Hooked on You: An Annapolis Harbor Series Prequel, Lea Coll [love letters to the dead .txt] 📗

own business. In the meantime, I could ask Isaac for more responsibility. Maybe he’d allow me to take over the bar so he could retire. It was a long shot, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

Taylor pushed me to do better—to be better—and I’d always be grateful to her even if we didn’t work out. I’d been burned when I was young, but I wasn’t a kid anymore. The reality was this might not work out no matter how much I wanted it to. And I did. I’d never wanted anything more in my entire life. I was hopeful for the future for the first time—a future with Taylor.

I couldn’t forget that she wasn’t from here. Her family was in Maryland and she had a brother who needed her. She didn’t talk about it a lot, but I remembered the conversation we’d had when Caleb left his parents’ home unsupervised—how upset she’d been not being able to be there. There was a chance she’d decide she couldn’t be away from Caleb anymore and I couldn’t compete with that. She had a life halfway across the country. I’d hold onto her as long as I could.

I unlocked my door and opened it to find the kitchen and living room empty. I walked as quietly as I could to my bedroom in case Taylor was asleep. I placed my wallet on my dresser when I heard her whisper, “Hey. You’re home.” There was some rustling and then her arms wrapped around my middle, her head between my shoulder blades.

“You’re still here.”

“Of course. Where else would I be?”

How could I ever explain what it meant to me for her to be here when no one had ever been there for me—not my mother, my father, or anyone else really. Isaac was the closest thing I had to family and he was my boss. That’s what made this thing with Taylor was dangerous. I was falling for this woman—no matter how much I prepared for the possibility she might leave me. I loved her. The feeling was so strong and the words were on the tip of my tongue but I couldn’t tell her. Not yet. It was way too soon. I’d laid the framework earlier today when I’d mentioned I was having feelings and I saw the surprise in her eyes. She wasn’t ready yet, but I was patient. I’d wait until she was.

I turned in her arms. “Thank you for staying. I love having you in my bed—waiting for me after work.”

“Me too.” When her head tilted up, I kissed her, telling her with my touch, my lips, my tongue that I loved her. I gently laid her back on the bed and stripped her of her T-shirt and panties. “Are you wearing my T-shirt?”

“Yes.” Her fingers tangled in my hair as I kissed down her now-bare stomach, her hips instinctively arching toward me, as I lowered myself between her legs.

The idea that she was wearing nothing but my T-shirt and panties had me impossibly hard. I parted her, breathing in her sweet scent, as I kissed the soft skin of her inner thighs, blew on her, teasing her. This woman deserved everything—so much more than I had to offer her.

“Gabe.” Her legs were trembling before I finally licked her.

“You taste amazing, baby.”

Between my fingers and tongue she was writhing against me, so I placed my hand over her middle to keep her in place. I wanted to drive her as crazy as she was driving me.

“Turn over.”

Her eyes widened but she scrambled to comply with my quiet command. When she was on her knees in front of me, she lowered herself onto her forearms so her ass was in the air.

“Is this okay?” she asked turning her head a little to see me.

Taylor on her knees, her face buried in a pillow, and her ass in the air. “Fuck, yes.” Never seen anything hotter. I palmed the perfect globes of her ass, spreading her cheeks, so I could watch my cock enter her inch by inch. I tilted my head back to erase the image from my mind so I could last.

Once I was in all the way, she groaned. “You feel so much deeper this way.”

“If you’re able to talk I’m not doing something right.” My voice was gruff and she whimpered. I think she liked dirty talk. I reached around to finger her clit as I picked up the pace. My need to show her she was mine was primal.

“Touch yourself.” When she complied, I gripped her hips tightly. “Get there, babe. Can’t hold out much longer.”

But she was lost, whimpering as she fingered herself. When she clamped around me, she collapsed fully on the bed and I lowered myself over her, my thighs outside of hers, letting her feel some of my weight. She turned her head to the side seeking my lips. She was so tight like this, my legs effectively trapping hers, I moved slowly, savoring the feeling of my oncoming orgasm. Only a few more strokes and my balls tightened as I thrust deeply one more time, emptying myself into her.

Coming home to Taylor was perfection.

Chapter Twenty-One

GABE

Later that week, I’d finally gotten the nerve to approach Isaac about increasing my responsibility. Right now, I worked long hours and covered when Isaac needed to leave but I wasn’t officially his manager. I didn’t order supplies, do inventory, or paperwork. I’d assumed he didn’t want a thief paying the bills.

As I approached the bar I was having second thoughts. That Isaac would laugh at me, that he’d tell me I wasn’t smart enough or trustworthy enough for more responsibility. And I knew the reason I felt this way. When I’d mentioned going to vocational school in high school, Mom laughed at me—said I wasn’t smart enough to go to school.

When no one thought you were worth anything it was hard to believe in yourself. But I wasn’t that guy anymore. I’d done my time, gotten