Ten #2
There was another woman there as well, beautiful, mid-to-late thirties, wearing a tan off-the-shoulder sweater, jeans, and leopard-print heels.
She appeared terribly chic but also as though she’d thrown everything on.
The messy bun she’d pulled her blonde tresses into made her seem approachable, as did her flashing smile.
Tatum seemed dazzled by her, staring, and it was ridiculous, but I felt the twinge anyway.
I wanted to be her favorite. As I watched, the woman went to stand next to Luke, laughing at something he must have said, and put her hand on his forearm.
Whoever she was, she clearly found the man I had designs on quite appealing.
Closing the tab, I lay down on the bed with my feet on the floor, listening to the rain on the roof and against the windowpanes.
It was soothing, and I wondered if it would be really terrible, and cowardly, to simply stay where I was.
They didn’t need me down there anyway. I was feeling, already, like a third wheel.
“What are you doing up here?”
I hadn’t realized I’d closed my eyes, and now I opened them, to see Tatum standing there scowling, arms crossed.
“Your grandparents are staying in the guest room.”
“No, I know, but I thought you were going to sleep with Dad.”
Thank God I was not drinking anything. I would have choked to death right there. As it was, I sat up quickly and regarded her.
“What?” She sounded annoyed.
“I’m sorry, where was I supposed to sleep?”
“With Dad in his room. When we had a leak in my ceiling a long time ago, I had to sleep in Dar’s room with him,” she explained. “You could sleep with Dad.”
“Maybe the woman would like to sleep with your father,” I said, fishing.
Her stare turned from a scowl to a glower. “Why would he want that? From what he told me in the car, he knew her when he was growing up, but he was surprised to see her with Nana and Grampy when we picked them all up outside on the curb.”
“If you picked them up, why did they rent a car?”
“For some reason Grampy doesn’t like the Jeep, even though it’s awesome, especially in the summer when we take the doors off.”
“Okay.”
We were both quiet for a moment, listening to the rain, and when I lay back down, she did the same, lying shoulder-to-shoulder with me, and yawned loudly.
“What’s the lady’s name?”
“Quinn.”
“That’s a cool name.”
She had no comment.
“You should go back downstairs.”
“I will in just a minute.”
It was the rain’s fault that we dozed off, and I was vaguely aware that Darwin was there, talking, trying to get me to move, but I ordered him to beat it, rolled over so I was comfortable, moving Tatum with me, and when she resettled, she was facing me with her head on my bicep.
“Aren’t you guys hungry?” Darwin whined.
Tatum shushed him.
“You should go back downstairs,” I suggested.
Apparently, he didn’t want to do that either, bumping me when he lay down on my other side, yawning big. I was a goner after that.
Fingers threaded gently through my hair, and it was so nice, I made a rumbling sound of appreciation before slowly opening my eyes. Luke was standing over me, shaking his head.
I tried to speak, couldn’t, cleared my throat, and that time there were words. “What’re you doing up here? You have company.”
“Which I should have warned you about.”
I squinted at him. “I had plans to murder you.”
“I really am sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s interesting that I wasn’t the only one, though,” he pointed out. “None of the kids said anything either.”
“Because you’re all cowards.”
“We just didn’t want you to go anywhere.”
“Speak for yourself.”
He stared down into my eyes. “ I didn’t want you to go.”
All I could do was gaze into all that blue.
“And I’m up here,” he began with a smile, “because my whole family seemed to have disappeared, so I had to find where you all were. Since looking for you is always the easiest thing, that’s where I started.”
“What?”
“My kids love you, Nash. Where you are, they are. Easy.”
I was confused until he gestured to the wingback chair where Griff was sitting with his feet up on the ottoman, eyes closed, Wink in his lap and his Switch by his side, having slipped from his hands when he nodded off.
“I’m sorry, we’ll get up,” I assured him, about to move.
He put his hand flat on my chest, pressing gently. “Wait. I have something to say to you.”
“Okay.”
“I had no idea my folks were bringing Quinn Gordon with them. We dated in high school, broke up when she left for college, and then I came here, met Caitlyn, and got married.”
I grinned at him. “I appreciate the history lesson.”
He flicked my forehead, and I did not have a free hand to rub the sting away, as there was a kid on either side, pinning my arms down. When that had happened, I had no idea. “Oww,” I growled at him under my breath, since I didn’t want to startle the kids.
“She’s recently divorced,” he went on like he hadn’t wounded me, “and moved back to Maine. Her folks went on a cruise to the Caribbean, her sister is in New Jersey with her in-laws, so she had no place to go except to see friends in Manhattan, but she really didn’t want to cross paths with her ex.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Our circumstances are similar,” he continued, ignoring me, “since her ex left her for the woman he was having an affair with.”
I squinted up at him.
“Now you know everything I do,” he concluded.
My scoff was soft because of the kids. “She’s here to rekindle the fire with you, not because she was tagging along. Don’t be stupid.”
“Listen, last Thanksgiving was bad here, and Christmas was worse. So my parents, though well-intentioned, have put their foot in it.”
“No, they haven’t,” I muttered, feeling how wrong the words felt in my chest. “They want you to be happy, so it makes sense.”
I got another flick on the forehead.
“Once I get up, you’re a dead man,” I apprised him.
“Yeah, I’m terrified,” he said with a smirk. “But it’s your fault because you keep saying what you think you should and not what’s in your heart. Don’t be a coward. It isn’t you.”
“My heart?”
“Yes. Your heart. We both know the kids are in there, and so am I, so stop trying to give us away because you’re thinking you’re not the best thing for us.”
That shut me up, because yes, talking him out of wanting me was really stupid when it was the exact opposite of what I wanted.
“I know it’s hard waiting for me to figure out my happy, but you have to remember this is all brand-new for me, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I barely managed to get out.
“In the meantime, could you not give up?”
I nodded.
“Good boy,” he said with a grin, then bent and kissed me.
It was fast, just a quick touch of his lips to mine, but electric sparks of happiness churned through me like a wave.
“Come back,” I murmured, and I could hear the pleading in my voice.
He smiled smugly and waggled his eyebrows.
“I’ll give you a dollar.”
“A whole dollar?” he teased, then kissed me again, that one harder, longer, his tongue pressing for entrance that I immediately gave, opening for him as he put his hands on my face and ravaged my mouth.
I stifled my whimper as he eased back, but I was pleased to see the blown pupils and the way he licked his lips. Apparently, he liked the taste of me.
“I really want to…” He took a breath, his gaze locked with mine. “Do things with you.”
This was excellent news. “Help me get the kids moving,” I instructed, and enjoyed hearing his frustrated huff before he left me, moved over to Griff, and gently roused his son.
They all got up groggy, yawning, shuffling toward the door like zombies, but before Luke could follow them, right before he turned the corner to go down the stairs, I yanked him backward, wrapped an arm around his chest, kissed the side of his neck, and then bit the same spot.
“Jesus, Nash,” he groaned, and I felt the hard shiver run through him.
“Tell me what things you wanna do with me.”
He was having trouble catching his breath.
“Luke?”
“I wanna lie down on top of you. I want to know what that feels like.”
I spun him in my arms, eyes locked with his. “Anytime you want, I’m all yours.”
“I’m gonna be on the couch, as I’m giving Quinn my bed. I was going to put her up here and share my room with you, but you already moved.”
“I didn’t want to assume…”
“Stop thinking I’m not taking this seriously.” He scowled at me. “Again, this is brand-new for me. I’ve never looked at another man before and wanted to touch all his skin and kiss him and hold his hand and do things I’m not even sure can be done.”
“Like missionary?” I whispered. “Because we can.”
He glared at me, but the quick catch of breath was a dead giveaway. The desire to sleep with me was simmering in him, and I was more than ready to stoke that fire.
“You—”
Leaning in, I kissed the side of his neck again, gently, tenderly before stepping back so I could see his face. “So you know, I want to put my hands all over you as well, Luke Duchesne. Don’t think for a second I don’t.”
His gaze held mine, and everything I saw there, softness, warmth, and not a small amount of desire, I liked.
“Dad!” Griff yelled from the base of the stairs. “Come on.”
Letting him go, smacking his ass before I slipped around him, I was down the stairs quickly, smiling at Griff.
“What is he doing up there?”
“I think he was interested in what else is up there that can be put out in the next yard sale. We did make a lot of money.”
“Yeah, we did,” he agreed, smiling, but then glowered. “But the next one isn’t until the spring, so we can worry about it later.”
When Luke suddenly appeared, his body language, how he was carrying himself—it was obvious he was uncomfortable. Also, his glare was hard to miss.
“Problem?” I baited him.
The smack in the abdomen doubled me over as he walked by.
“Daddy,” Tatum howled, “what do you always say about laying hands on other people?”
“That it’s fine if they get mouthy,” he grumbled.