My chest still heaving, I cradled her to my body and rolled to the side as we struggled to recover. I lazily trailed my fingers down her arm as she kissed my chest, then my jaw.

“You’re sure about that whole love thing, right?” she teased. “Because I’m pretty sure you just ruined me for anyone else.”

I chuckled, reveling again that laughter came so easily with Willow. “Yeah, I’m sure. And good, because I’m never letting you out of this bed.”

“Ever?”

“Nope.”

“I’m okay with this plan.” She turned her head and found my forearm, then kissed the tattoo of her sketch. “What about food?”

“I guess I’ll have to cook for you so you can keep up your strength.” I brushed my lips across her forehead. How had I lived this long without feeling this? Without her in my arms?

“Say it again,” she whispered.

I lifted my head so I could see her eyes. “I love you, Willow.”

Her smile was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s nice, but I meant the cooking thing. I mean, that’s enough to turn a girl on.” She said it with such seriousness that I couldn’t help but bust out laughing.

“Forget cooking,” I promised against her mouth. “I’ll just eat you.”

“Promise?”

I didn’t bother responding verbally. After all, she already knew I was bigger on action than words.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Willow

“Hey, Willow,” Tillie said as she glanced up from the notepad she held. “Hey, Thea.”

“Hi, Tillie,” we greeted almost in unison as we held down a booth at Bigg’s for lunch.

“You two know what you want?”

“Actually, we’re waiting for one other person,” Thea answered.

Tillie looked at me. “Oh?”

“Wait, he’s here! Hey, babe.” Thea tilted her cheek for her husband’s kiss before he slid into the booth next to her.

Tillie’s smile drooped, and I almost laughed. Man, she had it bad for Cam, and Cam only had it bad for me. The thought had me smiling from ear to ear. It felt a hair shy of criminal to be this happy.

We ordered quickly—it wasn’t like the menu changed often—and Tillie took off to put in our orders.

“So Cam isn’t joining us?” Pat asked slowly, his arm wrapped around Thea’s shoulders.

Danger, Will Robinson.

“No,” I replied with a soft smile, because I couldn’t help but smile when I thought about him. “He has the psych eval for his dad’s case right now, and then he has to get up to the mine.” And I had this lunch, and maybe this lunch only, to get Pat on Cam’s side so we could start swaying public opinion. We being myself, Thea, and Charity, since Cam refused to play politics.

In an election year in Alba, public opinion was everything.