White cotton sheets cover my naked legs.

I feel lazy and smooth.

And it smells more strongly of coffee.

I stretch my arms over my head and smile, looking around me.

Tahoe.

Tahoe…

With that thought, with the thought of that name and the man attached to it, I jerk up out of the bed, slip into my nicest pajamas, and practically sprint out of the room.

My stomach is a bundle of nerves and my sleepiness is slowly lifting with every step I take on the white limestone floor.

Tahoe hears me coming into the kitchen and I swear I can practically hear him smirk from where I’m standing, five feet away.

“Morning, sunshine.”

He’s wearing his PJs too.

He packed a bag when he came over? The thought warms me when I realize he meant to stay.

Dark blue pants with white stripes. Shirtless. I gulp.

Tahoe takes me in from where he stands, admiring me in a melon-pink silk sleep dress. I blush and smile.

I look over his shoulder to find the coffee machine dripping sweet chocolaty-brown deliciousness.

He follows my gaze and smirks. “If you want it, you’re going to have to come and get it.”

I narrow my eyes and slowly make my way toward him.

I am met with a wall of hard muscle.

He smells like mint and coffee and soap and Egyptian cotton sheets and like…me.

He smells like a lazy Sunday morning.

I breathe him in and look up into his sparkling blue eyes. I get up on my tiptoes and whisper in his ear, “Step aside, baby.”

I feel his muscles tighten and his breath catch in his throat at the endearment. “Not yet,” he croons, slipping his arm around my waist and trapping me there.

I run my hands up and down his chest. “Please?” I answer.

I don’t know who I’m teasing anymore.

Him or me.

His nearness maddens me. The memory of last night maddens me.

He exhales roughly and before I know it, his hands grasp the backs of my legs, lifting me up, and I’m sitting on top of the marble kitchen island.

He pushes my legs open and stands between them. He smirks down at me and lowers his head to mine. “Give me a kiss,” he whispers, teasing me with his breath on the side of my neck.

“What?” I gasp, trying not to focus on his lips sliding along my flesh.

“Kiss me, Regina.” He continues rubbing his lips along the curve of my jaw. He plants a kiss on my pulse point below my ear.

“Give me a good morning kiss, baby,” he continues, looking heatedly at me.

“Ha…” I try to laugh through his teasing but I’m having difficulty thinking of a good comeback. “I’m not used to being charged for coffee I can make on my own.”

“Really?” he asks, his hands pushing my little silk dress up my thighs.

His hands are warm, and a little rough, and so achingly familiar. Warm on my skin as he holds on to my thighs, dangerously close to my ass.

I find myself wishing he would go higher.

God, Regina, get a grip!

I laugh at myself and Tahoe smiles against my neck. “What? You can’t handle a little kiss?” he taunts me.

“I can, I just don’t think you can,” I whisper.

He lifts his head from my neck and cups my face in his big hands.

Big blue eyes stare down at me.

Pink lips taunt me.

His blond, scruffy beard rasps and tickles my skin as he plants a kiss on my cheek.

I breathe a little harder.

“Just one kiss?” I breathe.

“Just one,” he says, still cupping my face with one hand while the other rests on my thigh. His thumb rubs circles on the inside of my knee.

He looks down at me with sparkling, burning eyes.

He looks hungry. Sleepy. Strong. Ready.

I tilt my head up. My lips are inches away from his. The sun is warm on my bare back. I lean back a little more and pull him in closer to me. I wrap my legs around his waist. His hand tightens on my thigh.

He nuzzles me with his beard. Running it along my jaw, rubbing it against the tip of my nose.

He kisses my chin. My forehead. My cheek.

I wrap my arms around his neck.

I let my lips touch his. I don’t move. We’re both breathing hard and I can feel him through his PJs.

I force myself not to moan.

I open my mouth against him and give him a light kiss.

His mouth tastes like toothpaste and him.

Now, I do moan.

He smiles against my lips. “Is that all you got?” he taunts. “I was expecting more from you… Let me get a real taste of you, Regina,” he murmurs against my lips.

I practically melt in his arms. I nod my answer.

He smiles lightly, leans in, and pries my lips open with his. He takes them leisurely and gives me a soft, wet kiss. I can feel his tenderness in the soft skin of his lips and in the tips of his fingers as he cups my face and slowly kisses me until I forget how to breathe.

I hold him closer and he moans against my mouth. He slips the tip of his tongue against mine and wets my lips. He keeps kissing me and I swear I never want him to stop.

Soft, wet, warm lips moving against mine in the most tender, sweet, lovely kiss I have ever been given.

He kisses me in a way I have never been kissed the morning after.

He kisses me like I am the first drop of rain after years of drought.

He kisses me like I am the first and only bite of chocolate he is ever going to get.

He savors me. Tastes me. Sucks on me. Pries me open with his tongue and gently, slowly moves his lips against mine.

He slips my nightgown up my hips and I realize he’ll soon discover I’m not wearing any underwear. I scoot closer to him and the scent of his shampoo and his cologne hit me.