Crush - Kelsie Rae Page 0,61

to fall in love with YOU, you need to let him SEE the real you.

Me: I have been.

Dylan: Have you?

I take a second to analyze the last few weeks that we’ve been together. My guard has been up. Maybe not sky high, but it’s definitely still there in some way. Yet, despite my best efforts to protect myself, he’s still managed to slip past my defenses.

She’s right. He’s been proving he’s all in, but I’ve been holding back, and it’s been torturing us both. Coming to a hard conclusion to swallow, I type out my reply.

Me: I’ve been trying.

Dylan: Then, that’s the best you can do. He’s a good guy, Marcy. And it sounds to me like your heart is already on the line, despite your best efforts to protect yourself. Give him a chance. A REAL chance, so he can prove to you that he wants YOU. That he sees YOU. Because you’re kind of a badass. I can attest to that.

“What’s so funny?” Ben asks, making me jump in surprise.

Clutching my phone to my chest, I screech, “Shit! You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he laughs, not sounding apologetic in the least. “Who are you texting?”

“Dylan.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Good.”

“Did she want to know my wooing techniques? Maybe pass a few onto Grady to spice up their love life?”

Snorting, I set my phone down on the bathroom counter and finish brushing my damp hair from the shower. “I think Grady’s just fine on the wooing front without taking any lessons from your book. That’s very generous of you to offer, though.”

“Who said I was offering? The guy’s a firefighter. He could look like a brick wall and would still get any girl he wanted if Dylan weren’t in the picture,” he jokes. “Good thing he met his match with her, though.”

“Right? They’re my favorite couple ever. Well, one of them. Sway and Anthony are pretty dang sweet together too.”

“That they are. Which reminds me. When are they picking us up?”

I shrug. “Thirty minutes or so?”

“That should be enough time.”

“For what?”

He bounces his brows up and down, then lunges toward me, picking me up with one arm behind my knees and the other cradling my back before carrying me over to the bed.

“What are you doing?” I ask. My nerves and emotions are already a frazzled mess after our day together. I’m not sure I can handle any more attention from him without finally admitting the truth to him.

And I’m not ready to take that leap.

Not yet.

“I know you’re not ready for sex,” he murmurs. “But I’ve been dying to taste you again, and thirty minutes should be enough time for me to devour you. Now, sit back and enjoy the ride, Marcy. I’m starving.”

Grabbing the hem of my maroon colored maxi-dress, he dives beneath and gets right to work. My laugh turns into moans in an instant, and my damp hair dries into a rat’s nest, but I don’t care because I’m too busy being worshipped by a doctor who knows exactly what he’s doing.

As I orgasm a few minutes later, I realize I’m not just falling. I’m already there.

I love the hell out of this man.

But do I trust him?

25

Marcy

“Well, you two are adorable together,” Sway points out as Ben swaggers outside to chat with Anthony. Their home is absolutely gorgeous and quirky, and so them. With bright, mismatched furniture, polka dot pillows, and gold accents, the place screams happy hippy with a side of can I move in, please?

An ugly orange cat brushes against my leg. Squatting down, I scratch between his ears and answer, “That’s funny. Ben and I were discussing earlier how adorable we think you and Anthony are too.”

She waves me off. “We’re very adorable. And very happy. And very old news.”

“Debatable.”

“No, it’s not.” She chuckles. “We’re very old news compared to you and Ben. But regardless, I wanted to let you know that I’m happy for you.” Her sincerity makes me pause. “I remember our caseworker talking to us about working with a single woman as our surrogate. She expressed her reservations, and I was a little hesitant too. I know that in the initial questionnaire to become a surrogate, you had to say that you weren’t planning on having any kids of your own.”

Man, that feels like forever ago. My eyes go hazy as I remember filling out the questionnaire online. “Yeah. It’s for safety purposes,” I divulge, recounting the memory. “There’s a slim chance that something could go wrong, and I could lose the ability