Take care of the condom? Yeah, he did, and unfortunately, he only had one more with him, which meant he wouldn’t get to fuck her as many times as he’d have liked.
He’d just have to hope this wasn’t a one-time thing for her. That she’d let him back between those gorgeous legs of hers, let him kiss her and hold her and be inside her.
Because, against his better judgment, he wasn’t done with her yet.
Rory never realized she could hate a job as much as she hated this one. She knew if she told her sisters how she felt, they’d assume it was because of their daddy. And while, yes, he definitely played a huge role in it, the truth was, it bored her to tears.
All she did all day was sort files, corral an overflowing inbox—both in person and email—and reschedule appointments. She fetched forms and dealt with so much paperwork, she had at least five paper cuts on her hands at any given time. She was constantly busy, but she wasn’t the least fulfilled.
“You listenin’ to me, Rory?” her daddy snapped, his patience gone sometime around 1972.
“Yes, sir. You’d like me to rearrange your meetings and schedule you and Sheriff Halsey a tee time for two this afternoon.” Never mind that she’d be redoing work he’d just—as in, mere hours ago—asked her to complete. But sure, she’d redo that. No problem at all. She loved running around like a hamster caught in a wheel.
“Well…all right, then. When you reschedule those meetings, don’t tell ’em I’m goin’ golfin’, though. That’d do nothing but get their underwear in a bunch. Just tell ’em…” He leaned back in his plush, leather desk chair and swiveled from side to side, fingers tapping on the arm. “Tell ’em…”
“I’ll take care of it, Daddy. Nothing to worry about.” Wasn’t the first time—and certainly wouldn’t be the last—she’d had to lie so Mayor Haven could shirk his responsibilities in favor of an afternoon spent on the links.
He smiled. “Course you will. Just knew you’d be perfect for this job, Rory. Get to use that brain of yours a bit!”
If by using her brain, he was referring to when she secretly sketched design ideas at her desk, then yes. Definitely.
Because manners had been ingrained in her for the entirety of her thirty-three years, and because she really did owe her daddy for giving her this job since she wasn’t qualified for much else, she returned his smile. “Thanks again, Daddy, for givin’ me this opportunity.”
He hummed. “You know you wouldn’t have had to work here at all if you’d just taken that check from your momma and—”
Rory stood, gathering her papers and iPad in her hands. “I appreciate it. You know I do. But I prefer to do things on my own this time.” She shuffled toward the door. “If there’s nothing else?”
He stared at her for a beat before tipping his chin. “That’s it for now. You let me know if you’re able to get us in at that time.”
“Will do.” Rory turned and strolled to her desk, her head held high, even though it felt like a giant boulder had lodged itself inside her.
She tried to remind herself that her daddy had offered—continuedto offer—that money because he loved her and the girls and wanted the three of them to continue living the lives they’d grown accustomed to. Her daddy excelled at throwing money at situations that were out of his control.
She wanted to believe he did it out of love, but in Rory’s heart, it felt like confirmation that he didn’t see her worth. Didn’t believe in her. Didn’t see her being able to succeed at anything but being a stay-at-home mom. Which, heavens knew, was hard work. The hardest, most demanding work she’d ever done. But it wasn’t the right workfor her.
If there was one thing she’d realized since this situation with Sean had transpired, it was that somewhere along the way, she’d lost herself. Had settled deeply into the role of wife and mother and daughter, and had somehow forgotten how to just be Rory. And she owed it to herself to explore that. To find out who she really was without all the other labels tacked to her name.
She slipped into her desk chair in her open office, the dull ache between her legs making itself known. Again. It’d done that more times than she could count since she’d gotten in this morning, and each time it did so, it reminded her she’d done a bit of finding herself last night.
As earth-shattering as the evening had been, she’d woken up this morning to cold sheets and an empty bed. She should’ve been expecting it. She should’ve been relieved. Starting something with Nash was the last thing she needed to be doing, especially when she was desperate to get her design business off the ground since her freedom from town hall and the tedious day-in-and-day-out monotony was on the line. And he was a stepping stone to that very dream.
But instead of feeling relief when she’d found the space next to her bare, she’d felt this odd sort of longing deep in her chest, an ache she wasn’t quite sure how to fill. An ache she wasn’t quite sure sheshouldfill.
She’d experienced a whole lot of firsts with Nash last night, but possibly the most powerful of all had been the notion that sex could be so much more than just a chore. It could be tingly and bone-melting and amazing, and if given enough grace and patience from a partner,shecould enjoy herself too. She hadn’t known her body could work like that. Could respond to another’s touch as well as—better than—her own.
Nash had proven her wrong, and he’d done it all with a smug smile on his too-handsome face.
Rory’d just hung up from setting up the tee time for her daddy when Mac’s voice greeted her from down the hall.
“I swear, just walkin’ down the street takes ten minutes in this town, ’cause everybody wants to—” Mac jerked to a stop as she rounded the corner into Rory’s office. She pointed a finger and twirled it in Rory’s direction. “What’s happening here?”
It was only the years of practice at hiding her emotions that allowed Rory to maintain a blank expression on her face, greeting her sister with a bland smile. On the inside, though, she was in full-on panic mode. What did Mac see when she looked at Rory? Had it really been that long since she’d had sex that, now that she had, it was written all over her body language? Heavens, she’d walked down the street like this! Looking all sexed up for everyone and their dog to see.
She swallowed down her horror and smiled at her sister. “Nothing outta the ordinary’s happened, so I’m not sure what you mean.”
Mac only grew more suspicious at Rory’s denial, her eyes narrowing as she stepped farther into the office and dropped her purse on one of the chairs in front of Rory’s desk. “I’m talkin’ about your hair. You left it down, and you never wear it down at work.” She braced her hands on Rory’s desk and leaned forward, scrutinizing every inch of Rory’s face. “What areyoutalkin’ about?”
“Oh.” Rory tucked her hair behind her ear, willing her cheeks not to bloom with heat. Turned out staying up until all hours of the night to engage in bed-rocking sex wasn’t conducive to an early wake-up call. She hadn’t even had time to wash her hair this morning in the shower, let alone style it. “I read somewhere that wearing your hair in updos too often can lead to premature hair loss.”
