Lying back, I drag her with me and soak in the feeling of her weight settling against me, her hot, wet pussy pulsing around my cock and her soft hair falling against my chest. Wanting to keep her right where she is, I tighten my hold. Never fucking ever have I had this with any other woman, a connection that defies logic and time, a connection that makes me question every fucking thing in my life.

“I’m too heavy.” She tries to move off me, and my grip tightens even more as her words whisper across my damp skin.

“You’re not, so don’t even think about moving,” I growl, feeling her body tense against mine. “Please,” I add quietly, running my fingers through her hair, and she relaxes.

Placing a kiss to the top of her head, I wrap my hand around the back of her skull to keep her in place. My whole life, I’ve been hearing about the boom. When I was younger, I thought it was bullshit, some crazy story my dad and uncles made up to tell me and the boys in my family. But as I got older, I thought that if by some chance that shit was real, it was a good thing I was adopted, so I wouldn’t have to deal with it. Now, after meeting Kim, I’m wondering what the hell is going on.

Listening to her breath even out, I feel her body relax against me, letting me know she’s fallen asleep. Carefully moving her so I don’t wake her, I get up and head for the bathroom to get rid of the condom and grab a washcloth. I walk back into the room and find Kim in the exact position I left her in. After cleaning her up, which is something I have never done for another woman, I toss the rag toward her laundry basket in the corner and get back into bed.

As soon as I’m lying next to her, she turns toward me and cuddles into my side. That’s when I notice the stars above me through the skylight over the bed. Lying here with her warm weight against my side and her soft skin under my palm, I fall asleep thinking she’s right; it does feel like you’re sleeping outside under the stars.

Waking to the sound of soft music playing in the distance and the smell of bacon, my eyes open to a view of gray skies. Getting up on an elbow, I look down and find my jeans and shirt both folded and in a neat pile on the floor. Grabbing my cell out of the front pocket of my jeans, I hit the screen and see it’s just after eight.

Once I’m out of bed, I pull on my jeans and head out of the room where I find Kim in the kitchen. Her back is to me, and her mass of hair is tied up in a high ponytail at the top of her head, showing off the elegant slope of her neck. Taking her in, I notice she’s wearing a pair of shorts with flowers on them and a tank top to match that she put on at some point when I was making a call before dinner arrived. Without thinking, I head right for her and rest my hand on the side of her waist then curve it around her stomach, pulling her back into me feeling her shiver.

“Hey.” Her eyes come to me over her shoulder, and her cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink.

“Morning.” I lean down, kissing the exposed skin where her neck and shoulder meet. “You got an extra toothbrush?” I ask, and her eyes go soft in a way that I know I could get used to seeing every day.

“No, but you can use mine. I don’t mind.” She shrugs.

“All right.” Touching my lips to her temple, I give her waist a squeeze then head for the bathroom. Coming out a few minutes later, I find her cracking eggs into the pan she just fried bacon in, and as soon as I’m close, she turns her face toward me.

“I don’t know…” She pulls in a breath then lets it out slowly. “I don’t know how this works,” she says, turning around completely, and I stop a few feet away from her. “I mean…” She lets out another huff of air. “I don’t know if you want to eat or if you just want to go.”

“I’m not going,” I state, watching her tense shoulders relax at my answer.

“Good,” she whispers, and I feel that one word wash through me. “Do you want coffee?”

“Yeah.” I close the distance between us, and she pulls down a coffee mug from the cupboard, handing it to me.

“Coffee pods are in the drawer under the machine.” She nods toward the Keurig on the counter. “Cream is in the fridge, and sugar is there.” She points to a canister. “How do you like your eggs?”

“Anyway you want to cook them is good with me.”

“Okay.” She gives me a smile then cracks two more eggs into the pan before taking toast out of the toaster and buttering it. Leaning back against the counter next to her with a cup of fresh coffee in my hand, I look at the shelf we put together and see that she already stacked her books on it.

“You’ve been up a while,” I observe, and she looks from me to her shelf that is now full of books.

“I can never sleep in. No matter how late I go to bed, I always wake up early.” She pulls down two plates before looking at me once more. “Did you sleep okay? I was going to go in and shut the skylight, but I didn’t want to wake you by closing it.”

“I slept better than I’ve slept in a long time,” I confess, and her eyes soften. “I like the skylight. I might have to put one in the master at the lake house.”

“It’s pretty awesome. I like lying under it when it rains even more than at night when the skies are clear.”

“I’ll have to experience that myself sometime,” I say, taking her hand and pulling her a step closer to me after she finishes buttering the toast and putting two fresh slices in the toaster. “What’s your plans for today?”

“I have a client coming into the salon at ten, so I have to work. What about you?”

“Work tonight, but after that I’m free. You feel like hanging out later?”

“Sure.” She leans into me with her weight, and I dip my face, brushing my lips over hers, touching my tongue to her bottom lip. Her mouth opens and I deepen the kiss. “We should eat,” she breathes into my mouth as my hands roams down her body and I drag her tighter against me.

“Yeah.” Kissing her one last time, I regretfully let her go.

“Here.” She hands me a plate loaded with bacon, eggs, and toast. Picking up my cup of coffee, I follow her outside to a colorful round table with two chairs that’s on the deck. “I know it’s not a lake view, but it’s not a bad one.” She takes a seat, setting her plate and cup on the table. Folding into the chair across from her, I laugh when she does. The chair might be okay for a chick that’s probably five-eight, but at six-four, my knees come up to my chest when I sit. “Oh, God.” She covers her face, peeking at me through her fingers. “We can go inside to eat.”

“It’s all good.” I place my hand over hers when she goes to stand. Stretching out my legs, I cross my ankles. “I’ve always been tall. Even when I was little, I was bigger than everyone else, so I had to make it work.”

“How tall were you in high school?”

“When I graduated, I was six-two,” I say, and her eyes widen.

“How tall are you now?”

“Six-four.”

“I knew you were tall, but sheesh, you’re really tall!” she says, and I laugh then watch her pick up her toast and take a bite.

“So you do hair?” I ask, thinking it’s ridiculous as fuck that I didn’t find that out from her yesterday, seeing how we spent the entire day together.

“Yeah, I went to college and did the whole four-year thing to please my parents, but I was never happy. So when I graduated with a degree in business management, I decided to spend two more years doing something I knew I would be happy with. I’ve always loved makeup and hair, so it seemed like a no-brainer.”

“Where are your parents now?”

“Florida, about two hours outside of Miami.”

“Why Tennessee?” I ask, and something shifts behind her gaze, but she hides it quickly.

“I just wanted a change.” She shrugs then nods to my plate. “You should eat before your food gets too cold.”

Picking up my fork, I dig in then spend another hour with her before I leave her with a kiss and a promise to see her later.

Kim

HEARING KNOCKING ON the sliding glass door, I roll out of bed and glance at the clock. It’s after 1:00 a.m. Sage sent a text while I was at work and told me he would be over late, since what he was doing was going to keep him a while, but one in the morning is not someone who is interested in you. One in the morning is the time a booty call shows up, and I do not want to be a booty call, no matter how amazing the sex was between us.