Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
C ollins had a great laugh. It was a full-bodied kind of thing that started in the pit of her stomach and rolled out of her mouth like a freight train headed down the side of a mountain, picking up speed as it went. It was infectious. She’d done more to spread joy at the church picnic than the balloon clown, and that guy was busy.
She laughed a lot at the church picnic. Once she relaxed, that is. And it took some to get there.
Daisy Mae didn’t make it easy. Truthfully, Benton was more than a little surprised at her behavior. She had a boyfriend. Was planning on moving to Washington State with the man and yet, she’d been like a bloodhound on a hunt, followed him and Collins the entire day, Mick or Nick, or whatever the hell his name was, lapping at their heels like a puppy.
Through it all, Collins had been a champ. Even when Daisy Mae tossed barbs her way. Even when she constantly referred to Collins as being so young that she probably never heard of Eminem or learned cursive writing. Cursive writing? What the hell?
When Daisy Mae practically dragged him by his arm to participate with her and Nora in the burlap bag race, he almost said no, but Nora’s little face had lit up like the Fourth of July.
“Please, Daddy?” The kid could break him without trying.
How could he say no to that? Like a good sport, he ran the race and the three of them won it handily. He didn’t like being manipulated, though you wouldn’t know it. His acting skills were impressive. Anyone watching would think that he and Daisy Mae were close. That they’d patched up their differences. That her quest to take his daughter from him was over and done with. They were the poster couple for co-parenting. Polite and nice and easy. But now that it was time to leave and he had a few moments with Daisy Mae, he was going to make them count. She needed to stay in her lane. She needed to be told.
Nora was hugging the Pullman twins, while Collins was saying goodbye to Ivy and Mike Paul.
“A moment?” It wasn’t a question, and he didn’t give Daisy Mae the opportunity to reply. He moved a few feet away from everyone else and waited for her to join him.
“This isn’t going to work,” he said, straight to the point.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Daisy Mae was looking at her fingernails like they were the most important thing in the world. He drove her bonkers on a good day, and today was bad.
“You’re acting like I belong to you. Like Collins doesn’t exist.”
She glanced up sharply. “I have a boyfriend, in case you’ve forgotten. A man I’m moving to DC with. A man who means the world to me.” She pushed her chest out, and he knew that she knew, it made her breasts pop.
“Then act like it. Keep some distance. It sends mixed signals to Nora when you act like we are a family and you’ve been doing it all day.”
“I thought you said we were friends.”
He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. “I want us to be friends for Nora’s sake, but right now I’m not sure what we are. What I do know is that you need to treat Collins with the kind of respect she deserves. Do not spout half-truths and innuendos. It’s not a good look, Daisy. She’s done nothing wrong here and I don’t want our daughter hearing that kind of shit.”
“You want to play house with that…that kid you’ve been hanging off of all day? What the hell, Benton? She’s got to be closer to Ryland’s age than she is to yours. Did your accident scramble your brains so badly you don’t know how pathetic it looks?”
The fire in his gut burned harder. Brighter. He inhaled a shot of air and took a step back because if he got any closer, he might say something he’d regret.
“Bent, I didn’t mean?—”
“Yeah, you did.” He turned on his heel and tried to smile when Nora threw herself at him. Collins watched silently, and when he nodded toward the truck, she fell into step beside him. She didn’t say a word while he helped Nora get buckled in. The entire ride back to Duffer’s Place was silent.
He pulled up, put the truck in park, and then turned to her. Collins was looking in the back seat.
“She’s asleep.”
He followed her gaze. “Tuckered out, I suppose. She ran herself ragged for hours.” He reached for the door handle, and they both got out of the truck. He followed her up to the porch, then shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans because he wasn’t sure how to proceed. The vibe felt off, and he wasn’t even sure he could blame it on Daisy Mae.
“Today was a lot,” he said, watching the play of emotion cross her face. “What are you thinking?”
Collins chewed on her bottom lip, eyes on the ground, but when she glanced up at him, her look was direct. Unafraid.
“She still wants you, Benton.”
“Maybe. But I think it’s more that she doesn’t like to lose.”
She shook her head, a small smile touching her lips. “Men are dumb.” Her voice was husky, with that hint of rasp he liked.
“That so?”
She nodded and stepped closer. “She still wants you, and she’s the mother of your child, so I think she feels that Nora is her way back into your world.”
“In case you haven’t heard, the woman is suing me for full custody of my girl because she wants to move to Washington state with Mick.”
“Nick.”
“What?”
“His name is Nick.”
He shrugged. He didn’t give a flying fuck about her lapdog.
“She’s hoping Nick will make you jealous.”
“That’s just plain stupid.”
“It might be stupid, but her intentions are clear as day.”
“Does she scare you?” he asked, eyes on her mouth.
“No.” Collins’ brow furrowed a bit. “She doesn’t scare me, but…”
“But?” he prodded.
She shrugged. “I work in a world where drugs and addiction are commonplace. I’ve known people, good friends, who fought against those kinds of temptations, and I know how hard it is to get clean. To be sober in a world where alcohol and smokes and pot, and drugs are everywhere. I’ve seen what it’s like for them to realize what they lost because of their bad choices. And I’ve seen what they’re willing to do to get it back.”
She moistened her lips and the sight of it damn near drove him crazy.
“None of her shenanigans will work on me. She’s my past. I’m looking for something else now.”
She smiled and put her hands on his chest. “I’m really happy to hear that, cowboy. But you need to be gentle with Daisy Mae. Not because she’s Nora’s mother. Not because you have history and at one time, I’m assuming, loved her. But because she’s overcome a lot. And I admire her for that.” She shrugged. “You should, too. She’s hurting. She wants all the things she lost when she was in the thick of it, and one of those things is you.”
He smiled at that.
“What?” she asked, moving closer so that now her body was pressed against his.
“You’re something else, you know that? Daisy Mae went out of her way to make you feel uncomfortable today, and not only did you not let her win, but you also showed empathy toward her. Not many folks would be so kind.”
Collins lifted her mouth to his, her words a whisper against his lips. “I don’t want to talk about Daisy Mae anymore.”
His answer was to kiss her until her knees went weak and the only thing keeping her up was his arms. She tasted like strawberries. Smelled like summer. And she felt like heaven. He could have kissed her for hours. Taken his time and let his mouth get reacquainted with every inch of her body, but they were on the front porch of Duffer’s Place, and he caught sight of the curtains swishing. No doubt Miss Willie got more than an eyeful.
Inhaling a big gulp of air, he reluctantly let her go.
“You’re good at that,” she said, breathlessly.
He took in the sight of her mouth bruised from his kiss, and it did something to him. That He-Man part of him roared to the surface, and he wanted to pound his fists against his chest. Leave a mark on her that said she was his.
“Keep looking at me like that, and I swear I’ll melt into a puddle of lust right now. You’ll have to scrape me off the floor, and just like Humpty Dumpty, I don’t know if you’ll be able to put me back together.”
“I’d take my time,” he murmured against her mouth. “I’d get you back to one piece eventually. I’m good with my hands, remember?”
“I remember,” she replied throatily. “When will I see you again?”
“Come to the ranch tomorrow for dinner. I’ll wrangle us up some steaks and break out a bottle of expensive wine.”
“What time?”
Benton took a step down, he gave a nod at the window, and grinned when the curtains swished once more. “Four?”
“I’ll see you then. Can I bring anything?”
“Nope.”
Her eyes were shiny. He liked that.
“I had a nice time today,” she said before she disappeared inside the house, and whistling, he made his way back to the truck. Nora was still out, snoring like a champ. He didn’t turn on the radio for the drive back to the ranch. Instead, he thought about the things that Collins had said. She was right about all of it. Daisy Mae had managed to claw her way out of a life that wasn’t pretty. That deserved some kind of respect and acknowledgement. Two things he’d given freely. But he didn’t trust her. He knew Daisy Mae better than anyone, and when she wanted something, she played dirty. If Collins was right and she wanted her old family back, who knows what kind of trouble she’d wrestle up trying to get there.
“Shit,” he thought, as he turned into the Triple B. Since when had his life become so damn complicated? Dumb question.
It started on a night, not unlike this one, at a bar in Nashville. Go figure.