warn
you… We’re still in our honeymoon faze. You’ve done
nothing but pester me to settle down with a woman for as
long as I can recall. I’ve finally done it, and now you want
to complain. You can’t have it both ways, Ma.”
Laurie was still breathing hard and was struggling to focus
on anything outside of the man who was still holding her in
his arms. “Don’t give your Mom such a hard time, Trav,”
she scolded, cringing at the husky tone that the words had
come out in. “She cares about you…”
“As I’m sure your
brothers care about you. Are you saying
that you condone their interference in your life?” he asked,
looking down into her face and ignoring his mother all
together.
“That’s not fair,” she said, stepping backwards away from
him, wrapping her arms around her body in a comforting
gesture. “My brothers interfere in every single aspect of my
life and scare anyone and everyone that I enjoy in my life
away. Your mom just wants to see you happy. She’s not
trying to control your life. Can’t you see the difference?”
“I am happy” he told her huskily. “Happier than I’ve ever
dreamed of being… and it is all because of you. Not her.”
His mother cleared her throat loudly. “I’m right here, you
know…”
“And I’m going to step outside for some fresh air,” Laurie
said, wringing her hands. “I want to check under the hood
of the car and make sure everything is still looking good.”
Travis started to argue but bit his tongue when he saw the
stunned look on his mother’s face at Laurie’s mention of
looking at the car. After the door slammed shut behind
Laurie, he looked back over at his mother and rubbed his
hand over the back of his neck.
“My wife is a mechanic,” he explained lamely. “Digging
into an engine soothes her when she’s upset.”
“Perhaps you should go to her,” his mother suggested,
looking towards the doorway where Laurie had
disappeared.
Travis nodded his head and ran down the hall and outside.
He stilled when he saw Laurie leaning over the engine of
his car with her arms deep in the engine. That strange
swelling in his chest hit him again and he lifted his big
hand to touch the spot over his heart in response. There was
no denying the response Laurie always spurred inside of
him; the only thing was that he was scared to death of what
it might mean.
“Laurie?” he asked, walking up behind her and wrapping
his arms around her waist. When she hummed with
pleasure, he brushed a kiss against the side of her neck.
Her voice came out in a husky sigh when she finally found
it to speak. “Trav… please…”
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you with my Ma,” he told her,
moving his mouth to her shoulder blade to plant a kiss
there.
Laurie groaned loudly. “I knew going in that we’d have to
make her believe we were newlyweds… I just never
expected the guilt that came with the lies. I also never
thought I’d end up feeling…” she stopped talking in the
middle of the sentence as the words turned into a large
lump in her throat.
“I care about you a lot more than I’d intended too,” Travis
admitted pulling her body tighter against his so that she
could feel his erection.
As he said it, he realized the truth behind the words and felt
emotion bubble up deep within him. He lowered his head
and kissed her brow. “The car’s fine, Laurie… Come back
inside,” he pleaded quietly.
“I couldn’t possibly face your mom right now,” she argued
softly; sighing lustily when he put his knee between her
legs and pushed them apart so he could settle his body
between them.
“Ma likes you,” he told her huskily, pressing his body
eagerly against hers.
“The feeling is completely mutual,” Laurie admitted,
feeling her knees go weak when his hand settled at her
waist.
“I can’t tell you what it means to me to have her love my
wife so much,” he told her honestly, pressing another
heated kiss to her neck.
“But I’m not really
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