Finding Hayes: A Small Town, Marriage of Convenience Romance (Magnolia Falls Series Book 5)

It had been a day. We were dealing with a lawsuit from a gold-digging asshole who’d already taken advantage of a really kind old man.

And this marriage we’d gotten into was going to be scrutinized.

Savannah was beating herself up that she’d dragged me into this, but what she didn’t know was that I was happy to be here.

With her.

I’d missed her. All these years we’d spent apart, something had been missing. And now she was back in my life, and I wanted to keep her right here.

We’d moved all her things into my room, cleaning up all signs that she’d spent any time in the guest room before Belinda arrived at the house this week to clean.

We were in such a gray area.

I was so fucking attracted to her but so afraid to do anything that would run her off.

I was in unchartered territory.

I sat on the edge of the bed as the bathroom door opened. Savannah came out wearing her little sleep shorts and a tank top. Her skin glistened, hair damp and long, and a drip of water ran from her shoulder toward her forearm, where her hair rested.

I had the sudden urge to lick it off.

Fuck. Now she was going to be in my bed. How the hell would I survive months of this?

“I could sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. Who would know?” she asked, as she studied me.

“I thought I told you not to argue with me about this.” My words were firm but not harsh. There was no humor there because I wasn’t fucking around.

“Ahhh… my bossy husband is flexing again, huh?”

“I can flex any time you want, wife.” I pushed to my feet, wearing only my briefs, and her eyes raked down my chest.

Her tongue swiped out to wet her lips, and she moved around me and climbed into bed. “It’s not like we didn’t sleep in the same bed dozens of times over the years, right?”

“Yep. It’s not a big deal.” I moved to turn off the light switch on the wall.

“Do you still need the side closest to the door?”

I flipped out the light and moved toward the bed. “Yes.”

The room was dark. Quiet. I slipped in beside her beneath the covers.

“Why did you always insist on that side, even when you knew that was the side I slept on in my room?”

She’d texted me a few times when her parents would have these brutal screaming fights, and I’d sneak out of my house and in through her bedroom window.

Because when Savannah needed me, I was always there.

And vice versa.

“Because if anyone ever came into your room, they’d have to go through me to get to you,” I said honestly. I’d lived with a man who was violent during my teenage years, so I assumed it was just my instincts wanting to keep her safe.

She rolled onto her side, moving closer to me, and her leg brushed against mine.

“You’re so warm,” she whispered. Vanilla and lavender flooded my system, and I reached for her hip and tugged her closer.

Flush against my body.

“You’re cold. Let me warm you up.” My voice was gruff, and I did my best to control my breathing.

Stay in control.

“You were always so hot all the time. I swear your body temperature is not normal,” she whispered, but she didn’t pull back. Her fingers traced along the muscles of my bicep.

“Maybe I’m just hot around you. Did you ever think of that?”

“Are you flirting with me, husband? You know you don’t need to do that. I’m in this. There’s no wooing necessary.” She chuckled, but I knew her. She was nervous.

“This isn’t about wooing you. We’re married.”

“Fake married.”

“You don’t have to keep saying that, you know? I’m aware of our arrangement. I find it offensive that you keep reminding me,” I grumped.

Her hand moved to my cheek. “I’m sorry. I was just kidding. Maybe I’m just reminding myself so I don’t forget. Things are—complicated.”

Her words made my chest squeeze.

“I get that.”

“So, tell me… why are you always so hot when you’re around me?” Her voice was all tease now.

“Not sure, Shortcake. I probably always had a crush on you.”

“Hayes.”

“Savannah.” I mimicked her serious tone.

“You did not. You slept in my bed many times. We were always together. You never made a move. And we all know it wasn’t because of lack of experience. When you liked a girl, you always went after her. So don’t bullshit me.”

“I’m not bullshitting you, Sav. I’m being honest. I did have a crush on you. And we spent a lot of years apart, so I guess—I don’t know. Who knows when you’ll leave me high and dry and get the hell out of town? I’m just putting it all out there because what do we have to lose?”

She was quiet for what felt like minutes.

“So then, why didn’t you ever make a move?” she whispered.

It was a great fucking question. I’d thought about it more times than I could count over the years.

“Not sure.”

“Try.”

I thought it over. “Well, I’m trying to think of the best way to explain it. Do you remember that sandcastle competition you talked me into that summer before you left down at the lake?”

“The one where we dominated and won the five-hundred-dollar grand prize?” she said.

“Yes. The one you made me assist you with for seven fucking hours. And you didn’t allow breaks for food and water, if memory serves.” I barked out a laugh, my hand stroking her hair away from her face.

“Of course, I remember. We made the front page of the Magnolia Falls Chronicles.”

“Because everyone else in town was building a basic sandcastle. You built a gigantic farmhouse masterpiece out of sand.” I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. She’d drawn out her plan, and I’d told her she was crazy. It was too big. Too complicated. But that’s the thing about Savannah Abbott. She never throws in the towel. She was always determined to master everything she tried.

“And this compares to your supposed crush, how?” She didn’t hide her sarcasm.

“Do you remember how much time we spent building that front porch out of sand, and then at the very end, you were torn about adding chairs that we made out of sticks that would sit on the porch?”

“Yes,” she said, as her chest pounded against mine.

“But then we both decided that it was already perfect just how it was, and we didn’t want to risk ruining it by messing with it.”

“Correct. It was the right call.”

I cleared my throat. “That’s how I felt when I looked at you. Like you were perfect. My favorite person. My best friend. And I was a lost kid, you know? Getting into fights and getting into trouble. I never wanted to do anything to mess up the best thing I had going for me. So, I tended to date people that weren’t very good for me. Because I think I probably felt more comfortable in volatile situations where there was nothing to lose, you know?”

She was quiet, and then she sniffed a few times. “You were my favorite person, too. And you’ve grown into such an impressive man.”

“Sav, don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make me into someone I’m not. I’m closed off. Unfriendly. Far from impressive.”

“That’s not what I see when I look at you,” she whispered. “I see a man who would do anything to protect his sister because he loves her so fiercely. A man who would walk through fire for his friends. A man who takes his responsibility as a godfather to Cutler very seriously, hence the endless supply of chocolate milk in the refrigerator. A man who was willing to marry a woman he hadn’t seen in over a decade because she needed him. Even after she left him and was quick to believe the worst in him. A man with a huge heart that he hides behind all these sexy muscles,” she said, with a little chuckle.

I didn’t respond. I was still processing her words, which was difficult with her pressed against me.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Honestly, with your hot little body rubbing up against mine, I’m thinking about that kiss we shared. It’s all I fucking think about most nights when I get into bed.”

“I think about it, too.”

“Yeah? What do you think that means?” I asked, my fingers tracing along the sliver of silky skin between the waistband of her sleep shorts and the hem of her tank top.

“I think it means you’re attracted to your wife, and I’m attracted to my husband,” she whispered.

“It would complicate things because I don’t know that a kiss will be enough,” I admitted. I wanted her. More than I’d ever wanted anyone or anything.

“I’m not a sandcastle, Hayes. You’re not going to break me. I want you.”

I want you.

That was all that I needed to hear.

My mouth crashed into hers, hand tangled in her hair, tilting her head to grant me better access. Her lips parted, inviting me in, and I explored that sweet mouth like my life depended on it.

Her hips started grinding up against mine, and my dick throbbed against my briefs. My hand moved up her back beneath her tank top, pressing her against me as I stroked her skin.

Breaths and moans surrounded us, and our tongues tangled as she ground up and down my cock, with only a little bit of cotton between us. And fuck, did I want this woman.

She moved faster.

Harder.

She was close.

Her head fell back as our lips lost contact, and she panted and dug her nails into my shoulders.

I gripped her hip on one side and helped her ride me harder, knowing what she needed.

“Come for me now, Sav,” I demanded.

And that’s exactly what she did. She went right over the edge on a gasp, and I fucking loved the way her body shook and trembled in my arms. I continued moving her up and down so she could ride out every last bit of pleasure.

And damn if it wasn’t the hottest thing I’d ever seen.

Her breathing slowed, and her gaze locked with mine in the bit of moonlight peeking through the blinds.

“You’re fucking beautiful,” I said. I’d never been an emotional man. That was a complaint of Kate’s, and she’d been right about that. I didn’t feel things or get overwhelmed by emotions the way others did.

But seeing Savannah fall apart like that—it fucking did something to me.

Her hand moved to my erection, which was now hard as a rock.

“How about you let me make you feel good.”

I wrapped my hand around her wrist to stop the movement. “I want that, but I need something first.”

“Tell me,” she said, her voice raspy and sated.

“I need to taste my wife right fucking now. I need to bury my face between your thighs and feel you come on my lips. I’ve thought about it so many times, Sav.”

“How about we do it together? You taste me and I taste you. You aren’t the only one who’s thought about it.”

Fuck me.

I nodded slowly, as her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and I nearly came right there.

“Clothes off. Now.” I pushed up on my knees as she raised her arms over her head, and I pulled her tank top off, tracing my thumbs over her perfect tits. “I could spend hours licking and sucking these beautiful tits. Do you know that? Someone should make a sandcastle of your breasts. That’s how perfect they are.”

A sexy little laugh escaped her lips as her long hair fell all around her shoulders. “You’re ridiculous.”

I reached for the waistband of her shorts and pulled them down her thighs. I sucked in a breath when I took her in, lying there bare for me.

This is happening.

I wanted to memorize every gorgeous inch of her, so if she disappeared again, I could remember everything. I’d be prepared this time.

And then she rolled over, pressing up on her knees as she pushed me to lie flat on my back. She tugged my briefs down and gasped when my dick sprung straight up.

Eager and ready.

She raked her gaze over my body until her eyes found mine.

“Now, do your husband a solid, and sit on my face. I want you to smother me. I want you to come so hard, you can’t think of anything but my mouth on your pussy.”

She smiled, a dark blush covering her cheeks, before she leaned down and kissed me hard one last time.

And then she moved, straddling my face and resting all that sweetness against my lips.

I gripped her hips, and my tongue swiped along her seam, causing her to yelp. But I held her right there. And I licked and sucked and teased her as she bent forward and wrapped her hand around my cock. I loved the way she rocked against me, all needy and desperate.

I pulled her closer, and my tongue slipped inside her, just as her mouth covered my dick.

And we found our perfect rhythm. My tongue slid in and out of her tight, wet pussy, as her lips slid up and down my throbbing cock.

I will not come first.

No fucking way.

She moaned as her tongue swirled around my dick, and she sucked harder. Faster.

I moved the pad of my thumb to her clit as my tongue devoured her. And she ground against me.

I knew she was close.

Her thighs tightened around my face, and her fingers dug into my thighs.

Harder.

Faster.

I didn’t let up.

She cried out my name with my dick in her mouth and her pussy on my lips. And that’s all it took.

I reached for her head in warning, letting her know I was going to come, but she stayed right there.

I unloaded into her mouth as a guttural sound left my lips, and she continued rocking against me.

And nothing had ever felt better.