Page 40 of Smash

He laughed and caught me around the waist, lifting me up. “Wow. That’s quite the welcome.”

I wrapped my legs around him and pressed my lips to his. “I’m serious. I really missed you.”

“Missed you, too, babe.” He brushed a strand of hair from my face, giving me the once-over. “You look really pretty. Are we going somewhere?”

“I just wanted to look nice for you, make a little effort for your very-much-anticipated homecoming.”

“Well, I appreciate that.” He leaned in for another kiss, slower this time, and it felt good…familiar. Safe.

I tightened my arms around him. “Mmm… You smell yummy.”

“Do I?” he asked. “I spritzed cologne on at six AM before I went to the last training session. Didn’t realize it lasted this long.”

I kissed his neck. “Maybe it’s just you then.”

“Better watch it.” He smiled. “I see you have the table set, and if you’re not careful, I’m going to be eating you instead of dinner.”

I bit my bottom lip. “I can turn off the oven…”

His smile widened. “Fuck yeah.”

Calder carried me to the bedroom, stopping at the stove so I could twist the knob. His face had more scruff than usual, and when he buried his head in my neck, it tickled and I giggled. It also turned me on more than I expected.

This was right.

This was what was supposed to happen when your man came home after being away for days. I just needed to keep my head where it was supposed to be.

Calder set me down on the bed and began taking off his clothes. It had been longer than it should’ve since I’d really noticed how incredible his body was. His chest was sculpted, a testament to the hours he put in at the gym, and his narrow waist contrasted sharply with his broad shoulders. For a second, my mind drifted and tried to compare him to someone else, but I shut it down immediately, forcing myself back into the moment.

“Hurry,” I said. “I want you.”

He pushed his pants down his legs. “I want you, too.”

I reached for him, pulling him closer, and we fell to the bed in a tangle of limbs. A pang of guilt bubbled up from somewhere, but I threw myself into the moment even more, pushing Calder onto his back and climbing on top of him.

His hands found my hips, and I leaned into him, kissing him as if it could silence everything else. For a while it worked, and the rest of the world faded away. At least until later, when the room was quiet except for the soft hum of the air conditioning.

My head was on Calder’s chest, his arm draped around me, when the guilty feelings came back. So I turned and planted a kiss over his pec. Focus. Just focus, damn it.

“That was amazing,” I said.

He smiled. “I might go away more often, if that’s the welcome I get when I come back.”

“You don’t have to go away for us to do that.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I’m just glad to have you back. Before I left, I was getting worried that you might be having second thoughts about moving here.”

I shook my head. “It’s just taking me some time to get used to the change.”

“I get it. It’s a lot at once.”

Calder’s stomach growled, making us both laugh.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” I asked.

“I haven’t eaten since this morning,” he said sheepishly. “And I only had a protein bar for breakfast.”

“Well, let me take care of that. How about I bring you dinner in bed?”