His eyes were alight with gentle humor. My heart. I was so close to losing it to this man. He made me feelsomuch. I couldn’t hold back the candid reply even though fear was sitting on my chest right next to that big emotion. The one that wanted to be spoken, even if the speaker was terrified.
“Actually, it was you being willing to spend time with my son when his own father isn’t that did it. I find that incredibly sexy and so fucking appealing.”
“I findyouincredibly sexy.” He moved to his side, over me, his arm and leg sliding onto me to pin me to the bed. “You and I have a special thing, Dodge. Do you feel it?”
I nodded, unable to verbalize as I gazed into his eyes. “I think I’m falling for you. Does that scare you?” I nodded yet again to his confession. “Yeah, I know after a bad divorce that’s to be expected.”
The AC clicked on yet again. “I’m scared but also…feeling some pretty large feelings too. Give me time to come to grips with those feelings, okay?”
“You take as long as you need to gripwhateveryou need.” He stole a kiss and winked. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I knew that, and that only added to the ebullient slash scared brew bubbling in my gut.
“Right now I want to grip this,” I whispered, wiggling my hand down under the tangle of covers to grab his semi-hard cock.
“I’m fully behind your gripping that as often as you wish.” He moved over me, kissed me for hours, and made love to me yetagain. I drifted off in his arms, coming awake with a start when his alarm went off at five a.m.
The drive back to the ranch was a sentimental one filled with touches, whispers, and soft glances as the sun began to paint the new day with peachy perfection. We didn’t quite know what to say to each other as we sat there in his Jeep, staring at each other as if this were a long goodbye to a sailor leaving for the sea.
“I’d like to have a second date,” I said, coughed it out really, and got a tender smile.
“I’d like that as well. Think about coming to my place while your mom is visiting. I think it would do the three of us good to get to know each other in a day-in, day-out situation.”
“I’ll think on it, I promise.” With that vow, I kissed him one final time, eased the car door open, closed it tenderly, and gave him a wave. He blew me a kiss before pulling out to trundle down the driveway past the quiet boutique and several sleepy cows in their pasture. Sighing like a prom queen after being kissed by her king, I turned and there stood Baker on the front step, sipping coffee with a smirk that meant untold ribbing for the near future.
“Coming in mighty late there, young man,” he commented as I climbed onto the porch, my face warm but my back straight. “Have a good night?”
“It was enjoyable,” I countered stiffly. I wasnotgoing to give him an inch.
“Good, good. Grab an hour or so of rest and then meet me at the horse barn. We’re going to play old-time cowboys today to give the horses some exercise while we turn the beefers back out onto pasture. You up for a good ride?”
Fucker. The dirty fucker. He was doing that on purpose. Taking the horses instead of the ATVs just to watch me suffer. “I’m up for a ride.”
“Okay then. See you in an hour. Oh, and if you need it, there’s some tender tushy cream in the medicine cabinet behind the box of styptic pencils and Granny’s Metamucil.”
I did not reply. The fucker sure did titter though. Asshole.
11
Chapter Eleven
Granny has a saying.
It goes, and I quote, “Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up the fastest.”
My wish after my amazing first date with Ollie had been twofold. One aspect had been that my eldest brother did not say anything to the rest of the household that I’d staggered in, thoroughly debauched, at sunrise. The second aspect was that my son would not be a little turd when I approached him about staying at Ollie’s while his grandma and great-aunt were visiting.
One had filled up rather quickly, and it wasn’t the requested wishes one.
By lunch on the day after that memorable casino date, everyone on the ranch, and that included Prissy, Pumpernickel, and Persimmon the horses, knew I’d been out past curfew. Not that a man of thirty-three years had a curfew, but you know, siblings like to be dickheads. Also, my son got wind of it, and that set off a long four-day sulk spent ignoring me while workinghis ass off with his goat. Fair week was fast approaching, so I understood the last-minute prep, clipping, bathing, and push to get the little doeling to stand as the judge would wish. I also knew this couldn’t drag on much longer as I was due to pick up my mother and aunt in two days. So, the Thursday before the fair opened, my son and I took a walk to the horse barn. Not the goat barn because he would just work with his fair goat and not give me the time of day.
“We’re going to take Pumpernickel and Persimmon out for a ride,” I informed him.
“Okay.” One word, but hey, I’d take that one over the steady whatever I’d been slapped with for days on end.Lord help us all when that hardcore puberty sets in.
He had learned how to saddle a horse well, and without any help from me—Baker was in the barn supervising from a distance because he still didn’t fully trust us city folk with his horses—Dahn was soon on the back of one patient gelding and I on the other.
“Watch the time. Don’t be out after dark,” Baker called while scrubbing out a water trough. The work on a ranch never stopped.
