Chapter Ten #3
“It’s my job. And before you think I equate you with work, it’s also part of what makes a good lover a good lover. Being attentive, caring, and always knowing that one of you has to drive home.”
I gasped in mock outrage. “I only had a few Tom Collins.” Then I paused to think. “Okay, I had four. I don’t tend to drink much, but it’s been such a great night that I kind of let loose. But I’m not drunk. I was fully cognizant of what just took place and entered into that with great joy.”
“I knew that. The amount of rice and crab you ate would have soaked up a vat of Tom Collins,” he teased, giving me a wink.
“Very funny. I only had…well, the rice was good, what can I say? My mother makes the best Italian rice and peas. I used to eat so much of it when I was a kid, I would get sick. Did I tell you she’s coming out to watch Dahn show his goat?”
“Mm, yeah, you did.”
“Oh right.” I emptied my flute and passed it to him to place on the nightstand.
My cheek was lonely for his pectoral, so I let my head drop to where it felt right to land.
“When I told Granny they were coming, I said I probably overstepped my bounds. She waved that off as always and suggested that Dahn and I come stay with you while my mom and aunt are here. Which is ludicrous.”
“Why?”
That brought my head back up. He looked from the ceiling to me. “Why not come stay with me while they’re visiting? I have the room. No sense in them staying in a hotel in the next county over.”
“Oh. I…well…Dahn is a lot at times. He’s left childhood behind to drive full fast and furious into teenagerhood.”
“He’s just a kid. Come over and stay. We’ll take a day and go to the reservation to visit my family. My father has chickens.”
“Oh, and are they different than the chickens we have at the ranch?”
“They’re white and have feathers on their feet. He’ll get a kick out of them. We’ll hang out, maybe play some baseball at the tribal community center or go fishing.”
I could only stare at him. Huge feelings were welling up inside me.
I tamped them down since big feelings were what had led me into the arms of my ex, and look how that had ended up.
Not that I felt Ollie was anything like Chris, far from it.
Take his invitation not only to house my son but to spend a day with the boy.
“Okay, sure, I’m sold.” I tried to sound as nonchalant as I could about it. His smile made being pretend blasé incredibly hard.
“It was the feathered feet that reeled you in, wasn’t it?”
His eyes were alight with gentle humor. My heart. I was so close to losing it to this man. He made me feel so much. 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 find you incredibly 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 grip whatever you 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 yet again. 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 was not going 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.