page. My eyes filled. “What is it?” Winnie asked. “Some kind of secret language?” “Yes.” I sniffed. “It says ‘I love you.’ It’s written in the code we promised each other we’d always honor.” “Aww, that’s so cute. He looked really miserable—he does love you, Lissy. So much.” “You think so?” “Of course I do! He told me he’s never been in love before, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and he’s scared he blew his only chance to be with the one person who means everything to him.”

“I love you, Felicity. I’ve always loved you. And if you’ll let me, I will love you for the rest of my life.”

“We might have to invite them to our wedding.” My heart thumped hard as my feet hit the ground. “Our what?” He pointed to the sky, and I followed the line of his finger. And gasped—there in the sky was a small airplane with a banner behind it that read Felicity, will you marry me? Stunned, I looked at Hutton, who’d gone down on one knee.

“Felicity MacAllister, I’ve loved you longer than you know, and there will never be another human on this earth that matters more to me. I may not have magic powers, but you understand me, you accept me, you make me happy. I know this is probably a shock to you, and if you don’t want to say yes today, that’s okay too, but you are the only one for me, today and always.” “Yes,” I said, tears slipping down my cheeks. “Of course yes! A thousand times yes!”

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand,” Hallie said, pointing at the plane, which was still flying overhead. “Why does that sign say ‘Felicity, will you marry me?’ Weren’t you already engaged?” Hutton and I looked at each other, and he smiled. “Yes and no,” I said, taking his hand. “Both things can be true.”

“I think we’ve given them enough of us tonight. Should we say our goodbyes and sneak out?” He pressed his lips to mine. “You never have to ask me that question twice.”

I held my breath as he eased inside me, one hot, thick inch at a time, and we moaned in sync as he buried himself deep. “I love you,” I whispered, pulling him closer. “I love you too,” he said as he began to move. “And I don’t care what the odds are. I’d bet on us every time.”

“It’s okay if I do. I don’t have to be perfect. Or fashionable. Or even symmetrical.” I looked at Hutton, and his smile was everything. “I can just be me. And that’s enough.”

The love of my life. That disobedient lock of hair had overpowered his styling product and sprung free onto his forehead. Self-conscious, he tried to brush it off, but I reached for his hand and smiled. “Leave it,” I whispered. “I love an imperfection.”

But standing there, in this place full of warm memories, next to my best friend in the world, in front of the people we loved most, looking forward to our happily ever after, I had to admit that even with imperfections, some moments in life were still perfect. Both things could be true.