she ached for him!
His breathing grew ragged as his lips hovered over hers. “Tell me what you want, Melanie.” Easing down, he settled between her thighs. “You can have anything—anything in the world.”
“Just you.”
“That’s too easy.”
“That’s all I want.”
“Then I’m yours.” Looking into her eyes, he probed once, and slid home. “All yours.”
She drank in the fierce heat of his blue gaze as he began to move within her. How easily he said those words. Too easily. But he was hers for the rest of the night. She would treasure every minute in his arms.
***
The following morning was a busy one for Drew as he talked with his staff about the maintenance projects he wanted them to handle while he was gone. He hoped to be back in less than a month, which would give them time for a thorough cleaning of all drapes, rugs, and bed hangings. They could also deal with the plumbing problems he’d noticed. The townhouse was old, and something was always going wrong with it. Drew didn’t care about the constant maintenance because he loved the ambiance of the place, and he wanted to stay on top of any issues.
He hadn’t lied to Melanie about having urgent business in Dallas, either. He’d put off important phone calls concerning the charity event while he’d concentrated all his attention on her. To use an old-fashioned term, he’d been courting her, although she was charmingly oblivious to the fact.
When he’d finally returned some of those calls yesterday, he’d realized that he could handle the issues more efficiently in person. But that wasn’t the most important reason to go back. Now that he’d found Melanie, he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight, at least not until they’d had a serious discussion about the future.
Over the years he’d learned the value of timing, and he knew that picking the right moment to tell Melanie how he felt about her was critical. He’d considered talking to her during their last night together. He had confessed his feelings, in fact, but she obviously hadn’t realized that he’d meant exactly what he’d said.
No doubt she’d thought that his all yours statement had been made in the heat of the moment. Other men might throw those words around when they had sex with a woman, but he never had. She couldn’t know that, though.
Thank God she’d taken his suggestion of flying home with him. Had she insisted on going commercial, he would have had to do that, too. It would have been ugly, but he would have done it.
She was such an independent little critter, and he loved that about her, but damn, he would have liked her to take home all the clothes Josette had picked out. She’d refused. Maybe it didn’t matter, because she’d get them eventually, unless everything went horribly wrong between them.
She boarded his corporate jet wearing the same outfit, she’d had on the morning he’d first seen her, although it had been freshly washed by his staff. It reminded him of what had attracted him in the first place—a woman who’d grabbed the chance to experience awe. From now on, if he had anything to say about it, she would have someone there to share the awesome moments.
Because they’d been awake most of the night, they both slept for the first few hours. Drew encouraged that. He wanted her to be rested when he broached the all-important topic of where they went from here.
He woke before she did and lay in the reclining seat gazing at her. She’d won his heart without even trying. She’d won it by being herself, a person who wasn’t dazzled by his wealth and didn’t expect him to shower her with material things. He’d never in a million years thought he’d fall for a cowgirl, but there it was. He had.
She made him laugh, and even better, he made her laugh, too. They’d connected in a way he never had with the socialites he’d dated his entire adult life. Had finding the right woman been simply a matter of moving out of his social circle?
No, he didn’t believe that. Materialistic women existed in all parts of society. Those who shared his values existed at all levels, too. He’d met a few, but they’d been friends, not lovers. A combination of shared values and unbelievable chemistry didn’t come along every day. It had never happened to him. Until Melanie.
She opened sleepy eyes and caught him staring at her. For one precious moment,