They were the exact two things Rafe kept wondering himself.
* * *
Four hours later, Brooke was asleep in the passenger seat as he drove her car back up the long gravel driveway between the Douglas firs that led to both their houses. They’d driven to the main shopping areas of the three towns closest to the lake and delivered chocolates to every gift store, grocery, sweet shop, and ice cream stand. He’d been momentarily surprised when Brooke stopped in at the police and fire stations with free boxes of chocolate. It was a brilliant marketing idea, and he’d seen the incredible goodwill everyone in town had for her, but that wasn’t why she did it. She simply wanted to show her appreciation for the difficult and important work the cops and firefighters did.
He’d run into guys at the stations he hadn’t seen in years, and while they’d clearly been glad to see him again, he’d also felt the weight of their silent warning: Screw around with Brooke and you’re screwing around with all of us. On top of that, more than one of them had clearly been upset that he’d stolen the prettiest girl in town out from under their noses. Knowing just how many guys would have been more than willing to be "wild" with her had Rafe feeling even more possessive and protective of her.
His sister had been right: Summer flings never worked out the way they were supposed to. Maybe, he found himself thinking as he unbuckled Brooke’s seatbelt, then lifted her out of the car, that was because sometimes they worked out even better.
She nuzzled her face into his neck as he carried her inside. Laying her down on her bed, he intended to gently strip her clothes off without waking her up, but she wouldn’t let go of him.
"It’s time to be inspired."
Her whispered words in his ear had him growing even harder than he’d already been just from holding her in his arms. She inspired not only deep desire, but also emotions he would have been on guard against with anyone but her.
Brooke had slipped in beneath his defenses, not just with sweet kisses and incredibly hot lovemaking, but with her constant smiles and laughter that jumped like a cannonball into the dark spots inside of him and splashed them with light.
"I’m always inspired when I’m with you."
Her eyes fluttered up, arousal quickly edging out the sleepiness. "Show me."
Her mouth was so damned soft, her tongue so sweet, that all he could manage to show her was the fact that he couldn’t resist her.
Every time they’d made love had been special. Perfect. Wild. This was their first time for sleepy and slow, her body like melting butter beneath his.
How many other ways would there be to love her?
It was a question he knew he’d enjoy trying to answer every day for the rest of his life.
Her skin smelled like chocolate, and he breathed her in all over as he slowly stripped her clothes away and ran kisses from her temple down to the brightly painted tips of her toes. She stretched like a contented, sleepy kitten beneath his increasingly heated caresses, purring like one, too, every time he found a particularly sensitive spot with his tongue.
He could have spent the rest of the day tasting behind her knee, nipping at her hipbone, rubbing his cheek against the undersides of her br**sts, but there were so many other spots he needed to taste, too.
The soft skin on her neck when she arched beneath him.
The small of her back when he rolled her onto her stomach so that he could fully appreciate the gorgeous curve of her hips while massaging away the aches that came with doing such hard work at the kitchen counter all night long.
The shadow of curls between her thighs that tempted a man beyond reason.
She was pliant enough in her drowsy passion that he could easily turn her in his arms and open her thighs with his as he took care of protection. And then she was reaching for him again, and her mouth was connecting with his at the exact moment he slid into her. She was so wet and hot and ready for him that he nearly lost it right then and there.
Cheek to cheek as they moved together, he could tell by the way her inner muscles clenched around him that she was as close as he was. Sex for Rafe had always been a marathon, a test to see how far he could push his partner and himself. But with Brooke there were no goals, no rules, no awards he was trying to win. Just pleasure.
And pure joy.
He could feel her mouth curve up against his cheek as she approached her climax. Only this time, as he increased his thrusts to help take her all the way over the edge, she gave him more than her smile, more than the sweet sound of her laughter.
"I love you."
Her mouth was so close to his ear as she gave him her heart that he almost felt as though the words had always been there inside his head, flipping every off switch to on, turning every red light green.
Rafe knew Brooke hadn’t said the three little words to try to get him to say them back, or to push him into making a decision he wasn’t yet ready for. She’d simply given him what was inside her heart, just as she’d given him her body.
And in that instant, Rafe knew it didn’t matter what Ben’s background check said. Brooke could have a thousand skeletons in her closet and he’d still love her.
"I love you, too."
He swore time stopped as her eyes opened. She looked up at him in stunned surprise. "You do?"
All these years he’d been so certain love only happened once in a blue moon, but somehow they’d gotten one, hadn’t they?
"I do, so damned much. You’re all I can think of, all that I’m going to want forever."