They finished their jobs and headed toward the house. Even after a full day working, Matt felt relaxed from spending time in Blake’s easy company. His contentment grew as he spotted Hope’s truck in the yard. Although, as happy as he was to see she was there, he still planned to get Blake sometime for that travesty.

They entered the house together, the scents of home wrapping around Matt and hitting him hard.

“Where’s my girls?” Blake roared like a bear and squeals of delight echoed back. He ignored the little ones for a minute as they clamoured for his attention in the playpen. “I see one, two baby bears, but where’s…ah, there’s the mama bear.”

He swept Jaxi into his arms and kissed her soundly. The noises from the babies got louder, but Blake ignored them for another minute before finally releasing a breathless Jaxi who now wore a rather pink-cheeked smile.

“Blake, you gonna do that every day for the rest of our lives?”

He nodded. “Yup. Which is why short stuff one and two can just learn that I greet you first. So, no more complaining, okay?”

Jaxi planted her hands on her hips and grinned at her husband. “Hell, I’m not complaining. Just making sure I know what’s going on.” While Blake stepped away to pick up his happy little girls, she turned her smile Matt’s direction and winked. “Hey, you. Joining us for dinner?”

“Your cooking beats mine any day, and you know it.” He looked around, but other than the telltale sewing machines on the kitchen table, there was no sign of Hope. He glanced back to find Jaxi’s grin had gotten bigger. “What?”

“She’s either setting the dining room table, since we’ve got a mess in here, or she’s grabbing some potatoes from the cellar.” Jaxi sniffed then wrinkled her nose. “And you might want to go get cleaned up before you try anything funny on her—Blake can get away with more because he’s already signed, sealed and delivered.”

“Am I that rank?”

She lifted one brow. “You need to ask?”

Damn. There went the idea of charging into the dining room and planting one on Hope before anything else.

“Fine. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Matt grabbed a clean set of clothes from the dresser in the spare room, then slipped downstairs and hit the shower. He’d enjoyed seeing Blake’s method of greeting his wife after the day’s labours. Of course, since his daddy still did pretty much the same thing to his ma every time they were apart for any length of time, he wasn’t sure why it had surprised him.

And the fact he wanted to kiss Hope the same way? Hell, he wanted to do more than that. This waiting business was beginning to irk him more than he’d thought possible.

His body stirred as he pictured her sweet smile with that added twist of mischief. His cock hardened, remembering the brushes and contact between the two of them. Imagining what other things he’d like to experience along with the taste of her lips and the flushed heat of her skin.

Washing quickly wasn’t going to work, not today. Not if he didn’t want to be sitting at the table with wood, because even the thought of kissing the woman got him going.

Matt gave in and lathered up before wrapping a hand around his cock. Long hard stokes followed, the soap letting him thrust easier, his other hand cupping his balls briefly as he imagined Hope on her knees in front of him, her hands caressing and working him. As he tried to figure exactly how good her mouth would feel on his dick, warmer than his hand, slick with her saliva, her tongue pressing and lapping all the right parts of his length.

He leaned back on the shower stall and thrust slower, wanting like crazy for this to be real and not be him jerking off by himself again. Would she try to tease in the bedroom? He liked her saucy attitude, but in bed, he wanted her to be his. All the ways he wanted her, her pussy, her mouth—totally under his command. He groaned as he pictured her, naked and waiting, tousled and tied on his bed with pillows shoved under her hips. Another slow press forward into his fist followed as he pictured his cock entering her body, fucking her completely, no part unclaimed.

A tiny sound caught his attention. His hands still moving, he glanced to his right. Hope stood in the now-open bathroom doorway, the slit between the curtain and the stall enough to reveal she was watching, her eyes huge, her lips wet from where she’d just licked them.

Whatever devil sat on his shoulder took control and he pushed the fabric back another couple inches, continuing to stroke his shaft with his other hand. He didn’t falter, only locked his gaze on her face to see what exactly she would do now that she’d been caught sneaking a peek.

She jolted upright, but didn’t flee. Their eyes met for a moment, then her gaze dropped, intent on his cock, staring as if mesmerized by his hands working his shaft.

God, he was going to last all of two seconds now. He squeezed harder, turning his stance slightly, giving her the best view he could. Tension built to the point of no return, and he slowed, his abdomen muscles tightening as his balls pulled up. Harder now, hard enough to ride the edge of pain. Semen blasted from the end of his cock, his head fell back against the stall, but somehow he kept his eyes open to enjoy every second of the expressions racing over her face. The way her cheeks grew redder, the way she squirmed, as if she was a part of the action. He slowed further, his breath escaping in short gasps, chest heaving as he fought for balance.

Jerking off with Hope as an audience was way better than by himself.

When she lifted her gaze to meet his, something violently wild and wonderfully intimate passed between them, and his cock jerked. Then she smiled and left the room.

Her ghostly presence lingered, urging him to hurry and dress. He had to sneak in a kiss before supper.

Chapter Twelve

“It all looked backward until the final minute.” Marion Coleman peered closer at the sample swatch. “That is amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it. Sometimes it’s more complicated describing the technique than doing it.” Hope handed the square back to Marion, then moved around the table to the next quilter.

There was warmth in the room that didn’t just come from the fireplace. Hope smiled contentedly as she calculated the number of women who’d joined the new quilters club.

“Are you planning on holding the group classes here all the time?” one of them asked.

Marion spoke before Hope could respond. “I don’t mind if you ladies are fine with it. The shop in town is lovely to visit, but there’s only room for a few people to work at a time.”

Hope nodded. “I’ve always got a workstation set up if you want to drop by the shop. But for these sampler classes? Mrs. Coleman has been kind enough to offer to host here. And if you know anyone who lives south of Rocky who doesn’t want to drive this far, you can tell them I’ll be out at the Macmillans’ once a month as well.”

She got them all working on the next step of their paper-piecing projects before having time to congratulate herself on having organized this brainwave. Every one of the women in the room had paid up front for a year’s worth of sample materials and monthly lessons. This project alone was enough to get her through the lean months of the start of the year, and that was before any of them came in to spend money on extra material for more projects. After she got people hooked on a new technique, she always had a flurry of sales.

“Psst.”

Hope glanced over her shoulder to spot Matt’s handsome face peeking from behind the kitchen door. A quick perusal confirmed all the quilters were busy working at their machines, happily chatting with their neighbors at the folding tables arranged around the room. She snuck past him into the muted lighting of the kitchen.

“Hey, you. I thought you were going to be busy all night in the barns.”

“I got the lambs cleaned up and tucked in, and then, hallelujah, the last ewe finally dropped. Which means I’m free for a bit. Well, as free as it gets around here.”

She leaned in as close as possible without making her actions too noticeable. A deep breath let her soak in the scent of his freshly washed body. The soapy fragrance clinging to him made her want to eat him alive.

It also reminded her of his very blatant display in the shower the other day.

Three weeks and counting. They’d made it this far without falling into bed, but it was getting tougher to remember why she’d insisted they wait in the first place. Not counting all the times he’d dropped in at the shop or she’d been around the ranch, they’d also gone to a movie and had a couple of game nights with his family. Each activity confirmed how much she enjoyed his company, but now that pleasure seemed to highlight their rising sexual frustration.

“Did you just sniff me?”

Hope looked up guiltily. “Maybe?”

Matt laughed softly. “Come here.”

He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in, not stopping until she was flush with the front of his body. He lowered his head slowly, giving her tons of time to retreat.

Like that was going to happen.

That first brush of his lips against hers made a shiver race over her entire body. The teasing rub of his whiskers against her lips made her hungry for more. She grabbed his belt loops, twining her fingers through them to resist sliding her fingers farther back to clutch his ass and grind them together.

Sweet kisses followed, accompanied by not-so-sweet mental images. Even as his tongue slipped between her lips, she was imagining his lips and tongue on other parts of her anatomy. The fine scratch of his facial hair dragging over sensitive skin.