“You think the man who barely leaves his house but went to your wedding and then rescued you from said wedding dislikes you?”
“Maybe he wanted to see me married off.”
“Maybe he’s a fan of torturing himself.”
Well, that was likely true, but this was different.
“Myles was a lot like Jonah,” she said thoughtfully.
She’d hidden the fact that she’d been working for Myles. Then he’d come to Bourbon Canyon for Daddy’s funeral, and the jig was up. I didn’t know what had gone on between them in Denver, but I knew how she’d gotten him to stay. “I’m not having sex with Jonah to get him to talk to me.”
She chortled. “I sucked his dick first to loosen him up.”
“TMI!”
“I bet it’d work.”
I summoned as much irritation as possible to combat the naughty images in my mind. Me on my knees staring up at Jonah and his jaw granite hard because my mouth was wrapped around his— “This is serious.”
“It is,” she said, her teasing tone gone. “But guys like Myles and Jonah don’t respond to chitchat or talking about feelings, so it’s going to take a hell of a shock to get him to open up to you.”
“He doesn’t have to though. That’s the thing. We’re nothing to each other. Eli was the only thing linking us.”Now his death connected us in a way that couldn’t be severed. “Enough about Jonah. He’s as stubborn as the mountain he lives on. What are you doing for Easter?”
“Hopefully, I’ll be overtired and taking care of a newborn.”
I was glad I would be close. Bozeman wasn’t a long drive, but in the winter, being able to plan a trip was harder. I might be stuck at Jonah’s but at least I was in Bourbon Canyon, around most of my family again.
“But I’ll be at Mama’s with everyone else,” Wynter continued. “She didn’t want Tate and Scarlett to feel pressured to host and she wants to make sure Lane and Cruz stick around.”
Mama thrived on the bustle of the holidays and having her family around. This year would be the second without Daddy, and we’d let her do whatever she wanted. “I should be out of here by next week.”
“Hopefully by next week he won’t want to let you go.”
“Enough, Wynter. Go tame your guy with that blow job you’re so proud of.”
“I have reason to be proud. Ten-out-of-ten skill level. He nailed a national distribution deal right after. The trick is?—”
I growled out a “Goodbye” and hung up.
What I absolutely did not do was stay on long enough to find out what that trick was.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jonah
I entered the house after moving half a mountain of snow. The valley was serene and beautiful and blindingly white. Stacked mounds surrounded the buildings on my property. Hopefully we’d get a warm spell to melt some of those inches before we got any heavier snowfalls in early spring.
Summer had been out helping earlier. We’d coexisted without much talking in the three days since I’d walked away from her in the garage storage closet. We took turns making meals, and we ate separately. She’d spent much of her days in the guest room. Once she’d been awake before me, and I’d caught her folding blankets on the couch.
An hour ago, she’d gone inside. From the savory smells coming from the oven, she must’ve thrown something in for dinner.
I took off my hat and held it up. The fabric was wet and heavy from all the sweat of shoveling and pushing the snow into piles with my skid steer. I’d moved snow yesterday too, digging out the driveway, slowly making a path down to the country road the crews hadn’t gotten to yet.
I shrugged out of my jacket. The smell of sweat rose up. I stank. After gathering all my snow gear, I went to the bathroom and dropped my load on the floor outside the door. I’d shower and add the clothes I’d been wearing.
I stripped in the bathroom, but cracked the door and dumped my dirty clothing on top of the rest. A warm shower helped unknot my muscles.
This time after I dried myself off, I wrapped the towel around my waist. I’d dress after I started the laundry. But when I opened the bathroom door, the pile was gone. Light speared the hallway from under the door of the laundry room.
