Page 87 of Breaking All The Rules
Slipping her arms around his waist, she beamed up at Austin. “I thought it was time.”
She kissed him then, and he kissed her back with the kind of hunger that still felt special even as it also somehow felt familiar. She’d been busy today, but not too busy to miss this. To miss Austin and the way he made her feel like the only woman in the world.
His hands slid to her ass, and the kiss broke off abruptly as he pulled away a little and glanced down her body. “You’re…” He frowned. “Dressed?”
Bea laughed again. “If you call cargoes and a T-shirt dressed, then yes.”
Austin tossed his hat on the gleaming dark wood of the coffee table, then took a step back, shoving his hands on his hips. “Who are you and what have you done with Beatrice?” He softened the question with a slight smile on his mouth, but he was clearly nonplussed as he looked her up and down. His frown deepened. “You’re wearing a bra.”
She shrugged. “I can’t work with boob sweat.”
He laughed, and Bea breathed a little easier. All that frowning was concerning. “You seem to have managed pretty well this past month.”
Bea dismissed his statement with a casual flick of her hand. “That’s creative work.”
Being braless and lounging in bed, surrounded by uneaten pizza crusts and a giant, slumberous cat, or sometimes driving out to the lake, was for the fanciful life of an artist. Advertising was business. And for that, Bea needed ruthless order. Everything in its place.
He was frowning again. “Are you doing other work?”
Trying not to dance a little jig on the spot, Bea grinned as she bounced on the balls of her feet. “Yes.” And she stepped right in and kissed him again. She kissed him hard, moaning as he kissed her back just as hard, his hands sliding back to her ass and pulling her in close, squeezing and kneading.
When he finally pulled away, Bea’s pulse was trippy and she was seeing stars as well as a hazy aura around his head. He looked so damn good, and she was so damn content.
She slipped out of his arms and headed for the fridge. “You want a beer?”
“Thanks,” Austin said with a nod and caught the can Bea tossed to him, giving it a few beats to settle before popping the tab.
She grabbed one for herself and headed for the couch, sitting side on and crossing her legs. Austin looked down at the couch like he’d never seen it before. “The couch is blue?”
Bea grinned. “Yeah, yeah. Just sit.”
He sat in that sprawled, easy kind of way of his, all long-legged and loose-limbed and so damn masculine as she launched into her exciting news, gabbing away about Kim’s job offer. Princess deigned to join them at some point, and there they sat on her blue couch, a large purring cat jammed between them as Bea relayed the content of every phone call and email.
Austin, for his part, was encouraging and clearly pleased for her, nodding and smiling and making all the right noises, but when Bea finally ran out of steam, he was a bit too quiet, his gaze speculative.
It was her turn to frown. “What?” She swiped her hand across her face. “Did I have a booger on my nose this entire time?”
He laughed and placed his beer can down on the coaster. He glanced at her in surprise. “You have coasters, too?”
“I found them in one of the kitchen drawers.” Was that a problem? “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. Then he reached for her beer can and set it down on the other coaster before taking both of her hands. “It’s just… Are you sure this is what you want? I thought you were done with advertising? You were kinda burned and burned out by it when you first got here.”
Ah. Okay. He was worried about her health, her sanity. God…this man was so freaking thoughtful.
“I thought so, too.” She slipped her hands from his, then stood to make her case, maybe as much to herself as to him. “I thought I was done. I thought it was Credence or advertising and there was no in-between. No middle ground. But I think what Kim’s offering is the middle ground. It’s just one campaign—selling my product—that’s it. One and done. And I can do it all from here. I think this is the best of both worlds. And, Austin…the ideas floating around in my head! I’d forgotten what a buzz it could be.”
He smiled and reached for her hand, and she let him drag her closer until she was standing between those sprawled thighs—a most delectable view. His hands slid to the backs of her knees. “You’re really excited about this.”
“Yes. I am.” She could feel the heat of the buzz in her cheeks. “I know my current lifestyle will have to change for the next few months. I’ll be juggling the Cranky Bea card design stuff with the Cranky Bea advertising stuff, but don’t worry, I have no intention of letting it take over my world again.” Bea stepped in closer, and he took advantage, dropping a kiss on her belly as she funneled her fingers through his hair. “There’ll still be Wednesday night line dancing at Jack’s and the ranch on Sundays.”
He shook his head and flicked his gaze up. “I’m not worried. It’s your life, your career; you gotta follow your heart.”
“Mmm.” Bea ran her fingers through the scruff at Austin’s jaw. “Good answer.”
Smiling, he said, “Like I told you already—you do you, and I’ll keep bringing the pie and orgasms.”
Bea laughed. “Even better answer.” Her heart broke open a little at how easy it was to be with Austin. How low drama it felt. How natural it felt. For the first time, she considered that maybe having a relationship and a career didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.
