Chapter Twenty-One
Cold water streamed over his head and down his back. Jett rested one hand on the tiled wall and let the other hang by his side. If he stayed in the shower long enough, maybe the cold water would freeze off the part of him that wanted Autumn so badly.
And she wanted Markus. That was one thing he did not understand. In fact, he didn’t understand women at all. Plain and simple. His earlier thoughts of finding someone to spend his life with circled the drain along with the cold water. He had no idea how to pick the right woman. How Gage and Kace had done it was beyond him.
Someone knocked on the door. What the hell?
“Lock, if that’s you, go away.” He didn’t care what was wrong downstairs. Mrs. Crosby could have spilled a glass of wine on the white couch in her room, or Mr. McCarthy could have stuck his foot in the wagon’s wheel, or Mrs. King could have broken off her room key in the lock and couldn’t get inside. He wasn’t coming downstairs to fix a thing. Any one of his family members could handle whatever problem was on fire. Hell, even Kace’s girlfriend was an employee. She could put out a fire too.
The door cracked open.
“I swear, Lock, if you try to throw another snowball in my shower, I’ll beat the shit out of you while I’m naked.”
“It’s not Lock.” Autumn came around the door. She still wore her coat and scarf. A grave look crossed her face.
Her appearance in his bathroom put him in a tough spot. Well, she’d already seen him naked. No point in trying to cover up. The water hadn’t steamed up the glass, and he had to lean out of the shower to grab a towel. If she wanted an eyeful, she could have one. He had nothing to hide. He turned off the water and stepped out.
“What are you doing here?” He wrapped the towel around his waist.
“I needed to talk to you.” She held his gaze.
“It couldn’t wait until I was out of the shower?” If she was rethinking her decision to come in, too bad. She’d have to deal with him in this state.
“I’m afraid not.”
“Then I guess you better get to whatever it is that’s bothering you.” Thirty minutes ago the woman told him she wasn’t in love with him, and now she stood in his bathroom. This was why he didn’t understand women.
“Do you want to get dressed first?”
“Nope. My bathroom. You barged in. I can stand here all night like this.”
“Then maybe I should join you.” She smirked and removed that scarf. Her coat hit the floor next.
“Autumn, what’s going on? I’m not up for any game playing.” Or having his heart broken. Loving someone—anyone, including animals—was hard. When they left and took a piece of his heart too, he wanted to rage against the world. He had spent his whole life trying not to be angry with the losses. He didn’t always do a good job of it. He wanted to do a better job now.
“I’m sorry for what I said tonight. I’ve been afraid to ask for what I want. Maybe because I didn’t think I deserved it.” Autumn took a small step closer.
“And that’s changed?”
“My mother told me something a few minutes ago that finally made me see I’ve been handling this thing between us all wrong. I truly am sorry. I’m sorry about everything I’ve put you through lately. I’ve allowed my mother to get in between us. That won’t happen any longer. I promise.” She pulled her sweater over her head, revealing her creamy skin and deep-blue bra.
“You keep taking your clothes off, and I’m going to think you’re here for one thing only.” Temptation stirred low in his belly. He wouldn’t be able to resist her much longer, especially not standing here in the damn towel.
“I’m here for a few things.” She kicked off her boots.
“Stop and tell me what you’re up to, please. What do you mean about not letting your mother between us?”
“She just revealed something to me that has me mad enough to do something drastic. Something I should’ve been brave enough to do without that information. I’m sorry I wasn’t.”
“Are you going to tell me what that information is?”
“I’ll tell you all about that later. I promise. But now I want to focus on us and how we make each other feel. I want to make you feel as good as you make me.”
She crossed the room and put her cold hands on his already cold skin. “Can you forgive me?” She looked up at him.
“She must’ve said something big for this change of heart from twenty minutes ago.”
“Do you want me to go?” She narrowed her eyes.
“Not a chance. But I’m not going to take you to bed so you can change your mind again in the morning. Tell me.”
She ran her fingers over his pecs and down his abdomen. His brain misfired for a second. Her touch drove him mad. He grabbed her hands and stilled them before she could remove his towel. And all his leverage would be gone.
“Please trust me, Jett.”
“I want to.” He also didn’t want to regret this. If she stayed and they made love again, he wouldn’t bounce back too quickly if she rode away with his heart.
“I will tell you everything later. I can stay all night.” She laced her fingers through his. Her hands were so small compared to his.
“All night?” He squeezed her hands and glanced at their grip, her fair skin against his darker one. They fit and contrasted at the same time.
“If you want me to.” She gazed up at him through her lashes.
He leaned down and placed a kiss by her ear. “I want you to,” he said, hoping she felt as turned on as he was. “But I need to know what happened.”
“Later, Jett.” She moved her hands to his shoulders, slid her fingers down his spine, and rested them on his backside. “I will tell you everything later. Right now, I want to forget about all the bad things in my life and think only about you and me and getting rid of this towel.”
His heart took control. He would no longer be safe from the hurt if she chose to leave him. He wouldn’t be able to keep the pain under wraps if she walked away.
He did as she wished and dropped the towel.
Then he took her on the bathroom floor.
****
Jett pulled Autumn to him and rested his chin on her head. She smelled like winter snow and honey. She tasted like sweet cream, and he wanted more. The bed was warm, and they were tucked under his comforter. The wind howled outside, long moans that threatened another storm. Right now, he didn’t have a care in the world. Let the skies open up. Life could spin all around them. As long as he was here with Autumn, everything else could wait.
After the bathroom, they’d come into his bedroom and made love again under the covers, slowly and deliberately, never taking their gazes off the other. He had entered her, clasping her hands above her head, holding her stare, and moving back and forth in a deliberate rhythm that had her begging him to pick up his speed. But he’d waited until he was certain she was ready, and then had given the woman exactly what she wanted.
He grinned into her hair with pride at his ability to hold it together long enough to make sure she was satisfied before he followed her to the finish. Twenty years ago he wouldn’t have been able to do that. Age had its benefits.
“There is no place in the world I’d rather be,” she said, wrapping her leg over his and snuggling against him.
Her heated core rubbed his thigh, turning him right back on. The wind howled again. He had to agree. A howl was somewhere deep in him too.
He could lie there all night, never having to say a word. Just hold her. Love her. But they had issues hanging over their heads, and he wasn’t one to leave what needed to be done for tomorrow. Too many things required tending on his ranch. He preferred to deal with his problems head on.
“I think we need to discuss a few things.”
She pushed up on her elbow and stared down at him. “Now?”
“Yes, ma’am. Right now.”
“Can’t we enjoy what we shared?”
“I’m enjoying this just fine. You can climb back down and curl up against me while we talk. I don’t mind. Or you can go on giving me that glare, but either way, I need to know what had you changing your mind earlier and barging into my bathroom.”
A surprise he would never complain about.
“It’s awful.” She sat up and pulled the covers around her.
“How does something awful get you inside my house and wanting to have sex with me?” He sat up to see her better. He hadn’t been expecting awful as her answer.
He brushed back the hair that had fallen over her face. Tears brimmed the rims of her eyes. His instincts yelled to protect her, to find out what the hell Vera had done now. He waited, but she kept her head down.
“Autumn, darlin’, what happened?”
She finally turned to look at him. “Somehow I don’t own my land. My mother told me tonight that she still owns it. I don’t know how I missed that. Stupid, I guess. Gullible maybe. She said I never signed anything. And I don’t think I did. The conversation about me taking control of the property happened so long ago. I don’t remember.”
“I don’t understand. That seems impossible.” At least in his world, it was. He was completely transparent with his family about the running of the ranch. He and Lock had control of the everyday activities. His other brothers and his mother were a part of any major changes affecting the business. He owned the ranch and its acres equally with his brothers. No one could sell off a piece without the others’ agreement. When Kace had tried to sell his portion without family consent, he had almost destroyed their relationship.
“I thought so too. But I can’t remember exactly what happened when she gave me control. It was when my dad left. She wasn’t in her right mind, and honestly, I wasn’t either.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands.
“Hey, now. Let’s think on this for a minute. What does the monthly mortgage statement say?”
“It has her name on it. I didn’t think it was a big deal that only her name was on the mortgage. I thought my name was on the deed.”
“Have you seen the deed?”
“Not in forever.”
“You need to get a look at the deed. Your mother could be lying to you.” The official document would tell them the truth. He wouldn’t put it past Vera to make up the whole business of her still owning the property just to control Autumn. He would have words with that woman if he found out that she had stooped so low.
“Why would she lie about that?” She looked at him with pain in her eyes.
“Because you’re with me, Autumn. She doesn’t want you involved with me. She’ll do whatever she has to in order to keep us apart.” He didn’t want to see her hurt. If he could keep her from ever feeling pain again, he would. She deserved better from Vera.
“Why is she so cruel?” Autumn fisted the sheet.
“Darlin’, I have no idea. I am sorry, though. Your mother has it in her. I hate to say it.”
“What do I do?” She began to cry again.
He gathered her to him and held her close. “You aren’t any worse off than you were before.”
She eased back, wiped her face with her hand. “How do you mean?”
“You were going to lose your land. You had to sell it. She still has to sell it.”
“But she’ll never sell it to you. She thinks my father is going to save her.”
“I’ll up my offer.”
“Jett, she isn’t going to sell to you. And I don’t have anywhere to live or raise my child. I don’t have a career anymore. I can’t even go back there tomorrow and look at her.”
“You can work for me. You and Quinn can stay on the ranch. I can make Lock stay with me. You can take his place for now.”
“I’m not throwing your brother out of his house. But thank you.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. “I need to fix this on my own.”
“You’re not going to let me help you.”
“There isn’t anything you can do.”
“I just offered you a job and a place to live. Even if they’re temporary.”
“Please let me do this on my own. I don’t want to feel as if I owe you. I want to be with you without any strings. I will not burden our relationship by relying on you to clean up my mess. I’ve relied on too many people my whole life, and it’s gotten me into a ton of trouble.”
He didn’t want to argue. He didn’t see the point. She had her mind made up. His stubborn woman would forge her own way, and he would have to stand beside her as she did it. If she needed him, he would jump in.
He only hoped whatever she had to do to make things right for herself didn’t scare her away from him. He wouldn’t do this dance for a third time.