Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
DARBY
“Where did you learn to cook like this?” The two shots of whiskey, along with being with Tucker, have calmed my nerves, and now I can’t get enough of the salmon with wild rice and steamed veggies that Tucker made. He just whipped it up like it was nothing.
And it’s delicious.
It’s also hot as hell to watch Tucker move around in the kitchen, as if he’s a trained chef and this is his domain.
“Was it your mom?” I ask, and take another bite of rice, humming as the flavors explode on my tongue.
“No, she bailed right after Ava was born.”
He has his back to me, putting leftovers in the fridge, and I lower my fork to my plate and stare.
Why don’t I already know this story?
Ava’s never spoken of it. Of course, I was gone for a long while, and I’m from Bitterroot Valley, not Silver Springs, so I probably wouldn’t have heard the gossip.
He turns around and sees my face and immediately looks worried. “What’s wrong?”
“You—” I lick my lips. “I’m sorry about your mom.”
He sighs and tosses a rag in the sink, then takes a bite of his own fish, chewing as he watches me. “I guess we all have baggage, don’t we?”
I don’t smile. I just wait because I can be patient like him. I can wait for him to feel comfortable enough to talk to me.
And finally, he says, “From what I understand, she’d been having an affair with a guy in town for a while. Dad had a paternity test done to make sure Ava’s his, which she is. I mean, she looks just like Dad, but—” He shrugs, and I nod.
“I get it.”
“Anyway, when Dad found out, he of course told Mom that she had to cut it off with the other guy. But, in the end, she didn’t choose us.”
I’m blinking at him, completely taken aback.
“Your mother left five children?”
“Four,” he replies. “Harper wasn’t with us yet. She officially became part of the family when she was about twelve. But yeah, she did. They moved out of the area, God knows where, and we never saw her again. Not one word, no calls, no Christmas cards. Nothing.”
I blink at him for a solid twenty seconds before I find my voice.
“But.” I just can’t wrap my head around this. I lost my mom when I was young, but not because she left me on purpose. She never would have willingly left us. My mom stayed with my dad because we were her whole heart and soul, and I knew that until she took her last breath. “How old were you?”
“About ten,” he replies and sets his empty plate in the sink.
“It sucked. It really fucking sucked, I’m not going to pretend like it didn’t.
She wasn’t a shit mom, that’s the thing.
She was affectionate and funny. Sang us songs, planted flowers, did all the mom things.
So when she decided to leave, it threw everyone for a loop.
It took a long time to recover from that, and I can admit that I didn’t trust women for a long time. ”
All I can do is stand from the stool and walk around the island to Tucker and wrap my arms around him.
“I’m so sorry, Tucker.”
“You didn’t do it.” There’s an edge to his voice. Grief? Sadness? I’m not sure, but it makes me tighten my hold on him, as if I can soothe the ten-year-old boy who lost his mom all those years ago. “Hey, I’m okay. It was a long time ago.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes a person just needs a hug.” I lean back and smile up at him as I bring my hand up to his face and cup his cheek. “Me. I’m the person.”
“You have the prettiest smile, Duchess.” He kisses my forehead, and then my lips. “Now, tell me what you need next. Bath? Movie? Ice cream?”
I chuckle and pull back, already missing his warm touch. “Honestly, I’m fine too. The food and whiskey did wonders. I’m pretty much as good as new.”
It’s already starting to get dark outside. We might be headed toward summer, but we’re still squarely in spring, so the sun goes down early.
“I’ll head over to the cabin,” I tell him. “I can shower there and call it a night.”
I have to put salve on my scars. Twice a week, like clockwork.
“You can shower here,” he says with a frown. “I’m not done with you.”
I tilt my head to the side and reach up to brush my fingertips down his sharp jawline. For someone who shies away from physical touch, I can’t keep my hands to myself when it comes to this man. “Are you okay?”
His chuckle is humorless, and then he brushes his nose against mine before he covers my lips with his and kisses me. My lips part for him, and his tongue slips inside, and if I thought this morning was a fluke, it absolutely wasn’t.
Because this man can kiss.
With a whimper, I lean into him, and every thought of leaving this house disappears.
I don’t want to go anywhere.
“I don’t want to let you out of my sight,” he admits. “But if you feel better going to the cabin to shower, that’s fine.”
“I mean, your shower is better than mine.”
He grins and kisses my forehead again as his hands rub up and down my back. I’m sure he can feel my scars through my shirt, but I don’t ask him to stop.
“But I need to go get some stuff from over there.”
“Let’s go.”
He laces his fingers through my own and leads me out the back door and over to my cabin, where I march through to the bedroom and gather some leggings, his shirt that I’ll never return, and some underwear.
Then, I stride into the bathroom and gather my shower stuff, which is just shampoo, conditioner, and soap.
Once I’ve also grabbed my salve, I stare at the hairbrush and toothbrush.
Am I coming back here tonight? Do I need these?
Honestly, if I have anything to say about it, I will not be leaving Tucker’s house. Hopefully, I’ll be in his bed all night.
So, thinking optimistically, I grab the brush and toothbrush, and I shove it all in a backpack and walk out to find Tucker standing at the window that looks out to the mountains. His hands are on his hips, his shoulders so broad and firm. I want to press myself against his back and hold onto him.
Maybe later.
“I’m good.”
He turns and smiles at me, takes the bag from me, and slings it over one shoulder.
“Let’s go get cozy,” he says.
With our hands linked once more, we leave the cabin, and I lock up behind me, although there’s no one out here to bother my stuff, and then we return to the house.
“It still gets cold fast at night,” I say as a shiver rolls through me while we climb the stairs to the back door.
Tucker gets me inside, and I immediately start cleaning up our dinner plates, but he stops me.
“I’ll do that.”
“It’ll only take a second—”
“Duchess, I know you like to argue, but I’m telling you to leave it. I’ll need something to distract me while you’re naked in my shower.”
I bite my lip and smile at him.
“Why?”
I know why, I just want to hear him say it.
“Because I want to boost you up against the tile and fuck you into next week, but in the shower is not where I’ll have you for the first time, so you’d better go make yourself comfortable, and I’ll take care of this.”
I wasn’t expecting him to say it like that.
“Go, Duchess.” His voice is harder, leaving no room for argument, so without another word, I grab my bag, leave the kitchen, and head up the stairs to his primary suite.
The bathroom is amazing.
The tub was an experience that I hope to repeat in the future.
And that bed looks so fucking comfortable. Not to mention, it’s the perfect height for me to bend over the side.
Jesus, Darby, you’re a horny bitch. Rein it in for Christ’s sake.
With a smirk, I turn on the water in the shower, then shed my dirty clothes, grab my shampoo, conditioner, and soap, and stand under the hot, soothing spray.
The water pressure is divine. No little trickle here. I let it pound on my back, enjoying the way the hot water feels as it flows down my ass and thighs.
No, I’m not freaked out after what happened with Peter today. I’ve survived far worse than that. I was angry, and shaken from the adrenaline, but now I feel fine. And by fine, I mean I want to jump on Tucker so he can do things to me that make me scream his name.
Clearly, the silicone boyfriend hasn’t been doing it for me.
But it’s not just about getting off. I mean, that’s a big part of it, but I want to be stripped down with him.
I’ve already been as emotionally exposed as it gets.
We’ve shared secrets. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t discuss his mother abandoning his family often, and I feel honored that he shared it with me.
I’m ready to take whatever this is further. And yeah, that startles me because I’m the one-night-stand girl. I don’t do relationships. Hell, I’ve never even been the one to sleep with a guy twice.
Don’t judge me, I have trust issues.
But I can’t imagine feeling that way about Tucker.
The thought of only getting to sleep with him once makes me fidget.
Once wouldn’t be enough. Hell, ten times wouldn’t be enough.
He’s only kissed me, and I know that much.
His hands on me are heaven. His mouth should come with some sort of health warning.
May cause your ovaries to start shooting eggs like a machine gun.
I smirk as I rinse my hair, and then I quickly shave my legs because, well, I’m being optimistic.
The soothing hot water makes me sleepy, which doesn’t surprise me in the least since I hardly sleep these days.
So when it’s time to turn off the water, my movements are slow as I towel dry my hair until it’s just damp, and then brush through it and weave it into a braid down my back and clean my teeth.
I manage to pull on panties and the T-shirt, and then forgo the leggings as I walk out to the bedroom.
Tucker must have come up here while I was in the shower because the bedside light is on, and that bed looks amazing.
“I’ll just try it out. See if it’s as comfortable as it looks.”
What’s the harm?
Just call me Goldilocks.
As soon as my knees hit the top of the mattress, I know it’s even more comfortable than I expected. I crawl up and bury my face in his pillow and let out a moan.
A freaking moan.
Because holy shit, it smells like Tucker, and it feels amazing. I could sleep here. Even on those nights when I’m restless and the bad memories set in, I know that I could just sink right in and let go, and maybe even drift off without nightmares.
That would feel incredible.
But Tucker’s waiting for me, and I need to go downstairs. My phone is just feet away, and I could text him and ask him if we can hang out here tonight, but texting the man who’s in the same house as me feels . . . lazy.
I mean, I’m not above doing it, but I can get up and go down to him.
Before I can move, I feel hands, rough with calluses, rub up my calves, and every nerve in my body sits up and preens.
How did I not hear him come in the room?
“I’m coming downstairs,” I mutter as I turn my face to the side and see Tucker smiling down at me. “It just looked so comfy, and I had to see if it’s as good as it looked.”
“And?” he asks.
“It’s better.” His smile is soft as his hands continue to drift up and down my legs. “Do I need to apologize?”
“I just found the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen in my life, in my shirt, on my bed. No, sweetheart, you don’t have to apologize for that.”
He doesn’t make me get up.
No, this man joins me.