Trace of Fever - Lori Foster [138]
Sounding like a choked frog, Priss said, “All the things I never got to do growing up.”
“But there’s so much more, honey.” He moved wet tendrils of hair away from her face and over her shoulder. “I was trying to give you time to enjoy it all.”
“No!” Priss did not want him second-guessing his intent. “I don’t need any more time. Really I don’t.”
Both still very attentive, Matt and Chris snickered. Trace just smiled at her.
Closing her hand into a fist, she held the ring tight. “All I need, all I want, is you.”
“Glad to hear it, because I’m not an overly patient guy. Hell, I think I knew you were the one for me the day you showed up at Murray’s office.” He kissed the tip of her nose, her lips, her chin. “You were so damned outrageous, and so pushy, that you scared me half to death.”
“You felt me up,” Priss reminded him. “But that was a first for me, too.”
“I remember it well.” He treated her to a deeper kiss, and ended it with a groan. “Every day since then, I’ve wanted you more. Even when you worried me, or lied to me, or made me insane, I admired you for it.”
Priss nodded. “Okay.”
This time, Trace laughed out loud.
“Come on,” Matt said. “Stop being so easy, Priss. Let him do it right.”
Priss scowled at him, but Trace brought her face back around. “My job isn’t going to change, honey—and no, Matt, you don’t need to slink away.”
Matt, who’d already been in the process of leaving, now waffled. “If you’re sure?”
“Priss knows what I’m talking about.” And with that, Trace ignored Matt. “Sometimes I’ll need to be gone, and sometimes you’re going to be afraid for me.”
“Oh, Trace.” She blinked fast, thankful that they were still mostly in a lake, and mostly wet from the dousing; it helped to hide the silly tears. “I’m going to do that whether we’re together or not.”
He put his forehead to hers. “I like my house, Priss. The location is secure, so I’d prefer not to move.”
She laughed around a lump of emotion. Trace’s home was within half an hour of Dare, on a similar scale but in a different style, and also backed up to a large lake. Priss had a feeling that the guys used the lake as a natural barrier to prying eyes.
“Liger will need a few things,” she warned, thinking of his cat box. “And he can shed a lot in the summer.”
Trace looked over at the big cat. Stretched out on his back, his legs flopped open, he rested next to Tai. Even with the dog dripping lake water, Liger looked content.
When he realized that he had Trace’s attention, Liger lifted his head and said, “Merrrowwww….” in his sweet voice, making Trace laugh.
“You two are a package deal, and Liger’s already my buddy. I’m every bit as pet friendly as Dare, so don’t worry about that.”
“Good. Because I like your house, too, at least, from what I got to see of it.” They’d only been there a day. And most of that day had been in Trace’s bedroom on his massive bed. The next morning, he’d flown her to New York City, and from there, to Las Vegas. “I’ve loved all the places we’ve been and all the fun we’ve had, but I wouldn’t mind settling down a little, too.”
Being in one place with Trace, having a routine with him—making a life with him—appealed to her in a big way.
“What about your shop?” And before he let her answer, he said, “I’m not keen on you being away from me, Priss, and no, it has nothing to do with the type of shop it is.”
“Fibber.” She still recalled Trace’s unease as she’d shown him through the shop with Gary dogging their heels. He’d tried to hide it under compliments on her management skills, but she knew that Trace hated the thought of her working there.
“It has more to do with it being too far away, and not in the most secure location—”
“Gary can buy me out. He wants to do that anyway.”
Trace stalled in midsentence. “You’re okay with that?”
“With not owning a porn shop?” She shrugged. She was more than okay with it. “It doesn’t hold any sentimental value, believe me. It was always a means to an end.”
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “It was your independence.”
And a way